Weathering on WW1 aircraft

[Quintin]

How much weathering do you like to put on your aircraft? I am not asking how to weather. I am asking how much do you like to weather? I know this is "to the modeler's taste" but what do you like?

Do you build your models fresh off the factory floor?

Just arived at the aerodrome?

Been over the front a while?

Or at the end of its service life?

These machines were (please correct me if I am wrong) hand made, I assume by different people, often under license with other factories, out of wood and fabric. No two could be exactly alike. Different rolls of fabric yield slightly different colors, different woods or even saw mills yield slightly different colors, different stains, applied differently, different flying or weather conditions, different mechanics, etc, etc, etc.

This really was the dawn of avaition and aircraft manufacturing. Not to mention conditions at the front, shooting and getting shot at, patched holes in fabric and wood. Mechanics "making do" or using whatever they had. Stains and varnish applied and reapplied.

I am trying to make my WnW LVG as "been over the front awhile". Instead of sealing the fuselage after the stain dried, I purposely handled it while detailing the fuselage ports, adding oil stains, highlighed the plywood joints, etc. This wears the stain through some in spots, skinned it with my finger nail a couple of times, etc. Added small patch of stain to some of the wear spots. Added small patches of varnish in other places. Letting it dry now and then will airbrush the full gloss coat. My hope is this will give it somewhat of a "wear, tear and patched " look.

On the wings, well, I am just too scared to mess with the lozenge much. Think I'll just go straight out of the box with those. I thought about trying some patch work on these but have chickened out. Also, never having actually seen any of this stuff, I am not sure exactly how it would have looked. I assume they would have patched it back with the same color fabric they cut out of the roll but that is just an assumption. If true, patches would be difficult to spot at 1/32 scale.

One thing I have almost screwed up on. The wings had a reinforcing strip of lozenge around the leading and trailing edges. I did not notice this until this morning. I have the tail surfaces done and sealed. Looks great. But without this reinforcing strip. What the odds I can add this without screwing it all up? I can't make my mind up. Leave it or try to add it? The real question is, "can I knowingly leave it off"?

Comments welcome.

Quintin

[Moeggo]

Hi Quintin,

I would recommend checking out James Fahey's Photobucket (Jamo_kiwi) account, which he has kindly left unlocked so all can view -

Pictures by Jamo_kiwi - Photobucket

James has taken a lot of excellent photos of The Vintage Aviators WW1 machines that are base at Hood Aerodrome, in Masterton New Zealand. This should give you great idea how some of the machines weathered and wore.

Personally, I Love see some wear and tear on aircraft, so the dirtier the better in my books!

[JohnReid]

weathering is great to add character and individuality to your work.A perfect airplane is boring !

[Richard A.]

I agree with JohnReid.

I've only lately taken timid steps in weathering, but it does indeed add character

[elarson]

Hi Quintin,

I build aircraft models from all eras, primarily from WWII to modern jets and helos, but have recently branched into WWI. When it comes to weathering aircraft models I am a firm adherent to the "less is more" idea. In other words, keep it subtle. I have seen far too many well constructed and painted models ruined by over-ambitious weathering. Keep in mind the scale effect. Even a heavily used aircraft when viewed from 50 to 100 feet will not appear excessively grubby. You don't want your model to look like an aircraft that has been lying in a swamp or abandoned in a field for several decades (unless you are doing a diorama portraying just that!).

Now, on the subject of the leading/trailing edge tapes on your LVG, please note that there just is not enough decal material provided in the kit to add them. Do some on-line searches for other LVG builds and you'll see many of them do not have the edge tapes. Start with those in Wingnut's own customer gallery. The reason I know this is because I built the LVG last year and while I did apply edge tapes, it was only possible because I was able to obtain additional upper color lozenge decals. Also, it is an extremely tedious and sometimes frustrating task. Especially around the curved edges at the wing tips.

I hope you can post some pictures of your model.

Cheers,
Eric

[Familyman]

I agree with Eric here. Too much weathering is not good. OK, it might look good if done by a master, like Jean-Baptiste Verlach, but if realism is what you're looking for, keep it subtle.

Realistic weathering on a LVG C.IV is not so easy to do, actually. Usually these planes got humps and dints on their plywood fuselage in the varying moisture on the field. You don't see those very often on a model, do you? People rather use easier and better documented methods from the world of tank and ww2 airplane modeling, usually less realistic with ww1 planes.

Mikko

[Dan_San_Abbott]

Hello Quintin:
With the exception of a short period in 1914, all factories had production lines, in which aircraft were manufactured with each aircraft in a series was identical, exactly the same to the others. All nations had strict materials and production specifications, this included exgines, wheels, tires fabric, propellers, treatment and grade of woods used , steel, aluminum, brass , copper, wires a cables. They were not clouged together by a bunch of amatuers. This is a complete misconception of what was done. All part pieces and parts of the aircraft were subject to strict inspection for dimensional accuracy, fit and function. You cannot build 100 aircraft a month without a controlled production sequence and line.
Northern Europe, France and Belgium have a lot of rain, it is not dusty a ot of green grass and the planes were maintained to keep them in top condition, a man's life depends on what you do as a mechanic fitter or rigger. Look at photos, it does not show weathering at all maybe dirt or mud on the tires. This weathering on models is over done. chipped paint arond the cockpit or the engine cowlings from being removed and handled, they were well maintained. Grease and oil stains on rotary engines aircraft was a problem being removed, if you did not take care of the problem it affected the life of the fabric. They just did not have dirty aircraft.
Blue skies Quintin,
Dan-San

[stevedrew]

Quintin,

As Moeggo suggested, go look at Jamo's photos. The aircraft depicted are modern replicas, built to the same exacting standards (with some modern safety features incorporated to make them "airworthy" in today's terms).

These aircraft were quite expensive to build, and are rarely flown, and maintained to a very high standard once they are on the ground again. They are never "chucked about the sky" in wild manoeuvres to shake an opponent off your tail, nor are they ever flown by amateur or rookie pilots.

And yet, you can see the rigours of flight evident on them. These aircraft are perfect examples of weathering. Not too much, not too little. If a particular aircraft you are modelling is not depicted, you can certainly learn how oil may trail along the fuselage, or drip out or certain points, or the blackening around a gun or exhaust.

[angelcos]

Hi

to my personal taste "Been over the front a while" because add character to the model but u can not use it to cover mistakes or bad work


Kostas

[JohnReid]

Do a diorama and weather to yours hearts content ! Old hangars were notoriously grungy places, not like today when you can eat off the floor !