WWI Air Wargaming
in Miniature
Part II

Modeling and Painting the Miniatures

Germany: colors and markings

by Bill Rutherford

Colors

German aircraft, as did France's, went through three general phases in the evolution of their coloration, though there was more overlap and lack of clarity in that evolution.

During the 1914 - 1915 period, aircraft had the natural look, with clear-doped fabric surfaces, varnished wood, and unpainted metal areas. Wood areas (chiefly fuselages) were sometimes also red-stained prior to varnish application. Struts and metal areas might also appear in light gray.

During 1915, aircraft began to appear, as above, but with white, sky blue, and sky gray flying surfaces, the fuselages also sometimes being so colored. By mid-1916, proper camouflage began to appear, initially consisting of dark green and red- brown bands on the topsides of the flying surfaces. Flying surface undersides and landing gear struts were generally light blue, while the fuselage could be clear-doped (if fabric) or varnished (if wood - and the wood might itself be red-stained). Vertical tail units appeared clear-doped or in unit or personal colors. Metal areas and other struts were often light gray or gray-green.

In April 1917 a directive was passed down mandating that red-brown was to be replaced by lilac, to decrease the likelihood of camouflaged aircraft being mistaken for Allied types. The replacement of red-brown seems to have been pretty complete, though examples continued to fly in the older colors. Aircraft - especially the C types - also appeared throughout the latter part of the war with their fuselages camouflaged in the prevailing colors, though this was by no means universal.

By 1918, lozenge-printed fabric, in both four and five colored versions, became commonplace on German aircraft of all types. See Gray and Stair, Fokker Fighters of World War I, or any of the late-war German datafiles for Ian Stair's excellent diagrams of the patterns, complete with color key. I note the colors used in the color chart but refuse to try an illustration! Each version came in two color schemes, one for upper surfaces and the other, lighter, scheme, for lower surfaces.

In addition to Gray's and Stair's drawings, I referred to the following 1/72nd scale decal sheets: Almark (4 sheets, A31 – A34, containing top and bottom 4 and 5 color patterns); Pegasus (2 sheets, containing top and bottom 5-color lozenge patterns); and Aeromaster (4 sheets, 72-102 – 72-105, containing top and bottom 4 and 5 color patterns). All three sets were extensively researched, developed from original fabric samples, and come with detailed notes on how the fabrics were applied to the original aircraft. As none of the sheets run over about $7.00 in cost, they're quite worthwhile as inexpensive references for the would-be lozenge painter. I found it interesting that, though the patterns were consistent across the various decal sheets, the colors didn't match.

For example, ochre was recognizably ochre from sheet to sheet, but the specific shade/tone varied widely. Somehow I expected this.

Lozenge-printed fabric was used, in part, to reduce the weight of the aircraft and was applied at the factory in lieu of camouflage painting. Depending on the manufacturer, fuselages and tails also appeared in lozenge-printed fabric. struts remained light gray or gray-green, and light blue, or could be wrapped in the new fabric. Metal areas could be painted to match the fabric pattern or could appear in gray green, olive green, or any of a number of other subdued colors.

Markings

German aircraft generally carried their national markings in eight positions - the standard six, plus both sides of the rudder. Aircraft in service before March 1918 carried the cross patée (illustration C1, better known as the iron cross), either on a white bandage or with a white outline, though the background was sometimes omitted when the aircraft color was close enough to white to make it unnecessary. In March 1918, orders were issued to replace the cross patée with a Greek cross (AKA the Balkan cross) in all positions. Aircraft already in the field had their markings modified to a thick sort of Greek cross (illustration C2), while aircraft not yet in service had a thinner Greek cross (illustration C3) applied. Of course, there were a wide variety of exceptions, with skinny crosses applied to old aircraft and fat ones applied to new. A few aircraft even managed to retain their cross patées… Serial numbers appeared, in black, on fuselage or vertical tail sides, the specific location depending on the manufacturer.

Unit and personal markings varied considerably, depending on the role of the aircraft and the time period in which it served. Generally speaking, as the war wore on, markings got more elaborate (some might say extreme). At one end of the spectrum, the C class workhorses - recon, spotter, tactical bomber aircraft - carried fairly restrained markings - a pair of eyes or a favored name in a contrasting color on the fuselage was as elaborate as many of them got.

At the other end of the spectrum were the D class fighters - the romantic heroes of the air service. Fighter aircraft began the war with almost no personal or unit markings, but their crew colored their mounts in schemes of ever-increasing complexity as 1916 turned into 1917 and 1917, into 1918. Markings ranged from stripes and names on the fuselage to entirely repainted fuselages, and sometimes wings, in bright colors, complete with elaborate squadron emblems and personal markings. A cursory examination of virtually any book on WW I will reveal photos of the knights of the Flying Circus… There was a method to this madness - with the vastly expanded number of squadrons fielded in 1916 - 1917, some means was necessary to tell them apart in the air. Elaborate, easily recognizable squadron markings were the answer.

Less known were the ground-attack aircraft of the Schachtstaffelen. Spending much of their time just above the trenches, they required easily recognizable and unambiguous markings to ensure that friendly aircraft or ground troops didn't try to shoot them down. Personal marking were subdued, but squadron markings got quite elaborate, with stripes, symbols, and colorfully repainted airframe parts being reasonably common.

Notes

There were, of course, exceptions - lots of them. So many, in fact, that the above guidelines can be taken at only the most basic level. Ignoring for the moment the vagaries of personal markings, some systematic exceptions - due, generally, to various manufacturers' painting habits - appear below.

German naval aircraft

Naval aircraft operating over water carried a completely different set of colors than their army counterparts. Flying surface undersides were clear-doped. The fuselage undersides seem to have been a light gray, while the rest of the fuselage, float sides and bottom, and struts, were blue gray.

Upper flying surfaces, float tops, and the rear fuselage deck appeared in either the brown or the blue three-color lozenge pattern (illustration H). Naval aircraft don't seem to have carried many personal markings, but unit markings could involve stripes, numbers, and letters, in black or white, on the fuselage.

GothasThe Gotha G series bombers appeared in several colorations that largely mirrored those schemes found on the other aircraft types. The first G.II bombers appeared in clear-doped fabric, varnished wood, and light gray metal areas (including the engine nacelles) and struts.

When the G.III appeared in late 1916, it carried sky blue overall camouflage, struts and metal areas colored as before, though engine nacelles may've been painted as well. This scheme remained in use for the rest of the war. A number of G.IIIs also appeared with dark green covering all upper and side surfaces, while the under surfaces remained clear-doped (they may've been sky blue…). Struts and metal areas remained in light gray, though engine nacelles may have been painted dark green.

Camouflage changed again when the G.V model was introduced. Most of these were painted as night bombers, with a painted irregular five-color lozenge pattern (large lozenges: 5" - 7" across) covering the entire plane. Engine nacelles and struts seem to have been painted dark green. In late 1917, Gotha introduced lozenge-patterned fabric in night bomber colors to replace the hand-painted lozenge pattern. I've included suggested lozenge colors for those wanting to try their hand at a lozenge pattern, but these are speculative at best, being based on study of old fabric patches and many black and white photographs.

LVG produced a number of Gotha G.IVs under license. The first ones built wore day camouflage - as per the Gotha-built aircraft, except that light gray may have been used instead of sky blue. Later aircraft had fabric surfaces painted in a dark four-color hexagon pattern similar to that used by AEG (for details, see AEG G.IV, Windsock Datafile 51, by P. M. Grosz). The final LVG scheme had the entire airframe - top and bottom - colored dark blue, with over-sprayed bands of dark mauve.

National markings were carried in the normal eight positions. Uncamouflaged aircraft had white backgrounds for the crosses and sky camouflaged aircraft had no backgrounds at all. Night-camouflaged aircraft had normal white cross outlines. Unit and personal markings were limited-to-nonexistent.

I recommend the reader to Gotha!, which appears in the bibliography, for a proper study of Gotha colors and marking.

Recon and Tactical Aircraft

a. In early 1916, some Albatros C types in the overall sky gray scheme appeared with light gray upper surfaces - fuselage decking as well as flying surfaces.

b. Roland C.IIs initially appeared in sky blue overall, including all struts. In 1916, the dark green and red-brown (later lilac) camouflage was applied to the upper sides of their flying surfaces, then to all of their upper surfaces, including the inter-wing struts (landing gear struts were light blue). Rolands sometimes carried large numbers on their fuselages, as well as stripes, for identification.

c. When camouflage came into use, Rumpler C types occasionally displayed, in addition to the normal two-color upper surface camouflage, a third color, lilac. When red-brown was replaced, as lilac was already present in the scheme, the replacement color was light green.

d. White rudders seemed relatively standard on late model LVGs, e.g., the C.VI, circa late 1917/early 1918. Many had their varnished wooden fuselages over-sprayed with irregular patches of a darker color - probably dark green, though dark brown is possible as well.

e. Hanover CL.IIIs built under contract by Roland in 1918 appeared, at least at first, in light blue overall, with light gray struts and metal areas. Unit markings were conspicuous on these aircraft.

f. Halberstadt CL.IIs were conspicuous in the application of "scumble" to their fuselages. This consisted of several shades of brown and green stippled onto the fuselage with either a paint-soaked sponge or with a spray-gun. In miniatures terms, this would likely be accomplished by dry-brushing and dabbing several different shades of green and brown over a varnished wood base coat. The overall effect was reasonably smooth looking, so go for consistency!

g. Some Halberstadt CL.IVs had their fuselages sprayed in lilac, light green, ochre, and Prussian blue bands (in order, from front to rear). They also had white rudders.

h. Junkers J.Is appeared in several schemes unique to the type. The majority of J.Is seem to have had dark green and lilac applied in irregular patches to upper and side surfaces, with sky blue or white applied to the undersides. Struts were all in dark green. Other aircraft had five-color lozenge-pattern fabric on the fabric areas, with metal areas (armored fuselage bathtub, wings, etc.) camouflaged as above or left in dark green. Markings were generally restrained, though rudders sometimes appeared all-white with the Greek cross applied directly without white outline. As an aside, when weathering one of these beasts, remember that they were built largely of metal, with duralumin wing surfaces and an armored forward fuselage - you might see, for a change, just a bit of bare metal showing on a battle-worn example!

Scout aircraft

a. A few Fokker E.III monoplanes in naval service appear to have been aluminum-doped overall. Several in army service were doped medium gray overall.

b. The metal areas on many early war Pfalz monoplanes were painted gloss black, along with wing edges and rib tapes.

c. Halberstadt scout colors and markings were generally unremarkable,carrying both the first and second camouflage styles (mono-color andbrown/green) during their service. When carrying banded camouflage, the bands sometimes seem to have run lengthwise from wingtip to wingtip, instead of chordwise as was generally common. Personal markings were rare.

d. Roland D.I/D.II scouts appeared in camouflage quite similar to that of the Roland C.II. Pfalz-built Roland scouts also appeared with clear-doped flying surfaces and silver gray fuselage and struts, the metal areas being left unpainted.

e. Some camouflaged Albatros scouts apparently used light yellow as an under surface color in lieu of light blue.

f. Pfalz D.III scouts appeared in silver gray overall. Camouflage, when applied, seems to have been applied similarly to that on the Roland D.I/D.II scouts except that the Pfalz undersides were sometimes left in silver gray (instead of light blue). When lozenge-pattern fabric came into use, Pfalz scouts (D.III and D.XII) often carried this on all flying surfaces.

g Some Pfalz D.XIIs had their upper flying surfaces repainted in bands of dark green and dark brown. Further, fuselages sometimes were camouflaged with a banded scheme involving lilac, medium gray, dark green, light green, purple (darker than lilac, but the specific color is uncertain), and medium gray, running from nose to stern, with light blue under surfaces.

h. The Fokker Dr.I triplane was painted in a style unto itself. The undersides were painted turquoise while the upper surfaces were dry-brushed (in real life!), at an angle, with olive green, to give a streaky effect over the underlying clear-doped fabric surface. Struts were normally olive green, though occasionally they appeared in turquoise. The preproduction Dr.Is delivered for evaluation (to Voss, von Richthofen, etc.) also seem to have had turquoise as a base color on the upper surfaces, instead of clear-doped fabric. Metal panels appear to have been olive green.

i. Early Fokker D.VIIs' fuselages were painted in the same manner as the Dr.Is mentioned above - olive green over clear-doped fabric, with four color lozenge-patterned fabric on all flying surfaces. Metal panels generally seem to've been olive green, while struts might be either that color or medium gray.

j. Fokker E.V/D.VIII scouts were covered with lozenge-patterned fabric overall, with olive green metal panels and struts. Some D.VIIIs had their upper main wing surfaces repainted in olive green. Personal markings remained relatively restrained.

k. The Junkers D.I bears mentioning even though it missed out on the war simply because it's a neat airplane. Upper surfaces were painted in irregular patches of lilac and medium green, while the undersides were light blue. The rudder was white overall and struts were dark green. Little/no personal or unit markings were carried.

l. SSW D.III/D.IVs carried normal lozenge-patterned fabric flying surfaces, while the wooden fuselage and fixed tail plane surfaces were all red-stained and varnished. Inter-plane struts were painted to match the fabric pattern. Very extensive unit markings were carried by these scouts.

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