Hansa-Brandenburg W.29

[jbmacek]

I decided to jump on the floatplane bandwagon with a Hansa-Brandenburg W.29. Such a nice looking plane, but I'm not really happy with how this one turned out.




This photo is horrible. If I had had more time, I would have snapped a better one.



And that is it for me and planes for awhile. I have one more German plane I want to paint, and assuming Shapeways can get their act together and print them right I have one more plane for each of my kids, then I'm going to go paint something else for a few months - maybe some scifi. I feel like running some GURPS games, and since the "U" stands for "Universal", I really could find myself playing and painting just about anything.

[jbmacek]

Oh, decals are Reviresco. I wasn't too happy with them, so I really only used the camo and the numbers. The small crosses are Dom's. Pilot and gunner are also Reviresco.

[144sram]

I like it, yes, looks nicely!!

[Baldrick62]

JB,
I think overall it looks more than fine, including the naval lozenge, and as many of us have found when posting here, the camera picks up things the naked eye doesn't. I'd question the all black undercarriage though: a/ I don't think I've seen that scheme before, and b/ I wonder if the use of lighter colours on both struts and floats wouldn't enhance the overall look of your model as the black makes it look (to my perception) a bit 'heavy'?
BofB

[Guntruck]

Excellent job!

[Zoe Brain]

At least some were given a black non-slip coating on upper surfaces, and possibly on struts too.

[Baldrick62]

At least some were given a black non-slip coating on upper surfaces, and possibly on struts too.

Can't say I've ever seen it, and the 'Allgemeine Baubestimmungen fur Seeflugzeuege der Kaiserlichen Marine' dated April 1918 (as translated in Windsock Datafile 55) states: 'All aircraft surfaces visible from above, that is the top surfaces of both wings, the fuselage, the floats, the tailplane and elevator, are grey-violet in regular hexagons of 15cm side length. All surfaces visible from the side, that is the fuselage sides, the floats, the rudder and all struts, are to be painted in a single colour of the aforementioned grey-blue tone. All surfaces visible from below are to be painted in a light blue colour, or the covering fabric may retain its natural colour.'

As the first W29 was only released for operational trials in May 18, I 'd be interested to know your source for the black non-slip cover.

[Burt]

I painted the floats on my HB W29 black the source I used was the Wingnuts guide.

[Belis4rius]

I have the Windsock File and it is full of pictures, but no black struts. I believe some floats were wood finish, but normally they would be same as fuselage and some had lozenge of course.

[flash]

Very nice job John, it'll look sweet on the table my friend & that's what counts.
I, like you, have just about done all my aircraft & looking to paint something else - I actually did 3 Genestealers for Spacehulk today, only 120 more to go!

[Baldrick62]

I have the Windsock File and it is full of pictures, but no black struts. I believe some floats were wood finish, but normally they would be same as fuselage and some had lozenge of course.

Yes, 2204/18, the type test aircraft (typenflugzeug) ordered in Jan 18 is shown with plain varnished floats and struts.

WNW seem to be pretty accurate with their markings (and with WWI aircraft schemes almost anything is possible), but I'd still be interested to see some visual or documentary evidence.

[jbmacek]

Thanks. Glad you like it. The black struts don't bug me so much. I think I'm more bothered by the pilot and gunner than anything else. I think they look a little too big. Oh well. Also, the finish was a little too grainy for me. I think this was one of the first WSF planes I primed, before I had gone to spraying with a couple coats of triple clear as a step in the process. But hey, it'll look good getting shot down the next time we play.

And now, time to clear coat that German I had mentioned...

[jbmacek]

I, like you, have just about done all my aircraft & looking to paint something else

That's cool. I actually have a good half-dozen or more to paint, I'm just feeling like doing something different.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Looks fine to me John. It's whatever floats your boat, or maybe in this case sinks it.
Rob.

[Zoe Brain]

\I 'd be interested to know your source for the black non-slip cover.

You'll find a lot in http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sho...andenburg-W.29

You commented on it at the time

[Baldrick62]

You'll find a lot in http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sho...andenburg-W.29

You commented on it at the time

And you still offer no documentary or photographic proof that W29s had black floats or struts. The lengthy thread in 'The Aerodrome' which you've referenced is conjecture and hearsay, repeated here as fact. While there is strong visual evidence that W12s had black (or blackened) undercarriages prior to the ABB directive of Apr 18, only 17 of those aircraft were accepted after that month, and all production orders for W29s post-date the ABB.

[Zoe Brain]

There's photographic proof that the directive was not strictly followed. There are fewer clear photos showing a w29 with hex'd floats than without, though the colour can only be guessed at. Dark, but could be black or stained wood. In some the struts are very dark. Have a look at the photos in the winsock profile (though this has many flaws in its analysis).