'Fancy Fokkers and Pink Pups'

[StephenLawson]

Greetings all:

I've had an offline inquiry as to whether I agree with Mr. Tullis's renderings of the Dr.I profiles that are being presented. *I am preparing a thread on that subject but with all I'm doing right now it will be late January before I can present it. *For now suffice it to say, his name is on these and they are his interpretations. *I find them interesting.

Greetings all:

To respond to some questions posed to me on Mr. Tullis' article on Fok. Dr.I profiles titled 'Fancy Fokkers' from Model Aircraft Monthly Vol.1 #12 Pp.12-13. *Since this is the modelers corner of the 'drome' and as such colours are a concern. I would like to quote an old hard line historian and invite anyone, even those who scoff at our musings to participate. Lets be nice folks.

"Some Notes on Historical writing and *the Interpretation of Photographs...The narrow line between fact and fiction: note I said 'fact.' *Facts, true facts are hard to come by. *What is 'fact' to one participant is imagination to another. Too often over the years *I have run into differing accounts or views of the same event or incident--yet each source thinks his was the true word--the 'facts.' * Lacking third party info it is impossible to select the one which reflects more closely the true sequence of events. As one's stature increases through his (or her) writings, one must be more careful in what they say and write, for the uninformed begin to accept without question everything that individual presents. *

With so many forums now available to the budding 'historian', all we need do is hack out a large number of articles, drop a few names such as....etc, as sources and in no time at all one has the 'mantle of expert' or 'historian' snuggly about their shoulders. Word merchants are a dime a hundred. Any newspaper reporter could be termed an expert or historian. *They seem to have the uncanny knack for writing about anything under the sun, with no real knowledge of or interest in, what thet are writing about. *Once written about the subject is forgotten--matches today, dogs tomorrow, Aunt Ninny the next, and on and on. They are word merchants--hacks-- call them what you will. Most of the guys one sees in print fall into this category.

To bring all this to and end, let me say that if you want to *write history, then stick to that which is reliably known to be true or factual. *Lacking good reliable source material, if you try to write history your dead. *If your going to do German history you must read and speak German-- and have bags of contemporary or original source material. The same holds true for any foreign subject...Photos are a great help if (a) you know what your looking at --and (B) the photos are original or at least first generation, first class copies....

Finally, don't get wafted away in your own pipesmoke. Much has been lost over the two wars. Some *material--...--are gone forever. *It is a disservice to present day readers as well as those that come after us, to taint history by speculating--[b]if speculating is to be done let each reader do so on his own, don't put it into print because *someday, someone *will take *a line or word out of context , print it, and it will then become *accepted as 'fact.'..." *A.E. Ferko Sept 1984.

[StephenLawson]

While we as modelers base our builds on historical evidence, It is up to us to build our models as we see fit not according to the imperical decree of someone else. To get as close as we should is still upto the modeler. Whether an aircraft was pink and green or yellow and blue is a matter for discussion and interpretation. My builds are just that 'my builds.' In my humble opinion, no one has the right to tell me I shouldn't do it this or that way. While I may not agree with Mr. Tullis' conclusions I can let him make his own way and support his attempt. If I disagree with some elses ideas I recognize that it is not upto me to police their work. As the author of a modest few articles both in the modeling and historical fact realm I have had even editors foul up my final manuscript.

In the end we follow 'Schools of Thought' from our favorite sources, While I may have a small touch of AMS, if I ever take myself too seriously here I have no doubt that there will be any number of my fellow modelers in our little corner of the 'drome' will remind me of my relative insignificance the the overall scheme of the universe.

[wingstrutdotcom]

where are these "tullis" profiles?

???

[StephenLawson]

Ooops sorry folks: I inadvertantly dropped off the mag title. Model Aircraft Monthly Vol.1 #12 Pp.12-13.


http://www.sampublications.com/sampubs.htm

[wingstrutdotcom]

Okay, I see Fokkers. What am I missing here? Is there one of those endless disputes on "what color is/was it" ???

???

I hope their all correct. I have DR1 's painted like all of them.

[NeilE]

Hmm; This thread reminds me of the debate between the Good Herr Doktor Von Humbrol and Mullah Haroun Ibn Atabar Havabir, the Modelling Mullah of Algiers, in 1937.

if I recall correctly, the trouble was about the Good Herr Doctor painting his model of the Halberstadt D-1 flown by the "Red Sheik", Sheik Ibn Ibn Ibn Emhar, a rather florid Purple colour. The Modelling Mullah objected, stating that the model was inaccurate and thus an insult to the late Sheik Emhar. he went further to state that such inaccuracy was an anathema to The Koran in that the prophet had spoke of the virtues of models being historical representations.

Furthermore he stated that The Good Herr Docktor owed to future generations' understanding to produce accurate models of "The Red Sheik's possibly crimson mount.

Quietly sipping on his absynthe, The Good Herr Doktor replied that modelling was a subjective and aesthetic pastime. He said that models can never be accurate historical artifacts, being interpretations of interpretations of second order historical proofs mostly. He defended his purple beast saying this was an expression of what he felt at the time and what he thought the colour was.

The Modelling Mullah was profoundly affected by this and spent the rest of his modelling life turning out brightly coloured models influenced by the avant garde art of the time.

We at the Modellers Organisational Diagnostic E-cademy of Liberia (M.O.D.E.L.) believe that the misguided quest for historical accuracy can lead, if the modeler is not careful to a terminal and ultimately futile case of AMS. We need to keep the search for detail and accuracy in perspective and accept the epistimological limits of historical accuracy. We should celebrate the aesthetics and craftsmanship of modelling because that is where true satisfaction lies....

All the Best

Neil
Director,
M.O.D.E.L.

[Barker]

All of Jacob's a/c were chrome yellow.


kidding, just kidding....

[drIace]

I hope their all correct. *I have DR1 's painted like all of them.

Close enough for Gov't work, they look good to me !

Life is short-enjoy it; nobody gets out alive---Ed

[willycoppens]

Hello, Please excuse my ignorance on this subject, but could anybody identify three of the Fokker Dr1's from the color spread- I recognize the machines flown by Rabens, Jacobs, and Kichstein. The rest are new to me. Can all of these schemes be considered accurate? Thanks, willycoppens