No! Not another BoB 109 history lesson!

[Pauls9cb]

Goering’s air assault on Britain stalled after heavy losses on the 18th of August 1940 and bad weather gave some breathing space for both sides after the series of air battles since the 12th of August. Albert Kesserling, the commander of Luftflotte 2, which targeted London and the southeast, had recognised that the RAF ignored attacks by fighters and only responded when German bombers were among the attacking formations. He began sending small bomber formations across the Channel, escorted by huge groups of Bf 109s and Bf 110s. This was the tactic he chose to adopt on the 29th of August 1940, despite indifferent weather throughout the morning. It was a tactic that caused heavy losses for both Fighter Command and the Jagdwaffe.

Early afternoon saw small units of German bombers moving towards a selection of airfield targets in the south, escorted by as many as 500 Bf 109s and 150 Bf 110s. It was impossible to ignore this and both Spitfire and Hurricane squadrons were vectored towards the attacking streams. II Gruppe /JG 3, based near Calais, formed part of this escort. Elements of this group were below the main formation as it passed over the Sussex coast and they were met by Hurricanes from Croydon’s 85 Squadron, together with other units.

One of the German escorts was part of the 2nd Staffel /JG 3, with Oberfeldwebel Bernhard Lempskemper flying a Bf 109 E-4, “Black 8”. He was attacked by one of 85 Squadron's Hurricane pilots whose fire from close range seriously damaged the a/c’s engine. The German pilot dived away and turned out to sea and 10 miles from land, he decided that landing back on the coast was a better option than the uncertain future he faced by attempting to ditch in the unforgiving sea. He turned back to the Sussex coast near Eastbourne. Choosing the low-lying marshy ground east of the town, he approached the area at low altitude and came under fire from the Bofors defences located around the important RDF station at Pevensey, gunfire which further damaged the underside of his Bf 109.

 

 

Apart from the irresistible fact for me that this was another Eastbourne BoB casualty, “Black 8” was a colourful subject that showed the varying ways different units camouflaged their a/c, as well as how they applied the vivid yellow id paint. I chose another Tamiya kit, the E-4/E-7 offering, as the basis for this model. From b&w pics of other 2nd Staffel a/c, I could see that the standard RLM 02/71 upper surfaces over 65 for the fuselage sides was the basis of the camo pattern. By the end of August however, the fuselage sides had been darkened by random sprays of RLM 02 and/or 71. The bright yellow RLM Gelb was applied both to the cowlings, rudder and outer panels of both wings. The 2nd Staffel’s red “Tatzelwurm” unit emblem was carried each side of the engine cowling which had been masked off when the yellow paint was applied, leaving the unit emblem and its surrounding fuselage finish still visible.

 

  

 

I built the kit virtually OOB, with little adaptation apart from adding some rudder actuating rods from fine brass wire, a Quickboost Revi gunsight, some drilling-out of the MG-FF barrels and some aluminium tubing let into the right spine of the fuselage to take the radio aerial wire into the fuselage compartment where the RT was located. This was my first effort at producing an Emil that had the fuselage sides darkened marginally by random sprays of RLM 02. I’m usually quite heavy-handed when it comes to controlling the flow from my fairly rudimentary Badger 200 spray gun and the small Testors compressor I use. An Airwaves etched spray mask for Luftwaffe fighters helped focus this and produced an effect that sort of works, although looking back, I wonder whether it should have had some RLM 71 splodges as well.

 

 

 

Aftermarket decals (Aeromaster 48-590) gave me access to the red 2nd Staffel Tatzelwurm. Its dimensions gave me the right space to mask off when I sprayed the cowling first white then a mixture of flat Tamiya yellow mixed with a touch of orange to reflect the right colour. This sheet also gave me the individual a/c number “8”.

I found the extent of this colour used by different units an interesting study, with JG 3 taking the yellow right up to the windscreen and stepping down following the panel lines aft of the air intake fairing. Many others, like JG 26 for example, simply painted yellow (or white) the upper and lower removable panels. Since I was still unsure of technique when I completed this model, there’s little by way of staining or wear marks on the a/c apart from some exhaust plume (brown/black mixture) lightly sprayed above the wing roots and some firing residue around the fuselage MG 17 troughs and behind the wing cannons.

 

 

 

Looking back on the build, I’m quite happy with the way it turned out although I can see a couple of things I would do differently if I had another go. I’d use some etched or paper seat belts rather than the Tamiya decals which are almost one-dimensional. I would also move the a/c id number 8 marginally forward so that it fits between the fuselage panel lines over frames 2 and 3, a more usual position for such markings. I'd also try to be less heavy-handed when finishing the RT aerial installation since, while working on this I managed to ruin the tailwheel mounting and had to replace it with a less-than-convincing bodge since I had no spare when I needed it.

[Spitfire31]

Another evocative and historically interesting '09! The different camo schemes of your chosen subject are apparently almost inexhaustible.

 

While on the subject of exhausts, perhaps a Q-tip rubbed in dark grey pastel powder might give a more realistic rendition of exhaust deposits? Your current style looks more like oil leaks to these eyes… ;-)

 

Excellent and very informative modelling!

 

Kind regards,

 

Joachim

[Pauls9cb]

Joachim - Good tip on the exhaust staining. I haven't tried that route and have rarely been too impressed by the various alternatives I've tried. Thanks for that!

Paul