As with similar recent threads, this is private Advance Research not to be construed as anything official, though if we can come up with some promising ideas I will be forwarding this to Ares as a product proposal--similar work over at the Anchorage led to the fourth wave of Sales.
In light of Ares serving up apply-your-own-markings Squadron Packs and them apparently becoming the "road forward" (not official declaration but just gut impression) for WGS, it occurred to me that something similar could work for WWI, under a few conditions--I'm not sure what the practical limits are for a plane decal, but here's some standards I would suggest trying to ID potential WGF Squadron Pack candidates:
- Must be a squadron/aircraft combination that already has had one release, to fill out a Flight or Kette.
- Squadron markings must be highly standardized, only differing between aircraft in easily-decaled ways.
- Target goal is five sets of markings per decal sheet; all must have same-period national markings (i.e., not mixing Iron and Balkan Crosses for Germany).
- Camo Nieuports and SPADs are problematic because of a wide range of variations in the same basic color patterns; yellow SPADs and silver Nieuports are pretty much "could do most AC of same type w/1 base paint just by changing decals.
I've started going back through my Osprey library, and come up with a few starts, but would appreciate you guys helping add to it, sort out "in bounds" vs "too far different" and suggest units that might make good "opposing pairs." (I'm toying with another idea here too, leverage the Duel Pack layout but replace the Quick Play rules with a historical booklet about the squadrons in the pack at the time they flew those planes.) I'm describing these by "WGF-C4xx" numbers, derived from WGS's 400-series being its Squadron Packs, "C" meaning Concept to differentiate it from the official SKU's and the last two digits being the same as the WGF100-series sculpt it's based on. Letter suffix matches the squadron of existing Ares releases, except suffixes like "XA, XB, ..." which are Nexus decoes not yet reissued. "DP" suffix refers to Deluxe/Duel Packs. EDIT: At first, I wasn't sure how to tackle the Medium and Large Packs, but ith the slowing of the line I'm thinking to allocate C400-C439 to 100-series scouts, C440-C479 to 200-series tandems and C480-C499 for the heavies.
Series 1
WGF101/C401 SPAD XIII:
- C401A USAAS 94th Aero Sq.
- C401B French AM, Esc. uncertain (Coadou)
- C401C French AM, Esc. uncertain (Madon)
- C401D/C401XB French AM, Esc. SPA103
- C401E French AM, Esc. uncertain (Chavannes)
- C401XA Italian RE, 91a Sq.
- C401DP USAAS 27th Aero Sq.
NOTE: Camo schemes are problematic, but most "yellow base" SPADs could easily be done as the same unmarked base-deco and just supply decals for national/unit/personal markings, only needing to swap the decal sheet to go from French to Italian to Russian.WGF102/C402 Sopwith Camel:
- C402A UK RFC, No. 66 Sq
- C402B UK RNAS, No. 3 Naval Sq
- C402C UK RFC, Sq uncertain (Stackard)
- C402D - "Null SKU," this is the Kissenberth capture
- C402E UK RFC, Sq uncertain (MacLaren)
- C402XA Belgian AM, 9 EC
- C402DP UK RAF, No. 209 Sq
NOTE: As with the yellow SPADS, PC10 over CDL is near universal. Same note about how many different nations could be served with the same basic mini and different cockade decals.WGF103/C403 Albatros D.Va
- C403A German LSK, Jasta 37
- C403B German LSK, Jasta uncertain (von Hippel)
- C403C German LSK, Jasta uncertain (Jacobs)
- C403D German LSK, Jasta 84
- C403E German LSK, Jasta 11 - Red nose spinner-to-cockpit/struts/UC
- C403XC German LSK, Jasta 61
- C403DP German LSK, Jasta 5 - Red-edged Green tailgroup
- No SKU Yet: Jasta 04 - Natural fuse w/black spiral
- No SKU Yet: Jasta 06 - Black/White stripes, tailplane and lower wing
- No SKU Yet: Jasta 13 - Green spinner/cowl, Blue fuselage
- No SKU Yet: Jasta 15 - Red spinner/cowl, Blue fuselage/fin
WGF104/C404 Fokker Dr.I
- C404A German LSK, JG nr I - unique to MvR
- C404B German LSK, Jasta uncertain (von Hippel)
- C404C German LSK, Jasta uncertain (Jacobs)
- C404D German LSK, Jasta 84
- C404E German LSK, Jasta 11
- C404XC German LSK, Jasta 61
- C404DP German LSK, Jasta 11 - closer to "base" Jasta markings
- No SKU Yet: Jasta 04 - Natural fuse w/black spiral
- No SKU Yet: Jasta 06 - Black/White stripes, tailplane and lower wing
- No SKU Yet: Jasta 13 - Green spinner/cowl, Blue fuselage
Series 2
WGF115/C415 Fokker D.VII
- 415A - "Null SKU" - unique to Goering
- 415B German MFT, MJG I
- 415C German LSK, Jasta 35
- 415XB German LSK, Jasta 15
- 415XC German LSK, Jasta 4 - major redesign, old WOW115C zebra-stripes unique to Kirschstein/Udet
WGF116/C416 Sopwith Snipe
- 416A UK RAF, No. 201 Sq
- 416B UK/Rus. Joint Forces - "Null SKU," unique to Kazakov
- 416C Soviet VVS - "Null SKU," unique to Sapozhnikov
- 416XB and 416XC Australian FC, No. 4 Sq
WGF203/C443 LFG Roland C.II
- 443A German LSK, Kampfstaffel 8
- 443B German LSK, unit uncertain
- 443C German LSK, FFA 292b
- 443XB German LSK, FFA 5b
- 443XC German LSK, unit uncertain (generic?)
WGF204/C444 AIRCO DH4
- 444A USAAS 50th Obs. Sq.
- 444B UK RNAS, unit uncertain (Cotton/Betts)
- 444C UK RNAS, No. 5 Naval Sq
- 444XA UK RFC, No 18 Sq
- 444XB USMC, unit uncertain
- 444XC UK RAF, No 212 Sq
Series 3
WGF117/C417 Nieuport 17
- 417A Italian RE, 70a Sq.
- 417B/XB French AM, Esc. N65
- 417C & 417XA French AM, Esc. N124 Lafayette
- 417XC Russian IVF, 22 KAO
WGF118/C418 Albatros D.III (early squaretail)
- 418A German LSK, Jasta 2/Boelcke - "Null SKU", overall blue is unique to Frommherz
- 418B A-H LFT, Flik 41J
- 418C German LSK, Jasta 11 - "Null SKU," overall red unique to MvR
- 418XA A-H LFT, Flik 41J - "Null SKU," overall red unique to Brumowski
- 418XB A-H LFT, Flik 61J
- 418XC German LSK, Jasta 2/Boelcke
WGF205/C445 UFAG C.I
- 445A A-H LFT, unit unk (w/n 161-37)
- 445B A-H LFT, Flik 62S
- 445C A-H LFT, unit unknown (w/n 161-138)
- 445XA A-H LFT, Flik 23D
- 445XB A-H LFT, unit unknown (lozenge)
- 445XC A-H LFT, unit unknown (camo)
WGF206/C446 RAF RE.8
- 446A UK RFC, No. 30 Sq
- 446B UK RFC, No. 52 Sq
- 446C UK RFC, No. 59 Sq
- 446XA UK RFC, No. 4 Sq
- 446XB UK RFC, No. 16 Sq
- 446XC Belgian AM, unit unknown
Series 4
WGF123/C423 Pfalz D.III
- 423A German LSK, Jasta uncertain (Berthold)
- 423B German LSK, Jasta 16b
- 423C German LSK, Jasta uncertain (Voss)
- 423XA German LSK, Jasta 21s
- 423XC German LSK, Jasta 10
WGF124/C424 RAF SE.5a
- 424A UK RFC, No. 85 Sq
- 424B UK RFC, No. 40 Sq
- 424C UK RFC, sq uncertain (McCudden)
- 424XC USAAS, 25th Aero Sq.
WGF211/C451 Rumpler C.IV
- 451A German LSK, FA 7
- 451B German LSK, FA(a) 235
- 451C German LSK, unit uncertain (Ziegert)
- 451XA German MFT, MFFA 2 (night camo)
- 451XB German LSK, unit uncertain (lozenge)
- 451XC German LSK, unit uncertain (camo)
WGF212/C452 Breguet Br.14A2/B2
- 452A French AM, Esc. BR111
- 452B French AM, Esc. uncertain (Audinot)
- 452C/XC USAAS, 96th Aero Sq.
- 452XA French AM, Esc. BR107
- 452XB French AM, Esc. BR129
Series 5
WGF105/C405 Fokker E.III WGF106/C406 Halberstadt D.III WGF107/C407 Morane-Saulnier N WGF108/C408 AIRCO DH.2
Series 6
WGF109/C409 Hanriot HD1 WGF110/C410 Aviatik D.I WGF111/C411 Sopwith Triplane WGF112/C412 Siemens-Schuckert D.III
Series 7
WGF113/C413 SPAD VII WGF114/C414 Albatros D.II WGF201/C441 Bristol F2B WGF202/C442 Halberstadt CL.II
Series 8
WGF119/C419 Fokker E.V/D.VIII WGF120/C420 Nieuport 28 WGF207/C447 Macchi M.5 WGF208/C448 Hannover CL.IIIa
Series 9
WGF121/C421 Phoenix D.I WGF122/C422 Nieuport 11 WGF209/C449 Sopwith 1-1/2 Strutter WGF210/C450 Albatros C.III
I'll finish building this out with the table framework and Series 2-9 later; right now I want to get this up and "safe" so I can take a break, but you can see how I'm starting to think.
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