Flugplatz Bonn Hangelar ex-JG 5 Emil

 

Ex-JG 5 machine, located in Russia, (crashed near Murmansk in early 1942) and restored in the UK, now based in Bonn-Hangelar..back in the air after engine problems. 

JG 52 Emil - archive photo scan #30

 

 JG 52 Emil in the hands of the 'black men' under the netting on the Channel coast at Calais Coquelles during the 'Battle of Britain' ('Luftschlacht um England'). Previously published - but this is not Bennemann's 'Black 5'.

Airfix Henschel Hs 123 'vintage classic' 72nd scale

The Hs 123 was a single-seat biplane and 'close-support' attack aircraft, flown by the Luftwaffe during the Spanish civil war and effective through the early campaigns of WWII, including Barbarossa, the invasion of Russia.

The  Airfix 72nd Hs 123 has been reissued as a 'vintage classic'. That means 'not very good' and/or 'lacking in detail'.  Quite a few builds of this kit can be found on youtube, but none of the modellers attempt to add some extra detail, which given the 'age' of the model, it desperately needs.

Here I've sanded away all the raised detail, added a 'cockpit' with rudder pedals and instrument panel and cut away the pilot's entry doors. I had a number of disasters during construction, including snapping off a cabane strut and losing one of the footsteps - a replacement was made from wire.

The paint job is inspired by some of the artworks in the MMP 'Henschel Hs 123' booklet where a number of profiles depict machines in overall 71 dunkelgrun with yellow cowl and rudder. I used 'Colour Coats' enamels - but didn't really like the green as it seemed far too dark when dry. 

I've dug out some replacement decals - for some reason the 'Schlacht' triangle is presented in 'red' on the kit decal sheet.

Below; two views of the kit built by Jose Cavas in the Legion Condor scheme on the kit decal sheet. Neat work!

Ju 88 1(F)./123 Brittany, 1941 -archive photo scan #29

Luftwaffe Helferinnen welcome back a crew from 1.(F)/123 somewhere in Brittany, possibly Morlaix or Brest, following a 'milestone' sortie somewhere over England and the Channel during 1941.

Tamiya Gustav - Swiss G-6 in 72nd scale - by Pat D

 

by Pat D

".. This Tamiya 1/72 Bf 109G-6 was built out of the box in line with IPMS/USA rules for their Basic Kit Build category. I applied the camouflage and mottling freehand while the masks for the Swiss insignia were homemade. I used Xtracolor paint, oil washes and pastel weathering. The seat belt is the kit decal cut away from the sheet with edges trimmed up in the matching colors and carefully folded and applied in a dry state with diluted white glue. Although these machines were freshly delivered the oil staining and leaks foretell the problems the Swiss would have with these defective engines..."

Bf 109 T, 2./JG 77 - archive photo scan #28

 

A 'Toni' from Kurt Hammel's photo album. 2. Staffel JG 77 Bf 109 T 'Red 1' appears to have suffered a landing accident as the port gear leg has collapsed. Fuel from the fuselage tank is being drained. The Staffel number appears to have been over-painted on a lighter pale patch perhaps obliterating a previous identity. Fuselage and wings have been re-sprayed at some point. See the neat Swiatlon artwork in the Chandos 'Graf Zeppelin's Eagles' title. According to the Marshall history this is Lister in 1941. Click on the image for a larger view..

Bf 110 nightfighters in colour - exhaust flame dampers

Some examples of the heavy flame dampers on Nachtjagd Bf 110s for modellers. I recall reading somewhere that they may have been painted in a special heat resistant (black) paint (?) as at Hendon (below) but one modeller convinced me that there were examples of the flame dampers in light blue-grey with his take on a couple of Eduard Bf 110 builds. Some screen grabs from the Fritzlar colour footage below..

And from Petr Zaras, Schnaufer's Bf 110 G-4 in 72nd from the Eduard Profipack. The Hakenkreuz was presumably obliterated for FB..

Bf 109 G-6/AS Hptm. Horst Carganico Kommandeur I./JG 5 'Mickey Maus' - archive photo scan #27

 

A 'new' view - at least not published by Mombeeck in his JG 5 history or elsewhere - of Hptm. Horst Carganico's Kommandeur I./JG 5 machine, an overall blue-grey 76 Bf 109 G-6/AS, seen at Herzogenaurach during May 1944. (incorrectly listed as a G-5/U2 on p243 of 'Eismeerjaeger'). Note the refined cowl bulge, tall tail, Erla Haube, short antenna mast and enlarged supercharger intake. Although not visible here - apart from an 'ear' above the officer's cap, middle - markings included Carganico's large 'Mickey Maus' on the port fuselage side. Artworks show the lower engine cowl in yellow although that now looks unlikely. Carganico had claimed some 60 victories by the time he was KIA on 27 May 1944 attempting a crash-landing after clipping high tension wires following combat with US fighters - 27 May 1944 was a 'black day' for I./JG 5 who lost 13 Gustavs (at least seven or eight G-6/AS machines) shot down in high altitude combat over the Franco-German border (south-west of Strasbourg) out of 19 machines scrambled. One of the first downed was 'black 7' of the Stab flown by Hptm. Heinz Deuschle, Carganico's wingman and the officer partially visible behind Carganico in the image below, seen exchanging words with Carganico's mother.