The rudder looks blue in this picture but it's silver (aluminum) dope. The bad thing about old film photos was that you didn't know it came out badly until it was too late to retake the picture. Digital pictures do have some advantages. The colors Red, White, Blue, and Black do not have aluminum pigment in them so they need an aluminum base. I wanted to see how the finish would look in WWI so I only put on the coats as they did back then. If I were doing this again I would shoot silver dope before doing any of the colors. It was hard to avoid gaps between colors, and thin areas from brushing inconsistencies.
The colors were brushed on starting with the lightest color to the darkest color. That way the dark colors can overlap the lighter colors. The tail surfaces are setting on saw horses behind the fuselage. The tail colors are still part of the Kellner pattern. Each color was applied to all parts then the next color in that order.
The fonts used on the tail were based on photos of SPAD planes. In Aviation and Aeronautical Engineering magazine, November 1, 1919 pg. 298, there was an article by Randolph Hall which explained the loads P.C. and P.U.
The loads P.U. and P.C. are given in kilograms.
P.C. is Poid Combustible, Weight of Combustible fuel. 50kg = 110lb = 18.3 Gallons (I've since made the tank smaller, about 14 Gallons)
P.U. is Poid Utile, Weight Useful, Pilot, Ammunition, Equipment 125kg = 275lb.
The markings and insignia were painted on using the normal tools of sign painting except the colored paints are dope instead of normal sign paints.
A pounce pattern was used to chalk a faint outline on the fuselage. It's like paint by numbers, you just paint inside the faint chalk lines of dots. The chalk holes are poked in the pounce pattern with a star wheel. A pounce bag (filled with chalk dust) is used to dust chalk through the holes.
The pattern helps make both sides the same.
They really came out well for a first attempt at sign painting.
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