maltadefender Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 (edited) My second build for the GB is going to be rather more involved, but hopefully will at least come out with something that can enter without question! It's the return of an old friend in many ways, although it's doubtful that anyone on the Island would have thought as much in December 1941 when Jagdegeschwader 53 flew south to set up in Sicily, under the command of Geschwaderkommodore Günther Freiherr von Maltzhan. Maltzhan was born 20 October 1910 in Wodarg, Pomerania, entitled Freiherr (Baron). Much like that other famous flying Freiherr, Manfred von Richthofen, Maltzhan entered the cavalry at first in 1931 but had already undergone flight training at the commercial flying school in Schleissheim. Before long he had transferred to the Luftwaffe and in 1937 he was posted to 6./Jagdgeschwader 334 as a Staffelkapitän – the unit later renumbered 6./Jagdgeschwader 53 (JG53) with its Ace of Spades emblem (the Pik As). Maltzahn led II./JG53 through the Polish campaign, the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain. At this time Major Hans-Jürgen von Cramon-Taubadel was Geschwaderkommodore of JG53. While JG53 was making a reputation for itself in the air, however, Cramon-Traubadel fell foul of the authorities when Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring was informed that the Geschwaderkommodore's wife was Jewish. Thus Göring ordered the whole of Cramon-Traubadel 's own flight, Stab/JG53, to remove the "Pik As" emblem from their planes, and replace it with a red stripe around the engine cowling as punishment. Many of the pilots of JG53 responded by also removing the swastika from their tail fins. I modelled his aircraft in the 2010 Battle of Britain GB in a 'dogfight double' with the Hurricane of another future star of the Malta campaign, 'Jumbo' Gracie, who fronted up to JG53 in the battle over the Solent in 1940. On 30 September, Maltzahn replaced Cramon-Traubadel as Kommodore of Stab.JG53, which was allowed to paint the "Pik As" back on its Bf-109's and remove the red band from their cowlings. On 9 October 1940 Maltzahn was promoted Geschwaderkommodore of JG 53, and on 30 December was awarded the Knight's Cross, for 12 air victories, and also for his work organizing and leading the unit. In 1941 JG53 participated in the Invasion of the Soviet Union, achieving high numbers of air victories against the Soviet Air Force. Maltzahn reached 43 kills before September 1941, when JG53 was withdrawn from frontline duties to Holland for rest and refit. The Geschwader was then sent to Sicily in December, where it would immediately make its presence felt in the skies over Malta. Almost 200 kills were recorded by JG53 during its five months in Sicily. It was a vicious battle in which the Messerschmitts became infamous for several reasons – attacking and crippling the new RAF Air Sea Rescue launch HSL129, strafing civilian targets and firing at RAF aircrew in their parachutes chief among them. As we know, this did not affect the outcome of the siege and in May 1942 the "Pik As" Geschwader was split up, seeing service in North Africa, the eastern Mediterranean and Russia simultaneously. Maltzahn ended the war having flown flown 497 missions and claimed 68 victories . He was decorated with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves; Germany's highest military decoration at the time of its presentation. After the war Maltzahn worked in agriculture and then in the new Luftwaffe. He died in 1953 in Düsseldorf at the age of 43, due to illness. For this build I'm going to be making the earlier of two of Maltzahn's Sicily-based aircraft on the Aeromaster decal sheet PAF-05: Gunther Freiherr von Maltzahn. The instructions claim that it is Bf-109F-4 from January 1942 with a yellow lower nose and wing tips in this RLM 74/75/76 aircraft and lots of mottling. However, one of the things I've learned on this forum is to be cautious with Aeromaster's interpretations. Looking through all the books I've got, including Osprey's Bf109 Aces of the Mediterranean and North Africa and its full unit profile of JG53, I think that the Mediterranean theatre markings would have been applied very swiftly and that this aircraft would have had the broad white tail band and white lower wing tips – although retaining the yellow lower cowling. Also the spinner is depicted in the instructions as having a green tip. However both the Osprey books indicate that blue was the colour used on the spinners of Stab.JG53 aircraft. That's how I'm intending to apply the markings to this aircraft: with blue nose, white wingtips and fuselage band over the RLM74/75/76 camouflage... unless anything leaps out to tell me I'm going in the wrong direction. Feel free to chip in, Luftwaffe experts! This build, though, is going to be more complex than that. It's going to be a little diorama, with a base to represent Comiso airfield, a few figures and both an Opel Blitz refuelling truck by Italeri and a Tamiya Kübelwagen in the background. The kit I'm going to use for the Messerschmitt is the old faithful Airfix 1/48, this example coming in the very good value 'Dogfight Double' pairing with the Spit Vb Here are the decals, together with those of the 185 Squadron Spitfire Vc that I'll hopefully be doing later in the GB: I'm going to play myself in fairly gently, however, with Tamiya's little 1/48 Kübelwagen, which very helpfully comes not only with two Luftwaffe pilot figures but also markings for a staff car from JG53! Once I've done the Kübelwagen and figures I'll do the fuel tanker and then finally make a start on the 109 – which will be from the box with the exception of using the open canopy option from the Airfix 109E that I built as Maltzahn's BoB aircraft. Then at the end my little bit of Comiso should come together to make the base for display. So, after rather a rapid first build, this one could take quite a while! Edited June 30, 2012 by maltadefender Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prop-nut Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 I look forward to seeing your build. I'll be doing a Pacific Coast MC-200, in 1/48. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lloyd Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Great background. I'm looking forward to this one. The 'infamy' of the Luftwaffe during the Malta siege seems to be in contrast to the Germans' general behaviour in other fighting, at least in the West. I wonder if there were some cold, hard calculations being done about the importance of running Malta's defences down to nothing by killing valuable pilots. While not widespread, my (GB-inspired) reading suggests there was a steady stream of incidents, so it doesn't seem to be a case of one or two events being blown out of proportion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltadefender Posted April 10, 2012 Author Share Posted April 10, 2012 Thanks Stephen – a 1/48 C.202 should be a treat, can't wait to see that. Peter - thanks, glad you managed to wade through it all, thought I might have overdone it a bit there! Here's where the Kübelwagen has got to today. Photos show the support vehicles in Sicily wearing both desert (sand) and European (grey) paint, so I'm opting for the former. Looks like a lovely little kit and hopefully will come together with all Tamiya's usual ease of use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim B Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Looks good so far. Just need to start the sprue cutting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltadefender Posted April 11, 2012 Author Share Posted April 11, 2012 (edited) Looks good so far. Just need to start the sprue cutting Oh, go on then! I'll try and make something car-shaped for you to look at! Well the poly cement started flowing last night. As usual, the fit and finish from Tamiya are exemplary. My apologies for the ham-fisted detailing. Looking at some of the work going on already in this GB it looks like I tucked the paintbrush under my armpit and waved it in the general direction of the little bucket! Took that one in the small hours and our kitchen lighting made the sand go a very funny colour. So when morning came, things looked a bit better... Edited April 11, 2012 by maltadefender Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltadefender Posted April 12, 2012 Author Share Posted April 12, 2012 More progress on the Kübel yesterday: And by evening she's finished. Once again I've weathered her with a bit of Humbrol 'Sand' sprayed from a distance. As predicted it's Lego-simple to put together a pretty little thing. Now it's on to the pilot figures... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 That Kubel has turned out brilliantly! Should make a neat little diorama. Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltadefender Posted April 13, 2012 Author Share Posted April 13, 2012 Thanks Cliff - got a better close-up of her last night. Meanwhile working on the figures. A friend of mine who does brilliant figures said that he always paints them black first to ensure shadow and depth, then basically dry brushes on top. I'm game to give that a try, so here's step 1: Before going into fairly uncharted territory for me, I've started on the Italaeri Opel Blitz 'Tankwagen'. What a relief for ol' Cap'n Wobblyfingers here to have separate wheels and tyres! Extremely impressed by the quality of the moulding and ease of assembly with this kit - picked it up for next-to-nothing in the ModelZone sale last month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltadefender Posted April 15, 2012 Author Share Posted April 15, 2012 (edited) At this stage I'm really not sure why I did the black undercoat on the figures - or, if it was the right thing to do, what I've subsequently done wrong! Maltzahn had quite a distinctive haircut. Virtually nothing at the back and above the ears, then long on top. The hatless pilot's hair is moulded almost identically. I'm not sure why my Tamiya paint's got a glossy finish at the moment either! You will see I've replaced the map that came with the kit with a map of Malta (from period). Meanwhile I've been tinkering with the Opel Blitz, opting to use the Sicily scheme from the options on the box, but preparing to JG53-ise it! Edited April 16, 2012 by maltadefender Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave A Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 Not sure why you think you've done something wrong with those figs, they look fab to me, and much better than my first attempt at painting the same set - back in the box at the moment, awaiting the development of some talent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltadefender Posted April 16, 2012 Author Share Posted April 16, 2012 Thanks Dave, glad you like them. I guess comparing my figures to those by the guy who told me his technique - much like comparing my IP to those on this GB - is always going to be a bit daunting! Meanwhile back on the production line, the Opel Blitz came together relatively swiftly. I've done the doors as open and am actually rather pleased with how just a little bit of dry brushed grey and black has brought some depth in there... Once all the fixtures and fittings were in place I dabbed a bit of Klear where the decals were supposed to go. I used the numberplates and the sign on the door for the loading weights etc. from the kit, but added the "Pik As" emblem from a spare set of Bf109 decals in my sheet of Maltzahn aircraft. After that it I let them dry and then gave them some matt varnish before another whiff of Humbrol Sand from the rattledan to bed things down into something approaching a tidy but used piece of equipment. So that's the second part of the diorama completed. Now in the Malta case along with its little buddy: In the meanwhile I seem to have misplaced the rank badges for my pilot figures. If anyone's got a spare set tucked away I'll gladly cross your palm with silver. I'm going to make a gentle start on the Messerschmitt next, but it's quite a busy week with a big family gathering this weekend so updates might be a bit sparse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robw_uk Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 great work - love the Opel tanker... and yes - the simple dry brushing just zings it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lloyd Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 You have some excellent elements coming together for this one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pabbi Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 great work on the Opel and Kübelwagen ... I am tempted to turn mine also into a diorama Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaykay Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Lookin' very good so far, jk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltadefender Posted April 24, 2012 Author Share Posted April 24, 2012 Thanks guys, glad you like the wheeled machines - now for something with wings on. I've made some (slow) progress over the last week. I think things will be able to accelerate now. Preshading with a hairy stick... First splashes of colour on the wingtips, lower cowl and tail band... Cockpit painted and fuselage buttoned up. I haven't done details of the IP etc. as it's nothing like as pretty as many on this GB - must try harder! Rather pleased with my belts, even if they're just paint. Just need to complete the tail and she'll be ready for some RLMs on the exterior. That unimpressive cockpit again! I'll have a little tinker, get some blue-grey on and report back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaykay Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 Taking shape very nicely, jk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltadefender Posted May 1, 2012 Author Share Posted May 1, 2012 Here's the cockpit before the camo started going on... first one I've made a reasonable fist of. More to follow once the RLM76 has cured a bit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Looking good! My favourite stage - the shape's all there, plus the eager anticipation of getting some paint on ! Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltadefender Posted May 1, 2012 Author Share Posted May 1, 2012 Thanks Cliff - here's the first coat going on... It's rather sticky stuff (Xtracolor) but once on it looks reasonable even with the hairy stick applicator! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Looking good! Isn't this Airfix kit the one originally done by Arii? If so, it is still one of the most accurate 109Fs around. My faithful old paint dummy is one of these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltadefender Posted May 13, 2012 Author Share Posted May 13, 2012 Yes that's the one, Enzo. I'm struggling to see any difference at all between Xtracolor's 'Grauviolett' and 'EDSG'. Except the EDSG has gone on much easier. So here's a picture of the Spit, with about as much of a close-up of the 109 as I'm comfortable with at the moment. I've roughly painted the splinter ready for masking and completing tomorrow. Once I've done that I'll blend in the patches of mottle in the upper surface colours using dry brushing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltadefender Posted May 14, 2012 Author Share Posted May 14, 2012 Done what can only be described as a LOT of work today. Happy with the save on the paint. Pics tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltadefender Posted May 15, 2012 Author Share Posted May 15, 2012 (edited) Camo is now done on the 109F. After watching me sweating and swearing trying to mask the splinter scheme properly for days on end, and convince the Xtracolor paint to behave itself, my wife came down this morning to see the finished product and said 'Why have you messed it up after all that work?' Now for a bit of detailing before the decals go on. Edited May 15, 2012 by maltadefender Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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