Siemens Schuckert DIII Ltn Greven Jasta 12

[bertrande2c]

Hi Everybody,
I'm new here and very interested in German WWI aviation.
I'm building the Roden 1/32 Schuckert and would like to paint it with Greven's blue and white colors. The subject is generally well described and I think Pheon did a good job about it if I look at the only available picture I could find (Winsock Datafile page 23). However, when you look carefully this picture, it appears that the cross on the fin has a rather curious shape,especially on the fixed part on which the black bar seems larger.(red arrow on my picture below)



I also noticed that the underside wing cross has an unusual thick white border.
If anyone as ideas about this particular subject, I'll be happy to discuss!

Bertrand, from Brittany !

[expositor]

As the plane in question is a D-lll, it may have been built at the time the insignias were being changed to the beam cross, with the wing crosses pattee being over-painted. As for the tail insignia, maybe a replacement
rudder with a cross of different dimensions?

[Gregvan]

Hello,
Yes, the crosses on this machine were all converted from Iron Crosses in the field, probably. The cross on the fin/rudder is a little strange, as it had to be placed to occupy the entire surface (top to bottom, front to back) and the forward horizontal arm extended across the fin and the rudder. Here is a detail from a line-up photo that shows this machine at a slightly earlier date, when it still had a spinner and the engine cowling had apparently not yet been painted white. I would suggest that the cross on Greven's D.III was identical to the one seen on the nearest D.III.


The horizontal arm of the Balkenkreuz may have been a bit thicker than the vertical arm, enlarged as it would cover both parts of the fin and rudder. the crosses under the wing had thick white outlines, but that was not too unusual.

[bertrande2c]

Thanks for your interesting comments Expositor and Greg.
I agree that the wing crosses are indeed late war type, as were I suppose those on the top wing...
The tail horizontal arm appears to be thicker on the fin only, not on the rudder itself, but it's visible that the horizontal arm is a bit thicker than the vertical arm as you noticed. So a replacement rudder is possible too...
Interesting detail on the line-up picture: the top white lightning is visible on the fuselage

[bertrande2c]

Here's for me what it should look like, any comment welcome
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