Allan, please distribute this to the subscribers list, thanks!
To: All interested in German WW I aircraft camouflage.
There is a topic that still confuses me, and perhaps there is someone
out there who can shed some light on it. That subject is early
Albatros (D.I to early D.III's) fighters upper surface wing colors.
I'm familiar with the later Mauve/Dark Green combinations, but on the
earlier schemes there appears to be much conflicting information.
The various Greens used seem to have been somewhat well documented,
however, what colors are the ones refered to as "Dark Reddish Brown",
and "Chestnut Brown", among others. Windsock Datafiles on the D.II,
D.III, and the Albatros Fighters Datafile Special all contain Ray
Rimells color profiles of some of these early machines. I interpret the
color painted on these profiles as a "Dark Reddish Brown". However, the
Metheun references given, when looked up, show something much lighter,
like a "Chestnut Brown", lighter and tending slightly toward the orange
range. I've seen reference to both color names in various publications,
But which is it? Or, Maybe both were used?, If both were used then
which was more common?
Roland C.II's and D.II's were known to use a "Chestnut brown" shade -
similiar to "Humbrol #62" or so in conjunction with Greens. Rumpler two
seaters were known to use in some cases "Dark Reddish Brown" colors.
But what about the Albatros fighters? And why the inconsistant
references within the same publication(s)? What can our group come up
with to help solve this mystery?
Steve Hustad