Jump to content

Messerschmitt BF109E-4/7 Trop Question


Recommended Posts

Question

 I have only built one German WW2 aircraft my whole life and that was the Stuka when I was a kid. No paint just bare plastic and the decals. I picked up a kit at the Model Fiesta 38 show and am trying to figure out the paint for this one. My plan is to build it in Major Helmut Wick's colors. Problem is I do not use the paints Tamiya calls for that has to be mixed. ANyone have any suggestions on paint colors for this aircraft? 

Link to post
Share on other sites

CH

 

 That looks like its close to what I am looking at. Only difference is that the instructions show a double << with no lines. That is at least a starting point for me. I wish Tamiya would stop thinking that everyone uses the paints they use and put the RLM # or FS # instead of mix this with that to get the suggested color. It would be so much easier! Thanks for the input!

Link to post
Share on other sites

The profile I posted is how the plane looked when Wick commanded all of Jg 2 in November 1940. The double chevrons in the kit decals would have been the marking he used when he only commended First Gruppe, Jg 2 (Sept. 9 - Oct. 19, 1940)

Link to post
Share on other sites
10 minutes ago, peter havriluk said:

I doubt that Tamiya would cite its competitors' paints in the color instructions for their model kits.  They're in the business of peddling just about everything to assemble and paint a model, in addition to the model itself. 

 

RLM is not brand of paint. RLM colors were the standardized paint shades to be used by the Luftwaffe. RLM specifically refers to Reichsluftfahrtministerium, the German Ministry of Aviation (1933-1945).

Link to post
Share on other sites

My response was oriented around Tamiya being self-referential about paint colors.  I think Airfix does something similar.  We are left to guess what Tamiya's colors match  in standard references, RLM for Luftwaffe, FS for US services.  I certainly hold no hope that Tamiya would mention a competitor's finishes, and I agree with OP that we are left to our own devices if we want to use paints by matching them to a prototypical standard.   I found conversion charts on the IPMS Stockholm web site, so that we could search a spreadsheet for one of the RLM colors and the hobby paints that match the standard are listed.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Your topic aircraft was WNr.5344, which Wick used throughout his various postings in 1940, as "gelbe 2" with 3./JG 2 (where the cowl emblem originates, the Staffelkapitän Hennig Strumpel's wife was Swedish, so he chose blue & yellow for the pennant), briefly with 6./JG 2, then 'Doppelwinkel' while Gruppenkommandeur with the I/JG 2 "Richthofen" (which is the one in the Tamiya kit), and finally, as Kommodore of the JG 2 (this is the iteration in the Sundin drawing that Cool Hand included.  Note the overpainted Doppelwinkel).  Wick, the highest-scoring pilot of the Battle of Britain period, was MIA 28.Nov. 1940 in this machine.

 

The finish was of a style worn by some other machines in the JG 2, RLM 02 (a gray-green) & RLM 71 (dark green) on the uppersurfaces -- the fuselage was 'stippled' with a brush or sponge.  The undersides were the then-standard RLM 65 light blue.  Note the reduced white areas of the fuselage cross, not unique, but not standard.  The Channel coast fighter units began adding yellow recognition markings (the cowl, and lower part of the rudder in the case of 5344) in late August 1940.  No surprise, WNr.5344 was a 'camera-magnet,' so there are many views of this one at its various stages.  I've attached a couple.  I've a nice closeup of the tail showing details of the stippling, but it was evidently too-big to be attached.

 

Good luck in your project, GRM

Bf109E4_WNr5344_IJG2_Wick_3oclock-a.jpg

Bf109E4_WNr5344_IJG2_Wick_3oclock-b.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...