Brush painting WW 1 German

[Allan]

Hi blokes,

The idea of a 109/190 in lozenge camo really sounds great.

Instead of buying the lozenge decal, can it be brush painted using home-made masks?

Let's start a thread on this.

Allan in Canberra

[Brian da Basher]

Brush painting lozenge is a real pain in the rear fuselage assembly. I've tried it a couple of times, with so-so results. Since painting it as it actually was in smaller scales (1/72) would make me insane, I tend to go for a more "impressionistic" approach. What I do is decide which color of the loz to use as a base. Typically, I'll choose a color in the middle of the range of the four colors I'm using. Then I dab over it using the next darkest color and then the next lightest, finishing up with the lightest of the four colors. This link to a pic of one of my attempts will give you an idea of what it looks like:  

Handpainted Lozenge

Remember, often the lozenge on ailerons and elevators ran in different directions from those on the main surfaces because the lozenge fabric was attached in seperate pieces.

There should usually be rib tapes, but trying to hand paint all those straight lines would be too much.

Brian da Basher

P.S. I know this thread is about brush-painting lozenge, but if I was set on getting good loz, I'd probably look for some of the lozenge decals that are out there on the market. I think Eagle Strike makes a set.

[NARSES2]

Alan

Your'e a braver man than me ! The only way I can think of doing it would be to use scores of masks laid out like a painting by numbers set. Or make one master pattern for the wing, paint the base colour then produce 2 others (3 colour lozenge) which would have the differrent lozenges cut out with a sharp knife. Then use each one.

Wouldn't need rib tapes on a 109/190 as the lozenge would be painted rather than printed.

Me - I'll stick to Pegasus

Chris

PS - if you think WWII modellers have a problem with "correct" RLM colours wait till you read up about WWI "Naval" lozenge colours  :dum:

[Radish]

I'm gonner have to do a '190 in lozenge...well, the wings anyway.
Should be fun!! At least it'll be in 1/48th  

[Allan]

Hi fellows,
I'm not completely sold that painting lozenge camo by hand is impossible.
I have lots of time, so let's give it a go.
First the colors.
Upper surface six colors
Sand brown as the base color
burnt umber second
light purple third
olive drab fourth
dark green fifth
black sixth and last
suggestions please re deletions/substitutions
Lower surface six colors
Light blue as the base color
RLM 78 second
sand brown third
light green fourth
bright blue fifth
dark blue sixth and last
suggestions please re deletions/substitutions

And now how to make the actual lozenges
First paint on the base colors upper and lower
Next lay down a wide piece of masking tape onto a cutting mat
Cut some thin strips of masking tape
Lay them down over the wide piece of masking tape crosshatch fashion
Cut along the tape
You'll wind up with little diamond shapes between the thin strips
Lift out the diamond shapes with the tip of a modelling knife and transfer them to somewhere else on the cutting mat
Use the knife to cut off the upper and lower corners of each diamond shape
You don't have to be 100% uniform at this stage
Transfer the shapes to the wings and paint the next color
Repeat with the next color
While writing this I thought of another way to cut out the diamond shapes but the above method should work okay.
Well worth having a try, as I will.
The only important thing is making sure than the shapes are not too big to look toylike nor too small to give you a blinding headache.
Allan in Canberra

[NARSES2]

Al

You're definately a braver man then me !

Only colour I'd quibble with is black on the upper lozenge, possibly to dark, try dark grey (RLM 66 ?)

As for the rest WWI colours are even more problamatical then WWII colours and that says something

Chris

[Allan]

Thanks Chris, duly noted.
I think it's well-worth a stab and so intend to give lozenge a try.
Allan in Canberra

[Brian da Basher]

I give you a lot of credit Allan! Here's an idea: See if you can find clear frisket (tacky thin plastic) at a drafting supply store. Since the age of computers it may be hard to find, but if you can, it may help. If I were to attempt handpainting lozenge, I'd cut lozenge patterns out of four or five sheets of clear frisket (depending on if it's 4 or 5 color lozenge you're after) and then just paint each color in layers after starting out from a base color. When I've done my "impressionistic lozenge" I tend to use a color that's got a middle tone and then apply a dark one and then a lighter one, finishing up with the lightest color as the top or last one.

I hope this helps and best of luck!

Brian da Basher

[Radish]

You're bonkers.

I'd choose the colours, use one as a "base" then paint irregular pointy shapes, which is what the Germans did when they wanted to continue the pattern onto metal surfaces.

Why be a slave to reality?
Go for some nifty freehand painting, or why not do fractal camo?

If you've got ime on your hands...build another bloody model!!!  

[Allan]

Hi fellows,
Got them ol' lozenge blues again.
Do you have Chinese junk shops in your part of the woods? Shops that sell manufactured goods from China at real cheap prices?
Yesterday I was in the mall with the good wife and dropped into one of these chops to have a browse and blow me down but I found a real cheap rake brush for only A$2.50. Just the ticket for modelling WW1 planes.
But something else I saw there I really wanted to tell you about. Packets of lightly gummed stickers. The one that caught my eye was a packet of gummed stars about one centimeter across.
Here's what I'd do with them. Peel them off the backing sheet and cut off the five arms, resulting in a pentagon. Either leave the pentagon as it is or maybe cut it a little more to resemble a lozenge. Getting my drift?
Then, after putting down a coat of paint on the wing, apply the gummed lozenges and paint some more. Repeat. Then remove the lozenges after the entire wing has been painted and the base coat has been applied. Result: a perfect wing of lozenge camo.
Allan in Canberra

[Joe C-P]

This site might help you out:

WW1 Modeling page