German WW1 Hexagonal Camouflage

Much like the modern “digital” patterns, the irregular, small shapes break up the lines and edges of structures better than larger color blocks, making determination of shape, size, orientation, etc. much harder for observers.

In some circumstances, they can also create a disorienting effect similar to that produced by a kaleidoscope or a spinning spiral.

But why funny hexagons in the first place? Some misunderstanding regarding Pointillism ( that is the limit of my art knowledge!) Certainly ,being German , there would have to have been a clever. or possibly over clever, reasoning.

one could almost think it was designed in order to create these headaches for all those future generations of scale modelers! I’ve never had the patience to even attempt this type of finish (which is why my ESCI Viggen sits incomplete).

I’m assuming that the second, lighter, colour combination would have been applied to the lower wings of biplanes. This would be similar in effect to the RAF countershading on Furies, Swordfish and Gladiators, where those areas that would normally be shaded by the upper wings were painted a lighter shade in an effort to conteract the shadows.

Another potential source for information on this would be any of Ian Huntley’s greatly insightful missives on colour and camouflage… I’ve managed to save many of his articles from Scale Aircraft Modelling for just that purpose.

Many thanks indeed contrailjj for getting the ball rolling! Apparently the printing process did weaken the fabric under some circumstances. Perhaps the real reason for differing upper and lower hexagonal schemes?
Having fairly recently hand-painted a 1/144 Zeppelin Staaken R plane ( thank you SRAM) I had to ask the question of what genius decided on this type of colour scheme in the first place.

Way back in 1989, Fine Scale Modeler (US) published an excelent article by Bill Gebhard in the subject of this ‘lozenge’ camouflage – which was printed on the fabric prior to application to the airframe. In particular, Mr. Gebhard dealt with colour selection and painting the patterns with home-made stencils.

I’ve included the patterns here as well as his conclusions on colour matching and available modelling paints… the following colours refer to the letters on the patterns (the descriptions are his own).

Upper Surface
Base Colour Dark Bluish Grey FS.35164
A Medium Grey Green FS.34227
B Medium Yellowish Tan FS.30257
C Dark Bluish Gren FS.34058

Lower Surface
Base Colour Medium Bluish Grey FS.35237
A Medium pinkish tan FS.31433
B Light Yellowish tan FS.33613
C Medium Bluish Gren FS.34325

Available Paints
FS.30257 – Floquil Military (300191), Humbrol (HM02), Polly S (500820)
FS.31433 – Polly S Desert Pink (500810) toned down with grey
FS.33613 – Floquil Military (300195), Gunze-Sangyo (H138), Humbrol (148), Pactra Acrylic (A28), Testor Model Master (1709), Xtracolor (X107)
FS.34058 – Polly S Jungle Green (500050) darkend with black
FS.34227 – Gunze-Sangyo (H312), Humbrol (IAF2), Testor Model Master (1716)
FS.34325 – No matches… his recipe: 3 parts Testor 1168 Flat White, 3 parts Testor 1164 Olive Drab, 1 part Testor 1172 flat sea blue.
FS.35164 – Floquil Military (300180), Gunze-Sangyo (H56), Humbrol (HU16), Pactra Acrylic (A36), Polly S (500804), Testor Model Master (1720), Xtracolor (X125)
FS.35237 – Floquil Military (300202), Gunze Sangyo (H337), Humbrol (HU19), Pactra Acrylic (A37), Testor Model Master (1721), Xtracolor (X126)

I hope this helps a bit.

JJ