FatFlyHalf Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 (edited) I've a picture (below) of the He 111 H-3 that I'm planning to model; 1H+EK of 2/KG26 No doubt someone out there has the answer, but I'm stumped as to the spinner and rudder colours of this aicraft. To me the spinners appear to be red, it being a 2/KG26 aircraft, but is the rudder red too? It there are any wise old heads out there that can give me some guidance I'd be grateful. Edited October 15, 2016 by FatFlyHalf spelin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 Why should the rudder be red? That wasn't a usual habit in the Luftwaffe. I suspect it is just that, being deflected, it is catching the light differently. On a separate point, is it an H-3? Sources differ as to whether the H-3 had the forward gun position in the gondola: possibly it was introduced in production? It isn't seen on Romanian H-3s not examples of KGr100, to name two examples I'm familiar with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Potato Pete Posted October 15, 2016 Share Posted October 15, 2016 It looks like the wing has had black distemper applied and I wonder if the same has been done to the fin - the dark part has a very soft edge - and it's the juxtaposition of the dark fin with the deflected rudder that creates the contrast and draws the eye. Why the lower fuselage and the rudder don't appear to have distemper I don't know -maybe not enough time to clean the aeroplane? Just a thought.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brewerjerry Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 (edited) Hi I seem to recall KG26 did a lot of anti shipping attacks, so possibly the forward gondola gun was fitted for this. A post on the lemb board might bring some replies from the luftwaffe experts there ? http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/forumdisplay.php?s=4a7a9b4c3c711be452f0ea9c5ba87d48&f=8 is there a date for the photo ? Cheers Jerry Edited October 16, 2016 by brewerjerry typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FatFlyHalf Posted October 16, 2016 Author Share Posted October 16, 2016 20 hours ago, Graham Boak said: Why should the rudder be red? That wasn't a usual habit in the Luftwaffe. I suspect it is just that, being deflected, it is catching the light differently. On a separate point, is it an H-3? Sources differ as to whether the H-3 had the forward gun position in the gondola: possibly it was introduced in production? It isn't seen on Romanian H-3s not examples of KGr100, to name two examples I'm familiar with. Why should it be red? is a good question. One I was asking myself and hence the post. I've seen yellow rudders on He 111's but not red. I'm tempted to follow your thinking. As for "Is it an H-3?". My references say so, and I do believe the forward mounted gondola gun was an H-3 modification. So I'll go with it for now and model it as seen. Thanks for the reply. It's helped clarify my thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FatFlyHalf Posted October 16, 2016 Author Share Posted October 16, 2016 7 hours ago, brewerjerry said: Hi I seem to recall KG26 did a lot of anti shipping attacks, so possibly the forward gondola gun was fitted for this. A post on the lemb board might bring some replies from the luftwaffe experts there ? http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/forumdisplay.php?s=4a7a9b4c3c711be452f0ea9c5ba87d48&f=8 is there a date for the photo ? Cheers Jerry Thanks for the pointer. I've no date for the picture, sorry. My guess is it could be the late BofB period when this outfit was down in NW France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FatFlyHalf Posted October 16, 2016 Author Share Posted October 16, 2016 15 hours ago, Potato Pete said: It looks like the wing has had black distemper applied and I wonder if the same has been done to the fin - the dark part has a very soft edge - and it's the juxtaposition of the dark fin with the deflected rudder that creates the contrast and draws the eye. Why the lower fuselage and the rudder don't appear to have distemper I don't know -maybe not enough time to clean the aeroplane? Just a thought.... Thanks, I agree about the black distemper. It is one thing that makes me think this is likely to be late BofB period picture. It'll be a bit of a problem for me to replicate it on the model though......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 I agree with Potato Pete that bottom sides of wings looks like poorly washed out from temporary black. Bottoms of tail also looks black - especially it can be seen on fairings. I have feeling, that the visible end of wing is (on some areas) very light - even lighter than white on Balkankreuz. Is it remains of white tips of wing from bottom? It would suggest that photo is taken let say in 1943 and the airplane was before it used in Africa? Anybody else see this unusual brightness of the wingtip from bottom? The rudder (or rather whole fin) is a puzzle for me. The light colour on the bottom of fin (below swastika) looks the same like colour of rudder and has unusul demercation line from upper part of fin with swastika. Moreover - this colour is much lighter then both greens from fuselage. Can it be perhaps yellow (? - remains after use over Balkans?)) or RLM 79, perhaps? Anyway - the moment of taking the photo and history of this indivudual airplane would be helpful indeed. Cheers Jerzy-Wojtek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FatFlyHalf Posted October 28, 2016 Author Share Posted October 28, 2016 Thanks for all the input and advice. I'm going, rightly or wrongly, for a scheme that represents an H-3 in N. France in late 1940 - no red rudder - and hoping for the best. Well now, this thread should possibly migrate to 'WIP', as I now have a tale of woe....... Painting problems. Not the colours but the fact the RLM70 will not dry! Maybe I overthinned the enamel paint? (Xtracolour) My fault.. Now the tedious task of strippping it off, so after consulting the various fora (forums?) on the site I'm going to try the magic of Acetone Free Nail polish remover. Fingers crossed. Well that's my weekend taken up....... Mutter, mutter, mutter.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies Posted October 28, 2016 Share Posted October 28, 2016 Excesd thinning of enamels will typically accelerate drying. Thinners displace enamel oil base meaning less oil to cure through and faster drying time. How long has it been? Gloss enamels can need a week or so to cure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FatFlyHalf Posted October 28, 2016 Author Share Posted October 28, 2016 5 hours ago, SovereignHobbies said: Excesd thinning of enamels will typically accelerate drying. Thinners displace enamel oil base meaning less oil to cure through and faster drying time. How long has it been? Gloss enamels can need a week or so to cure. Its been 4 days and was still tacky. I've never had this problem before. I've obviously done something daft..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies Posted October 28, 2016 Share Posted October 28, 2016 Can you put it somewhere at a consistent cosy temperature with ventilation for another couple of days? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted October 28, 2016 Share Posted October 28, 2016 Xtracolour used to be criticised for slow drying, but its a while now since complaints were common. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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