Jump to content

Messerschmitt Bf109E-3, W.Nr 2486, Escadrila 57, Grupul 7 Vänätoare


Recommended Posts

Messerschmitt Bf109E-3, W.Nr 2486, Escadrila 57, Grupul 7 Vänätoare, (57 Squadron, 7 Fighter Group), Romanian Royal Air Force, Karpovka-Stalingrad, late 1942. The aircraft was the personal mount of Lt. Av. Ioan Dicezare (hence the “IDC” monogram below the cockpit on the port side). Dicezare scored 16 confirmed and 3 probable kills, (although some credit him with 40 kills). making him the fourth-highest scoring Romanian ace. “Hai Feţito” translates roughly as “C’mon little girl”, a reference to a racehorse filly that Di Cesare owned. Dicezare was a horse racing fanatic.

 

spacer.png

 

Post-war, Dicezare was arrested and imprisoned, his success against the Soviet Air Force not having endeared him to the communist regime in Romania. He was released due to lack of evidence., but forced to leave the military. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Dicezare was not merely rehabilitated but was promoted to Lieutenant-General, appointed as the honorary Chief of the Air Force and the last surviving Knight of the Order of Michai Viteazu (Michael the Brave, Romania’s highest military award). He died in 1996, two days short of his 96th birthday.

 

spacer.png

 

This is another Airfix Bf109-E. Additions/alterations to the kit? Several! In terms of small bits and pieces, I added brake pipes from fine wire, drain tubes/bracing struts in the radiators/coolers and drilled out the exhausts and guns. I didn’t do much to the cockpit, except to replace the head armour with a scratchbuilt version. The kit part scales out at about roughly four inches thick, like the side armour on a light cruiser, and able to stop anything up to a Soviet 85mm anti-aircraft gun!

 

spacer.png

 

Bigger deals were the canopy – this is a Rob Taurus vacform, which nicely captures the frame of the E3. These canopies are three-piece, which allows easy posing of an open cockpit, but takes a bit of effort to align. I added the external bulletproof windshield from clear sheet using Clearfix. The presence of this is very clear in photographs.

 

spacer.png

 

The decals were an absolute nightmare. I originally bought a set from LF Models, which proved to be thin, transparent, grainy and fell to bits once they were on and I handled the kit! I then got another set, from RB Productions, which are (by comparison) superb – thin, strong, and really, really accurate. In between, I took the opportunity to repaint some things: not just overpainting the markings, but re-doing the yellow parts, which are a slightly different colour to German RLM04. The Romanian yellow was slightly more orange-toned.

 

spacer.png

 

The shocking thing is it's May now and this is the nearly the first aircraft RFI I've done his year!

  • Like 18
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Mitch!!!

Congratulations for this beautiful gem of a masterpiece!!!

This wonderful build you share here looks wonderful!!!

I liked a huge lot the overall finish and the info you have shared. I was looking for info some months ago in the web and found a nice site dealing with lot of black and white and some color pics, history about the pilots and nice three views, as have planned a 1/72 build for a Bf109-E-4 or E-7 using the decals of the nice Hobby Boss kit using an Old But Nice still well buildable Heller kit.

 

I was watching in detail your nice gem to get in touch with this one. I like a huge lot the nice camouflage colors you have used and also the nice weathering you have done to the overall build but specially in the dark surfaces… Very nicely done and well placed in the right places.

 

Also, was wondering if you can tell which brand and colors you have used overall, as got attention that the yellow color is a little less orange than the RLM the Luftwaffe have used in theirs. Thank you very much in advance for your kind answer.

 

 Thank you very much for sharing!!!

Cheers,

Luis Alfonso

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Luis Alfonso said:

Hi Mitch!!!

Congratulations for this beautiful gem of a masterpiece!!!

This wonderful build you share here looks wonderful!!!

I liked a huge lot the overall finish and the info you have shared. I was looking for info some months ago in the web and found a nice site dealing with lot of black and white and some color pics, history about the pilots and nice three views, as have planned a 1/72 build for a Bf109-E-4 or E-7 using the decals of the nice Hobby Boss kit using an Old But Nice still well buildable Heller kit.

 

I was watching in detail your nice gem to get in touch with this one. I like a huge lot the nice camouflage colors you have used and also the nice weathering you have done to the overall build but specially in the dark surfaces… Very nicely done and well placed in the right places.

 

Also, was wondering if you can tell which brand and colors you have used overall, as got attention that the yellow color is a little less orange than the RLM the Luftwaffe have used in theirs. Thank you very much in advance for your kind answer.

 

 Thank you very much for sharing!!!

Cheers,

Luis Alfonso

Hi Luis, and thanks for your comments and interest. All my colours are mixed using Tamiya paints, then thinned with isopropanol for airbrushing. The main camo is designed to represent  standard RLM71/65, with the Romanian yellow. If Romanian fighters are something you're interested in, then the Mushroom/MMP book on the subject is really, really good. 

 

The weathering is oil paints, white, yellow ochre and ultramarine mixed, then thinned with lighter fluid. I wash then onto the surface, with a soft brush, let the solvent flash off, then wipe off most of it with kitchen roll and q-tips to give the look of dust in the panel lines: how your car looks in the summer if you don't clean it! 

  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great looking model! And good choice on the light wash. It goes well with the dark upperside colour. 

One thing though - and I know it almost always gets overlooked😀. I know the profiles in the MMP title show the Romanian Emils armed with the Ikaria MG-FF/M cannons, but the first 50 bf 109s that Romania got were E-3 armed with the Oerlikon MG-FF. It's mentioned in Radu's decal instructions. The same was true for the Yugoslav and Swiss Emils. Here's a close shot of the latter:

https://m.facebook.com/PlasticWorks.ro/photos/a.432935923492341/432937793492154/?type=3&source=54

All 109E kits that I know only include the Ikaria cannons, but Masters has some Japanese cannons that are pretty similar:

https://www.super-hobby.co.uk/products/Japanese-Type-99-20mm-Mark-2-gun-barrels-4pcs-3149283.html

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...