Albatros CI propeller

[abufletcher]

Here are a couple of photos of the 1/6 scale version of one particular IPW prop used on a Mercedes engined Albatros CI. I'll be using this as a static display prop for an 1/6 scale RC Albatros. The diameter is 18.7 inches.

The prop retaining plates (if that's what they're called) are made from 1mm aluminum. The pattern was created from some photometry of a photo of an existing CI in Poland. The nuts are very close to the scale size of the retaining bolts on the original.

The only thing missing at the moment is the decals. I'll also eventually make one of the Reschke props.

[Bob Gardner]

Astonishing. And probably made with hands like mine, but mine cannot control even a scew driver.

How are you for JPW decals? I found some very good ones yesterday.

Bob

[abufletcher]

I was able to extract (and clean up) a good Patee Cross decal from the photo of the Reschke prop you kindly sent me. So that's fine, particularly since at this scale it would only be abuot 1cm wide.

However, I wasn't able to pull a useful image from the Integral decal in the photos you posted. If you've got a clearer one I could work from that would be great!

BTW, I'll comment that carving a prop turned out to be a lot easier than I had imagined. I'm not some skilled woodworker but rather just an RC modeler. Carving a small (non-flying) propeller is really pretty straightforward. All that's really needed is a good front view, a side view, and a diameter. The rest of it falls pretty naturally into place. Between the outline and the profile, it just seems obvious which ways the blades had to be curving.

You can see photos of the process on the following thread (from RC Universe's Scale Forum) but here it is in a nutshell:

1. Print out the front view and glue it to the wood.
2. Rough cut the outline (a band saw works perfectly)
3. Sand down to the outlines
4. Turn the wood on it's side and rough cut the profile
5. Sand down to the profile
6. Mark the leading and trailing edges with pencil
7. Roughly carve the back to creat a flat face on the blades
8. Sand the back of the blades until they're flat (a sort of twisting flat)
9. Sand down the front of the blade to create an airfoil pattern

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_6738262/tm.htm

[Bob Gardner]

Don,

I have been describing Integral decals in my book on German props and I have come to the following conclusion. The orginal Integrale decal was international and used by the companies in France, Germany and Britain. This is indicated by the 'patent' marks it carries for each country. Below is a restored example;



Once the British and German companies became independant, they removed the C for Chauviere. A British example is below. The German example appears to be identical, except for the lettering.



I hope these two decals will help you reconstruct a good German one. When you have done it, please send me a copy which I can use as a reconstruction in my book.

Herzliche Grüße,

Bob

[Bob Gardner]

Postscript; I am going to the Berlin Technical Museum in two weeks time and might come back with more info on the decal.

Bob

[abufletcher]

Bob, that's a huge help! I'll see what I can do about a German version.

--Don

[abufletcher]

Bob, it's a couple of hours later and here's what I've got so far on the decal. The colors are just stand-ins to be tweaked later. All I need now is the text. I can probably use the English text as a sample but what exactly are the words on the German version?

[abufletcher]

Also I notice on the photo you posted earlier that the letters JPW appear across the wing. Is this right for the German version? I'm assuming the "J" is a stylized "I" and that "J.P.W." stands for "Jntegral Propeller Werke."

[abufletcher]

...

[abufletcher]

...

[Bob Gardner]

Excellent.

The German text is;
INTEGRAL PROPELLER (with I not J)

and at the bottom it reads;
D R P
with dots at mid level between the letters.

Note that your J in JPW on your latest draft is not completely accurate c.f. the two original photos sent some time ago

With regards,

Bob

[abufletcher]

Bob, yeah the JPW letters were done a bit fast last night and the size and alignment aren't quite right. It's not problem to remove and redo this in photoshop. Here's a rotated and cropped version of the decal photo you posted earlier.



I looks to me like the wing on the German version is slightly smaller (this is part of what make the alignment of the letters a bit off).

What do you make the colors out to be? To me it looks like the star burst, circles, and JPW outlines are in gold. The circle background on the British version is clearly a deep blue but it looks almost black on the German decal but that could be just age. Also it looks like that on the German decal the wing is in gold.

Also what doesn't look right to you about the J (which as I said, I assume is a stylized I)?

[abufletcher]

Actually the German version looks different in quite a few ways, besides the text. For example, the wing is smaller and appears to be gilt and the star burst pattern seems to be just a series of lines with the point at the top.

What I really need now is a good idea of the actual colors for a decal in new condition.



Here's would be my best guesses at the moment on the colors:



BTW, what are the actual dimensions of this decal?

[abufletcher]

Now that I think about it, the wing probably only appears to be gilt in the photo because of age and the varnish. It was probably originally whitish as in the British exampe.

The sunburst lines in the photo also appear to be red but this may also be the effect of age and varnish on "gold" rays.

[abufletcher]

By the way, what does D.R.P stand for?