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