{"id":1574470,"date":"2017-12-09T23:15:56","date_gmt":"2017-12-09T22:15:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/armahobbynews.pl\/en\/?p=1574470"},"modified":"2024-03-20T08:18:24","modified_gmt":"2024-03-20T07:18:24","slug":"flugzeugstoff-printed-lozenge-fabric","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/armahobbynews.pl\/en\/blog\/2017\/12\/09\/flugzeugstoff-printed-lozenge-fabric\/","title":{"rendered":"Flugzeugstoff \u2013 printed lozenge fabric"},"content":{"rendered":"

Attrition warfare, so characteristic for the Great War, was performed by the long trench fights aimed on wearing down the enemy and by the naval blockade, preventing the Central Powers from importing resources from abroad. Such situation promoted designing and wide application of many interesting inventions, probably unnecessary during the peacetime.\u00a0 Some of them, like wicker airplane fuselages, never went beyond the experimental phase. But the printed airplane fabric \u2013 so called lozenge fabric \u2013 making airplane production and maintenance much cheaper and easier, became great success and went to really mass use.<\/p>\n

\"lozenge<\/a> Lozenge pattern on Fokker E.V aeroplane.
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Lozenge, losenge or\u2026 Flugzeugstoff?<\/h2>\n

This type of airplane fabric has been designed in Germany, initially as \u201cBallonstoff\u201d (\u201cballoon material\u201d) to replace the highly visible yellow of the observation balloons. \u00a0Used later as a fabric for airplane covering became called \u201cFlugzeugstoff\u201d (\u201cairplane material\u201d). The term \u201clozenge\u201d, commonly and widely used nowadays \u2013 also by modellers \u2013\u00a0 is not German, but comes from English word for rhombus (diamond shape). Sometimes used form \u201closenge\u201d is in fact the same word, but in French. Origin of its use to describe type of the airplane finish comes most probably from Allied intelligence reports describing German airplanes.<\/p>\n

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\"drukowanie<\/a><\/p>\n

Reconstruction of lozenge printing process. Photo: Stephen Lawson\/WWI in plastic.com collection
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Airplanes with overprints<\/h2>\n

Lozenge fabric, used since 1916-1917 Winter, has been the same high quality pure linen as it was used already in aircraft production, but printed in camouflage pattern of irregular polygons. Earlier machines have been camouflaged mostly by painting them with normal paints, relatively heavy and not very durable or very expensive and not easily available during the war. Airplane without paint coat was lighter and cheaper. Also maintenance and repair of the unpainted surfaces was easier, because there was no need to remove old paint and reapply the new layer. Printing solved all those problems. Lozenge fabric was not heavier than clean one, and synthetic\u00a0 dyes used for printing were cheaper and easier available alternative for paints and lacquers.<\/p>\n

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