Rolf Pingel's Battle of Britain Kommandeur I./JG 26 machine - Hasegawa Me 109 E

 

Fourth completion of the year!

Hasegawa Me 109 - is there an easier build out there? Not sure though that I'm 100 % convinced by the shape of the nose. Decals from Kagero. Pingel's Emil was photographed during November 1940 - the blue of the fuselage now heavily mottled, although the machine still has large areas of yellow.  I used Xtracolor enamels. 

of course, once again the aerial isn't right. I've since replaced it with something a little more acceptable, although I hate wrestling with EZ Line. The trick here is to zap the super glue with accelerator ..

Roden Fokker Dr. 1 72nd Jasta 12 Fw. Ulrich Neckel

You often hear people say, if you want to do something from WW I with not much rigging, try building a Fokker Dr. 1 triplane model. You have to wonder whether those people have actually done that - because building triplanes - especially in 72nd scale - is not easy even without having to worry too much about rigging!

The Roden kit is nice enough - quite detailed including separate sets of ailerons but very fiddly with its minuscule parts, including the internal cockpit framework and all the struts as separate parts, none of which have decent locating holes. I notice that sites such as Scott's 'Modelling Madness' have only ever done an in-box review of this kit. Which is pretty useless really - its not until you get into the build that you realise that some things are awry; eg the decals which are slightly over-sized and don't fit! Not to mention disintegrate on being moved from the backing paper. Fortunately there were two sets in my box - and one appeared to have been reprinted to the right dimensions (?). 

 

Fantastic box-art by the way. And lots of choices on the large decal sheet. Mine is finished in the markings of Fw. Ulrich Neckel of Jasta 12 with typical black rear fuselage and tailplane and 'dirty' white cowl and standard streaked finish over the rest of the airframe. Neckel was born 1898 and was one of the last winners of the Pour Le Mérite, awarded in his case in November 1918 for around 29 victories. He died in 1928 from TB.

To the right is the Revell 72nd Dr 1, probably an 'easier' buld although a little short on detail options. Check out the label links below for more triplanes on this blog..

Also on this blog;

Lt Paul Bäumer's Jasta Boelcke Fokker Dr. 1 204/17 (SMER 1:44th)

Hasegawa 1:48 Marseille 3./JG 27 F-4/Trop

 

Another Hasegawa 48th Friedrich finished as perhaps the best known and documented machine of one of the best known Ritterkreuzträger of the Luftwaffe. H-J Marseille flew this 3./JG 27 F-4/Trop 'ge 14 +' WNr. 8693 during February 1942. An Erla-built machine that likely arrived in North Africa during January 1942. In fact Marseille was on home leave that month and may well have ferried it back on his return to the front. He flew it consistently during February 1942 and gained victories 37 through 52. 

 - standard F-4/ Trop

- no armour glass windscreen

- deeper 'G' style oil cooler

- flat plate head armour with no curved section

- both upper wing Balkenkreuze had flaked

- no white wingtips -upper or lower- and no whitewall tyres

- solid white spinner and oil tank section

- rudder repainted in a dark colour. Possibly red-brown primer (possibly red, possibly dark green)

- open-style 'figure '4' and standard factory-applied tropical scheme of sandgelb 79 over 78

 

first completion of 2023 - another Eduard Bf 109 G-6 Heinz Bartels 11./JG 27

 

now that the house-move and the latest book project are out of the way I can get back to building some models. If only the airbrush would work 'properly'..

Here's my first completion of 2023, another of the 'old' new-tool Eduard Bf 109s, this time in the markings of 11./JG 27 ace Bartels. IV./JG 27 were at Kalamaki, Greece in the autumn of 1943 and intervened over Kos and Leros during October as German forces pushed out the British from these Dodecanese islands following the Italian 'change-of-sides'..

A couple of the images of the finished model show the 72nd Academy G-6 in the 'same' scheme as well, although as Gary Hatcher put it, how can Luftwaffe modellers be satisfied knowing that their mottling is always so 'hit and miss'? I mean all of the known images of this machine show the port side - not one shows the starboard side AFAIK. Upper surface 'saw-tooth' finish was a feature of some Erla 1943 production, re-created here easily enough with a P-Mask mask. The underwing 'R6' MG 151 cannon gondola have been opened up to display the Eduard resin cannon..

ICM P-51 D - Anderson's 'Old Crow' 357th FG

As a 'practise' build before starting the new-tool Airfix and Eduard P-51s this is my ICM 48th P-51 D in the well-known markings of 357th FG ace Cpt. 'Bud' Anderson, as based at Leiston, Suffolk during October 1944. I read somewhere (I think) that this kit is very much a 'copy' of the Tamiya P-51 and while I don't know about that, it did go together far more easily than the ICM Bf 109 F I built last year! I made a mess of the windscreen which didn't fit too well though  - I attempted to drill out the blast barrels but made a mess of that as well; note they line-up asymmetrically in the wing leading edge. The finish is a 'weathered' version of RAF dark green, while the decals are from Kagero ‘Topshots’ - but they broke up disastrously on application. I still need to source some prop stencils and maybe add a coat of matt varnish, although I would suspect this machine was kept well polished! All in all this is something of a save....

 

Merle Olmsted's 'The Yoxford Boys' describes this machine with the following caption: "... It was received at the 8th Air Force depot at Wharton in the first week of September, 1944, just off the freighter from Newark N.J. It would have arrived at Leiston a week or two later, where it was apparently immediately painted in RAF green and Anderson flew it like that until winter came on, when his crew stripped it back to bare metal. It was eventually scrapped in November, 1945."

 Note that 8th AF P-51s did NOT have a wire antenna running from tail to cockpit..

‘Old Crow’ on René Francillon’s beautifully illustrated 368-page A-4 hardback published in French by Lela Presse - almost certainly one of the best - and least known - P-51 references...

AZ Bf 109 G-6/AS in 1:72 scale

Bf 109 G-6/AS from the AZ 72nd series of Bf 109s - seen here awaiting some final touches, like the pitot tube and the FuG 16 aerial. One reason for taking photos of your models - you immediately realize what you’ve missed! Decals are remnants from various sheets, except for the ‘Mickey Maus ’ from the old Encore models Gustav.


As a far better modeler than me put it recently, " I keep going back to the AZ Bf 109s ...and then reality hits home.." Now - based on just one build so far - I decided that I quite like AZ Model's Bf 109 G-6 series - 'Model of the Year 2015' in the small scale category in the German 'Modellfan' magazine. I've just added a couple of G-6/AS variants to the stash and bought both the 'Limited Edition' JG 300 boxes.

The G-6/AS were conceived as ‘fast’ high altitude interceptors with a refined ‘bulge-free’ cowling and forward fuselage, the DB 605A(S) engine (‘S’ for Sonder or ‘special’) and a bigger supercharger, issued in overall light blue-gray finish from early 1944 to units operating in the defense of the Reich, such as I./JG 5. This is the ’Mickey Maus’ machine flown by the Kommandeur, Horst Carganico...

I'd forgotten how tricky these AZ kits are - not much fits well unfortunately. Especially where the cockpit is concerned - a huge chunk of that need sanding down to get it between the fuselage halves.

To build a G-6/AS as depicted in this box the chin bulges will need to be sanded off - AZ don't tell you this anywhere.

I’ve just started another of these and somehow the fit of the cockpit is much better ! The other problem area is the fit of the empennage which seems too thick for the lower half of the fuselage, which could usefully use a ‘shim’ of plastic card to widen it out. And many modelers have complained about the nose shape on these kits but to be honest it doesn’t bother me too much at all...

ICM Bf 109 Friedrich 1:48 - build review finished

Finished in the markings of Kommodore Balthasar of JG 2 as seen in late May 1941 in the three greys, but being an early F-2, there’s a chance it could have been finished in BoB Emil 71/02/65. Decals assembled from various remnants, including the rudder ‘kill’ markings. Balthasar was one of the leading Luftwaffe aces during the campaign in the West and the Battle of Britain. He was killed in his new Friedrich during July 1941.

I am currently considering whether or not to repaint the port wing, as the pattern is not consistent with the splinter pattern vaguely discernable on the photo of this machine (he says now!)... overall I like the kit. I found it a little tricky in parts -especially the cowl - but the detail is reasonably good..

Eduard Fokker Dr.1 48th - build review finished

Official Kogenluft photo taken at Léchelle, France in late March/Early April 1918 records at least 13 Triplanes of Jastas 6 and 11 (JG I) at the height of the great Offensive. Alex Imrie stated, "During the advance which resulted from the Spring Offensive, JG I occupied the British aerodrome at Léchelle on the evening of 26 March. This photo of Jasta 6 Triplanes lined up there was probably taken a few days later, and shows the aircraft undergoing national insignia changes." There are both Iron Cross (Eisernes Kreuz) and Balkenkreuz markings on view in this image but all the rudders featuring the newly-applied Balkenkreuz are white. Just beyond the fellow with the binoculars, beyond a two-seater DFW C.V hack machine marked with the number '3', can be seen the red-painted top wing of Richthofen's 425/17 partially obscured by another Triplane - in front of the last of the Bessoneau hangars. The Dr. 1 of Jasta 11 ace Hans Weiss Dr. 1 (545/17) is somewhere on this image...Click to view large..

Completed in the markings of Jasta 11 ace Hans Weiss Dr. 1 545/17 (WNr. 2213 seen on lower rudder). As the name implies much of his machine was painted white.

The Eduard Dr. 1 kit is nicely detailed and I used some of the etch from the ProfiPACK box in the stash to enhance the cockpit (compass etc). The plastic control yoke in the kit is nicely done- on the etch sheet you will find some tiny 'L' and 'R' placards for the MGs ( 'left' and 'right' in German is 'links' and 'rechts'). The fuel tank air pressure hand pump for the right side of the cockpit was scratched..The back of the aluminum seat was evidently covered in fabric on the inner face and the seat cushion was the parachute pack. The alu ammunition boxes don't sit very well in the forward fuselage and needed trimming. Everything lines up well though with the Spandaus which really need the etch jackets of course. Eduard's etch includes the Bowden cable arrangement that operated the triggers on the real machine. The fuel gauge on the upper deck cowling has an etch dial face. As noted previously, aligning the wings proved problematic - on my next build I will do more to ensure that the lower wing sits 'square' in the lower fuselage. The underbelly fuselage seam is fixed with an etch stitching strip and the seam under the forward fuselage can be hidden as I did here with an etch plate which helps secure the very fragile front landing gear legs so there is an even placement of the whole undercarriage - something else I found pretty tricky to achieve. One thing I didn't do on my model was 'fix' the clear inspection window in the top wing which needs to be relocated and the raised edges sanded down. Next time... There are two propeller types offered in the kit - Axial and Heine. Painting a 'laminated' propeller is fairly straight forward - I simply gave the item a coat of “buff” or linen and when dry, streaked some burnt umber oil over the part with a stiff brush. You could mask the prop off in strips. I used a similar technique for the wings with '502 Abteilung' Olive green oil paint. Eduard's etch sheet for the Dr.1 includes the "Reich” / government ownership plate located on the starboard side of the cowling. I did some minimal rigging with E-Z Line which I always find difficult to work with as it is so 'elastic'.  Thanks to Stephen T. Lawson for help with this build!

 The first victory recorded in a Fokker Triplane was achieved by Rittmeister Manfred von Richthofen when he brought down an RE 8 on the morning of 1 September 1917 for his 60th victory in his first combat flight in the type. (Kranzhof states 2 September). The crew believed the oncoming machine to be a British Sopwith Triplane. Poor construction and the proximity of the top wing to the propeller wash subsequently caused a number of well-documented failures in-flight. The type was temporarily withdrawn to re-appear in strength in January 1918. The Fokker Triplane equipped most of the Jagdstaffeln of the three Jagdgeschwader of the German Fliegertruppe during the first half of 1918.

Incidentally, the word Jagdgeschwader translates as 'fighter wing' or 'fighter wings' - there is NO plural form of this word in German, unless the sentence construction in the German involves a dative case. There is no 's' and certainly no 'n' at the end of the word in its nominative form! One of my pet 'hates' when reading works by authors who don't really know German - even vanWyngarden does this, although in every other respect I find his work to be exceptional. Shame that Osprey have stated that it doesn't sell well and that apparently there will be no more..

another Airfix A-6 in 72nd -Fw 190 night-fighter of 2./JG 2

Putting the finishing touches to another Fw 190 ... this one is a night-fighting A-6 from the elderly old-tool Airfix kit in 72nd scale, reworked with a few spares from the Eduard and Zvezda kits, including wheels and canopy, a new flat cowl gun cover and a rebuilt cockpit. Reference photos for 'black 14' as yet unpublished. The overall hell-blau-grau 76 finish is roughly over-sprayed over the standard grau scheme. This was done when 2./JG 2 retrained as night-fighters during the summer of 1943 - the scheme extended to the spinner and the cooler fan blades which are also in RLM 76. Balkenkreuze are the simple black outline type. Rudder and lower engine cowl in yellow. As mentioned decals for 2./JG 2 Fw 190s are available from OWL - note the Staffel had a complement of fourteen Fw 190s numbered 1 through 14. Gun barrels and pitot from Master.

Also on this blog;
Airfix new-tool Fw 190 A (72nd) as Klaus Bretschneider's 6./JG 300 FuG 217 night-fighting 'porcupine'