Desert Bf-109E Markings Question

[Collin]

Building a yellow nose desert -109E in 1/32. Question I have: Did these aircraft have the red walkway markings applied? I am assuming they were painted at the factory in the RLM desert sand top color...but the green splotches were added in the field. Would they have repainted the red walkway markings over that? The decal reference sheet you see in the background (of my spraybooth) doesn't show the walkways.

Thanks for any comments regarding the question.

Cheers

Collin

[agboak]

The early Bf109Es in the lighter version of the desert colours were not painted in the factory but by another organisation en-route to the theatre. This is discussed in Merrick's books for Air Classics, but I don't recall him saying anything about the stencils or walkways. I would assume they were oversprayed, if they don't ahow up in photographs.

[Hal Marshman Sr]

Field applied repaints by Luftwaffe, USAF, USN, etc did not generally retains the stencils. This is why you see swastikas with the original color between the arms, and USAF serial numbers with the original color between the digits. This is because when the field repaint was redone, they merely masked off the entire Swastika, or the serial numbers "en bloc" You'll find that on many Bf-109s, the legend on the side of the oil cooler, was retained with light blue behind it, again masked in its entirety. Hal Sr

[Steve N]

I was examining the Stuka hanging in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry some years back (which is still in mostly original paint) and noticed that many of the underside stencils had a slightly different color around them. They had obviously been masked off and painted around. I used to think that it was originally RLM 65, and the stencils were masked when the desert RLM 78 was applied. However, I've since learned that the aircraft has had at least some of the paint touched up over the years, so it could be a case of not quite matching the original colors.

Now that I've got a decent camera, camera I need to get back over there and get some better pictures.

SN

[G.R.Morrison]

The Stuka in Chicago.

Just an FYI, but this one is Ju 87R-2/trop, WNr.5954 of 3./St.G. 1 (operating under St.G. 3, and about to be redesignated as 6./St.G. 3; they retained their old Gruppe emblem of the diving crow, "Hans Huckbein," seen on the cowling). It suffered a Bruchlandung 22.Nov. 1941 at Gambut due to enemy fire, and was later captured by the British.

GRM

[caughtinthemiddle]

A photo tells you more than 1000 words...

A piece of image from expired ebay auction:

BTW, don't apply victory markings decals on the starboard side of the rudder, there weren't any.

Edited April 29, 2013 by caughtinthemiddle

[bigjugs]

I believe the Ju 87B / R Trops were factory painted in the desert scheme. So, the stencils would be there.

[crazydon]

A photo tells you more than 1000 words...

A piece of image from expired ebay auction:

BTW, don't apply victory markings decals on the starboard side of the rudder, there weren't any.

That matches most the decent pics I have of Trop Emils.....no red wing lines

[Mark M.]

I wouldn't use current pictures of museum pieces for any indication of the look and weathering of the as it served in WW2. Those museum pieces are not reliable as references. Look to period-era pictures.

Period era pictures say the desert sandgelb was painted over walk-lines and these walk-lines were not re-applied afterwards.

There are SOME stenciles that were re-applied, or were masked off to prevent over-painting. Sometimes you can see the square box around them keeping them safe. For example, the "vorsicht beim offnen" on the lower cowling was a specific warning to maintenance crews.

[Steve N]

I normally don't use museum aircraft for paint or technical reference..I just posted the Stuka pics so readers could make their own judgement. Years ago I was told that the paint was all original, but I've since learned that it was at the very least touched up when the aircraft was given some refurbishment by the EAA back in the 70s. The airframe does still exhibit some combat damage, but also a lot of "hangar rash" (I understand the rudder was once smashed when the plane fell while being lowered to the floor.) Obviously there are some parts missing, or have been replaced with non-stock items. I'd love to see the plane go to the USAF Museum or Smithsonian for proper conservation/restoration.

SN