Kurt Gabler's JG 300 Bf 109 G-6 'natural metal' Mosquito chaser

Judging by the number of models posted on hyperscale and elsewhere, Kurt Gabler's Bf 109 G-6/R3 is a bit of a hit with modellers. Usually described as having a 'unique bare metal' finish Gabler's "Red 8" of 8./JG300 is invariably depicted as an uncamouflaged metal machine, aside from a white tail and wingtips, red fuselage band, spinner spiral and decorated rudder.

(Click on the images for a clearer and larger image taken from a quality reproduction from the original negatives courtesy of Jean-Yves Lorant, author of the two volume history of JG 300. And if you have arrived here from Google after searching for JG 300 you can access all my JG 300 posts here)


First off jg300.de got it wrong when it came to this machine, as the webmaster Burkhardt Otto so often gets its wrong when dealing with photos obtained third or fourth hand. In case you're wondering what I'm talking about the jg300.de site STILL captions these images as being of 'black 8' assigned to Rudi Winter - despite the rudder scoreboard. And this despite the fact that Winter was KIA in action in August 1944 with just a handful of claims to his credit. (2 I think..), despite the fact that -unlike Jean-Yves Lorant -he never actually met or corresponded with Gabler!

 Kurt Gabler was a wilde Sau ace and achieved some 17 victories as per the rudder tally on this machine returned in only 23 combat sorties as recorded in his flight log. A couple of pages from Gabler's logbook were in actual fact reproduced in Volume II of the JG 300 history (Lorant/Goyat) in order to "assist" the webmaster of jg300.de correct the information on his pages. I assume he hasn't updated those pages as he doesn't speak/read English particularly well. Or he is just an idiot...

Gabler was WIA during the Arnhem operation, late September 1944 as Staffelkapitän 11./JG300 and sidelined for the rest of the war. Rudi Winter was KIA in action much earlier than that and with only a couple of victories as I've said. Rudi Winter was a non-entity, Kurt Gabler Staffelkapitän..

As for the supposedly 'bare-metal' finish on Kurt Gabler's 'red 8', let us just say that extensive areas of the airframe have been sanded back either to the natural metal or the primer. However 'bare metal' is probably not the right phrase to describe this finish - this was a standard camouflaged machine with a 'stripped-down' (sanded) finish for an extra turn of speed - there are still large areas of paint over the airframe ! Exactly how much is difficult to say looking at the photos - certainly the wing roots and even the leading edges of the (starboard) wing appear to have paint on them. Gabler never actually stated that his machine had been stripped back to the metal, nor do the authors of the JG300 book - I believe that this was merely an assumption from the publisher/profile artist (Tullis) based on the photos - obviously a great 'subject' for a decal sheet and it certainly makes for a striking looking model! For what its worth, there is another interpretation altogether in the French edition of Lorant's JG 300 book illustrated by Claes Sundin which shows the aircraft in a primer-type finish, far from the shiny, glittering metal that most modellers love to portray this aircraft in. (See link below) Note the close-up of the tail and rudder in the photo above - if that is 'metallic' then it has a rather dull 'alloy' look to it - it doesn't appear to be 'shiny' metal. A handful of machines like this with a 'sanded-down' finish were deployed by JG 300 principally in an effort to try and catch RAF Mosquitoes, a type that the Jagdwaffe found almost impossible to shoot down. Gabler got one in June 1944, a downing he describes in the book...







Claes Sundin's interpretation is here
http://luftwaffeinprofile.se/Gabler.html

Hans Philipp JG 54 Bf 109 F-4

Bf 109 F-4 Doppelwinkel of the Gruppenstab I./JG54. Pilot likely to be Hans Philipp, photo dates from May 1942 (thanks to ouijdat)



and two lovely views of JG 54 Kommodore Trautloft's white-washed Bf109 F-4 in early 1942.

Hermann Graf and his JGr. Ost Focke Wulf 190s -reference for the new Eduard Fw 190 A-5 72nd scale - (last edit October 20160

Hermann Graf flew at least two colourful Fw 190 As during his time with JGr.Ost - these were a Fw 190 A-4 WNr 634 as well as a Fw 190 A-5 WNr 2594, both of which can be ascertained from photos. However there seems to be confusion about which aircraft is which in published sources, most claiming that the aircraft had been repainted several times although I somehow doubt the complicated pattern of decorations and emblems invited frequent redecoration of the two aircraft in the short period Graf had the posting to JGr. Ost. This incidentally was only from the beginning of February 1943 to late May '43 or some days into June, since he reported back to Wiesbaden-Erbenheim on 11 June 1943 for his next assignment – four months on two aircraft. According to what can be concluded from the images studied the Fw 190 A-4 was the aircraft with a yellow engine cowling decorated with the tulip pattern while the Fw 190 A-5 had a standard camouflage on the cowling and a similar tulip decoration. There were also other small differences in markings between the two a/c.

At some point one of these aircraft was fitted with the 'high altitude ram intakes' and it is difficult to say which one exactly. The 'tulip decoration' seems to have had white outlines on red flames. The main wheels were of the 'eight-hole' type as was common with earlier Fw 190 As. All the images here appear to show the A-5 WNr. 2594. Click on the images for a closer view. References inlcude Ebay auctions, Le Focke Wulf 190 by Lorant and Frappé (Docavia) and the November 2000 issue of Le Fana de l'Aviation.

Bf109G-6 Heinrich Bartels IV./JG 27 (2)

Pictures of Bartel's 'Kanonboot' machine - taken at the time of his 70th victory - are well known, but when building my model I was still unable to ascertain what the upper wing camo might have looked like, or whether the aircraft had white wingtips - until I discovered the lower image in the Japanese Luftwaffe Warbirds Photo Album series (Vol I). Time for a bit of a re-spray...

Academy 1/72nd scale Bf 109 G-6 Heinrich Bartels IV./JG27

Adolf Galland's Emil WNr. 5819 and Friedrich

 Lovely sharp images of WNr. 5819 which Galland flew on many occasions during late 1940 until around March 1941. Sixty victory markings on the rudder which are also featured on the rudder of his brand-new Friedrich in the last image. This a/c may be Bf 109 F-0 also equipped with the TZR telescopic sight visible in the Emil cockpit. Click on the images for a larger view.



Note how clean the aircraft is - looks like the technician with the oily rag seated on the wing is busy wiping off any exhaust staining - as required by service regs. Note also the double fuselage hatches for the GM-1 boost equipment, the telescopic sight, the lack of upper head armour (which would cost Galland dear), the stenciling on the flaps, and the sheen of the paint on the wing.

Me 110 ZG 52 & Me 109 Jagdgruppe 101

A couple of nice Ebay finds today. First up, an Emil of Jagdgruppe 101, one of the lesser known Jagdwaffe units to operate over Poland in September and October 1939. For operational purposes it was probably attached to a larger formation, but administratively it remained an autonomous Gruppe with its own executive officers. The unit badge was a cartoon running dog. Note also the script 'der alte' under the cockpit. The Gruppe spent the winter of 39/40 in northern Germany before its pilots were posted to other units, many being incorporated into ZG 1. Among the pilots to have flown with JGr. 101 was Staffelkapitän Oblt. Dietrich Robitzsch. This may even be him in the photo. With the dissolution of JGr. 101 he was posted to 6. Staffel of Tr.Gr. 186, the fighter element formed to operate from the carrier Graf Zeppelin. Robitzsch was taken captive on the first day of the Westfeldzug, force-landing his Emil in Holland after clashing with Fokker D-XXI fighters




Nice shot of an Me 110 C/D with the Drachenwappen of ZG 52 on the forward fuselage




Unidentified Emil, locations on the rear of the pics mention La Rochelle and Trébeurden, Brittany during the summer of 1942. A machine of one of the Ergänzungsstaffeln perhaps?