I just finished reading Erich Hartmann’s biography and something intrigued me. HIs crew chief expressed relief that Hartmann got rid of the black tulip pattern, because the crew chief was tired of constantly touching it up.
Combined with Stikpusher’s pictures from WW2, which feature very clean looking aircraft, how much did combat aircraft actually weather during WW2?
I think it depends on where, when, and which country the aircraft in question flew them.
Early war aircraft I would assume (but you know what they say about assuming) would be cleaner than late war aircraft. I know that for Japan in mid to late war when submarines really started taking a toll on merchant shipping supplies were running pretty low and so I think one could assume correctly that Japanese Army aircraft not stationed in or very near to Japan could be depicted in a weathered state.
That’s just my 2 cents.
It all depends on the circumstances. Someone like Hartman would likely have had his aircraft maintained to a higher standard due to his status as a top ace, as opposed to one of the junior pilots who likely did not have a long life expectency. Also aircraft themselves did not have that long of service lives. Most would be in service less than a year. But of course, those serving in harsher climes at the far end of sparodic supply chain will show more wear than one covering the homeland.
One other factor to consider is that heavy Sun exposure caused paints to bleach out and shift color rather quickly, depending on color. The stuff in the Desert and South Pacific went through noticable color shifts, particularly since the paint quality back then was like crap compared to now. Sometimes the Olive Drab could shift to light gray green, to light brownish green, yellow green, even a slight lavander tint. Dark Navy Blues shifted toward gray-blueish, the Insignia Red was really bad ( red paint is famous for shifting ) and it would shift toward a reddish brown slightly rusty looking. I don’t think that the browns and tans shifted too much but maybe some of you are more up to speed on that one. From what I can remember the German A/C were semi gloss, which would help out just a bit with the stability. Also in Central or Northern Europe there wasn’t a big problem with excessive heat and Sun bleaching. I tried to keep some of this info in mind during my limited weathering experience. I know that the Armor guys are really good at this sort of thing. Someday I’ll attempt Armor but I have a lot to learn first. Good Luck… Bob
Another determining factor is the quality of the paint. Some countries had reputations of using very poor quality paints. But almost all paints used in WW2 had real chalking problems, so those left outdoors would see chalking on upper surfaces pretty fast.
Because of loose clearances on aircooled engines, radials seemed to show more crud in their exhaust stains (oil consumption higher).
Altough aimed at RC modellers I think this is a nice artcile on the subject. It briefly discusses the sources of weathering. Each source has it own specific look, paint chipping due to quality issues is different then oil stains due to airflow.
Thanks for posting the link to RC Scale Builder. It jarred my memory. I forgot to mention in my previous post about the accelerated fading of the fabric covered surfaces. I do take that into account. Also it’s not a bad idea to keep the metal trim tabs on the fabric surfaces a darker color, like the surrounding metal surfaces. That seems to work out well. Now maybe someday I can build up enough courage to try Armor !!! Bob
Armor is easy… just cover it in mud!
come to the Dark Side…
This is great. Ask a question and learn.
One thing is for sure, Hartmann’s opponents didn’t have to worry about getting their A/C touched up, they were usually flamed.
Well he did get shot down a few times himself as well, IIRC.
Supposedly although he crash landed several times with damaged A/C, he was never brought down by enemy fire, as the story goes.
The mention of fabric brings up a beef. That is kits that must simulate the weave on the fabric. It is too exaggerated! It looks like the plane is covered in burlap. Fabric, once it is doped, looks like a metal or wood surface. The doping tends to fill in the weave, which is pretty fine anyway. Fortunately, I frequently use a full bodied primer which fills in the weave okay. About the only thing that gives away fabric surfaces on a real aircraft are the rib stitching and reinforcing (pinked) tape.
I will have to pull out my old copy of Horrido… it has been many years since I have read his tale. I may be thinking of another high scoring ace on the Eastern Front…
Don. Agreed about the fabric control surface texture being exagerated on models.
Don, you are correct on the fabric. I have closely examined a number of full scale A/C and sometimes if the dope coverage is on the thin side there may be a slightly noticable sheen, which on 1/48 scale still wouldn’t show up. The thing that does show up is the paint fading as compared to any adjacent metal surfaces. I don’t think that the modern day A/C dopes are as prone to Sun fading. It’s sort of like the modern day paints don’t fade as much either. Good luck on the J-3. Bob
Hartmann was shot down once. He wasn’t sure if it was an aircraft or ground fire, though. Right after he blew up a Stormovic on Aug 20, 1943. The incident is described on p. 67 in my edition, in the chapter “In the Bear’s Grasp”.