I am building the Wingnuts Albatros D. V. of Otto Kissenberth, Jasta 16b and it occurred to me that the wood and metal would look quite different when painted black. Therefore I first painted the wood the usual way with oils and when dry built up thin layers of paint till it looked black but some of the wood faintly showed thru.
I'm not sure this is accurate depiction of how the paint would look in the field but I have enjoyed the process. What do you think?

To carry this on you might want to think about showing some wear and repair on the wings. A couple of patched bullet holes and such.

You might want to put a few scuf marks where those pesky left-handed Untergefrieters would kick the fuselage. The pilots and ground crew would be climbing around trying to get the pilot situated and belted in.

I think it is a good idea to try this approach. Pay special attention to where the paint would naturally wear, and where the oil and fuel would react to the paint. Looks good.

I like it Thomas , not something you really don't see others doing .

I do agree with Stephen and Carl , there suggestions are great and would really add to your method even more giving it a more realistic apperance .
The pre-shading on the wings is also very well done


Looking forward to your next up-date .

Are you part of the WNW GB build ? If not you should sign up and join us Be great to have you on !

Yes something I tried to get with my DVa build but got the blue a little heavy.

One little note though before you get too far..the wingroots are wood and part of the fuselage and should be black too not camo..just upto the first rib right after the rigging point.

Sctratches scrapes and oil..all lift off paint....very fine sandin with a scourere might do it..or if you dare a little thinners and a cotton bud used very very carefully

Nice approach though. good looking build

Keith

Personally I am not convinced that it looks right - it depends on what you are trying to depict - are you going to show a sloppy paintjob, then I think its fine, but for wear and abuse its not looking right.

I am not that much into WW1 aircrafts to say how the paint would react when applied to wood, would it fade, flake of, be scratched or eaten/burnt away by oilspill and exhaust heat ?

One way to approach a worn painted wood is using waterbased hairspray - apply the wood colors like you have done it - seal it solid with lacquer or future, apply a coat of hairspray and when dry apply the finishing color.

With a damp brush you can now start to work your way around the edges or areas with traffic - the damp brush will dissolve the hairspray and remove the finishing color leaving the woodfinish.

You can see this method in action here http://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/151518&page=1 which allso incluedes a link to a video.

Hope it helps/Jan

Hmmm.. I think I would disagree with having too much wear on these aircraft. Most did not last long enough to show much wear. New planes were coming out very often and the ones not shot down would have been passed to training units very quickly.

Just my opinion.

Thanks for all the opinions. Seems like this particular plane did not last too long and probably wouldn't have been too worn out after all. Oh well, it was a fun project anyway Here is a photo of OttoKissenberth whose plan I was modeling.

I say , keep going the way you are with the effect . It is an interesting method

Oh theres plenty of photographic evidence to show these planes often got very tatty very quickly, paint quality and finish especially if field applied over oil soaked wood & metal surfaces varied greatly. Even factory applied dope soon flaked of canvas, there numerous shots showing that.

One thing though, you chose to model a very recognisable and popular choice, quite understandably too, its a very striking A/c