LvR's 1st Alb DIII: Weights Follow-up

Most Happy New Year, Dan-San,
Thank you very much for the details on weight-table practice. I must express my continuing wonder at your encyclopedic knowledge and my appeciation at your unfailing helpfulness in sharing it.

My question in this regard was elicited by a photograph of LvR being helped out of a D.III cockpit reproduced in Scheelke's Leutnant der Reserve Otto Brauneck, Pt. II, OTF, vol 1, no. 3. The aricraft has the Albatros Werke style two-line weights information and a square footstep. And a dark painted band beginning, very approximately, 3 feet aft of the cockpit. Due to the framing, only a small slice of this band is shown, unfortunately. (Any idea of whose collection this is from?)

I am led to speculate that this was LvR's first D.III, the lucky talisman passed to him by brother Manfred. This is in opposition to the one so identified by Kilduff, Franks, and Rimell, that is, the completely dark-appearing one with LvR on a ladder, wherein I cannot distinguish between the supposedly mahogony-stained areas and the painted area. The serial would therefore be between D.2099 to 2198, which would be consistent with other data for the machine in question. Thoughts?
Regards,
Stef

PS. Had the pleasure of catching up with you 1988 OTF article on MvR's airplanes. The foundation reference for any further discussion of the topic.

[Dan_San_Abbott]

Happy New Millenium Stef:
With the nearness of the trees in the background it appears this photo was taken at Roucourt. With the square foot step the serial number of the Alb. D.III is as you suggested somewhere between D.2099-2198/16. It would not be possible for this machine to be MvR's first Alb. D.III that he scored his initial victories on and then handed down to his brother Lothar. Those machines were in the serial number range of D.1960/16 to D.2062/16.(see p.79, "RICHTHOFEN") There is another view of this photo on AEF's "RICHTHOFEN" on page 25. It looks like this machine has a central radiator, This could possibly be the same machine that appears fourth in the line-up picture take at La Brayelle Airfield that appears on p.22 of AEF's "RICHTHOFEN". The fuselage marking appears to be the same as the fourth Alb. D.III and all these machines have central radiators.
I might add sound information regarding standard Albatros Alb. D.III finishes. From information that I have all Albatros D.III were camouflaged in three colors:
Dark bronze(olive) green, pale whitish green, and venetian(brick) red on all upper fabric surfaces and sky blue on under fabric surfaces, Cowlings, spinner, all struts, axle and spreader, louvers, access doors, foot step and metal fittings were painted light grey tinged green. The plywood fuselage and fins were shellacked and varnished resulting in a warm straw yellow color. All markings were in black with the crosses in matt black, the crosses on the fuselage, fin and rudder and upper wing were edged in a flat white border 50 mm wide. The lower wing crosses were plain. The fuslage were NOT stained.
Blue skies,
Dan-San