When it comes to covering scale airplanes, there is nothing so challenging than German WW1 aeroplanes. At the time Germany developed a camouflage pattern that consisted of irregularly shaped polygons called “lozenges.” From 1916 to 1917, the lozenge pattern used four colors; from 1917 to 1918, a five-color pattern prevailed. Typically, the top surfaces were covered with a lozenge pattern of a darker hue, while the bottom surfaces were covered in lighter colors.
These patterns were initially painted on German and other Central Powers aircraft but it was later printed directly onto the covering material to save time and weight. The printed fabric sheets were stitched together and the pattern ran chordwise, but variations included span wise and even diagonal patterns. Here’s a great way to make your own printed covering material and you can produce it in whatever scale size you like. This article by Michael Falco shows how it’s done with a desktop Ink-jet printer.
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