new AIMS decals for Ju 88 G night fighter, Mistel variants and Dornier Do 17 Z

With his usual superb quality and flawless research, these latest collections from John MacIllmurray's AIMS feature rare and previously unavailable Luftwaffe unit badges for the Dornier Do 17 Z and rare and unusual Mistel and Ju 88 G schemes. These really are fine decal sheets.

If you are looking for some original and inventive schemes for the new Airfix Dornier Do 17 then I imagine that you, like me, will be delighted with some of the eye-catching options on John's new Do 17 Z sheet including the stunning  'red devil riding a bomb' emblem of 3./ KG 77 which only recently turned up on some rare Ebay auction photos, below. Other rarely seen subjects include the Do 17 Z-2 of 4./KG 76 photographed crashed at Cambrai in June 1940. The stand-out artworks also feature Wekusta, Nachtjagd and KGr 606 subjects..and will be of great interest to those Luftwaffe modellers looking for something a little different. See the links below for more on these..




AIMs is of course the Ju 88 specialist and the ubiquitous Junkers twin can always be relied upon for variety, which is certainly the case on this sheet featuring the G-1 night fighter. The mixed garb on offer on this sheet is positively inspirational - from cross-hatch reverse mottle (..if you can imagine that..) to a 'standard' splinter in the two greys (!). Some of the options here are decidedly 'whacky' in some respects but bound to guarantee a talking point when on the completed model..

Given the limited operational service and rather esoteric nature of the different Mistel variants it is surprising that John has come up with so many options for this fascinating weapon on this next new sheet - seven different aircraft can be built. The accompanying reference text is extensive and detailed  - John explains all his colour choices with detailed analysis of the 'evidence'.

As usual John's sheets include plan views of both splinter and mottled camouflage schemes which obviates the need for too much further 'research' when deciding which machine to build. The printing is top quality and the text accompanying the colour profiles is both informative and entertaining!

below; a rare unpublished image of a Mistel 2 (Fw 190 on Ju 88 G combination) from the personal album of Mistel test pilot Horst-Dieter Lux via Vern Dander for the Luftwaffe blog.

'Project Beethoven' - the first Bf 109 F-4 (CI+MX) and Ju 88 A-4 Mistel 1 combination, Ainring, early 1944



And a reminder that the AIMs Junkers Ju 88 fighters sheet with no fewer than 26 options was previously reviewed on this blog here

It goes without saying that if you have any interest in Luftwaffe subjects then these sheets are a fantastic addition to your reference library - even if you don't intend building 26 Ju 88s . As you can see here all markings options are presented via a series of accurate and well-drawn fully referenced colour side view profiles and detailed text with interesting subjects drawn from various AirDoc, Luftwaffe in Focus and the Stipdonk/Meyer volumes.  The decals themselves are by 'Fantasy Printshop' - they are thin, perfectly in register and have minimal carrier film and will of course require a certain amount of care to apply.

 These sheets and much more for the Ju 88 fan are available directly from John at AIMS just in time for the Ju 88 Group build over at britmodeller.com

It goes without saying that John is an enthusiast (and very skilled) modeller himself and provides us lesser mortals with a fantastic product at a reasonable price so please do support him!

Also on this blog;

building the Airfix new-tool Dornier Do 17 Z in 1:72nd scale

Dornier 17 handbook illustrations, detail views, interiors, walkaround - reference for the new-tool Airfix Do 17 in  72nd scale 

Do 17 Z of KGr 606 over the Channel coast 1940

Refuelling and bombing up a KG 77 Dornier Do 17 - exceptional Ebay shots

Horst Dieter Lux, KG 200 Mistel test pilot (part 1)

Above and below; 'Project Beethoven'  - the first Bf 109 F-4 (CI+MX) and Ju 88 A-4 Mistel combination, Ainring, early 1944

Vern Dander, a former Hughes test pilot from Colorado, has very kindly sent me some papers and photos from the personal archive of a former neighbour of his - Horst Dieter Lux. Horst Dieter Lux is a name that might be familiar to readers of Robert Forsyth’s impressive study of Luftwaffe ‘Mistel’ or composite aircraft development (Classic Chevron, 2001).  According to his own account Lux played a key role in the development of German ‘piggy-back’ aircraft, although how ‘key’ is not clear in the literature. Secondary sources in particular   ‘Die Geschichte der Huckepack Flugzeuge’ by Arno Rose ( Motorbuch 1981) quote Lux as being assigned to KG 200 on Werner Baumbach’s personal staff to oversee and coordinate Luftwaffe requirements and to develop a pilot training programme. This followed a period as TO with KG 30 and a close association with Dietrich Peltz.

 However his post-war employers in the US, Lockheed, describe Lux in their August 1977 in-house journal as a ‘civilian project director’ employed by Junkers;

“ Recent newspaper and TV reports of the space-shuttle orbiter riding piggy-back on a B747 brought back vivid 35-year old memories for Horst Lux of ASW Export sales. Horst, fresh from the Technical University of Berlin with a Masters in Aeronautical Engineering was placed in charge of a strikingly similar project for the Junkers company in Germany in 1942..”

This project was " Beethoven "  and was born as a more economical solution to the problem of destroying Allied shipping and high-value targets –  it had been estimated within Luftwaffe circles that each large enemy vessel sunk cost as many as 25 Luftwaffe bombers and their crews. Known variously as ‘Mistel’ – or ‘mistletoe’ as the two aircraft shared a symbiotic relationship, the piggy-back combo represented two major aviation ‘firsts’;

-    -the first time that an unmanned aircraft had been deployed as a ‘flying bomb’ guided to the target area by an attached fighter, 

          -the first use of the ‘fly-by-wire’ concept, the pilot in the upper aircraft operating the controls of the ‘carrier’ aircraft electrically..

The idea was that the lower craft in the composite arrangement carried a 3-ton charge and was flown to within five miles of the target by the fighter mounted above it on pylons. Once within close range, explosive bolts enabled the fighter to separate and return home while the lower component packed with explosives continued to the target at a selected glide angle – a huge unmanned flying bomb.

As the “project’s chief test pilot as well as its manager”, Horst Dieter Lux flew more than 180 aerial separations according to the Lockheed journal. For testing, a pilot was employed in the carrier airframe to land the machine. Lux wrote;

“  We would fly the bomber by wire to within five miles of the target, set its course using a special sight in the fighter, and release it. The automatic pilot in the bomber would then fly it the rest of the way to the target, keeping it on course and maintaining the selected dive angle..”

According to Lux’s own account three versions were tested and/or under development before the end of WWII;

Mistel I  - a Bf 109 F mounted on top of a Ju 88 A

Mistel II – a Fw 190 mounted on top of a Ju 88 G

a jet Mistel  - a Me 262 mounted on an Ar 234

 Post war Lux  wrote;

“  What I had learnt and researched during my Masters thesis on stability and control, especially flutter, made me an expert.  This was work that I carried out under the auspices of the Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt or DVL at Adlershof (German Experimental Institute for Aviation). The test centre at Rechlin took more and more notice of my studies and when I had completed my degree I went to work there on dive testing and evaluation. Dive bombing was the only way to accurately deliver ordnance at that time. As the winter weather in northern Germany rarely gave us high enough ceilings to carry out our test work, my unit was sent to the sunnier climes of southern Italy at Foggia. This work brought me into close contact with Luftwaffe operations and it was there that I met 'Dieter' Peltz who was in command of an operation at Foggia training crews and pilots on new tactics. We became good friends. We spent a lot of time discussing how the high losses in bombers committed on convoy attacks in the Mediterranean could be reduced. The idea of the ‘piggyback’ was born..”

After Foggia Peltz was tasked with developing the use of pioneering types of  guided missiles then under development in Germany, such as the  Fritz X and Henschel Hs 293, also designed to be deployed against Allied shipping. Peltz moved on quickly and aged 28 became the youngest General in the Luftwaffe when he took over the bomber arm (General der Kampfflieger). According to Lux 'the 'Piggyback' idea lived on and Peltz subsequently asked Lux to serve as his "advisor and evaluation pilot ". When funds finally became available Pelz asked Lux to head up the 'Piggyback' development programme.

" ..It was a challenging programme - two aircraft, a fighter and a bomber, had to be mounted together, a fly-by-wire system developed so that the combined aircraft could be flown from the fighter cockpit and a large warhead (3.5. to of TNT) had to be mated to the nose of the bomber, replacing the cockpit..I made the first flight about two months after the start of the programme. The development of the fly-by-wire system made up the bulk of the flight test programme followed by stability and control tests to establish safe separation over a wide speed range. The single-channel fly-by-wire system was a hazard in itself and we were lucky if there were no upsets - mostly there were, ranging from sudden hard-overs to instability to explosive bolts which failed to explode...eventually the bugs were worked out and on D-Day five of my aircraft were prepared for their first combat sorties....."

to be continued....

Ebay rarities He 162, Ju 388, Mistel, Junkers Ju 88

Ebay seller of the JG20 album (see previous post) is offering many more interesting Luftwaffe images at his shop address here A small selection follows, including Hs 129, He 162, Ju 388, Mistel combination, and Me 410. The He 162 images are familiar (WOTBC perhaps.?). As is the Hs 129 image, the example that tested the SG 113A  - tubes of explosives that were triggered by light-sensitive cells. Note the installation that can be seen on the fuselage. Although  captioned as 'nightfighters' the Junkers Ju 88 Cs with the large camouflage mottles appear to be KG 40 machines ...click on the images for a closer view.