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Fokker D.VII Foreign Colour Schemes

By Matt Bittner

1/72 Blue Rider Decals, Insignia Colour Guide 2

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This decal sheet consists of decals for 35 different Fokker D.VIIs, flown by countries other than Germany, after WW1.  While this decal sheet does not come with most of the country's emblems (roundels, crosses, etc.) as well as no lozenge decals for those that call for it, it does come complete for those specific types.  In other words, you'll have to find your own national markings and lozenge sources.

There are 18 "countries" represented by this set of decals.  Registration is spot on, and color appear excellent.

While I don't have all the info to research each and every decal scheme represented, I have researched two "countries" in particular, and have come to the following conclusions.

First I looked at Hermann Goering's machine he flew to Sweden to escape from post-war Germany.  It was an almost overall black and white striped machine with the lower wing in lozenge.  The decals exist only for the serial number (since the only other markings would have been German crosses and lozenge) which is correctly represented as alternating black and white characters.  However, in the photos I have seen of this machine, the weights table on the forward fuselage was also in alternating black and white characters.  This decal sheet does not provide this weight table, instead leaving it to the modeler to somehow come up with these decals.

The other area I researched heavily were the Soviet machines, which operated in the post Russian Civil War times, the early 1920's.  Since this is an area I personally enjoy, this was the entire reason for tracking down these decals.  I have qualms with anumber of posits Blue Rider make.  In particular, I don't think the machines had natural metal noses, instead the entire airframe was painted in overall Dutch dark green.  In addition, the Kozhevnikov machine (with the "sphinx", or "pharaoh" on the sides) also was finished in overall dark Dutch green, and the nose was not finished in a different color.  Plus, on those machines with "dark" rudders, I believe the rudders were also painted in green, and not in red as the Blue Rider instructions call out.  Yes, those rudders that were painted in white were painted in white, but those that weren't were left green.

I also don't like the colors in the "pharaoh's" face for Kozhevnikov's machine.  Yes, the majority was in white, with probably black "stripes" (those stripes also possibly blue), but the facial details were not painted in black, instead being rendered in a dark brown but still keeping the "flesh-colored" face.  I'm also not sure of the "grape" marking on some of the rudders (designating a different "flight" within the "squadron").  I'm not sure for one primary reason - in one photo I have seen of these machines lined up, it is obvious that the grapes have "definition".  That is, they look like a bunch of grapes, and also the color of grapes.  Not just a general "grape shape" in red, but an actual bunch of grapes.  However, I can kind of see where Blue Rider came up with their thinking, because the one photo that shows most of the squadron lined up, it's very difficult to make out the grapes, and they do look like just a general shape.

Even with the problems I have uncovered, I still think this is a great set of decals for those who wish to have Fokker D.VIIs in unusual - and non-WW1 German - markings.  I definitely recommend them.  However, the one caveat always applies - try to have a photo (or three) of the machine you're trying to model.

Our thanks to Roll Models for the review sample.