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Bf 109E 4 "Yellow" 1 9/JG 26...FINISHED


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Here is the first of my two entries to the Group Build. 1/48 Airfix Bf 109 in the markings of Gerhard Schopfel Caffiers August 1940. I'll be using the Altmark AM decal set, and a canopy masking set but other than that it will be straight out of the box. 9 Staffel wore the "Hollenhund" badge beneath the cockpit, which translates to the Hound from Hell, which is quite apt for the 109 I think. I chose these markings as it doesn't have mottle or the all yellow nose, and consequently looks quite clean for a change. Anyway, there it is, i'm ready for the off..."Horrido" as the Luftwaffe chaps might say!!

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Edited by GREG DESTEC
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Nice choice of kit and subject matter Greg. Looking forward to seeing how it looks. :thumbsup:

Thanks again Stix! I've picked an easier option for the finish, as i find it hard to mottle with a brush.

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Hi Gregor, that PMask set looks pretty comprehensive - does it have inside and outside masks?

The 109 you are building was the one Gerhard Schöpfel was flying on 18 August when his staffel caught 501 Squadron down-sun and climbing, and he shot down four of them in about 2 minutes; Dr Alfred Price describes the incident in his book "The Hardest Day" and he subsequently introduced Schöpfel to Kenneth "Hawkeye" Lee, one of the pilots Schöpfel had shot down that day - apparently they got on famously :)

Cheers,

Stew

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Hi Gregor, that PMask set looks pretty comprehensive - does it have inside and outside masks?

The 109 you are building was the one Gerhard Schöpfel was flying on 18 August when his staffel caught 501 Squadron down-sun and climbing, and he shot down four of them in about 2 minutes; Dr Alfred Price describes the incident in his book "The Hardest Day" and he subsequently introduced Schöpfel to Kenneth "Hawkeye" Lee, one of the pilots Schöpfel had shot down that day - apparently they got on famously :)

Cheers,

Stew

Hi Stew, I have to confess i haven't opened up the masks set yet. It does the different canopy styles for the kit's outside framing. I'll see if it does inside ones too. I've never used them before so this is a first for me. I read about Schopfel in the Osprey Aircraft of the Aces books - Bf 109D/E Aces, and noted the incident on 18 August. Appartently two of the 4 guys he shot down survived. A few days later he was awarded the Knights Cross, along with Galland and Munchenburg - all JG26. Regards Greg.

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I believe that all four 501 Sqn pilots survived that particular combat, although two were wounded if I recall... but I don't know how many survived the Battle of Britain, let alone the war, apart from Kenneth Lee...

Cheers,

Stew

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Of the four pilots shot down in that engagement, P/O John Bland was killed, and the other three wounded. They were P/O Kenneth Lee, P/O Francisek Kozlowski and Sgt Donald McKay.

They were flying Hurricanes P3208, P3059, P3815 and N2617 respectively.

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Of the four pilots shot down in that engagement, P/O John Bland was killed, and the other three wounded. They were P/O Kenneth Lee, P/O Francisek Kozlowski and Sgt Donald McKay.

They were flying Hurricanes P3208, P3059, P3815 and N2617 respectively.

Cheers Andy, I had read two were killed but further googeling confirms only one was unfortunate enough not to survive this encounter. Schopfel survived the war with 40 victories in total.

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501 had another pilot killed during an engagement with Bf 110's. That was F/Lt George Stoney in P2549.

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Here's JG 26 at Caffiers, prior to August 18th. Gerhard Schopfel is stood second from left. Other pilots are ( from left ) fourth Gerhard Muller - Duhe KiA August 18th; fifth is Josef Burschgens PoW September 1st - he scored JG 26's first kill of WW2; Adolf Galland with back to camera; with hands on ears, Walter Blume PoW 18th August; then it's the aces Gustav 'Micky' Sprick and Joachim Munchenberg. Photo sent to me by Josef Burschgens.

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Josef is no longer with us, and resided in Canada post war. He was an ace with 10 kills to his credit by the time he was taken PoW.

Thanks again Andy. Reason i asked is a former work mate of mine turned up at work one day with a silver tankard he acquired from a garage sale. The chap was a bit of an antiques collector, and spotted what he reconed was a silver tankard at the sale. When he got it home and cleaned it up he saw it was engraved. The engravings had dates and names of aircraft from the early part of WW2. The pilots name on the tankard was Joesf Burschgens! I can,t remember if there was 10 dates/aircraft recorded on it but looked genuine enough to me. Joesf Burschgens is listed in the Bf 109D/E Aircraft of The Aces book by Osprey, and i told my workmate that this tankard should be in a museum. I don't know what he did with it.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Right now the Hurricane is well underway i've started the 109. Its going together well with no fit issues at all, so far...Steve did a good wip on this kit so i won't go over the top with more of the same, so to speak! Here's what i've got so far....

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Greg how do you rate the differnces in cockpit desighn between the hurricane and the 109 . From my experience the 109 is rather a dull desighn and construction and difficult to make to looki intresting and bussy.

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Greg how do you rate the differnces in cockpit desighn between the hurricane and the 109 . From my experience the 109 is rather a dull desighn and construction and difficult to make to looki intresting and bussy.

If we are talking about the new tool Hurricane cockpit and the 109 then the new Hurri beats it hands down. I think the 109 was one of Airfix's first new tool 1/48 kits and is a bit chunky in comparison. It also lacks some of the finer detail. In respect of the real aircraft I couldn't comment as i'm not a pilot, but the 109 cockpit layout is very orderly and workman like. In that respect it offers up less details in a modelling sense. The old tool Hurri i am building at the moment is lacking in detail OTB and the 109 has a lot by comparison. Both nice kits from Airfix but i guessing the far East or European manufacturers win hands down for 1/48 109 kits. Cheers Greg

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Thats looking like a really nice start, so happy modelling with your second one, here in this GB

Thank you Bernd. Its all going together well, and i'll post more progress shots soon. The Airfix 109 is well engineered and it shows in the speed i've assembled the main components.

Excellent progress with the cockpit Greg. :thumbsup:

Thanks Stix. Its very straightforward, and only needs a bit of drybrushing to bring out the adequate details OOTB. Regards

Greg

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Nice progress on this one.

I have build this one as well and I found it at the time compared to the Tamiya version quite good. the only downside with this model are the wheels. I think they are a bid thin (compared to the Tamiya ones).

Cheers,

Edited by Arniec
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Nice progress on this one.

I have build this one as well and I found it at the time compared to the Tamiya version quite good. the only downside with this model are the wheels. I think they are a bid thin (compared to the Tamiya ones).

Cheers,

Thanks Arniec, its a nice kit for the price, and goes together smoothly (so far). The Tamiya 109 is very nice too.

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