Albatros Engine Bay colour

[FZ6]

I have a 1:32 Roden Albatros  D.I and in their painting instructions, Roden advise you to paint the lower half of the engine bay natural wood which I'm happy to do. 

However.  When I was working on my WNW  Albatros D.Va,  I painted the lower half of the engine bay green as per the instructions.

 

Now I know they are different variants but is there a chance that the Engine bay on the D.I could have been painted green as well? Paining makes sense to me as it would protect the wood from oil leaks etc and I just wanted to get other people's thoughts on the matter.

 

Thanks in advance,

Mark

[Jure Miljevic]

Hi, Mark

For what it is worth ... On available photos engine bay's fuselage frames of early Albatri look like (possibly varnished) natural wood to me and I do not think they had been any less exposed to oil, gasoline and other damaging side effects of working engine than panels. Also, I doubt that most of 1916 front line planes lasted long enough for wooden engine bay parts to deteriorate to dangerous degree. A bit of speculation on my part, but somebody with more thorough knowledge will probably post his (or her) opinion soon. Cheers

Jure