Airfix 1/72 bf109e-4 Franz von Werra

[Waspie]

Yes I did think they looked a little big for .303 rounds but to do them to scale they would probably be invisible , plus I dont think I could drill the tiny holes without breaking the drill bit! I’m going to touch up the edges and make them seem a bit smaller , but as for adding any more , I’m satisfied with the number Ive got , dont want it looking like Bonnie and Clydes Ford V8 !

I used to use a large needle, heated then poke them into the plastic to replicate the bullet holes. I finished them off with a dot pop black paint around the hole!!!! But I was only 12 or 13 then !!! I would have to be a bit more subtle these days!! Yours look most excellent Tony. Probably safer than a hot needle too!

[A_J_Rimmer]

That is superb work Tony!

[yak face]

After a few final touches its done ! I toned down the bullet holes a bit by reducing the area of silver and added a bit more fine dust/ sand to the base and aircraft . Privates Pike and Fraser were stuck in their respective positions and that was it. Thanks to all who've been following/ commenting . Heres a few to finish the build log , more coming on a ‘completed ‘ thread , cheers tony

[Jim R]

That's very nice indeed Tony. One to be proud of.

[Guest]

Very nicely done

[Waspie]

Very nice finale' Tony, very nice indeed. :thumb2:

[papa 695]

Fantastic work Tony.

[A_J_Rimmer]

Amazing!

[stona]

Nice one Tony!

I thought this might be a good place to show the surprisingly large holes that .303 ammunition could cause, particularly when impacting an airframe at an angle a long way from ninety degrees.

The picture below is of the fuselage of a Do 17, Wn.2642, code 3Z+GS of 8./KG 77, shot down on 3 July 1940. It was intercepted by three Hurricanes of No. 32 Squadron at 8,000 feet over Tonbridge, finally coming down in a hop field south east of Paddock Wood. P/O P. M. Gardner and Sgts. Bayley and Higgins all fired at the Dornier. It was only engaged by the Hurricanes, so the bullet holes, one of which is being helpfully pointed out for those with trouble seeing the obvious, can only have been caused by .303 calibre ammunition.





Interestingly, in his Combat Report, Gardner suggested that, "a beam attack is more effective than the astern, as in this instance, looking at the aircraft afterwards, the beam attack avoids the armour plating".

[yak face]

Fantastic info steve , as always . The holes are surprisingly big for something as small calibre as the .303 , then again aircraft aluminium is surprisingly thin too . I put more pics on a completed thread and had a play about trying to match the photo in the field , cheers tony

[yak face]

Nice one Tony!

I thought this might be a good place to show the surprisingly large holes that .303 ammunition could cause, particularly when impacting an airframe at an angle a long way from ninety degrees.

The picture below is of the fuselage of a Do 17, Wn.2642, code 3Z+GS of 8./KG 77, shot down on 3 July 1940. It was intercepted by three Hurricanes of No. 32 Squadron at 8,000 feet over Tonbridge, finally coming down in a hop field south east of Paddock Wood. P/O P. M. Gardner and Sgts. Bayley and Higgins all fired at the Dornier. It was only engaged by the Hurricanes, so the bullet holes, one of which is being helpfully pointed out for those with trouble seeing the obvious, can only have been caused by .303 calibre ammunition.



[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1225097[/ATTACH]

Interestingly, in his Combat Report, Gardner suggested that, "a beam attack is more effective than the astern, as in this instance, looking at the aircraft afterwards, the beam attack avoids the armour plating".

[Guest]

I thought this might be a good place to show the surprisingly large holes that .303 ammunition could cause, particularly when impacting an airframe at an angle a long way from ninety degrees.

I’m wondering if those aren’t exit holes, when the bullets would have been yawing due to striking the other side of the fuselage. The small patches where the paint came off seem to have much smaller holes in them, like at the tail end of the Z, which then are probably entry holes.

[Tim Marlow]

I’m wondering if those aren’t exit holes, when the bullets would have been yawing due to striking the other side of the fuselage. The small patches where the paint came off seem to have much smaller holes in them, like at the tail end of the Z, which then are probably entry holes.

Definitely ingress holes, not exit…..the aluminium is bending inwards on all of them as far as I can tell. All seem to be horizonta aligned as well. If they were exhibiting tumble after striking I would expect them to be more random. Quite oblique strikes though, I would say they were mostly from an aircraft shooting from the tail area.