Much rarer than a WW2 aircraft colour photo....WW1 !

[penfold]

I also have an interest in old photography; I found this on a site elsewhere and thought I would share it here. It's a genuine colour photo, dated 1917 but with no other provenance, by a process called Autochrome, invented by the Lumiere brothers, who also invented the film projector......WW1 aircraft not being my subject....a Nieuport ???? Over to you experts....

[Mark]

Yep, definitely a Nieuport, a 17 if I'm not mistaken.

[Davec_24]

Wow, that's quite something! The colours looks quite bright and vibrant too, considering it's from 1917 or so! Thanks for sharing.

[Dave Fleming]

There is an albumm (whose link I have forgotten) that has that along with a surprisingly large number of WW1 colour shots - mostly people or buildings, the Neuport is one of the few aeroplanes - another being a Voisin IIRC.

There is also the famous series of colour photos of No 1 AFC in Palestine.

Points to note on the above photo:

(i) the colour of the tyres

(ii) Different shades of wood between the prop and the struts

[The Hooded Claw]

You sure that's not the Eduard kit?

Seriously though the process used has imparted that slightly 'otherworldliness' of photoshopped models to it.

intersting picture init.

THC

[penfold]

Autochrome Gallery is where I found it, though there are other galleries; being a French system, it was most prevalent there or in the French colonies; but it was quite widely used during WW1, giving us superb images like this one, of Indian troops of the British Army at Pas De Calais, 1916. The above picture is the only aircraft one I've seen though.....

Edited June 25, 2010 by penfold

[Nick Millman]

Very interesting to see the real khaki colour worn by the Indian troops and the French horizon blue, sometimes depicted as a darker, deeper blue.

Windsock published a few of the aircraft subjects in a series.

[Shane]

Points to note on the above photo:

(i) the colour of the tyres

(ii) Different shades of wood between the prop and the struts

Others...

(iii) Relative cleanliness of the aircraft except in the exhaust channel - and no exhaust marks behind the engine *intake* pipe

(iv) Lack of giant etched or twisted wire turnbuckles

(v) Indent of rib lines under the wing (as depicted on Roden kits for example)

(vi) Absence of 10mm thick rib tapes over rib stitching using 1/4" (6mm) rope

;-)

Shane

[turnerdad]

Amazing, never even considered colour "photography" existed then, thanks so much for sharing that image, slightly blown away actually.

[Dave Fleming]

Amazing, never even considered colour \"photography\" existed then, thanks so much for sharing that image, slightly blown away actually.

Have a look at these then!

http://tinyurl.com/33c2e46

A different photographic process I beleive, but just as fasinating!

Edited June 25, 2010 by Dave Fleming