OK, I'm not the greatest with a camera and seem to have obliterated the detail of the wing surface in the shot but this shows the D.VIIs after undercoating which seems to highlight the layers, (I used Armypainter White spray). In the flesh the effect doesn't seem as drastic as it appears in the photos of the DR1s and I remain confident that it will disappear under the paint.
My 'German Lozenge' (in the style of Monet) will take a while so you'll have to content yourselves with this for time being. That said I wouldn't want to try putting a decal on the surface...
I suspect the better finish of the D.VII has to do with the angle of the surfaces during production, eg. on the rear stabilisers there are a number of layers visible on the DR1 whilst the D.VII seems to be a single layer other than the ribs.
The wings would have been near horizontal during production whilst the Triplane already sitting on it's undercarriage would have been around 10-15 degrees, I think the design could be tweaked to adjust that angle so that top surfaces are horizontal during production.
Wheras the Dr-1 looks almost tiled the D.VII layering looks like a fingerprint...
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