FTS Projects

AchimEngels · 6 April 2006, 02:53 PM

This is what they most probably have done back then.

Most of you may know that I do not agree with the way it is depicted in most publications.

There are only two colours involved. One is the under surface pale blue and the upper surface olive green.

Both colours are applied wet in wet.

I use ordinary oil paint.

First you have to apply the undersurface colour in a streaky manner. It looks like this one then:

Then you apply the olive green in the same way.

This leaves you with a very simply done, and light weight multi colour camouflage scheme.

The whole process does not take longer than 10 minutes and does not take longer than half an hour to dry so that you can handle it.

The next step is to apply the serial numbers and then to apply a final protection coat of lineseed varnish on top of it.

Not a big deal.

Enjoy!

Achim

AchimEngels · 6 April 2006, 03:06 PM

Just a quick note:

before some of you start a discussion here about my choice of doing it this way, please consider going through this earlier thread. It explains my point of view in more detail.

Fokker Streaky Camouflage Fabric - Duration Test

Cheers!

Achim

jumpinjan · 6 April 2006, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AchimEngels

Both colours are applied wet in wet.

The US refinishing industry's terminology, refers to the application as "Wet-on-Wet" and it's usually a spray application. If its brushed, the base & topcoats will blend together and contaminate the top color. So, I assume the paints are both unthinned & applied directly out of the can with a high viscosity? How are the intermediate shades created then? Dry brushed somehow?

AchimEngels · 6 April 2006, 09:10 PM

Hmmmmm.

All I do is to take the brush in the hand and paint that thing.

No need to think that complicated all the time.

Yes, the oil paint comes right of the can just as we see in Fokker photographs. Nothing is thinned. I have not tried it before, but if you thinn it you will never reach this effect.

If you ask how this is done, you obviously never painted anything by hand.

All I can recoment here is to take that brush and try it your self.

This is no science from the desk. Just a pretty simple thing

.

Cheers!

jumpinjan · 7 April 2006, 07:35 AM

Achim,
I'm not sure why you insist to say it's applied wet on wet, when you don't. You alternate the colors.
To me its confusing, sorry

EricGoedkoop · 7 April 2006, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AchimEngels

All I do is to take the brush in the hand and paint that thing.

There you have it and there you go.

Well said, Achim.

rabu · 7 April 2006, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AchimEngels

Hmmmmm.

All I do is to take the brush in the hand and paint that thing.

No need to think that complicated all the time.

Yes, the oil paint comes right of the can just as we see in Fokker photographs. Nothing is thinned. I have not tried it before, but if you thinn it you will never reach this effect.

If you ask how this is done, you obviously never painted anything by hand.

All I can recoment here is to take that brush and try it your self.

This is no science from the desk. Just a pretty simple thing

.

Cheers!

Achim: I've finally discovered an area where you are out of your element.

I just dropped by here and started reading up on the fascinating progress on your project, then I got to this section on painting and was horrified to see that you make no mention of any type of priming before painting the linen.
I'm an artist and designer and have been painting in oils for about 40 years. Artists for hundreds of years have known about the danger of applying oil paints to bare "canvas" or linen... it will eventually rot and crack and crumble.

The best proceedure is a very thin coat of size, rabbit skin glue, being the very best choice, which is applied only enough to saturate the fabric, not to form a coating.
After drying, the back side is tanned with a a coating of formaldehyde to help prevent moisture absorption.
After drying, the linen can then be painted with your oil paints.. If you really want to do the very best job, get artists permanent oil colors, instead of using house paint type oil, or alkyd paints, which are not light fast and will fade with time and loose adhesion, but the main thing is to do the proper sizing first.

After sizing, artists canvas gets a ground coat of white lead oil first, which then has to dry for several months before doing the actual painting, but in your case it wouldn't be necessary. After all the work you have put into everything else, you might as well do this right. If you have any question about any of this, look up any books by Frank Mayer on art conservation, or his excellent book, "The Artist's Handbook of Materials & Techniques." He's known as the undisputed authority on all this.

I suspect that back in WWI they weren't too worried about longevity, with the prospect of being shot down and killed in less then a few days for most of the flyers, but with your restoration project you undoubtadly want the very best quality and something that will last for years to come.... I see that attitude in everything else you are doing.

All the best,

AchimEngels · 7 April 2006, 12:15 PM

Hello Rabu!

I am not sure what you are talking about.

This is not natural untreated linen, but it is "doped" four to five times with cellulose acetate before any paint is applied.

Is this really something I should have mentioned precisely before?

This is not a painting. This is an aeroplane. The fabric is absutely soaked and shrunk with cellulose acetate.

Jumpinjan,

I say wet in wet, because I aply the first coat and the next one subsequently while the other one still is wet. For that reason I say "wet" in "wet".

And yes, these colour mix up as you can see. It provides a very nice multi colour paint scheme with the original "brown " antural linen shining through to ptovid a third base colour.

Cheers!

Achim.