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FalkeEins - the Luftwaffe blog
Monday, 29 January 2018
Sunday, 28 January 2018
new Special Hobby Me 209 V1 in 1/72nd scale ( and a build of the Huma kit)
Special Hobby have released a new Me 209 kit. While I haven't seen it, it does look very similar to the 'old' Huma kit, even down to the lack of cockpit detail and the rather thick single-piece canopy. None of the control surfaces are provided as separate parts. SH do provide separate exhaust inserts which were not present on the Huma model..
More on the Special hobby blog here
Below; my build of the Huma kit;
Continuing my on-going series of ‘Luftwaffe’ types that can be easily finished without an airbrush, this my Huma Me 209....piston-engine speed record holder until the late '60s when it was overtaken by a modified Bearcat. The 209 was apparently an evil little aircraft which featured an incredibly small wing (and horrendously high loading) and a ‘novel’ cooling system dispensing with radiators to reduce drag - hot coolant was evaporated via holes in the wing so that the machine left a trail of steam behind it. Engine life was pretty short as the 200 gallons of coolant "evaporated" in 30 mins...
Like all Huma kits this is reasonably molded if a little tricky to assemble. The cockpit was bare so I've put a bit of 109 etch in, not that any of it can be seen. Fit is not brilliant overall, but you do get two sets of wings and two cowls in the kit (for the V1 and the 'military version ', the V4). Finished appropriately enough with a BMW blue automotive paint rattle can for a super glossy smooth finish..
Sunday, 21 January 2018
An overview of striped and checker cowls on JG 1 Fw 190s - Lt. Eberhard Burath of I./JG 1 in April 1943
..This is the Eduard Fw 190 A-4 as built by 'Jet and Prop' editor Matthias Becker in JG 1 markings. This aircraft was flown by Lt. Eberhard Burath of I./JG 1 in April 1943. Eduard have cleverly offered this markings scheme in their new Royal Class edition of this great kit - and reproduced the 'devil in the clouds' emblem in accordance with recent research- see below. Evidently the model was built before the kit decals were available. There is only one known picture of this machine, showing the port side. Matthias is convinced that on this pic one can see that the Balkenkreuz has the white framing only above. As per instructions the Balkenkreuz was 'filled-in' with RLM 75 and not in black.
Below; Eduard artwork for the decals offered in their Royal Class boxing of this kit - note the colours of their 'revised' 'Teufel ueber den Wolken' badge and the fuselage Balkenkreuz filled in with RLM 75. My personal preference would be for a red spinner - note the similar tone to the frame of the Maltese Cross below the cockpit. Some artwork shows a green-tipped spinner, also a possibility for a Stab machine. See photo below.
During October 1942 on completion of his fighter pilot training and aged 24 years old, Eberhard Burath was posted to JG 1 and would remain with this unit until March 1945 . He would claim six Viermots shot down during this period. He was initially assigned to 11./JG 1, based in Mönchengladbach. By February 1943, Burath was fulfilling the role of Gruppenadjutant in I./JG 1. On 21 May 1943 I./JG 1 was scrambled twice against USAAF four-engine bombers. Up from Deelen the Fw 190s were unable to locate the incoming bombers and put down in Schipol. They were airborne again as the bombers returned from their targets in northern Germany. Burath later recalled;
" ..at 12:21 we were scrambled again against the bombers on their egress. This time we were correctly vectored onto them. At around 100 km north of Ameland we ran into their formation as they were headed in a north-westerly direction for home. I was flying as Rottenflieger to Hptm. Schnoor. We overtook the bombers and turned into them to set up a head-on pass. I was too low and from this difficult angle could only bring fire to bear on the right outer B-17. I held on for three long seconds, letting him have it from all barrels - with no visible effect. On landing I must have looked more than a little surprised as Hptm. Schnoor congratulated me on my first victory! But I had other matters on my mind. As we had broken off from the enemy formation I had seen a Fw 190 plunge into the sea and then a parachute pop open overhead. I had set my stop-watch and flew back on a reciprocal course and noted where I had overflown the coast. Oblt. Munz was missing, my old room-mate from Mönchengladbach. I was determined to look for him and, when my aircraft had been made ready, took off again a short while later on my own. Heading out over the coast I started the stop-watch and quartered the sea left and right when I arrived over the area. I soon caught sight of a yellow object on the waves - a dinghy being tossed up and down on the stormy waves ! To my angry disappointment I saw that it was empty. I orbited overhead in tight circles; " Hans, Mensch, where are you?" Nothing. The red low-fuel level warning lamp flashed on. 68 minutes. An air-sea rescue plane had been sent out. I returned to refuel and then rendezvoused back out over the sea with the Seenot-Wal. This time, 73 minutes. By now it was getting dark and soon the air-sea rescue craft had to break off its search. The loss of Munz affected me deeply - had he seen us searching for him? And what must have been his despair as we turned back for home? Six weeks later his body was found washed up on the beach at Sylt. A better friend I never knew..."
(p314-315, Prien, JG 1 und 11, Teil 1 1939-43)
On 26 July, Burath participated in an attack on USAAF B-17 four-engine bombers in the Leeuwarden area. In the ensuing combat, Burath’s Fw 190 was hit and he was forced to carry out a belly-landing in a potato field near Buitenpost. Burath was shot down again on 10 February 1944. While attacking USAAF B-17s over Braunschweig, his Fw 190 was hit. He successfully baled out, landing near Watenstedt uninjured. On 1 March 1944, Oberleutnant Burath was appointed Staffelkapitän of 4./JG 1. Burath was shot down again on 29 March. In March 1945, Burath was appointed Staffelkapitän of 9./JG 51. He recorded his seventh, and last, victory on 22 March, when he shot down a Russian Pe-2 twin-engine bomber.
In box video review of the Royal Class box for the new Eduard Fw 190 'early versions' kit; 14 markings options, two complete kits with resin accessories (wheels, cowling/tropical filters) and coloured cockpit etch, extraordinarily fine surface detailing of the plastic parts, a multitude of options, masks for wheels and canopies, a gorgeous A-2 print to frame and a beer glass with unique Fw 190 motif - a single click to view here
Only one of the superlative Jim Laurier artworks in the new Osprey JG 1 Aces title features the 'devil in the clouds' emblem - and appears in its 'previous' pre-Jet and Prop 1/2012 incarnation. At first glance Osprey appear to be repeating themselves in an effort to prolong their money-spinning series with another Luftwaffe subject - 'JG 1 aces' obviously includes all those aces already covered in 'Fw 190 aces', ' Fw 190 aces in the defense of the Reich', 'Bf 109 Reich defence aces' 'Viermot aces' etc etc.. However long-time writer and artist John Weal has evidently been retired (he must be at least 80!) along with his slightly dated artwork so this volume is absolutely worth getting for Jim Laurier's superbly realistic profile views and Robert Forsyth's excellent text. While I suspect author Forsyth must have been involved in the three-volume series devoted to JG 1 published by Classic (author Mombeeck), those volumes featured Tullis artwork ..far too many red cowls! So this latest Osprey Aces title is absolutely worth getting even if you have the Classic series. My only 'gripe' here is with the rather sparse photo coverage - an effort has presumably been made not to re-hash previously seen images, but that doesn't leave much to chose from...
Below; a good view of what may have been Gkr. I./JG 1 Schnoor's Fw 190 A-7 showing the later red winged-one Geschwader emblem, black and white cowl stripes with red spinner and yellow lower cowl, Deelen in early 1944.
A big thank you to Patrick Crew of the "Decal Dungeon" for helping me out recently with a couple of very-hard-to-find Eagle Strike decal sheets featuring JG 1 subjects. Patrick's FB page is here
Also this blog
http://falkeeins.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/jg1-checker-nose-fw-190s.html
".....Hello, I´m very thankful to read your statement on your blog regarding your thoughts on JG 1 checker cowl colours with which I fully agree ! I´m the nephew of Fw. Bernhard Kunze (Fw 190 A-5 -White 1, WN 410055) and I maintain a web site devoted to Bernhard Kunze's life . I have researched the circumstances and details of Bernhard´s fatal crash at the controls of his 2./ JG 1 FW 190 A-6 (Black 1, WN 550884) on 5 January 1944 close to Bergisch-Gladbach, Germany. One thing I've come across very often is the very inconsistent discussion of the checkerboard colour of the fighters he piloted. Corrections of the sometimes wrong published profiles of Bernhard´s 190-checkerbord-colours are really needed. In writing to all the relevant publishers I have attempted to get the truth published - but a pity without success. Everyone should know - as you state - that black/white is correct - there were no black/yellow chequers on Kunze's machines. There were no exceptions at any time - all the different Staffeln of JG 1 were painted the same identical black/white colour combination irrespective of the Staffel or Staffel Kennung ..."
Falk Börsch, nephew of Fw. Berhard Kunze (Fw 190 A-5 -White 1, WN 410055)
Thursday, 28 December 2017
2./Nahaufklärungsgruppe 13 Frankreich, NAG 13 Fw 190 at Cuers, south of France, June 1944 -ebay photo find #235
" ..our birds in front of the airship hangars.." NAG 13 Fw 190s presumably at Cuers-Pierrefeu, north of Toulon, around May-June 1944.
Below; via wiki a view of the French naval air base Cuers-Pierrefeu, located 5 km north of Toulon, in September 1944. The U.S. Navy blimp squadron 14 (ZP-14) was based at Cuers-Pierrefeu, blimp K-112 (shown) was the first to arrive on 17 September 1944. Also visible are Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk. VIII fighters of No. 451 Squadron, RAAF (in the forground is s/n MT952).
2./Nahaufklärungsgruppe 13, equipped with Bf 109 G and Fw 190 A, was commanded by Oberleutnant Walter Erhard, and sent to Cuers "a few weeks" before the Allied Landings in Normandy. On 14 June 1944 Erhard was reported missing near Ajaccio in Fw 190 A-3 W.Nr. 130340 during a sortie over Corsica.
On 29 June Ofw. Wilhelm Stockburger was reported missing in Fw 190 A-4 W.Nr. 145656, MIA following combat five km south of Nice.
French post-war Me 163 Komet
Above;
This is Kevin Callahan's fine Academy 72nd scale Me 163 with post-war French registration, a representation of an example seen post-war at French AF flight test centre Bretigny (Centre d'essais en vol) where according to the 'Flugzeug Profile' text below it was flown as a glider. It is believed that this machine was WNr. 10061 'yellow 13', previously allocated British AIRMIN No. '203' and which was handed over to the French during March 1946 ..
via Kevin Callahan
" ....One day I was exercising my Google Fu concerning Me-163 Komets. The main thing I was looking for was photos of the captured RAF example that was repainted in British markings. What I actually ran across was a paint job that I had never seen on a Komet before. It was on a Rocketeer sheet, but I soon found out that the sheet was long out of print. ....
....Komets are simple kits. I used the Academy version which I had in the stash. The one trouble I had was with the Master turned brass pitot and gun barrel set. Since this was an unarmed glider, I didn’t use the gun barrels and the pitot proved to be close enough to scale and is admirably thin. Me-163s are one of the few aircraft that I have done a long series of ...... The attraction is that there are nice models – specifically Academy – of the main variants, and numerous kits – in both plastic and resin – of many of the lesser known variants. I supposed you could consider much of the Lippisch output to be in the Komet bloodline, since many of them strongly resemble the Me-163s. But even the major 163 subvariants (DFS 194, A, B, S, C, P-20 jet, I-270, 263, J8M1) are pretty well covered. Painting was easy, with only two colors (red and Alclad White Aluminum) required on the fuselage/wings. The decals also performed as expected. The result is a fairly unique model in any lineup of Me-163s..."
Kevin's 72nd scale blog is here
Sunday, 24 December 2017
Gustavs of II./ JG 3, Schipol late 1943, Jochen Prien's Jagdfliegerverbände series
Part of a series of pictures taken around Joachim Kirschner's II./ JG 3 "Schwarze 1" at Amsterdam Schipol in the autumn of 1943 and published in Jochen Prien's Jagdfliegerverbände 10/II. Note the toned-down camouflage finish. Since II./ JG 3 were the foremost fighter group when it came to attacking incoming 8th USAAF bomber formations around the late autumn 1943 period, their aircraft featured low profile camouflage and markings - the usual yellow recognition markings on the lower engine cowling or on the rudders were rarely seen. In addition, several machines of 4. and 5. Staffeln featured white or black outline Kennziffer respectively as another attempt to tone down the appearance of the a/c - you can just see part of this in the second photo above, where part of "black 1" is visible, consisting of an outline only. The pilots pictured on Hptm Kirschner's Bf 109 were Uffz.Johann Frohlich and Uffz Rudolf Stephan...
below; the red dot indicates II./JG 3.
latest new Luftwaffe books and the contenders for Luftwaffe 'book of the year' ? Jochen Prien's Jagdfliegerverbände series
The latest Prien/Stemmer/Bock Jagdfliegerverbände volume arrived here a while ago -apologies for not talking about it sooner! I do appreciate of course that this volume has been out for a while and there is probably no need to introduce this series to the hard-core enthusiast. There is even talk that Vol 13/III may be published soon as well - see the annoucement from Jochen Prien below. Volume 13/II is entitled Reichsverteidigung 1944 and covers 'Defence of the Reich' from June to December 1944 and operations in the West from October 1944 to the end of that year in 600 pages of closely-typed German text. The photo content is quite simply amazing and superbly reproduced on thicker, glossy paper with many images via the 'Archive of Modern Conflict'. Look out for some colour shots of JG 300 Bf 109s and a good number of rare images of JG 302 machines. There are many other photographic highlights, one of my personal favourites being a view of Gkr. Siegfried Lemke of III./JG 2 with his pilots in front of some of the unit's Fw 190s dating from October 1944. Lemke is of course a pilot about whom very little is known.
"...tomorrow the complete manuscript of JFV 13/III will go to the printer. It will cover the service of the Luftwaffe day fighter units in the West from 1 January to 30 September 1944, thus completing the narrative part of the year 1944 for Reichsverteidigung and the West. The new Volume will comprise 678 pages with 246 photos. Vol. 13/IV and V will complete this part of the series with the usual General Part - command-structure, strength, newly introduced a/c types, camouflage and markings etc. - a very short summary of each unit's service and of course the usual tables with claims and losses etc..."
New from Lela Presse is this reissue (in French) of Peter Taghon's LG 1 history (Volume 1). While this is a soft-back card-covered book, the paper is nice and thick and glossy and a world away from the thin almost see-though paper of the original German language edition. So the reader can enjoy much better photo reproduction, Thierry Dekker artworks and a Bundesarchiv colour series devoted to the unit - some of the images are reproduced in full A-4 page size. Taghon's book was of course largely devoted to personal accounts by the veterans themselves and is thus very 'immediate' with little in the way of footnotes or other obstacles to hamper 'readability' (aside from the language issue if you can't manage the French of course..).
.. My (purchased) copy of Philippe Saintes history of JG 54 arrived from Lela Presse. As an 'Avions' subscriber you get a reasonable discount. I've only spent a short time with my copy before going to work, but it looks great. A very nicely done volume - card covered softback, thick glossy pages. Loads of images -850 according to the blurb- over 304 pages. A small amount of over-lap with another recent JG 54 publication. Some profile artworks vertical full page, others are printed across the A-4 page horizontally and are much smaller. I noticed that the photo of the actual machine is more often than not printed alongside the artwork.Some colour pics. All of it well crammed in. French text. Admittedly not 850 photos as advertised - apparently there are 'only' 813 photos within the book's 304 pages. Not bad, and while some photos look a little 'dodgy' this is a good replacement for the 'old' Schiffer JG 54 photo album! As for 'known' photos, well of course, you could hardly leave them out without spoiling the 'story'. Of course Philippe's 2-part history of JG 54 is no photo album, there being acres of text and thirty colour profile artworks. There are plenty of images that are 'new' to me although some of them are necessarily a little small. And for every page 221 ( a view taken from the ground of a Staffel at altitude) you have a page 261 (four views of Helmut Biederbick's Bf 109 F 'white 7'). Publisher Lela Presse is here and you can download their 2018 catalogue as a PDF.
Below; note roughly over-sprayed 02 Grau upper surface finish
A quick mention for the latest issue No. 5 of Many Souffan's "Aces" quarterly from Heimdal - something of a JG 53 'special' with over 70 pages covering the unit and its personalities. A fine card covered publication with stiff spine, recommended! Of particular interest was the article devoted to fighter aces and their relationships with the propaganda services of the Reich including Luftwaffe PK reporters, illustrated with rare ECPA-D photos.
The latest issue of 'Aces High' from AK-Interactive has arrived. Issue 11 is something of a 'first' being devoted to a single aircraft type, in this instance the Fw 190. Designed essentially to promote their series of weathering products this is another superbly produced magazine. According to Luftwaffe blog correspondent Laurent Friedine who has already purchased it, " le résultat est très agréable et donne envie de passer à l’action..". - ..very nicely done and certainly inspires you to get down to action straight away! Inside there are lots of builds from talented modellers based around photo coverage and detailed how-tos on camo schemes and markings with plenty of hints and tips on finishing your latest Fw 190 and above all plenty of inspiration to get going and actually build something! ( ..the JG 54 A-5 is magnificent!).
Joyeux Noël et bonnes fêtes de fin d'année a tous mes correspondents français et belges!
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