Eduard Fokker Dr.1 Weekend edition colour question

[Tony Davis]

I've been looking to convert the recommended colours to either Vallejo or Tamiya paints. The recommended Gunze colour red, H3, is listed as a gloss paint.  Am I reading that correctly, would there have been a gloss finish on the aircraft?

 

Thanks

[Black Knight]

yes, but it may look wrong on a model, a semi-gloss/semi-matt/silk finish might look better

[Tony Davis]

Thanks Black Knight.

[RC Boater Bill]

Tony,

 

Aircraft with a doped fabric covering (most WW1 planes) would have a satin or semi gloss finish at best. I have built a lot (50+) WW1 kits over the last 20 years- I find that a satin clear coat looks about right. ( I am currently using Vallejo’s satin clear.).   

 

Which kit/scale are you asking about? There have been multiple  releases of both the 1/72 and 1/48 scale kits in WE boxes, with different aircraft featured.

 

The current 1/72 WE version features Raben’s red and white plane, while the 1/48 version features either Raben’s plane  again or MvR’s all red plane. ( Not sure which is a later release.)

 

I built the latest 1/72 Weekend edition recently—  I used Tamiya X-7 red, in part because all the shops around here are sold out of XF-7 flat red.  (It is very close to the H-3 red you asked about.) I found the gloss to be harder to work with- it took longer to cure than the flat I’m used to using.   But in the end, it didn’t matter, as I had to gloss coat the model either way before adding the decals.  (1 coat over the gloss red, vs. 2 for the flat.) After decalling, I used a satin clear coat.  I put a lighter coat of the clear on the cowling, so it has a slightly different texture/sheen than the doped fabric areas.

 

I primed my model with white stynlrez primer, then used Tamiya XF-2 flat white for the tail.  I masked the top wing for the areas under the markings, and then airbrushed two coats of the red. I then removed the masks, and airbrushed a final coat of red-  that gave me the less intense red under the markings. (I’m quite happy with how it turned out!)

 

Hope this helps....

 

-Bill

 

 

 

Edited February 21, 2021 by RC Boater Bill
Fixed old typos, made new ones

[RC Boater Bill]

Here’s a link to more photos in “Ready for Inspection”....

 

 

[Tony Davis]

Thanks Bill, sorry I didn't acknowledge your posts earlier, for some reason I didn't receive any notifications.

 

Anyway, the models look great, and the info is really useful, thanks