[WWI] Eduard's new Spad

[Helen and Chris]

Wow - there's a man who knows his stuff!  Thank you for sharing that, Mark.

Chris.


  I'm here.  I had done a long discussion on pigments a while back.  It would be in the archives of the list.

  It was mostly speculation, but did have the information on what pigments were commonly available then.  For blue colors, the most likely would have been French Ultramarine (invented by some French entrepreneurs to replace ground and purified lapis lazuli -- which was very expensive), Prussian Blue (sometimes called Chinese Blue -- the first synthetic pigment -- made by a chemist looking for something else), or Indigo Lake (a "Lake' pigment is a dye precipitated on chalk -- somewhat 'fugitive' as artists say -- but cheap).  There were some cobalt blues, too, such as Cerulean, but these were and still are expensive.

  For reds, the most probable were Alizarin (Madder Lake, Scarlet Lake -- fugitive but cheap), Carmine (a lake from Spanish Fly beetles), and the most probable, Vermilion (mercuric sulfide, purified cinnabar -- virtually unobtainable, now, because no one wants to make such a toxic material in bulk, but a unique and brilliant fire red).  The pigment analyzed on fabric from Richtofen's Dr.I 425/17 was vermilion mixed with some lampblack (or the lampblack was soot from the engine that worked its way into the paint).  There were also less 'red' reds, like the ochers -- iron oxides -- which included Indian Red and Venetian Red -- very similar chestnut-type colors.

  Yellows were probably Lead Antimonates and Chromates (very toxic) or ochre.  Whites were most likely Lead based, though there were some Zinc Oxide (some what translucent) and Titanium Dioxide (now, very cheap; then, from natural mines in Scandinavia).  Greens were either Chromium Oxide (Oxid de Chrome -- very olive in tone -- a non-toxic chromium compound), Terre Verte (just what the name says -- green earth -- bluish to pure green, but very poor covering power), or Paris Green (copper arsenate -- used as a pesticide, too).  There is also a green form of the Prussian Blue, but I'm not sure if that is a more recent development.  Another one popular with artists for leaf greens was Sap Green -- another laked pigment made from buckberries.  Most olive greens and some of the brighter greens were simply from mixing -- yellows plus black for olive, yellow plus black plus red for olive drab tones, yellow plus blue for brighter greens.

  Black pigments were mostly carbon -- either things like lampblack, from oil lamp type soot, or Ivory, Bone, or Vine Black from calcining organic matter similar to charcoal making.  There were also iron blacks (Mars Black) which are a form of iron oxide similar to the mineral hematite.

  Browns were often based on Sienna or Umber (Iron Oxides), or else things that you don't want to play with like peat or very organic soil and bitumen/tars.

  Mark Shannon
  shingend at ix.netcom.com



    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: 
    To: World War I Modeling Mailing List
    Sent: 10/2/2008 12:10:19 PM 
    Subject: Re: [WWI] Eduard's new Spad


    Actually, I read somewhere, (probably in an old Windsock) that the British chose their blue pigment mix, with resistance to sun fading in mind. The French mixed aluminium powder with their paints beginning around 1917, to protect the fabric from UV decay, and the paints didn't fade as much either. BTW , that 'dusty' blue is called 'French Blue' to this day.
    ----- Original Message -----
    From: "Diego Fernetti" <dfernet0 at rosario.gov.ar>
    To: "World War I Modeling Mailing List" <wwi at wwi-models.org>
    Sent: Thursday, October 2, 2008 10:02:11 AM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central
    Subject: Re: [WWI] Eduard's new Spad

    > Here's a contemporary colour photo taken by the Lumiere's of a Neiuport,
    > showing the blue as quite dark, almost British in its shade.
    > http://www.worldwaronecolorphotos.com/html/gallica_81-2_h_14.html

    Careful! The Lumiére colours relied much upon the pi! gment composition of the
    plates, and perhaps the colours you see aren't the exact same ones you may
    have seen on the real object.

    > I wonder why the British colours didn't fade?

    Because the Brits hardly have any sun.
    Seriously, the blue pigments can vary a lot (where's our man Shannon?) and
    probably the fading rate of each may have varied a lot.
    Speaking of... have you guys read that article on windsock on the theory of
    the pigmentation of German aircraft camouflage?
    D.

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