1-300 German WWI Balkenkreuz Style #2 Decals
These 1-300 German WWI Balkenkreuz Style #2 decals reproduce a narrower-bar variation of the straight-sided German national cross used during the final months of World War I. The style provides an alternative to the heavier Style #1 Balkenkreuz for aircraft whose markings show thinner arms and more restrained proportions.
Decal Information
The sheet includes German WWI Balkenkreuz Style #2 markings suitable for use on 1-300 scale aircraft miniatures.
They are printed on clear-background waterslide decal paper. They need to be individually cut out. Apply over a properly prepared and gloss-coated model surface using normal waterslide-decal techniques.
Key Historical Details
Region / Nation: German
Service: German Military Aviation
Time Period: World War I
Primary Marking: Aircraft Numbers / Identification Codes
Scale: 1-300
Application: Historically appropriate aircraft and aviation subjects
Historical Information
In mid-April 1918, the German Air Service replaced the earlier cross pattée or “Iron Cross” with the straight-sided Balkenkreuz. The change took place rapidly across an operational aircraft fleet, and both factory and field applications produced numerous variations during the remaining months of the war.
As the marking evolved, differences appeared in bar width, overall proportions, and white edging. Narrower forms became one of the recognizable late-war variations, particularly useful when modeling aircraft whose photographs do not match the heavier early Balkenkreuz appearance. Style #2 is intended to reproduce that slimmer presentation.
This style may be appropriate for late-war subjects such as the Fokker D.VII, Albatros D.V/D.Va, Pfalz D.IIIa and D.XII, Hannover CL-series, Halberstadt CL-series, AEG bombers, and Gotha bombers, depending on the specific aircraft, unit, and date.
The 1918 Balkenkreuz appeared in several proportions as aircraft were produced, repaired, and repainted. Use period photographs whenever possible to choose between Style #1 thick outline, Style #1 thin outline, and this narrower Style #2 form.
