Markings of Voss' famous opponents

Ahnab · 16 December 2008, 03:38 AM

Hi all! First off, its great to be part of the Aerodrome family. I'm a bit of an amateur enthusiast and hope to find troves of info here!

I'm currently working on a short animation in my spare time about

Werner Voss' famous last stand against 56 Squadron, and was wondering if anyone could provide me with some info regarding any markings/emblems on the SE5's of McCudden, Rhys Davids, Mayberry and Muspratt. I've finished modeling Voss, his Dr. I and the SE5's, now have to get down to texturing and painting them.

I'd appreciate/all help you guys can throw my way. Thanx!

dglewwe · 16 December 2008, 04:03 AM

check out:

YouTube - Dogfights -The First Dogfighters (2 of 5)

YouTube - Doghfights - First Dogfighters (3 of 5)

i can't speak authoritatively on the veracity of the markings, but it's certainly fun to watch!

Ahnab · 16 December 2008, 04:58 AM

Thanx dglewwe, but I wanted to be a bit more specific. For example, I found a pic on Wikipedia of McCudden's SE5 that had a giant white G painted inside a broad vertical bar just aft of the roundel on the fuselage. The reason I want to be so specific and exact is because I want to be as historically accurate as possible, barring the whole Yellow/Green cowling debate of Voss' Fokker. Speaking of which, I'm kinda inclined to make it chrome yellow, the Willy Kaiser on its front really stands out on it!

ONEALM · 16 December 2008, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Thanx dglewwe, but I wanted to be a bit more specific. For example, I found a pic on Wikipedia of McCudden's SE5 that had a giant white G painted inside a broad vertical bar just aft of the roundel on the fuselage.

The unit marking was not changed to the white band until after the Voss incident. You can go with the prior insignia of the colored dumb-bell, but you should not use the white band if you are depicting the 23 September event.

Individual markings have probably been covered elsewhere on the forum - McCudden's "G", Rhys-David's "I", etc.

jastaflieger · 16 December 2008, 08:29 AM

se5: you should refer to the book High in the Empty Sky by Alex Revell, his authoritative and definitive history of 56 sqdn, the markings at the time of the Voss fight were acutally a dumbell-like marking, different colors for the different flights.

Tripe cowling: actually Voss's markings were not a caricature of the Kaiser, but instead were based on kites from his family's time in China.
Jim

tcrean7828 · 16 December 2008, 05:53 PM

Mate,
Welcome to the flagship of the Aerodrome - where the greatest minds on the planet get together and talk about their favorite subject - WW1.

ttfn

tcrean7828

tom

P.S.

Werner Voss fan here.

I think this bit of info will help: Drop me a PM for some more info.

- Cronyn was in SE5 A4563, coded “L”, Maybery was in SE5a B1, coded “K”, McCudden was in SE5a B4863, coded "G", Rhys Davids was in SE5a B525, coded "I", Bowman was in SE5a, (B2) coded "M", Muspratt was in SE5a, (A8944) coded "H", Hoidge was in SE5a (B506), coded "J", Young was in (B527), Jeffs was in (B524), Gardiner was in (B508), Taylor was in (A8906)

Ahnab · 16 December 2008, 09:52 PM

Thanx for all your input guys, REALLY appreciate it. I'm not much of a WW1 nut, thus my ignorance regarding such details.

jastaflieger, are there any websites or galleries which have pictures of SE5's with these dumbell-like markings? I cant find the book you recommended anywhere, so I'd appreciate any alternatives you might be able to suggest.

tcrean7828, thanx a million for providing the serial numbers as well, I had kinda forgotten about them!

. I'll definitely be PM-ing and bugging you for more info as I go along my short film.

The purpose for my making this short film on Voss' fight is that, quite frankly, it's quite a sad story which vividly showcases the duality, contrasts and ultimate finality of war. I sincerely hope to do justice to his memory. I've decided not to show Lt. Mackenhoff's attempt to help Voss, in order to fully portray how alone he was against 56 Squadron, and how superbly he flew against such odds.

Btw, I wanted to post some pictures of my work so far for you guys to look at and comment on, will be doing that soon!

jastaflieger · 17 December 2008, 04:14 AM

If you go to the art gallery on this website, find Steve Anderson's art gallery and look at Aces High, which will show you the dumbell marking, i will have to find the book and look up the colors for the different flights, but will get that to you soon, by the way, i recommend the art gallery for an hour or two, very nice stuff there to fire one's imagination!

Ahnab · 17 December 2008, 04:43 AM

Thanx jastaflieger, the Aces High pic really solved my problem regarding what the dumbell-like thingy was. Btw, just what the heck is it anyway? Does it represent anything or was it just a random design? Thanx for taking time out to help me out, really appreciate it.

I actually spent 3 whole days going through the gallery before coming aboard, and its simply breathtaking! Some of the work here is mind-blowing! Kudos to everyone here for contributing such beautiful pieces, they're a true source of inspiration!

ONEALM · 17 December 2008, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Thanx jastaflieger, the Aces High pic really solved my problem regarding what the dumbell-like thingy was. Btw, just what the heck is it anyway? Does it represent anything or was it just a random design?

It was the squadron marking before the adoption of the white band.