A Finnish Ace's 'Mersu' - 1/32 Bf109G

[thorfinn]

This is the 21st-Century Toys 1/32 Bf109G-14, 'tweaked' to represent the similar late-model Bf109G-6 which was the last wartime mount of Finnish ace (and Mannerheim Cross recipient) Nils 'Nipa' Katajainen. Katajainen had joined the air force reserve in 1939 and fought in the Winter War, was discharged in 1941, then returned to service only a few months later during mobilization for the Continuation War. He amassed 17.5 victories flying Brewster Buffaloes before converting to the Bf109 in May 1944, and was to add another 18 kills to his tally flying the Mersu.

 

 

Having lost his regular mount to combat damage during a sortie 2 days earlier, 'Nipa' was flying MT-476 'Yellow 7' in July, 1944, escorting bombers in an attack on Soviet shipping. After being engaged by defending Yak-9 fighters, he downed one Yak before being hit by defensive fire from the ships, which badly damaged his Bf109. He barely managed to nurse the a/c back to his base at Lappeenranta, where he was forced to try to belly-land at high speed...but instead bounced and cartwheeled, ripping off first the wings, and then the shedding the engine. Miraculously, Katajainen was pulled from the wreckage unconscious but alive.

 

After hospitalization and a slow recovery from his injuries, Katajainen was promoted before being discharged from the air force in November 1944; in December of that same year, he was appointed a Knight of the Mannerheim Cross, Finland's highest military decoration, for exceptional bravery. He was credited with a total of 35.5 aerial victories over 196 combat missions flown.

 

Following the war, 'Nipa' went on to work in the civil service in Helsinki, before passing away in 1997.

 

21st-Century's kits have been well-reviewed elsewhere; they are simplified but reasonably well-engineered kits which benefit greatly from a little TLC. In this case, that involved an Eduard etch detail set for the cockpit, Radu Brinzan's neat harnesses for the pilot's seat, and some scratch-built bits like the Revi gunsight and items such as the aileron mass-balances which the kit omitted. Paints are Tamiya acrylics; decals came mostly from Eagle Strike's 'Augsburg's Flyers Part III' sheet (#32037), with substitute aircraft numbers made up on my inkjet printer to represent Katajainen's last a/c.

 

Hope you enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Baldy]

Very nice build - there is something really appealing about the wartime Finnish markings - must build something sometime!

 

Cheers

 

Malcolm

 

 

[Greg Law]

Nice paint work and weathering.

[Joss]

Very nice! The paint job looks very good like the detail of the over painted Luftwaffe marking.

Joss

[Spitfire31]

This is the type of posts I appreciate the most – good photos of an excellent model and an interesting background story to put it in perspective.

 

Great work!

 

Kind regards,

 

Joachim

[thorfinn]

59 minutes ago, Spitfire31 said:

This is the type of posts I appreciate the most – good photos of an excellent model and an interesting background story to put it in perspective.

 

Great work!

 

Kind regards,

 

Joachim

Thanks, Joachim!

I have to admit, it's the background stories that tend to really make a build special, for me as well.

[Hairtrigger]

Supurbly done...   

[Valkyrie]

Oh yes, that is brilliant, great looking Finnish 109, well done 

[MikeR]

Nicely done!

 

Mike.

[F-32]

Very cool, always nice to see a ‘109 in this scheme