Small SE5a

[Pat_craft]

Like I have done small simple SPADs (not finished yet), I would like to build small simple SE5a (and small simple Fokkers DVII, but it is another story)...

Actually I have some troubles with the color of the SE5a : brown or green ? Green or brown ?
Some says originaly brown but can turn green with time...

And I have seen a very clear brown model (almost sand)...

Is there different colors for the SE5a or not ?

Thanks for your help

This is the first one I have done.

[Zakopious]

Your model looks great !
Keep up the good work.

Paint does change color when exposed to sun light over a period of months.

Zio Prudenzio did some S.E.5a models which were mostly green.
se5a by F.Prudenziati

[Burning Beard]

There are probably bunches of studies showing how paint fades and/or changes color as it ages. Olive green for example can be and often is made by mixing yellow and black. Why I mention this is yellow doesn't really fade, it turns brown as it ages. Maybe the brown is reached as the yellow component changes. Though it would seem like it would take a fair amount of time for it to do that, but the old dope colors might not have been very stable.

Beard

[lfuente]

Hello Patrick,

I need a tiny biplane for another recolor project, may I have permission to use your SE5? You'll get author credit in the final model.

Originally Posted by Pat_craft

Like I have done small simple SPADs (not finished yet), I would like to build small simple SE5a (and small simple Fokkers DVII, but it is another story)...

Actually I have some troubles with the color of the SE5a : brown or green ? Green or brown ?
Some says originaly brown but can turn green with time...

And I have seen a very clear brown model (almost sand)...

Is there different colors for the SE5a or not ?

Thanks for your help

This is the first one I have done.

[scissorsandplanes]

When I did some "research" on coloring of WWI planes some year ago for my own designs, I came across sources saying that the official color (PC.10 IIRC) ranged from green to brown and did not have a clear defined tint.

[Rata]

PC-12 Chocolate was often used on SE5's. A lot of Bristol M1C's and Sopwith Triplanes were finished in the same colour. Very difficult to pinpoint exact paint finishes on individual WWI planes but yours looks pretty good to me Pat_craft.

[MichaelS]

It was all pretty much mixed on the spot. From what I understand it was a mixture of black and yellow. Sop each plane would look a little different. When I flew in Vietnam when you looked down a flight line every aircraft was a slightly different color. And this was after years of perfecting paint formulas.

My advice is to just build it and enjoy it.

[Pat_craft]

Old colors are usualy difficult to reproduce now for many reasons. May be my choice is not the best choice...


I have friend who make old historic costumes for a TV serie about painting (Renoir, Monet and many other). They try to repoduce paintings with actors. Choosing the right color for a dress or a hat is often a big problem because there are many photographies of a given painting and they have have all different colors !
The right color is always a problem !!! Same problem in printing...



Of course IFuente you have the permission. May be I can send you the original file, in vector graphic, so you can change the colors and choose the scale too... ?

[dhanners]

I sometimes think we modelers get too anal about colors that were often mixed and applied in the field under lousy conditions. Throw in other factors, such as fading, the type of surface it was applied over (olive drab faded more quickly on fabric surfaces than the adjacent metal surfaces, for example), field repairs, etc., and it gets hard to declare anything that's close as "wrong" when it comes to colors in WW1 and WW2.

I'm no expert, but I think the colors on the SE5a look great....

[Rata]

Agreed. Harks back to one of the oldest modelling maxims: If it LOOKS right then it probably IS right.