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.

the famous Me 210 " which I so enjoyed flying.."

 " .. the well-known Me 210, which I so enjoyed flying. A small token of thanks for our correspondence during 1944. Your friend, Harald, Christmas 1944 ...."

Focke Wulf Fw 190 S-8 JG 110

From an expired Ebay auction. Fw 190 S-8  'weiße 30' of 1./JG 110. Note the Gruppe emblem on the cowl. This machine is equipped with a Peilrahmen direction finding antenna just behind the cockpit and may well have been utilised to train Nachtschlacht - night ground attack- pilots. See Rodeike P. 377 for another view of this machine.

Another Fw 190 S-8 twin-seat trainer at Kothen