Jes Touvdal Luftwaffe fighters model collection (ICM Emil, Zvesda F, JG 300)

I imagine most Luftwaffe modellers know of Jes Touvdal from britmodeller.com or will have seen photo features on his models on sites such as the 109 Lair. I was recently chatting to Jes and thought it would be an idea to put together the following small feature on Jes and his models.

Hi Jes, can you tell us something about yourself please?

Hi Neil, I’m a regular reader of your blog which I find very interesting and informative. About me ..I am 53 years old, live approx 40 km from Copenhagen, in a small town named Viby. I make my living as a sales consultant selling Ford and Kia at the moment. I’ve been modelling since I was approx 10 years old. I learnt my English when I was out in Singapore for a number of years.

Just how big is your collection of Luftwaffe fighters ? Are you still adding to it and how quickly do you build ?

As for my collection it is 160 Bf 109, and 59 Fw 190, and still growing. 99% of my builds are 1/72 scale aircraft, although I have build some dio. in 1/48 and 1/32, and a few panzer dios in 1/35. My total collection is 600+. How quickly I build is hard to say, normally I build in batches approx 10 to 20 at a time, so it is hard to say how long I take on each model..maybe 3 hours for a 72nd scale fighter. I think I will always be adding to my collection, there is always something new coming up. And now Zverda has announced a F, that is affordable - I have at least 50 schemes in the books for this variant. I know that Fine Molds kits are super but for my use, a bit on the expensive side.

What are your favourite kits and your favourite subjects ?

Favourite kits are the Emil by ICM , it is a good and quite accurate kit, the E-3 canopy has a bad fit though. For the Bf 109 G I use mostly Academy, it goes together very nicely. It has a few shortcomings though, the tail planes need a little reshaping, the wing is too thin, nothing really I can do about that. For the 109 K it is the old Heller although I've only built a few of these. The best Fw 190 A-3/4 is the Tamiya, a very nice kit and for the A-6/7/8 I prefer Hasegawa also nothing say about that. Unfortunately there isn't a A-5/6 really available. The Fw 190 D-9 by Academy is also a nice fit. I know that the rivet counters have something to say about all these models, but I think that if the look is okay when seen from a ‘scale distance’ then I am happy. Actually I just read your article on 1/72 Fw 190s, I vote for the Hasegawa, I have held it up against the 1/72 drawings in Japo FW190 F-G, and it is spot on, as far as I can see and if it should be perhaps 1/10 of a mm out in some places the Hasegawa kit looks like the real thing at scale distance. As to what is right or wrong, my approach is, if it looks okay to the eye it is okay - who can see whether a model is 1 mm to long or short, not many I think. Sometimes discussions can get a little too extreme as regards size or length. I look forward to doing some Zvezda Bf 109 F, especially JG 54 as they have some colorful and intriguing schemes in the locally mixed greens. As for favourite builds, I would say some of the machines flown by JG 300. The two volume history of this unit was fascinating. Reading the books and the story of those brave men, in some cases no more than boys, was an inspiration. They went into the air against all the odds day in day out, until they were shot down and killed in many cases.

Do you ever find yourself having to make your own decals?

I make my own decals in a few cases. As an example take the Emil flown by JG 51 ace Fw. Arthur Hasse (photo top) of 6./JG51, (ref. p 166 in JG 51 by Stipdonk/Meyer). The initial drawing was copied from the photo and drawn in felt-tip onto some clear decal sheet. But as a general rule I have a lot of decal sheets so it is possible to combine from these, badge and numbers.

What about your reference library?

As for references I have a large library, favourite books are the Prien series, I have been buying them since the first JG 53 book was published many years ago, and now the JV series is super. Yes I speak and read German. When it comes to modelling I never make a plane that I do not have a photo of. And for the all fighter planes I build I usually only build subjects that can be associated with a named pilot. This is very essential for me in order to be able to build the model.

Jes' model of  'Green 1' flown by the CO of JG 300 during the wilde Sau period and based on the photos featured in Lorant's JG 300 history. No relation to the fanciful Airfix 1:24 scale Fw 190 kit box top artwork!

And what about storage though ?

As for storage I have glass cupboards, with glass shelves taking each 100 single engine a/c. The photo (above) of my 109s and 190s on display was taken at the Esbjerg open day in 2008.

Thanks Jes for answering my questions. Great work and a super collection!

Luftwaffe fighter ace claims and credits - JG 2 1941 vs RAF Circus operations - Channel Front aces (6)

" I always thought the German claims system was very robust during WW2 .."

We've touched on this subject and the over-claiming of Luftwaffe fighter aces elsewhere on this blog, most notably with regard to Erich Hartmann and his 352 victory total repeated ad nauseam in the literature...

The usual comeback is that all sides over-claimed in the heat of combat and that the claims somehow reflect "the intensity of the fighting". Which may or may not be the case, but the fact is that the Luftwaffe's leading fighter Geschwader JG 2 made something of an art of it as a reading of Erik Mombeeck's history of JG 2 covering the year 1941 makes clear. From the Kommodoren to the Kommandeure down to the Staffelkapitäne over-claiming appears to have been endemic in this unit. For example, the Kommandeur III./JG 2 Hans "Assi" Hahn is generally credited with 108 victories, 66 of which were scored on the Western Front. This total - to no-one's apparent disbelief - includes 53 Spitfires! And then transferred to the Eastern Front he scored a further 42 victories against the Soviets..in just three months!

During 1941 the RAF started its 'lean into Europe'. "Circuses" flown by the RAF against targets in France were initially met with little opposition and in fact regarded as no more than mere 'prin-pricks'. However the lack of success during the early weeks of 1941 prompted a 'dressing-down' from the Luftwaffe's High Command as Oblt. Siegfried Bethke, Staffelkapitän 2./JG 2, noted in his diary;

" 28 January 1941.  The sky is clear. Fine weather. The Kommodoren of the fighter Geschwader - including our own Hptm. Hahn - have been summoned to see the Reichsmarschall. Apparently they have been on the receiving end of an almighty dressing-down. Firstly on account of the poor results against the British fighter escort during the attack (10 January). Secondly on account of the lack of military bearing displayed by the fighter units (apparently noted during the visit of the Führer the previous Christmas). And lastly because of general slovenliness and poor turn out. What is required is a 'spring clean' and the appointment of younger more vigorous Kommodoren and Kommandeure." **

(** my translation from Vol II of Erik Mombeeck's JG 2 history and used uncredited in Norman Franks "Fighter Command's Air War 1941" page 9, see below. Somehow Franks manages to mis-spell Bethke's name..)

Which may or may not explain what followed. 

The RAF mounted a whole series of different types of operations designed to bring the Luftwaffe up to fight. Aerial activity over Brittany was especially intense as the RAF had the German battle cruisers, the Scharnhorst, Prinz Eugen and the Gneisenau effectively trapped in the French Atlantic ports.  During this period 'Assi' Hahn and his colleagues were credited with a whole bunch of Spitfire claims that do not stand close examination.

21 June 1941 - two Circuses flown, Spitfire claims for II./JG 2 and JG 26 were ten and eight respectively. Actual Spitfire losses - three. Needless to say the leading aces added to their scores; Ofw. Kurt Bühligen, 4./JG 2, three Spitfires and Lt. Siegfried Schnell, also of 4./JG 2, another two Spitfires.

23 July 1941.  JG 2 claimed no less than 29 Spitfires with another 10 Spitfire claims being awarded to JG 26 for that same day. Actual Spitfire losses for 23 July were just 15. The actions on 23 July 1941 also saw JG 2 awarded their first three B-17 Fortresses shot down - in fact the aircraft attacked were N° 15 Squadron Stirlings raiding the Scharnhorst in dock at La Pallice - one was lost. The following day saw the largest daylight RAF raid of 1941 with over one hundred bombers committed over the German ships and diversionary Circuses flown over northern France.

Early August 1941 saw a plethora of decorations awarded to JG 2 pilots - the Ritterkreuz was awarded on no fewer than five occasions that summer.

- Lt. Egon Mayer  who had raised his victory score from 3 to 18 in little more than two months
- Oblt. Rudolf Pflanz (Geschwaderstab) for 19 victories

- Oblt. Erich Leie (Geschwaderstab) for 21  victories.

12 August 1941, Circus No. 69 targeting St-Omer and No. 70 Gosnay. No more than six Spitfire losses during the day (from Nos. 42, 222, 485 and 602 Squadrons). Yet JG 2 Kommodore Major Walter Oesau was credited with no fewer than five Spitfires in ninety minutes, while Oblt. Erich Leie claimed three Spitfires and Hahn three more.
 
Hahn's award of the Oakleaves to his Knight's Cross also arrived in August following his 42nd victory  while two more awards of the Ritterkreuz were made;  to Ofw. Josef Wurmheller for 32 victories, 12 achieved since joining the Stab II./JG 2 in July, and Ofw. Kurt Bühligen.

The RAF flew three Circuses on 20 September 1941. Only seven Spitfires were lost, although JG 2 in concert with its subordinated training Staffel 4./JFS 5 claimed some 25 of them (!), with three 'falling' to Hahn. In the case of this latter unit it may be that the acceptance of such large numbers of claims was intended to raise morale of a young and inexperienced unit. Certainly the pilots flying with 4./JFS 5 had little experience at the controls of their Emils and would have little chance against well-trained RAF fighter pilots.

Hahn was credited with his 50th victory following the Circus flown on 13 October 1941 but he was still some way behind Lt. Siegfried Schnell, another JG 2 Oakleaves winner who had claimed his 50th during September.

Although this little piece touches on just four British incursions over France during 1941 I think you can see the point I'm trying to make here. Perhaps the over-claiming touched on was simply  ".. a reflection of the intensity of the fighting.. " but there seems to me to be no evidence for a "robust claims system" here. Rather what drove the Jagdflieger appears to be an almost over-riding concern for the Abschussliste - the system of points and then decorations awarded for a certain number of 'victories'- which was ultimately no more than personal ambition and the need for recognition. There is much more detail on this and other aspects of JG 2 during 1941 including personal accounts in Erik Mombeeck's volume. More from http://luftwaffe.be/

from Norman Franks "Fighter Command's Air War 1941"

Turkish Fw 190

From Peter Rodeike Jagdflugzeug 190 ;

" ..In mid-1942 the RLM issued an export order for Fw 190s to be sent to Turkey. Under the designation "Hamburg" some 72 Fw 190 Antons were constructed between October 1942 and March 1943 by various manufacturers for delivery to Turkey. While it was intended to divert machines from the A-3 production lines, with the first machine built in August 1942, this batch received a 'stand-alone' Werk Nummer block, 0134 101 - 0134 172 and the designation Aa-3 - 'a' for ausländisch or foreign. It is not known if the following machines in the block were ever delivered  - WNr 110, 123, 146 and 148. These aircraft were essentially FW 190 A-3s, with BMW 801 D-2 engines and FuG VIIa radios. They did not have the FuG 25 and featured the classic A-1 armament fit of four MG 17s, but with the option of installing two MG FF/M cannon in the outer wing position.."

via Alexey Sulla with more debate on colours and markings at aeroscale.co.uk here

5 Staffel JG 51 Battle of Britain souvenir photos

Pilots of  5./JG 51 assemble for a souvenir group photo at the height of the Battle of Britain. The Staffel was based at Mardyck on the Channel coast during the summer of 1940. This post records the name of the pilots in the Staffel and their eventual fates and victory totals. Only one of this group survived the war.

Back row, from the left, Fw. Friedrich Heimann, KIA on 16 April 1944 in the vicinity of Tarnopol (30 victories), Lt. Hermann Seegatz, shot down and killed on 8 March 1944 while serving with JG 1 (40 vics), Ofw. Rolf Helber, KIA on 24 October 1942 with EJGr.Süd (8 victories), Fw Will Mink, awarded the Knights Cross on 19 March 1942, KIA on 12 March 1945 ( total 72 Luftsiege). Bottow row from the left, Lt. Hans-Joachim Steffens, KIA on 30 July 1941 (22 vics in total), Fw Hermann Aubrecht ( 31 victories and the only pilot in this photo to have survived the war..), Oblt. Hans Kolbow ( RK and KIA on 16 July 1941 with a total of 27 Luftsiege), Lt. Hans Strelow (later awarded the Knight's Cross and subsequently the Oakleaves but KIA on 22 May 1942 with 68 Luftsiege), Fw Otto Tange ( another future Knights Cross winnner), KIA on 30 July 1943. The name of the dog is unfortunately not known, nor is his fate !

more Russian front RK aces

"Irmel" a Me 109 G belonging to the Staffelführer of 3./JG 52 Johann-Hermann Meyer photographed in September 1943 in Anapa. Meyer was posted West to 1./JG 26 on 1 March 1944 as Staffelkapitän but was killed only a fortnight later in a ground taxying accident after being struck by the propeller of the machine that collided with him. Posthumously awarded the RK on 16 December 1944 with a total of 77 Luftsiege.

Above, future RK-Träger (Knights Cross holder) Oberwebel Ehrenfried Lagois seen in front of his Me 109  belonging to 3./ErgSGr Deblin-Irena in March 1943. Note the SC50 bombs on the belly rack. Lagois was awarded the RK on 26 March 1944 for 600 combat sorties but was shot down and killed by German flak over Flugplatz Chersones on 15 April 1944. Lagois is pictured with his Fw 190 here


Below; two of the leading Stuka aces of III./SG 2 seen during April-June 1944 in Husi/Rumania. On the left is Lt. Weißbach 1c Stab/III./SG 2, Staffelkapitän 8./SG 2 and stand-in Gruppenkommandeur. Weißbach was awarded the Ritterkreuz on 23 December1942 with the rank of Leutnant and the Eichenlaub (Oakleaves) on 26 June 1944 as Oberleutnant for around 1200 combat sorties. Alongside Weißbach is Oblt. Wilhelm Stäbler Staffelkapitän 7./SG 2,  RK on 20 July 1944, EL on 28 March 1945 having flown around 1,000 combat sorties by war's end. In the background one of the Ju 87 D Stukas belonging to the Gruppe.

Click on the label links just below for similar content and ace bios

IV./JG 3 Fw 190 D-9 ‘Blue 2’, Prenzlau, Germany, 1945 - Hasegawa’s 1/32 Fw 190 Dora built by Rowan Gough

IV/JG 3 Fw 190D-9 ‘Blue 2’, Prenzlau, Germany, 1945


By Rowan Gough

This is my model of Hasegawa’s 1/32 Fw 190 Dora kit with Aeromaster decals to depict the ‘well-known’ ‘Blue 2’ of IV./JG 3 photographed during early 1945 at Prenzlau. Using the single photograph of this machine I started a discussion on britmodeller.com to determine the colour scheme and it became apparent that two interpretations exist; one with RLM 75/83 top surfaces and the other tending towards RLM 82/83. For this example I chose to follow JaPo’s interpretation of RLM 82/83 over RLM 76 undersides, with RLM 75 and bare metal sections of the lower wing. The other interpretation also has merit however.

The next stage was to study the photograph for details, the most obvious being the previous set of unit markings that had been crudely over sprayed. Certainly a stab chevron was present, but the markings aft of the number two and Balkenkreuz look too high on the airframe to be horizontal bars. It also appears that a ‘Defense of the Reich’ Rumpfband had been over-painted. Other details can also be noticed such as the different shade of RLM 76 on the ‘power egg’ and the bare metal wing root panel, gun cover latch and the partial use of dark paint on the undercarriage doors, which is likely RLM 75. This machine has a patchwork appearance typical of late-war Luftwaffe machinery that was built in subsections at different locations.

Painting of the internal parts was fairly straightforward. Xtracrylix RLM 66 was used for the cockpit, with Citadel Codex Grey drybrushed over to pick out the detail. The internal engine plug and landing gear bays are painted using Lifecolor RLM 02 with a liberally thinned MIG productions oil and grease mixture. This gives a nice grimy appearance to the engine and wheel bays.

For painting the outside, a thin undercoat of white was applied to the entire airframe and then Zero Paints Mica Silver was sprayed on. Parts that were bare metal were masked off and then panel lines were pre-shaded with some thinned flat black paint. Lifecolor’s RLM 76 Lichtblau was used for the under surface colour, except for the power egg which received Xtracrylix’s version of 76, this being slightly darker. The wings were tackled first with the wing root masked off to prevent overspray on the fuselage side. Lifecolor’s RLM 82 was used unchanged from the pot but for the RLM 83 I mixed Xtracrylix’s RLM 83 with the same brand’s RLM 80 in a rough 3:1 ratio. The demarcation between colours was done by hand except between the engine power egg and main fuselage as on the real aircraft this would have been split sharply between the panel lines. At this stage the fuselage uppersurfaces and tail mottle was applied. The over-sprayed Stab markings are a mixture of RLM 75 with rough RLM 83 patches.

At this stage a gloss varnish coat was applied so the decals could be placed on. This varnish also allows the use of modelling wash (in this case Flory models dark dirt) which sinks into the panel lines to accentuate them. To enhance this effect, heavily thinned Tamiya X-19 Smoke was sprayed onto the panel lines as part of the post-shading. Less is more during this stage as heavy post-shading can result in too much emphasis on the panel lines.

The exhaust stain was built up in two layers. Firstly a thin layer of the thinned X-19 smoke was done at the same time as the other panel lines. Then Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black and XF-64 Red Brown were mixed at roughly 3:1 and again thinned down heavily (all this is done with above 90% thinners, yes that thin!). A low psi setting (10-15) and keeping the airbrush quite close to the airframe helped reduce unnatural overspray, but care needed to be taken not to flood the area with too much paint which would result in unsightly ‘spider’s legs’. It is best to wait for the initial coat to dry, before going over the same area. Luftwaffe aircraft had relatively dark sooty exhaust stains in comparison to allied aircraft, due to a number of factors such as the chemical mixture of the fuel used.

The aircraft was quite glossy still so to finish the model off the entire airframe received a flat varnish that brought uniformity to the paint scheme. Some final details were added such as using Promodeller’s Weathering Pigments to add a dusty look to the wheels, or a small use of burnt sienna oil paint to create small stains on the underside. Placing a tiny dot of this on the model and sweeping it back with a clean, wide brush can look quite effective. One thing to note is that tires are rarely flat black and almost always look better if painted dark grey.

I am quite happy with the finished model but as ever there is always room for improvement. This certainly won’t be my only 1/32 Dora and hopefully my next attempt will improve upon ‘Blue 2’

Fw 190 colours and markings (1) - Fw 190s of Hauptmann Heinrich Krafft’s I./JG 51

During late August 1942 Hauptmann Heinrich Krafft’s I./JG 51 became the first fighter unit to re-equip with the Fw 190 on the eastern front having converted onto the Fw 190 A-3 at Jesau near Königsberg. The unit’s arrival at Lyuban Airdrome, south of Leningrad caused great concern to the Soviets. Introduced into the theatre when the German armies in the East had been all but checked, the robust new fighter was superior in most respects to the Bf 109 especially with regard to weight of fire, engine reliability in cold weather conditions and its relative invulnerability to combat damage. The wide track undercarriage came into its own on difficult terrain and of course facilitated the carriage of ordnance on the under fuselage ETC 501 carrier pending the widespread introduction of a dedicated fighter-bomber or Schlacht (Battle) variant. The aircraft of I./JG 51 were initially finished with two tone dark green 70/71 upper surfaces sprayed in a ‘splinter’ type scheme over pale blue-grey 76 undersides.

The combat environment in Russia would dictate the use the use of shades of green, brown and greyish-green. In addition, as units moved further from Germany, shortages of materials, local needs and individual initiative would come to directly affect combat colours. Incidentally the image of Oskar Romm’s A-3 ‘white 9’ in Meyer and Stipdonk’s JG 51: eine Bilddokumentation indicates that this scheme was applied prior to the move to Russia.

The individual Staffeln continued to be identified by coloured numbers, white for the first, black for the second and yellow 27 for the third. The Geschwader emblem was carried on the cowling and the Gruppe badge, a stylised Chamois on a rock, under the cockpit, although unit badges were dispensed with relatively quickly in Russia. Gruppenkommandeur Krafft was killed in December 1942 when his Fw 190A-3, W Nr 539 marked with a double chevron, was shot down by flak.

As a rule Stabs markings were somewhat unconventional in JG 51; the II Gruppe painted the Gruppe Balken ahead of the fuselage cross on its 109s and in similar fashion III Gruppe Kommandeur Fritz Losigkeit had the Wellenlinie ahead of the Balkenkreuz on his Fw 190. The fourth Gruppe symbol was initially a black cross before becoming a flattened wavy line when the third Gruppe symbol was changed to a vertical bar during the summer of 1941. The only unit to remain on Fw 190s throughout JG 51’s time in the East was the Stabsstaffel, a unit that served effectively as an officer training wing for the Geschwader. Their Staffel markings consisted of Kommodore style insignia; a bar either side of the fuselage cross with the chevron replaced by a black individual number. The Stabsstaffel JG 51 was also virtually the only Fw 190 unit to paint a variety of personal markings on their aircraft mostly featuring pilot’s girlfriend’s names. The Stabsstaffel JG 51 became a renowned exponent of close support and fighter-bomber missions during the retreat from Russia and a number of their aircraft sported yellow spinners and cowls which may have been a recognition aid for German flak.