French service Sopwith Triplane

[AMStreet]

I have just got hold of an old Revell Sopwith Triplane solely for the transfer on the fin. The example I have is in much better condition than the ones currently available so I want to use it. After looking at a number of planes I have decided to do one in French service.

The question is, are the national markings painted with British standard paints or were they remarked by the French? The reason I ask is due to the marked difference in the two sets of colours, the blue in particular being markedly different.

Any thoughts would be welcome.

[Jure Miljevic]

Hi, AMStreet

There is a photo in Windsock's Sopwith Triplane publication, depicting one of the French Triplanes pre-delivery in Brooklands. As expected she carries French cocardes and rudder stripes in reverse order. According to the same publication Cocarde Rouge is a match or at least close to Methuen 10D8 and 10C8 and Cocarde Bleu is close to 22D4, 23D4 or 23C8. Cheers

Jure

[JackG]

I believe the respective countries used paint colours that would match those of their national flags - so maybe the question to begin with is whether their flags share the same blues and reds?

Roundel decals can be found in a variety of shades, the lighter ones could possibly represent weathered insignia, that is faded, and some may have taken into consideration scale effect?. Note too, that France began to add aluminum to their fabric paints after noticing aluminum overall finishes appeared to be more resilient - possibly they added this to their roundel colours resulting in a marked change?

regards,

Jack

Edited July 13, 2016 by JackG

[AMStreet]

I had forgotten about the reversed rudder stripes.

To me that seems to indicate that the markings were done by Sopwith using British standard colours. The reason being that they may have thought "The roundels are the reverse of ours so the rudder stripes will be as well."

Thanks for all the thoughts.