WGS Ostfront - 1/200 Air 200 Messerschmitt Bf109F's JG 54 Grünherz

[Carl_Brisgamer]

The pending release of Ares Games' winter-camouflaged Heinkel He-111H inspired me to send two Air200 Messerschmitt Bf109F 'Friedrich' aircraft previously intended for the North African theatre to the Russian Front, so the bombers will have the fighter escort they need to take the fight to 'Ivan'.

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These aircraft represent two Bf109F-2 flown in March 1942 by Hauptmann Hans Philipp Gruppenkommandeur of the I./Jagdgeschwader 54 'Grünherz' and Feldwebel Herbert Brönnle of 2./JG 54. At the time Hptm. Philipp was credited with 82 victories and had just been awarded the Oakleaves to his Knight's Cross. In March 1942 Fw. Brönnle had a score of 24 victories and would be commissioned Leutnant and receive his own Knight's Cross a year later. Both 'Jagdflieger' were very successful in the war against the Soviets but would be killed in action in October and July 1943 fighting the western Allies over Gemany and Italy. Philipp's final score was 206 and Brönnle's 57.

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I painted the aircraft with a 'white-wash' finish to try and replicate the dirty, streaked appearance of Luftwaffe aircraft flying on the 'Ostfront' during the hard winter of 1941-42. I did the same for the yellow identification panels under the engine and wings. The canopy is painted with a metallic blue and white mix.

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The aircraft were purchased from http://www.magistermilitum.com at a cost of £ 4.60 for the two, plus postage, which is very reasonable. The national insignia decals and the '8' were purchased, the geschwader, gruppe and victory marks on the tails were home made. It was actually tough going back to chunky metal miniatures after the joy of painting AIM resin aircraft with their razor thin wings and tails, but now they are done I am pretty happy with the results.

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My 'unoffical' stats for the Messerschmitt Bf109F-2 are as follows:

Manouver Deck: A (the 'Friedrich' was the most manouverable of all the 109 variants)
Damage Points: 18 (lightly built but with cockpit armour and self sealing tanks)
Weapons: Short/Long - AC/C (20mm cannon, 2 x 7.92mm MG)
Top Altitude: 13 (12000m)
Climb Rate: 2 (19.2m/s)

[somaliavet]

Great job! I love winter schemes, and you did a great job of capturing the whitewashed look.

[Carl_Brisgamer]

Thanks Brian. My 8 year old daughter particularly likes the 'green heart' insignia, commenting 'They must have really cared about the environment'!

[Stormkahn]

Great stuff Carl, love the white washed effect, the reference pictures have it on the underside though?

[Carl_Brisgamer]

Great stuff Carl, love the white washed effect, the reference pictures have it on the underside though?

I found some other references to the contrary. Very difficult with b&w photography to tell the difference, so I hedged my bets. I probably should have used a lighter sky blue, but as I indicated these were hastily reassigned to the Russian Front from North Africa ;)

[Stormkahn]

ha! Don't get me wrong, I was actually thinking I'd have just taken the easy option and splashed the wash over the entire thing ;)

[FrankJamison]

Great pics and a great practical application of a great idea. For the record, I'm in love with that snow cammo Heinkel myself.

Thanks for the very detailed post.

[Doug]

Very well done:thumbsup:

[Carl_Brisgamer]

Thanks Alastair, I just need to find the time to give them a run. I have two MiG3's, two IL2's and six Yak 1B's to shoot down.

I hope you are settling in well up at Toowoomba.

Cheers,

Carl.

[Grey Knight]

Nice job.

[Aquiles76]

Sorry, but what brand are these two planes?
Nice job.
REGARDS

[richard m schwab]

Carl


They look nice. The underside looks good also.

Rich

[Nightbomber]

I found some other references to the contrary. Very difficult with b&w photography to tell the difference, so I hedged my bets. I probably should have used a lighter sky blue, but as I indicated these were hastily reassigned to the Russian Front from North Africa ;)This is absolutely correct. Underside RLM blue used in Med Theatre by the Luftwaffe was significantly darker then the usual RLM 65 for undersides in European Theatre.

[Niclas]

I had missed these.
They look great, Carl!
The washed look is very effective. First rate job!

/Niclas

[Zoe Brain]

AC/B for armament. The De520 had 4x7.5mm and a single 20mm as good as the F's, and that's only BC/B not BC/C.

Maneuver deck might be H rather than A - as should later model (heavier) Spitfires, only the I and II might be A. H is an improvement over B. But I wouldn't argue the toss on this one until the Spit IX comes out, if that's A, the 109F should be A too. 18 or 17 for damage, but if the E-4 is 18, that sounds about right. Otherwise as good a set of stats as we're going to get.

[Carl_Brisgamer]

Sorry, but what brand are these two planes?
Nice job.
REGARDS

They are Air 200 brand Abel, you can buy them online here: http://www.magistermilitum.com/product.asp?numRecordPosition=4&P_ID=8991&strPageHistory=cat&strKeywords=&SearchFor=&PT_ID=194

Cheers,

Carl.

[Carl_Brisgamer]

AC/B for armament. The De520 had 4x7.5mm and a single 20mm as good as the F's, and that's only BC/B not BC/C.

Maneuver deck might be H rather than A - as should later model (heavier) Spitfires, only the I and II might be A. H is an improvement over B. But I wouldn't argue the toss on this one until the Spit IX comes out, if that's A, the 109F should be A too. 18 or 17 for damage, but if the E-4 is 18, that sounds about right. Otherwise as good a set of stats as we're going to get.

Hi Zoe,

AC/B was also my initial take on the Friedrich. But then taking into account the official Yak-1 armed with a single 12.7mm (A) and a 20mm cannon (C) also nose mounted is AC/C, I went with the same stats for the 109F.

Cheers,

Carl.

[Aquiles76]

They are Air 200 brand Abel, you can buy them online here: http://www.magistermilitum.com/product.asp?numRecordPosition=4&P_ID=8991&strPageHistory=cat&strKeywords=&SearchFor=&PT_ID=194

Cheers,

Carl.

Thanks Carl. Is this the best option for resin planes?

[Carl_Brisgamer]

Hi Abel,

Air 200 are actually metal miniatures. I too prefer resin but you can't get a decent resin 109F.

Cheers,

Carl

[pbhawkin]

Takara make EXCELLENT 109E and F's (look for them on Ebay); http://kapon.lolipop.jp/miritary/toys/yoketu01.html
and http://kapon.lolipop.jp/miritary/toys/yoketu03.html
E, F, G and K all covered.

[Zoe Brain]

AC/B was also my initial take on the Friedrich. But then taking into account the official Yak-1 armed with a single 12.7mm (A) and a 20mm cannon (C) also nose mounted is AC/C, I went with the same stats for the 109F.

http://users.skynet.be/Emmanuel.Gust...n/fgun-pe.html

20mm co-ax primary
French HS.404 Wt:130 ROF:700 MV:880
German MG 151/20 Wt:105 ROF:700-750 MV:725
Russian ShVAK Wt:95 ROF:800 MV:750 - 770

Not much to choose between them, except the French one's better (bigger shell, higher MV so good at long range).

Secondary:
French MAC 1934 Wt:9.2 ROF:1500 MV:830 ( x 4 ) (ROF is 1200 if synchro)
German MG 17 Wt:10.8 ROF:1200 MV:775 (x2 synchro, more accurate)
Russian UBS Wt:52.0 ROF:800 MV:860 (x1, synchro, a lot more accurate at long range due to high MV and shell weight)

The 109F is definitely not quite as good as either at long range.

[Carl_Brisgamer]

Takara make EXCELLENT 109E and F's (look for them on Ebay); http://kapon.lolipop.jp/miritary/toys/yoketu01.html
and http://kapon.lolipop.jp/miritary/toys/yoketu03.html
E, F, G and K all covered.

Except Pete they are 1/144, not 1/200.

[Aquiles76]

Thanks to everybody for the info!

[Carl_Brisgamer]

http://users.skynet.be/Emmanuel.Gust...n/fgun-pe.html

20mm co-ax primary
French HS.404 Wt:130 ROF:700 MV:880
German MG 151/20 Wt:105 ROF:700-750 MV:725
Russian ShVAK Wt:95 ROF:800 MV:750 - 770

Not much to choose between them, except the French one's better (bigger shell, higher MV so good at long range).

Secondary:
French MAC 1934 Wt:9.2 ROF:1500 MV:830 ( x 4 ) (ROF is 1200 if synchro)
German MG 17 Wt:10.8 ROF:1200 MV:775 (x2 synchro, more accurate)
Russian UBS Wt:52.0 ROF:800 MV:860 (x1, synchro, a lot more accurate at long range due to high MV and shell weight)

The 109F is definitely not quite as good as either at long range.

Hi Zoe,

The link was broken, but I see your point. One could argue the Yak-1 is also over-rated at AC/C, and the D.520 under-rated at BC/B.

Cheers,

Carl.

[pbhawkin]

Except Pete they are 1/144, not 1/200.

oops, yes of course. I had overlooked the 1/200 in the title!

[Zoe Brain]

The link was broken, but I see your point. One could argue the Yak-1 is also over-rated at AC/C, and the D.520 under-rated at BC/B.
My thoughts exactly.
I think though that the UBS and Shvak are well ballistically matched because of the light, slow shell of the Shvak. At long range, you hit with either the low-velocity MGs or the high-velocity heavy shell cannon, not both for the D520 and 109F, while with the Yak, both HMG and Cannon shells will arrive at about the same place. A place lower than the cannon on the 109F but higher than its MGs.

[Lloydthegamer]

Great job! I love winter schemes, and you did a great job of capturing the whitewashed look.Indeed, that is a tough look to capture and you did it very nicely! Lloyd

[Marechallannes]

They look awesome!:clap:

The insignia with the black eagle and the red/white stripes is from the region I live.

The squadron is from Herzogenaurach (Mittelfranken).