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HISTORICAL MINIATURES BY GEORGE GRASSE |
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HISTORICAL MINIATURES BY GEORGE GRASSE |
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| HANNOVER CL.II C.9252/17, FA(A) 209, Late Fall 1917 |
by George Grasse
| WINGNUT WINGS WN3024 1:32 SCALE PLASTIC KIT of the HANNOVER CL.II |
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WINGNUT
WINGS WN3024 HANNOVER CL.II BOX ART
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THE
MODEL TO BE BUILT
C.9252/17 PHOTO
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| This photo is taken from Windsock Centenary Datafile No. 168, 'HAWA'! Volume 1 by Ray Rimmel and Harry Woodman, published by Albatros Productions in the UK. This aircraft was flown by Vzfw Borstell (Pilot) and Ltn Gunther Wolff (O) of FA(A) 209, late 1917. At this time, in anticipation of eventual overwhelming American troops, the German Air Force, Luftstreitkrafte, designated a large number of frontline air units, flieger abteilung, to be increased in strength from six to nine aircraft for the purpose of taking on escort (Hannover and Halberstadt 'CL' types), infantry contact patrol machines (Junkers, Albatros, and AEG 'J' types), and the occasional night bombing machines (AEG and Sablatnig 'N' types). The Hannover CL.II, III, and IIIa machines more often than not performed escort duty for the artillery observation and reconnaissance aircraft of the abteilung but often performed these duties as well. This particular aircraft was equipped with radio equipment. |
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THE
MODEL TO BE BUILT
C.9252/17 COLOR
PROFILE
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| This color profile was produced by Ronny Bar for Windsock Centenary Datafile No. 168, 'HAWA'! Volume 1 by Ray Rimmel and Harry Woodman, published by Albatros Productions in the UK. As you know, the German aircraft industry developed pre-printed camouflage linen material as a replacement for clear doped linen that had to be painted according to the camouflage schemes evolving from early 1916 to mid 1917. That process was labor and material intensive and it was thought that printing a multi-colored pattern directly onto linen fabric would substantially reduce labor and material cost. However, the problem quickly arose as to applying a suitable camouflage to those aircraft that had plywood surfaces. Obviously, the Hannover CL series was particularly impacted with its plywood covered fuselage. The pattern had to nearly match that of the pre-printed fabric so the fuselage, for example, had to be hand-painted in much the same colors and pattern as the wings. Both the Halberstadt and Hannover CL series featured these patterns. In the case of the Hannover, a thin overall spray of dark Prussian blue was applied to cause the sharp lines of the hand-painted pattern to become softer. Note the tail-end of the fuselage above which was not usually over-sprayed. Now note the fuselage which has a heavy over-spray that produces a filmy appearance. |
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THE
MODEL TO BE BUILT
C.9252/17 CREW
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| This photo appears in Over the Front quarterly Volume 12, Number 4, Winter 1997, from the article "Colors: The Hannover CL.II, III, IIIa" by Greg VanWyngarden. It shows Hannover C.9252/17 of FA(A) 209 and its crew Leutnant Gunther Wolff (Observer - left) and Vzfw Borstell (Pilot - right). In most Flieger-Abteilung units the pilot was an NCO as denoted by silver-grey thread running along the bottom of the collar. Vzfw Borstell is a well-decorated sergeant. The caption for this photo includes the notation that FA(A) aircraft each had a black and white geometric emblem, no two alike. |
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CONSTRUCTION
PHOTO #1
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| FUSELAGE INTERIOR BEGINS: The fuselage halves were started some time ago and I put the kit away and completely forgot about it. to my surprise I discovered that I had started this kit but just the fuselage halves and some minor work on the engine (not shown). I couldn't resist the temptation to continue, and went to work on the pilot's cockpit. |
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CONSTRUCTION
PHOTO #2
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| FUSELAGE INTERIOR CLOSEUP: The instruction manual calls out for dark wood on the cockpit internal structure. As shown above, I used Vallejo VC0818 Red Leather as a base and will stain it with Vallejo VC0985 Hull Red (which is what the seat looks like above after staining). |
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CONSTRUCTION
PHOTO #3
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| FUSELAGE COCKPIT PRE-INSTALLATION: There are a few components which are viewed as partially painted because they will face the inside of the other fuselage half. The engine bearer sub-assembly is not installed at this time. The fit of the other half of the fuselage has to be done with great care even though the final fit is perfect. The only interior rigging involves the .005 MFT lines running across the full tank connected to the outer arms of the control stick sub-assembly. The cockpit assembly as shown was not glued to either half of the fuselage - the fit was perfect. |
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CONSTRUCTION
PHOTO #4
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| FUSELAGE SEALED UP: The engine bearer sub-assembly was now glued in place (not shown). The completed engine was dropped onto the engine bearer sub-assembly and glued in place. The fuselage seam was filled with putty and sanded down using gradual, finer grades of sand paper until smooth. |
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CONSTRUCTION
PHOTO #5
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| PRELIMINARY TAIL WORK AND DECALS: The next assembly step according to the instruction manual was to build up the tail unit. However, kit-supplied decals had to go on first. Without the two horizontal tail planes in place, I applied the rear fuselage decals. Having built Eduard's 1:48 Hannover CL.II C.9280/17, I was quite familiar with the Hannover practice of hand-painting the camouflage pattern on the fuselage in large six-sided patterns to roughly approximate the colors of the topside pre-printed fabric. The decals applied here at the tail are Wingnut Wings' version of the topside colors and they are used here so I won't have to hand-paint them. The decals tend to overlap and will have to be carefully sanded off and the edging tape hand-painted. |
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CONSTRUCTION
PHOTO #6
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| LANDING GEAR AND PRELIMINARY FUSELAGE CAMOUFLAGE OUTLINE WORK: Two additional spectators have joined the group. The landing gear was simple to add at this step. I started penciling the fuselage 'lozenges' and they will become larger as I move forward. |
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CONSTRUCTION
PHOTO #7
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TAIL UNIT and ADDITIONAL CAMOUFLAGE
OUTLINING: To complete the tail
unit I glued the top portion to the fin
as more aviation personnel gather to
watch. By adding the strut work on
the tail, it places this Hannover into
1918 when such reinforcements were
retrofitted to improve in flight
stabilization. Tucked away in the
shadowy area of the fin are three small
struts on each side.
I completed the stenciling of the right side fuselage 'lozenges'. Take note that the fuselage will be finished in a thin coat of dark Prussian blue that will obscure most of the detail of the fuselage lozenge pattern. |
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CONSTRUCTION
PHOTO #8
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| FUSELAGE CAMOUFLAGE OUTLINING COMPLETED: All spectators were 'shooed' away so this clear photo of the left side can show the pencil outline of the lozenge pattern to be painted. Again, the colors that appear on the tail unit will be hand-painted all across the fuselage and, when thoroughly dry, a thin coat of dark Prussian blue be applied that will obscure the pattern. |
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CONSTRUCTION
PHOTO #9
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| FUSELAGE CAMOUFLAGE PAINTED (RIGHT SIDE): The hand-painted fuselage pattern is now painted as the growing crowd looks on. The colors I used are shown in the Fuselage Color Table below (or click here). It is highly probably that any two Hannover aircraft were finished in the same way. In fact, some appear to have been neatly hand-painted (as in my version) and others appear to have been sprayed in larger random patterns. In both versions, a dark but thin overspray was applied to soften the demarcation between colors. |
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CONSTRUCTION
PHOTO #10
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| FUSELAGE CAMOUFLAGE PAINTED (LEFT SIDE): The hand-painted fuselage pattern is now complete on both sides including the landing gear struts. Note also that the propeller has been painted. |
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CONSTRUCTION
PHOTO #11
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| WINGS AND LOZENGE DECALS: The process of applying all those lozenge decals to all wing surfaces was daunting at first but it all went pretty well. When I compared the top wing's center section with its hand-painted lozenge pattern I immediately noticed that the colors were too dark. So, the next step is to lighten the colors with a new mix of paints and that includes the fuselage. |
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CONSTRUCTION
PHOTOS #12
and #13
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TOP WING CENTER SECTION AND FUSELAGE
RE-DO:
I was not satisfied with the finish of
the top wing's center section because it
appeared to be unusually dark compared
to the outer wing panel lozenge decals.
I adjusted two of the colors and applied
them by over-painting the top wing
center section and the fuselage. Click here to see the color table. |
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CONSTRUCTION
PHOTO #14
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| FUSELAGE DETAILS: The observer's machine gun took a while to complete as the instruction manual's drawings did not show how a couple of the parts were positioned especially a small adaptor part that allowed the support arm to be located into the machine gun ring. I next glued the cabane one-piece cabane struts to each side and painted them with my gray-green mix. The wind-driven generator is attached to the left front landing gear strut without its propeller (for now). |
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CONSTRUCTION
PHOTO #15
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| FUSELAGE DARKENED AND DECALS: I mixed ground up blue chalk with black modeling powder and brushed it onto the fuselage mostly between the forward cockpit and the tail. In practice, the Germans over-sprayed this area with a diluted color, usually Prussian blue, to soften the camouflage. I over-sprayed the model with one coat of Vallejo's Acrylic Satin Varnish, an excellent non-toxic finish. The odd-looking light-colored lines running diagonally across the fuselage near the cross are the two aileron cables glued in place about mid-way on the lower wing. At this point all of the Gaspatch turnbuckles have been glued in place and it remains to attach the top wing. |
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CONSTRUCTION
PHOTO #16
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| FA(A) 209 UNIT INSIGNIA: To make the insignia, I started by measuring the the legs of the triangle and transferring the scaled dimensions to a piece of white paper which then served as a template. I placed the template over a piece of white decal paper and made the cut for two pieces. I soaked the white triangle decal and applied one to each fuselage side. Next, I retrieved black pin stripping decals from my Yellow Wings 'Between the Wars' stash and applied strips on the outside of the triangle thus making a black border. Next, I measured the mid-point of each side of the triangle and hand-painted the small black triangle. Voila! |
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CONSTRUCTION
PHOTO #17
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| TOP WING ATTACHED: I had serious problems trying to get the top wing on. The simple explanation is the wobbly plastic struts especially the cabane struts. I decided to scrap the main wing struts and made my own from brass tube and rod. The struts were rigid enough to support the wing and you can see the results in the photo above. All that remains now is rigging and a few minor details. |
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CONSTRUCTION
PHOTO #18
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| COMPLETED MODEL - LEFT SIDE VIEW |
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CONSTRUCTION
PHOTO #19
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| COMPLETED MODEL - LEFT FRONT VIEW |
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CONSTRUCTION
PHOTO #20
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| COMPLETED MODEL - RIGHT FRONT VIEW |
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CONSTRUCTION
PHOTO #21
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| COMPLETED MODEL - RIGHT SIDE VIEW |
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CONSTRUCTION
PHOTO #22
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| COMPLETED MODEL - RIGHT REAR VIEW |
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CONSTRUCTION
PHOTO #23
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| COMPLETED MODEL - LEFT REAR VIEW |
TOP WING UPPER CENTER SECTION AND FUSELAGE HAND-PAINTED LOZENGE COLOR TABLE
| Original Colors as shown in Photos #10 and #11 | Modified Colors as shown in Photos #12 and #13 |
| Vallejo VC0899 Dark Prussian Blue | Added half Vallejo VC0963 Medium Blue |
| Vallejo VC0960 Violet | Added half "flesh" |
| Vallejo VC0968 Flat Green | no change |
| Vallejo VC0980 Black Green | no change |
| Vallejo VC0988 Khaki | no change |
