Painted Propeller Tip

[Dave]

Does anyone know where this may have originated? I know that there are two others apparently by the same artist that have German dirigible themes. The alternating wood types are typical German construction, but beyond that I have no idea about the propeller itself. I bought this some years ago just because I liked the detail. There is no artist name or signature, and the back is just blank.

[Bob Gardner]

What a beautiful item. Thank you for showing us.

The script underneath translates as 'I will be a Boelcke.' It seems to commemorate a kill on 25 Oct 1917. Perhaps this could be identified by someone on the Aerodrome Forum?

The Cross Patee is in the correct position to be original to the prop, which would suggest a Germania or Reschke prop, but I think this is unlikely as the artist is clearly adroit. He would probably have painted his own.

Although the Fokker Dr.1 is painted red, and therefore refers to MvR, the date does not ring a bell. I don't think MvR achieved any kills in October 1917.

The National markings are a little odd, at least to my untutored eye. They seem to be in the form of the Eisernes Kreuz markings which were authorised by Idflieg (Inspektion der Fliegertruppen) from 25 July 1916 to 29 Oct 1916, but they also have a touch of the Balkenkreuz design about them. This design was in use from 10 Apr 1918 – 15 May 1918. The design chosen by the artist doesn't reflect the design in use in October 1917, except of course there were many unit variations on the theme.

With regards,

Bob

[MWP_Lamar]

What a beautiful item. Congratulations and thank you for sharing it with us. I've certainly never seen anything like it.

[frogg]

painted propeller tip

Hi, I think this was painted on an antique propeller tip in the 1980s. I bought a similar one in a London antique market in that period. Who ever painted it is a really good artist! cheers, gary