Well, as I finish up an AH-1S Cobra, I’ve started eyeing my next model on the list. Both of these are a bit different than my usual build, but I was in the mood for something different. Anyway, this one is the 1/32 Academy Sopwith Camel. Seems to be a great little kit.
Not alot of reference material out there. Especially in color. In the little bit of research I did do, I found that the linen (What? No metal?) uses what is called PC-10 dope. It shows to be green, almost olive in color.
First of all, what is it? Is it something the lines is soaked in? Bare with me. I don’t know much about WW1 aircraft but my interest is starting to glow.
Secondly, what is a close FS number for this color? Ipmsstockholm’s color chart shows it as FS14087, but this number doesn’t seem to exist.
Dope was a combo paint and heavy varnish. It was brushed very thick on the fabric and hardens it when dry. The fabric soaks it up and it seals everything together. It actually strengthens the whole airframe.
Well, the dope on dope is, it is a cellulose acetate or cellulose nitrate product akin to paint. It is used to taughten and weatherproof aircraft fabric covering, especially when cotton or linen is used. Pigments can be added to provide color coats. On aircraft after WWI, aluminum powder was mixed in the first few coats of dope to slow down UV deterioration of the fabric, but aircraft of the War era simply used several coats of clear dope, followed by several coats of colored dope. Most of these finishes were hand-brushed. When clear dopes only were used, the fabric often became translucent, and you could see the internal structure through it. They would also sometimes put a coat of varnish over the dope to waterproof it even more, leading to a carmel cast.
As far as color matching, can’t help you much there. But I can tell you that colored dope, even the modern stuff, fades and chalks fairly quickly, so you probably have a lot of leeway in color match.
Ya know, I just realized what the FS number is. The first “1” in the number denotes gloss. If you replace that first number with a “3”, which denotes matt, you get 34087. That’s olive drab. That makes sense too as that’s about the color it appears to be.
hi Dana, It has been awhile since I have done this so please bear with me. ww1 a/c were covered with a few different type of materials. some were Grade A cotton. this fabric weighs about 4.5 oz. per square yard and has 80 to 84 theards per inch in both directions.when the cotton was applied to the a/c it was loose like sheets on a bed.also the number of theard was a loose weave.the cotton was wetted with water and it started to shrink.about 24 hours later the manuf. would apply the dope . Which would be applied with a large brush till the back side of the cotton was filled with the dope and allowed to dry.this made the cotton water proof. Then the manuf. would add a paint that had color . and let it dry .
FS 14087 was a shade lighter then fs34088which is a flat color . all numbers starting with the number 16440 are gloss, fs 26440 is a sami gloss and numbers with 3 6440are flat no sheen.
you can get real close with 34o88 adding a clear coar over it .
As I said at the start it has been a long time since I have worked with fabric a/c covering.
If any one can add more please do so.
Glen S
PS hope this helps
Thanks for the information gentlemen. I definatly have enough now for the next step.
However, allow me to ask another question. While the tops of the wings are this PC-10 Dope green color, the bottoms are an off-white or ivory color. I can find nothing on this color or what the deal is with the underside of the wings. Can anyone tell me anything about that?
The cream color you refer to is usually clear unpigmented dope on WW I aircraft. Most fabrics used to cover aircraft or their parts are a light tan or beige color. The most commonly used fabric on early aircraft was unbleached muslin (bleaching weakens the fabric)
Notes on dopes - Clear dopes are gloss if applied directly out of the can as are most pigmented dopes. Silver dopes are usually flat to semi-gloss depending on how much aluminum powder is added to the dope to tint it. It’s applied to retard deteriotion caused by ultra-violet rays. If you want your dope to be flat when dry, you add talcumn powder.
As noted there are two types of dopes used, butyrate and nitrate. Applied both look alike. However if not covered with a coat of butyrate dope, the nitrate dopes are extremely flammable, even explosive. It burns hot enough and fast enough to burn the fabric cover off an airframe without damaging the underlying parts. Looks funny if it happens on the ground but can ruin your entire day if it happens to you in the air.
Hi Dana My own research regarding PC 10 has revealed a few interesting facts which you might find interesting. First, PC means protective coating # 10. As mentioned here by other modelers, its primary function was to prevent the suns ultraviolet and actinic rays from breaking down the fabric covering of early aircraft. Of greater interest, however, is the vast color variations that are apparent in different photos of various WW1 British aircraft. There are two primary reasons for this., the first being inconsistent quantities of the pigment being mixed into the varnish right at the factory, plus the fact that several different manufacturers supplied the stuff to the various aircraft producers. Later on in WW1 Sopwith Aircraft started producing its own PC10 concoction, at which time the color became more consistent. The second reason for the variation in color is due to field maintenance of some individual aircraft. In the hot summer months of the war, it was often necessary to recoat some of the aircraft in the “field”. This was often crudely done and resulted in overly heavy application of the tinted dope. In any event , the color of PC10 varied from a light khaki green color to a deep chocolate brown right out of the factory. Therefore you should not worry too much about exact color. As a final note, the undersurfaces of these aircraft appeared tan or light buff in color is because no pigment was added to the dope. Since the udersides were rarely exposed to sunlight, they did not suffer ultraviolet damage and plus a few pounds could be shaved from the weight of the aircraft ( it took more than six gallons of dope to finish one fighter, and the pigment alone added almost 40 pounds to the weight of the mixture- signifigant mass for an already underpowered aircraft!) Heja 1
I’ll throw in my 2¢:
Pigmented Coating 10 was specified more for its protective qualities than for any uniform coloration, and was defined as “equal parts” yellow ochre and lamp black, added at an approximate ratio of 1 part pigment to 10 parts dope. Since yellow ochre can vary quite a bit in actual color, pure “lamp” black is scarce and was often manufactured with other carbonized pigments, and since the “equal parts” were usually by eyeball, the final color wasn’t particularly consistent. PC-10 could range from a grayish khaki drill color to a fairly bright green. Also, the appearance of olive colors in general is highly dependent on lighting conditions. Any model paint manufacturer’s rendition of 34087 buffed out and varnished with semi-gloss should be completely acceptable.
BTW, PC12 was made from red ochre and lamp black, and appeared as the dark chocolate brown often associated with Brisfits.
Reference material on the Camel and in the back you will find the skinny on british color schemes is Windsock Data Files. They publish an issue specifically on the camel. www.wiseowlmagazines.com Next the paint. If you don’t mind Arcyilics Misterkit an Italian company puts out an entire WWI line of ACFT colors including both PC-10 and PC-12 as well as British Clear Doped Lininen. they put out colors for each combatant country in WWI for ACFT. Only thier relationship with their US Distributer broke down and they no longer are stocked in the US. Not to be availed how ever I bought the whole paint line myself directly from Italy over the web via email from thier web site which is mostly in italian and some broken english. If you try hard enough you can navigate it and order. they do fill it and ship right away and it comes ****** fast as any other state side vendor. If you use a Visa card the Euro is automaticly exchanged into dollars and the cost is apx the same as any testor or model master paint. However remember to remind them when giving them the exp. date that the US date is month/year and NOT year/month as in europe. http://www.misterkit.com/commercio/ns.asp