Wet Blending of 3 Colors on Fokker Dr.1's

[jumpinjan]

Its done to break up the outline of the airplane and disrupt one's perception to recognize and to further identify an object (detect, recognize and identify).
I'm not taking everything Engels does as an accepted fact, because he does a lot of stuff just for "fun" (those are his words, by the way)
Jan

[Welsh Dave]

The first mention I saw of Fokker streaks being wet-blended was in a WW1 Aero article by Wally Batter in, I think, the late 1970s. He suggested that the effect was achieved by applying olive green or brown and a much darker shade, almost black, with the same brush, dipped straight into the new colour without washing or wiping the old colour out.

I note that no wiping rags are apparent in the staged factory photograph of wings being painted that appeared in another thread relating to this subject, so this probably is how the painters got the effect.

Wally thought dope was being used, whereas we know it was actually an oil-based paint, but the method works even better with oils.

Also in other threads on this forum we have seen original lists of ingredients for use in finishing Triplane wings. There is quite a large amount of Emaillit dope, enough for several coats; clear varnish and a quick-drying varnish ( presumably mixed) for making paint; a blue varnish as a base for the underside colour; and a substantial quantity of zinc oxide, a white powder commonly used as a pigment for extending or lightening paints. There is also a small quantity of aniline dye powder of (unfortunately) unspecified colour or colours, and some ultramarine blue, probably in powder form.

Alan Toelle analysed a piece of Triplane underside fabric, and found two distinct layers of dope – one clear, and one containing a powder pigment which he tentatively identified as Prussian blue. Over this was a paint comprising a blue varnish extended with a white pigment that made it much lighter and more opaque. There was no layer of clear varnish as a protective top coat.

While working at the RAF Museum, I examined authenticated pieces of fabric from Richthofen’s Dr.I 425/17 in the 1970s, and noticed the blue tinted dope. It wasn’t until I read Alan’s report confirming this dope that I realised there was clear dope underneath it. The opaque light blue was pure and bright where red paint had just flaked off, and the oft reported turquoise shade where it had been exposed for decades.

The varnish medium definitely turns dark yellow or brown as it ages. So does Humbrol, for that matter! I think it was Alex Imrie to whom a former mechanic reported that Dr.Is were delivered in a green that gradually turned brown, the effect being distinctly noticeable after about six weeks.

The uppersurface paint, the famous streaky camouflage, is a thin, washy suspension of zinc oxide in varnish, stained with aniline dye powder, which gives intense colour for very little weight.

During the last 12 months I made two visits to the Imperial War Museum to examine samples of German WW1 aircraft fabric for an article I am preparing. Among these, naturally, were pieces from Fok. DR. I 144/17. The streaky camouflage sample on which all the pundit descriptions are based is described in the contemporary (1918?) notes as being painted in a “green wash”. The first time I saw it, I would have said it still was just about green, though with a heavy brown tint. It should be mentioned that the high-domed IWM reading room has a most unhelpful mixture of weak natural and stronger fluorescent light, not at all good for gauging exact shades of colour.

The paint was very translucent, showing brush marks and the fabric weave in places, but certainly not “dry brushed” as some would have us believe. Darker streaks, almost opaque, appeared to have more of the dark pigment; the finish was simply too smooth to be a product of thick and thin strokes of the same paint. At the time, I didn’t know about the zinc oxide, but the darker streaks were slightly cloudy in places. The finish was not so glossy, or the cloudy patches so yellowed, as to suggest the presence of a clear varnish top coat.

The underside blue sample was just as described everywhere, although it had not flaked enough to reveal the blue tinted dope. It was almost matt.

I came away convinced that just two shades were used in the streaky camouflage. After publication of the Fokker Bills of Materials, which added a few pieces to the puzzle, I wrote a letter to Windsock, which Ray invited me to expand into an article. I did so, mentioning the dyes.

Then came Greg VanWyngarden’s Dr.I book, in which Werner Voss’s mechanic Karl Timm recalls a very dark grey as the most noticeable feature of the camouflage on F.I 103/17. Now there are three distinct tone ranges in Triplane photographs, so the dark grey sounded plausible. Where, though, were samples of it? I hadn’t read of any in over four decades of interest in the Fokker Triplane.

The collection of fabric samples in the IWM appears to be incomplete much of the time. For instance, on that first visit I had hoped to see the pure green streaks from Fokker D.VII 368/18, flown by Hans Schultz of Jasta 18, but that sample was absent. Another sample I wanted to see was represented by a photocopy.

On my second visit, those samples were back, and it appeared the collection was being gradually conserved, the samples being put in cardboard holders with plastic “windows”. It may be that some items long separated have also been returned to the fold, for there was a small piece of fabric with dark grey streaks, almost black at their darkest, applied over clear dope. It was said to have come from an upper wing of DR.I 144/17. The dark grey could presumably also be applied over or into the green/brown paint, but in this case such an application had not been conserved. It all goes to show one shouldn’t rely on small isolated samples to infer a complete colour scheme!

The classic streaky piece, though, has suffered a disaster! It has been creased, splitting the paint, which is apparently reacting with the plastic file window, erupting in white spots where the cloudy bits were last year. This at least confirms the presence of zinc oxide, but I’d rather have discovered it in a gentler way. When I arrived, under a grey sky, the paint looked brown, but later, when the sun came out, it returned to the just-green hue I’d remembered from my previous visit.

The underside blue is also suffering, having developed glossy spots where it has been in contact with the plastic. Incidentally, I transcribed the examiner’s notes, which I feel may have been misinterpreted to create the notion of a clear varnish top coat:

"Fabric covered with two coats of dope (first transparent (2nd bright blue pigmented.
Over dope is a covering of pigmented linseed oil varnish."

(My italics. The odd use of brackets is authentic.)

“Pigmented varnish” is what we would now call oil-based or enamel paint. Terminology changes. The Triplane’s underside had clear dope, tinted dope and a paint made from pigments in varnish, just as Alan Toelle’s microscopic analysis of another sample indicates.
I can find no evidence for a clear top coat. None is mentioned in connection with the “green wash”.

I attach a detail from “Closing Up”, painted in 1919 by George H Davis. While the underside of one of the D.VIIs is fanciful, their general livery is that of Jasta 18. The triplane in the foreground is clearly based on 144/17, which was then on display with D.VII 368/18 in the Agricultural Hall in Islington. I suggest these aircraft were painted, if not from life, at least from recent memory. That Tripe is green, dude! Don’t ask me why the artist left it in Iron Crosses; perhaps the customer requested it specially.

The streaks on the real 368/18 are indeed true green, a scintillatingly intense hue at its thinnest against the pale fabric. Wish I knew when they changed over from the olive green, (or if they used both shades together or in alternation), and why this pure green hasn’t suffered the browning effect. It may have been protected by the white overpaint, or perhaps it was made from a better batch of varnish. Interestingly, another of Alan’s analyses (not of Fokker varnish) mentions brown staining due to a fungus growing in the varnish. If Fokker’s paint suffered intermittently from this, it would explain much.

[Taz]

Afraid I will have to disagree with everyone on the Dr.I being olive brown. It was actually streaked olive green with some brown mixed in. A large sample of 144/17 kept out of the light at the IWM shows an olive green color. See the article by Dave Roberts in Windsock Vol 23 No 3, May/June 2007. If you want to see a really accurate representation of the factory colors, see Juanita Franzi's rendering of Dr.I 512/17 in Greg VanWyngarden's new Fokker DR.I Jagdstaffeln. It is on the inside front cover.

Taz
Terry Phillips

[Welsh Dave]

I'll have to dig that Windsock article out! I don't remember writing that the streaks were definitely and always green and brown on the same airframe, and if it read that way, I apologise.

It's possible; there were contemporary reported examples of green and blue, and brown and blue on a weathered wreck, so the range of colours may have been greater than the very few surviving samples suggest. I can't be dogmatic about it, and I'd advise others against it, too. We now know about two shades of green or perhaps brown, plus dark grey, and I'm prepared to stick to that until someone finds a sample in green and brown.

Agreed, Juanita's artwork looks very convincing, though I think I'd now like to see some dark grey added.

(Welsh) Dave Roberts.

[Welsh Dave]

Re-reading your post, Taz, I see you mean the preserved sample is borderline green/brown, which is as I intended to imply. As I said above, it looks noticeably greener on a sunny day!

I doubt if green and brown dyes or other pigments were mixed together to produce this shade; there was probably just the one dye, which changed hue with age, unless the varnish supplied all the discolouring. Odd, as aniline dyes are usually pretty stable. Perhaps that is why they eventually adopted a different green, as seen on the D.VII fabric - it was more stable.

[Taz]

Dave- Enjoyed your article and you read what I intended to say about olive green with brown overtones. Olive green is brownish anyway, just have to look at a green olive. I agree with your conclusion that Juanita Franzi's colors look about the best, but Ronny Barr's are close, too. We know the streaking darkness varied widely from aircraft to aircraft.

Timm's actual quote for the color was erdgrau, which covers a wide variety of colors in German and could vary from greenish tan (seen on contemporary German furniture fabrics) to a brownish gray (sorry, grey for the UK).

Send me an e-mail and I will send you the factory photo of the painting scene, courtesy of Dave Watts and the Fokker Heritage Trust.

Is it possible the IWM would let you scan the fabric piece from 144/17 at relatively high resolution? If so, that would go a long ways towards documenting the colors of at least one section of streaking. Plus the scans could be provided to Alan Toelle for further analysis.

Manfred Thiemeyer actually gave a talk on Dr.I streaking in Germany, but I have been unable to convince him to share his text or images. Maybe sometime in the future.

I have photographic proof that 588/17 had a normal Dr.I finish with returned light blue paint, so one more nail in the light blue undercoat theory. Also there is photographic proof that F.I 102/17's cowl was painted at the factory and never repainted. F.I 103/17's, however, was overpainted, but who knows what color, just like you said.

Let me know if you would like to write a section for my Triplane Datafile Special, coming out next year. Coauthors are always welcome. Dave Watts will do a section on the Dr.I 08/15 machine guns and Juanita will be doing color studies. Included will be Triplane paintings by J Dietz, R Smith, S Anderson, M. O'Neal, and (hopefully, have not asked him yet) R. Karr. Look forward to hearing from you.

Taz
Terry Phillips

[jumpinjan]

Dave & Terry,
Are there any specific color descriptors for the olive browns & olive greens, and browns & greens that you have observed? Any Methuen references to those colors?
Jan

[karrart]

Originally Posted by Taz

Dave Watts will do a section on the Dr.I 08/15 machine guns and Juanita will be doing color studies. Included will be Triplane paintings by J Dietz, R Smith, S Anderson, M. O'Neal, and (hopefully, have not asked him yet) R. Karr. Look forward to hearing from you.

Taz
Terry Phillips

Well shucks- like they say in the big city- why the heck not?! Bring it on!
And I'll say this thread is especially interesting. I'm following every word.
Robert Karr
OLD BIRDS STAYING ALIVE - THE AVIATION ART OF ROBERT KARR

[Taz]

Jan- Great seeing you at the Forum. I am not a Methuen guy so I do not try and match colors to that book. I believe over the last few decades the color of Dr.I representations has migrated towards a more brown tone when they should be more of a green tone. Samples left out where UV can get at them have turned brown over time, so that is understandable. Greg's book has presented a more balanced view of what the Dr.I colors actually were, in my opinion, although some of Ronny's renderings are a little brown for my taste.

What I would really like to see are actual color scans of the pieces of fabric which have not been subjected to 90 years of sunlight. Langdon Badger has done some work on fading, if I remember correctly, and the paint did not fade very rapidly at all. Whatever color they left the factory is probably pretty close to how they looked during their service life. The piece of 144/17 is probably the purest example around.

Taz
Terry Phillips

[Sreiko]

Taz- did any try to evaluate it in the spectral analyze? there is also possibility to take very fine sanding paper some 2500 grit and polish the surface. Very possible that real color would appear. Just to note that I have Methuen Handbook so I can make some reference if you have hi resolution RGB scan of the original fabric.