He 177 I./ KG 1 Hindenburg, Kommodore Horst v. Riesen - daily Ebay photo find #173

Original Konvolut von 20 x Fotos, KG 1 Hindenburg

".. Kommodore Horst v. Riesen mit Stab in der Fliegerkaserne in Brandis, viele Offiziere und RK+DKIG Träger dabei..."

 According to the seller these photos are taken from a KG 1 album and show officers and Kommandeure of KG 1 awaiting a visit from Kommodore Horst von Riesen in Brandis, presumably April 1944. Two lower images show RK holder Hptm. Otto von Ballasko (cf. Alfred Price He 177 Profile) followed in the last image by von Riesen's departure. Only two of the twenty images on offer here (see link below) show any of the unit's He 177s. Note the elaborate spinner decoration in the image below.

Below; Major von Cossart (also third left above) in discussion with Oblt Sickert. Hptm Manfred von Cossart was Kdr. of IV./KG 1 from late 1942 until February 1944. With promotion to  the rank of Major, von Cossart assumed command of I./ KG 1. On the dissolution of KG 1 this officer was posted to IV./ JG 301, prior to a posting to Erg.JGr. Ost and a transfer to JG 7. (via the de Zeng/Stankey officer career summaries here)

Hptm. Otto von Ballasko

von Riesen departs Brandis

on offer here

According to Flugbuch entries listed in Ransom's  brief history of Flugplatz Brandis "Zwischen Leipzig und der Mulde" the first He 177 arrivals for I. Gruppe KG 1 flew into Brandis, some 18 km east of Leipzig, during February 1944; He 177 A-1 WNr. 15184 arrived in Brandis on 18 February 1944. By April I./KG 1 still had only sixteen He 177 bombers on strength and it was not until March 1944 that the newer A-3 model arrived.  II./ KG 1 in Burg and IV./ KG 1 in Neuburg also had claim on some of these newer machines. Of  I./KG 1's 22 He 177 A-3s on strength on 25 April 1944 only six were einsatzbereit (combat-ready) the Gruppe having already lost three He 177s in crashes. By 10 June 1944 the Gruppe had lost a further 16 machines ! ( cf. Ransom p.46)  At least one He 177 was lost in the 28 May 1944 US 8th AF air raid on Brandis. Heinkel He 177 A-3 V4+HK departed Brandis for Neuruppin on 14 July 1944 as the He 177s were moved to various bases in central Germany. Gruppen of KG 1 had taken part in raids on targets in Russia and been deployed against Soviet tank columns that had broken through German defensive positions before fuel shortages grounded KG 1's He 177 bomber fleet in late July 1944.

He 177 A-3 V4+AK  seen in May/June 1944, Flugplatz Brandis (via ebay auction)

IV./KG 1 He 177 with black lower surfaces, summer 1944

Eduard new updated tool Bf.109 G-6 and G-5 Profi-Pack - ref.82112 - release May 2016

The re-tooled Eduard Bf 109 G-6 is out and reviewed here by Brett Green. I think he covers most areas of the kit, is lavish in his praise (again!) but makes no mention of one of my big bug-bears with the original kit - the undercarriage. The gear legs were overly long and plugged straight in and pointed down. The 'sit' is so important for the Bf 109 and the Fw 190 (all variants). I had to work hard on the old kit to get anything like a 'proper' stance on mine. (below)

So I still haven't made up my mind to purchase one or several of the 're-tooled' new tools yet - as I have 3 or 4 of the old 'new-tool' - which, as I've said, does make up into a very nice kit. I notice too that the price of the new kit seems to have gone up quite a bit (+£3) from the first 'edition'..and I will probably wait for something a bit cheaper than 27 quid, although 'overtrees' are available throughout April only for rather less than half this price along with a discount if you can come up with the required proof of purchase from the 'old' kit. Rather annoyingly it seems that Eduard have a policy of charging UK customers a bit more for the kit than modellers in other European countries.

Below; very nice  Mark Chisholm build of the 're-tooled' Eduard G-6 in the markings of Kommodore Graf, Stab./JG 11

A selection of photos of this machine is published in the Prien/Stemmer/Rodeike/Bock tome Jagdfliegerverbände 10/II Reichsverteidigung 1943 where it has to be said it is labelled as a G-5 - the pressurised cabin for high-altitude flights is quite apparent..
By all accounts then the new kit looks very nice at first glance! Some of the non-mottle painting/marking options will appeal to people too. Up shortly will be a G-5 boxing which will also feature some interesting decal options, below;

more here
http://www.eduard.com/store/out/media/distributors/leaflet/leaflet2016-06cz.pdf


above and below - from the chevron Winkel and Abschussbalken on the rudder this Bf 109 G-5 was probably assigned to Kommandeur Dahl - this is Bf-109 G-5, W.Nr.27 112 of the Stab III./JG 3 apparently photographed during December 1943, probably at Bad Wörishofen.

1:32 Ju-88 C-2 WNr.0880133 '4D+FH' in pieces - Jeroen Peters

Beautiful replica in 1:32 scale of Ju-88 C-2 WNr.0880133 '4D+FH' entitled 'In pieces' built by Jeroen Peters over at the Large Scale Modeller forum. Here's a little preview, courtesy of Jeroen, pulling together the 'best bits' of his WIP. Some great images too for Junkers Ju 88 detail fanatics..

Jeroen writes;

 ".. the model is the Revell Ju 88 A-1. I got hold of the CMK conversion for the nose and bought an Eduard interior set and found some window masks (inside and outside), and got some HGW seat belts...."

"... I wanted to build this kit in an unconventional way. With separate wings and engine nacelle. The fuselage is displayed dis-assembled on transport jigs on a long wooden base. I drew up the transport jigs in my 3D program and had them 3D printed..."

".. And here's a photo I received per email by fellow LSM member HJKR. It shows a row of power eggs to the right in the metal maintenance jig AND it shows a row of power eggs to the left in the wooden jigs . On the back you see the factory stenciling with the Opel brand and serial number. Just had to figure out a way to replicate this...."

".. I needed to scratch the engine bearers and the frame on the jig they're connected to. Only the rear of the engine bearers is visible. The prop shaft is taken from an old Aires DB605 engine. I tore the Aires DB 605 engine from an older Bf 109 build and moved the turbocharger to the other side (as per Jumo211). Then I changed a few other bits and bobs to make it look more like a Jumo211. After all: in the end you will only see a glimpse of it. Added the wires as seen in the previous posted drawings. Halfway down the block I cut out a big trench in the resin to accommodate my home made engine bearers..."

 " ...Missing in the CMK conversion set was the interior installation of the MG 17 (3x) and MG 151 cannon and ammo boxes. These came from the AIMS internal weapons set...."

"... I used the 1:32 Kagero drawings for the scratch wing root detail. The head scratcher was the round knuckle joints that connect the wings to the fuselage. 4 on each side. I eventually came across a 4mm diameter thick tube. Sawed off thin pieces and put them in my Dremel. Sanded out the right contour. Also found a rod with exactly the right diameter that runs through the entire fuselage and sits back 1mm in each knuckle joint..."

".. I also bought the CMK exterior set with the fuel filler caps and life raft compartment. I've added the fuel filler caps to various locations on the spine. A certain amount of sanding of the CMK resin nose to smoothly mate with the fuselage was required before rescribing some lost details / panel lines...."

"...The metal piece on the base is from the actual 4D+FH that crashed in Norway and is now on display at the museum in Gardermoen. I prepared some artwork from the actual Ju 88 maintenance manual and found a company that could print it directly onto my wooden base. They printed my wooden base on a huge machine and the result is... stunning! This opens possibilities. How about a wooden base with a color printed WW2 aerial map? Or FW 190 factory drawings? Etc etc..."

Awesome work Jeroen! Hopefully you can find a way to produce some of those bases for us Luft modellers - I think you potentially have a great product there! cheers....Jeroen's full WIP is here

latest Kagero monograph Focke Wulf Ta 152 - Ta 152 combat record, JG 301 Reschke, Loos

a rather slim volume of barely 80 A-4 softback pages from the most prolific Luftwaffe author, Marek Murawski, this new Kagero monograph frankly offers little or nothing new - aside from some large-scale pull-out plans and a handful of 3D views of on-board equipment. Most of the text is devoted to Fw 190 high altitude fighter prototypes from the V13, V15 to the V18. The brief operational history of the type has probably already appeared in Kagero's Air Miniatures title devoted to JG 301. At least there is no artwork - or even mention - of the ridiculous all-red machine that has appeared in other publications. Both this particular machine and the combat record of the Ta 152 have been the subject of some discussion on this blog - see links below..

A while ago I was contacted by a blog reader who added the following about Loos' victories in the Ta 152;

" .. the copy of Loos' Flugbuch that I have shows clearly that he had four victories in his Ta 152 – if they are correct, who knows. Nevertheless they appear to have been confirmed by the Geschwader-Adjutant on 07.05.1945. There must be gaps in his Flugbuch – I find it strange that he start into a combat flight with a completely new machine, the Ta 152, without any training-flight before? Not even a short “Platzrunde” took place when he took off in “green 3” on 20.04.1945. The flights with victories were on 24., 25. and 30.04.1945. On 24.04. he claimed two Laag 9 (near Berlin), on 25.04 one Laag 9 (near Nauen) and on 30.04. one Laag 9 (near Berlin) again. All flights took place from Neustadt-Gleve.."

More on Loos' Flugbuch and his Ta 152 victories on this blog here
A 'personal' view on the 'mythical' all-red Ta 152 on this blog here

Der ehm. Pilot Willi Reschke erzählt von seinen Erlebnissen mit der " Ta 152 ". Insbesondere schildert er seinen Luftkampf am 14. April 1945 mit einer Tempest...

Tom Muller interview with former JG 301 Ta 152 pilot Willi Reschke, paying particular attention to his 14 April 1945 dogfight against an RAF Tempest

some recent JG 300 Bf 109 queries on modelforum.cz and TOCH

Another modeller trying to do Gabler's machine in natural metal  and photos from this blog reproduced without permission..

http://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=102363&start=45

exactly right Michael....if this aircraft was natural metal then why does the swastika appear to have been sanded down  (which it is). Look at the starboard wing area in the pictures published here by Jean-Yves Lorant -exactly the same finish as appears on the ailerons, despite the wing having metal skinning and the ailerons being cloth-coated. And to the poster asking for better images; these photos are from Gabler's album - incidently Gabler himself never said that his aircraft was in NMF, quite the contrary for more see my blog post again here   The drawing below is from the new-tool Eduard 'new' late series Bf 109 Gustav kit - well the idea is right in my opinion but I have to say though, that if the finish had been sanded down the wing is unlikely to have appeared in overall RLM 75 !

.. won by a leading author/contributor to this blog, the recent Ebay JG 11 Bf 109 Hptm Frey images have arrived from the seller;

".. spectacular! This has to be one of the most interesting schemes to have been seen on a III./ JG 300 wilde Sau nightfighter  ..the second image depicting the rudder markings is similar to the image we published in Volume I  of our JG 300 history but this one is much better as it shows more of the fuselage including the Balkenkreuz..."

Of course anyone who supports authors and buys their books and who has the superb Lorant/Goyat JG 300 history will have recognised this machine - with its black/white undersurfaces - as being one of those loaned by III./ JG 11 to the new III./JG 300 at Oldenburg during late 1943 for wilde Sau sorties. Page 99 of  Volume I has three pictures of this machine! The Staffelkapitän 7./ JG 11 Hptm. Frey's "White 1" featured 18 Abschussbalken on its white empennage. Frey's aircraft is not 'new' by any means - similar images were also published of course in the Prien/Rodeike history of JG 1/JG 11 and came from the personal album of 7./JG 11 pilot Zick.

KG 1 Ju 88 in flight - daily ebay photo find #172

Hans Keppler career summary

19.09.41 Hptm., appt Staka 7./KG 1. 01.11.41 appt Kdr. III./KG 1 (to 19.08.42). 05.12.41 awarded Ehrenpokal. 01.04.42 promo to Maj. 20.08.42 Maj., appt Kommodore KG 1 (to 03.09.42).
25.02.42 awarded DKG, III./KG 1. 20.08.42 Maj., awarded Ritterkreuz, Kdr. III./KG 1. 03.09.42 Maj., Stab/KG 1 KIA – in Ju 88 A-4 (V4+CD) in a mid-air collision with a German fighter east of Mga in the Lake Ladoga area. 22.12.43 posthumous promo to Obstlt. (with RDA of 01.09.42). Credited with over 300 missions.

Verbandsflug of Ju 88s of KG 1 in Wintertarnung at low altitude



Photos from the album of Ofw. Windisch, Beobachter in 6./ KG 1 in Keppler's crew according to the seller on offer here

Career summary via the Luftwaffe Officer Career Summaries by Henry L. deZeng and Douglas G. Stankey on Michael Holm's site

Blohm & Voss BV 142 V4 "PC+BE" WNr.438, Trapani, Sicily, 1942 - daily ebay photo find #171

BV 142 V4 "PC+BE" WNr.438. Possibly Trapani, Sicily, 1942

Based on the Blohm & Voss Ha 139 seaplane, the BV 142 was powered by four engines mounted on a low inverted gull monoplane wing and featured a high horizontal stabilizer, and a double vertical tail. In typical Blohm & Voss style the wing centre section was strengthened by a large-diameter spar of tubular construction divided internally into five sections which also served as a fuel tank. Each main landing gear leg had twin wheels and was fully retractable, as was the tailwheel. The landing gear was hydraulically lowered and retracted. Only four prototypes (V1 through V4) were built. These aircraft were tested by Lufthansa and used briefly in the postal service. However, the outbreak of World War II ended further development of the type in civilian service. Soon after the start of World War II, it was proposed to convert all four prototype BV 142s to long-range maritime patrol aircraft. The BV 142 V2 was fitted with an extended nose section with extensive glazing, defensive armament (a 7.92 mm/.312 in MG 15 machine gun in the nose, twin-beam positions, a ventral cupola, and a powered dorsal turret, just visible in the images here), a compartment for ordnance in the fuselage, and navigation and military radio equipment. The BV 142 V2, was redesignated BV 142 V2/U1 while the V1 was similarly converted. Both were used operationally from late 1940 but performance was disappointing, and after only a few missions, they were withdrawn from service in 1942. The two remaining aircraft (V3 and V4) were used as transport aircraft for the occupation of Denmark and in the Norway campaign with the KGr.z.b.V. 105 and could transport 30 fully equipped soldiers over 4,000 km (2,490 mi). The ultimate fate of the V3 and V4 is unknown.

Also on this blog, an account of a catapult launch of the Ha 139 seaplane here