COLOURS & MARKINGS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR ERA
 NOTE:
V.3 is now available and contains everything in v2 and more!
Welcome to V.2 of colours and markings. I have given it a new name that
reflects the slightly expanded coverage - there are no hard and fast cutoff
dates, rather if it flew in the era of the First World War, than it is
open for inclusion.
When I completed the first CD, the intent was to just get the information
out there for all to see and I would make occasional updates to reflect
new information as it came my way. To that end, the original CD went through
around 30 revisions before I placed it on hold in mid-2003. Since that
time I have often thought about redoing the CD, but the stumbling block
was the layout, and also what to include. Finally in January 2005 the
urge struck to revise the CD, and I then spent the next three months redoing
all the pages and adding many new ones.
The major request in the past five years has been to include an index
by type for the various aircraft. This was also the item that held me
back as I pondered just what form it should take. Finally I decided that
I would add a new page to the end of each nation's section and have it
be a master index showing the types of aircraft flown by that country.
This page, in turn, would open to a new page with all my profiles of that
aircraft type in the service of that country. There would also be a cross-reference
to other countries that used the same aircraft if this was the country
of origin for that type. ie: SPAD XIIIs are shown on the French page,
and links given to USAS, Belgium, Commonwealth, Poland, Italy and Japan
as I have illustrated XIIIs in their service.
Another request was for ex-works finishes and plan views. The intent
on the original CD was to have a separate section showing factory finishes
and a start was made on it. However, I decided that the best way to feature
finishes was to include them in the same page as the index by type. This
means that many of the aircraft pages include a very brief overview of
the type, as well as notes on standard finishes, and – in many cases
– plan views showing the marking practices of that country. I have
also tried to include notes on markings on the individual unit pages.
As always these notes are subject to change as new information comes in.
A third new feature are the insignia pages. Many squadrons had fancy
insignias that adorned their aircraft, and I have added pages showing
these to the Belgian, French and American sections. Those shown are really
just the tip of the iceberg, and I hope to add to them in the future.
When I started on this project back in 1989 I had no idea where it would
lead, or the enjoyment and friendships that it would bring to me. Growing
up in the 1970s I wore out the books in my local library on WWI aviation,
and never imagined that one day I would work on similar volumes myself.
Today it is one of my great pleasures to know that I can call or email
many of the people whose names I read on those very books and who I can
count as my friends – even if many of us have yet to meet in person.
As related in the original introduction,
Jack Herris of Flying Machines Press was instrumental in my taking up
computer illustration and I will forever be in his debt for that and also
his help and encouragment over the years. In more recent years, Ray Rimell
of Albatros Productions has provided me with a steady source of information
(as well as income - thanks Ray!) which have allowed me to fill many holes
in the overall coverage. Many others on the WWI
List have also helped and it is with thanks to all that I mention
the two who quickly come to mind - Robert Karr and Chris Banyai-Riepl.
The first has been a great help on the many projects we have worked on,
both together and separately, while the second became my partner in Internet
Modeler and who also guided me in my first attempts at HTML.
There are four basic versions of profiles included here. The first are
the original watercolours, the second are acrylic with shading, the third
are the computer profiles, while the fourth are also computer proifles,
but lack all but the most basic shading. These last ones are included
for completeness, and are by permission of Ray Rimell as they were comissioned
by and/or the references supplied by Albatros Productions for use in Windsock
or the Datafiles. Some that I have already done for myself and that were
later used in the above volumes are left fully shaded.
June 2005
NOTE ON THE PREVIEW and ORDERING
For this preview, most of the links are inactive, and only the Reference
section and the Polish profile section are posted. The former as they
contain lists of all the profiles done, while the latter shows what is
included in a typical section.
The CD is available for: $50 Cdn/USD / €40 Euros / £30 GBP.
Payment via PayPal (preferred) IMO, Cheque, cash (not recommended, but
none has gone missing yet) If paying via Paypal, then please send payment
to bpearson@kaien.net
As of February 2012 the CD has been updated to v.3 and anyone who has
an earlier version may purchase it for 1/2 price. From v.3 on, downloadable
updates will be posted in which you may download a zip file of everything
that has been added/updated/revised since the previous release. These
updates will be listed on the UPDATE
page.
Bob Pearson
1520 Omineca Ave
Prince Rupert, BC
V8J 2C1
Canada
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