kwaterous Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 (edited) Stumbled onto an idea when I decided I didn't want to build my airfix bf109e the normal way. Then I remembered, I've got the engine left over from the ICM Mig-3... And I was wondering, what if he Germans weren't the only ones to trial one of their engines in an enemy fighter? (Messerspit) Would this have worked? I plan to do it anyway, and have the engine exposed, maybe a maintenance scene, but it's a bonus if it's plausible. Cheers, K Edited August 22, 2016 by kwaterous 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonehammer Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 Sounds interesting, matching the cross sections will be the biggest job. Russians were familiar with the Emil having bought some before the war, but if they hadn't, a crash-landed example might be fitted with an availble engine, then tried at NII-VVS in 'dissimilar combat'... it was done with Fw.190s although those had their original engines on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwaterous Posted July 4, 2016 Author Share Posted July 4, 2016 (edited) Hmm interesting about the Russians having their own 109s. Did 109 vs. 109 ever happen I wonder? I'm pushing on with this, even if the realism isn't really there. Step 1: No more german engineering up front. Step 2: beginning to assemble the Russian replacement There seems to be many different colour options for an AM-35a so I'm following the ICM instructions. New engine will require a new firewall This is the first try, might make another one later. Step 3: Engine painted and together Fit is iffy in a few places-espescially the front tanks. I couldn't resist: Looks neat with the spinner too, but that fell off right before the photo Cheers, K Edited July 4, 2016 by kwaterous 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonehammer Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 Hmm interesting about the Russians having their own 109s. Did 109 vs. 109 ever happen I wonder? They had a captured B and a few Emils, five or six, bought along with bf.110, do.215, ju.88a-1 for technical evaluation. Numbers were too small to create a fighting unit and these models were likely not in German service by the time of Barbarossa. A likely use would have been reconaissance - either with Red stars or black crosses on. I have a few books on the subject, will check when i get back home this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 There were quite a few captured planes http://wio.ru/gal2a/gal-capf.htm but most of the fighters were not assigned to combat units, instead they were used in dogfight training Captured Storchs, Ju-52s and Si204 were used as transports / reconnaissance planes There was a post war unit equipped with FW-190D on Baltic Fleet 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 109 vs 109 happened over Romania, as described in one of Steinhoff's books. Presumably later over Hungary too. Not Soviet ones. It was carefully avoided over Finland. I have one qualification about the What-If: the AM-35 was a very heavy engine and the Bf109 would need rebalancing in some way - a bigger tailplane at least. However a Klimov from a Yak or LaGG would have fitted better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwaterous Posted July 13, 2016 Author Share Posted July 13, 2016 Lots of interesting information coming to light here guys, thanks for all the expertise. I'm torn on how to paint/decal this one as I'm not sure if it would be more likely in german or Russian hands. Will have to think on it. Thanks for the info about engine weight, this could look cool with a bigger tailplane. Cheers, K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwaterous Posted August 22, 2016 Author Share Posted August 22, 2016 So this one has been sleeping. This is both due to my being away, and preparing for university this fall, and due to the plane suffering from an identity crisis. I have eventually come up with a solution. The AM-35 that I have from the Mig-3 looks quite similar to the AM-38 found in the IL-2. It stands to reason that both engines were quite durable. (I hope) Germans, at the squadron level, were frustrated at losing large numbers of stukas in the attempt to destroy soviet tanks. During the many soviet armoured advances in early-mid 1944. The fighter units also had a few, mostly damaged, early model bf109s left from the beginning of the invasion. There was several cases of mechanics making modifications to existing aircraft in order to make them more capable in combat. The most extreme case of aircraft modification will be modelled. This included: An early model Bf109E A replacement of the engine with the larger, more durable, although heavier one from a soviet aircraft. Reinforcements to most of the frame Armour playing being riveted to the sides and top of the aircraft to increase protection. Thick armoured glass windscreen. Extra machine guns fitted to the wing root Stuka style heavy cannon inter the wings. And a powerful radio receiver able to listen to communications from german tanks. Performance was severely lacking when compared to other fighters, however it was still better than that offer by the Ju-87. This aircraft, and others similar to it, could be found desperately fighting on the eastern front up until the end of the war. Hopefully this is at least mildly believeable, and I'm doing it even if it isn't Cheers, K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwaterous Posted August 22, 2016 Author Share Posted August 22, 2016 (edited) Be that the story post is out of the way, it's time for the photo update Fuselage together and armour applied with Alu tape. Underside showing quite a few mods. I'll leave it up to you guys to figure them out, as I don't remember them all Engine prop rudder and gun pods Armour plus rivets, and plane plus radio Belly post paint job Engine plus radiator thingy and exhaust stacks. Also a painted gun pod. And that all for now. Hope to get this finished as my last pre-uni build--it'll be the last one for a long while likely :/ Let me know what you think, or the story or the build, and feedback is always welcome. Cheers, K Edited August 22, 2016 by kwaterous 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwaterous Posted August 27, 2016 Author Share Posted August 27, 2016 (edited) Now for paint. Layer 1 Layer 2 Quasi-mottling Somewhat later Quite recently Cheers, K Edited August 27, 2016 by kwaterous 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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