It's a 109 but I don't know which!

[stona]

Hi Tony,I'm leaning towards one flown by arguably the best known Luftwaffe pilot of all. One of Hartmann's early Gs.

I'm basing it on this photo. Here's a thing,the camouflage visible on the top of the port wing does not follow the standard pattern! All the instructions and every profile/plan I've seen for this aircraft have missed this.

Cheers

Steve

[spanner570]

Good to have you back safe and sound Steve.

Something else I've noticed on this photo....The fuselage colour band forward of the stabilizer doesn't go right over and around, but oddly ends at the 'Snake'. Sorry I forget what this signifies. Was this a common practice?

Cheers,

Ron

[stona]

Hi Ron the wavy line (I can't remember the german word for it) signifies III Gruppe. It is yellow because this is the Staffel colour,in this case 9 Staffel. Normally a yellow marking on a yellow tactical marking (like the yellow fuselage band) would be given a border to make it visible. I don't know why Hartmann's aircraft has no upper half to the band,it wasn't common practice,infact it is contrary to regulations but then JG 52 were a long way from Berlin at this time,the autumn of 1943.

Cheers

Steve

[stona]

I haven't given up on this. I've finally got it into primer and may make a start on the final painting tomorrow.

Cheers

Steve

[papa 695]

Looking very good Steve

[stona]

Underside is now done. Usual inept photography doesn't show the shading very well! It's going to be a Hartmann plane.

Upper surface camouflage tomorrow. It's a not quite standard 75/76 scheme and I'm not at all sure about the starboard wing,it may be an educated guess.

It's amazing how few photos were taken from the starboard side,nearly as amazing as how often some oik stands infront of some vital identifying feature or number

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Another great looking build going Steve ,'Bubi' would be proud! I'm looking forward to the non standard cammo on the wing ,you do know your stuff Sir!

[stona]

Hi Trey,I've become convinced that there were far more variations in camouflage schemes than is generally accepted. On the picture I posted earlier the demarcation between the 74 and 75 on the (visible) port wing passes the back of the wing on the trailing edge on the flap whereas it 'should' be about 60cm inboard of that on the line between the landing flap and radiator flap. In my quest to match this I've looked through various later schemes to see if this was an early version but to no avail. The closest I've found is a still from a piece of gun camera footage which is like no other scheme I've seen!

I've decided to do the port wing as visible in the photo and adjust that demarcation and to do the starboard wing in a standard (for 1943) pattern. The fuselage is pretty standard anyway. Here I debated whether to do the mottle in 02 and 70,as per factory instructions for early G-6s or use the upper camo colours (74 and 75) which seems to have been a simplification introduced fairly quickly. In the absence of any hard evidence I'm going for 74/75 mottle simply because everyone else does!!

I've sprayed the basic RLM 75 this morning whilst the light is good. I remember one of the reasons that I like doing the Luftwaffe......no masking needed you can freehand these schemes.

Cheers

Steve

[stona]

Camouflage is on. I may tone it down a bit a the shading is a bit too stark. The varnish will also blend it in.

I'll be glad to finish this one !

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Looks great to me Steve,intresting info on the cammo schemes. Thats cool that there is some gun camera footage thats useable for reference. Looking forward to more,I've got an Emil in the stash but not sure were I'm headed with it yet. Keep up the inspiring work always a joy to watch !

[stona]

I've put the decals on today. A big hats off to Trumpeter,the decals are superb. Here's a shot of this aircraft's most famous marking. This is applied over a gloss coat and given one splosh of Microset. No other varnishes or weathering on top yet.

Cheers

Steve

[Vaughan]

Very nice Steve the decal has conformed to the fuselage panel lines and rivets very well.

Vaughan

[stona]

I'm on the home straight! I've done a wash and got the matt (well,as matt as I want) varnish on. Once that's dryI'll do a bit of staining etc and stick on the dangly bits.

Hopefully I'll post some completed shots before the end of the weekend.

Cheers

Steve

[Dave W]

Looks good steve.I've got a 1/48 decal sheet for one of Hartmans G6's.I intend building one when i can find a suitable kit.Do you know if he flew the 109K ?.

[stona]

I intend building one when i can find a suitable kit.Do you know if he flew the 109K ?.

Hi Dave,a question which comes up frequently. It is not helped by various manufacturers producing Bf109K kits with Hartmann decals,often based on an old profile by Karl Ries which showed a tulip nosed K complete with 352 kills on the rudder. It looks nice but is without foundation.

The last Hartmann aircraft known is an Erla built Bf109G-10. There is a well known picture of him in a camouflage jacket standing in front of it,sadly not much is visible. The picture was supposedly taken on the occasion of his 350th victory. Here is a recently discovered version of that image.

And this one showing a bit more,also 'discovered' in the last few weeks.

These were posted over on LEMB and it is only fair to say that they have generated a heated debate,some experts even feel that they may be faked. My hunch is that they are genuine. Original photographs of Hartmann or his aircraft have a significant value so foul play is often suspected!

I could go on about various possibilities,for example his unit losses (I./JG52) show two Bf109K-4 losses in March 1945. Between February and war's end the other losses were seven Bf109G-10s,thirty Bf109G-14s along with a couple of old Bf109G-6s. There were obviously a few Ks available but there is no evidence that Hartmann flew one.

The K-4 with tulip nose and 352 abschuss marked on the rudder is definitely pure fantasy.

Cheers

Steve