Bf-109G-6 "Mersu" wing paint pattern

[opus999]

Hello!  I'm working on Hemmo Leino's Bf-109G-6 from June 1944 (MT-423) from Hasegawa's Finnish Messerschmitt combo.  The instructions are black and white, and I can't quite tell what paint pattern there is.

 

Did Leino's 109 have a soft-edged splinter camouflage on the wings?  Using a ruler on the instructions, the lines look straight, but looking at painting instructions for other a/c in his unit in summer of '44 show a combination of soft-edged splinter and soft-edged "free hand" camo. 

 

I downloaded Eduard's instruction sheet for their 109 kit with Leino's plane in it and it shows a super-intricate pattern on the wings that I haven't seen before on any German or Finnish plane.  It was basically the same pattern as I see on the Hasegawa instructions, but instead of straight lines they show very tight wavy lines, almost like a digital camouflage.  It makes me wonder if it was their way of trying to show it was supposed to be feathered or "soft edged"?

 

I haven't found any decent pictures of the top of his plane either in real life or in model form, so no help there.

 

I hope someone might know!  Thanks!

[Troy Smith]

If the plane is in the original German camo, the wing pattern  and fuselage mottle varied depending on which factory built them.

see http://theprofilepaintshop.blogspot.com/2013/10/chosing-correct-wingpattern-for-bf109g-6.html

 

Finnish 109s are pretty well documented,  so the German werk nummer, and thus factory are known.

Some of our Finnish members maybe able to help,  @Antti_K and @Vesa Jussila  spring to mind.

 

I'll have a search and see if I can find some more in a mo.... 

 

[opus999]

17 minutes ago, Troy Smith said:

If the plane is in the original German camo, the wing pattern  and fuselage mottle varied depending on which factory built them.

see http://theprofilepaintshop.blogspot.com/2013/10/chosing-correct-wingpattern-for-bf109g-6.html

Wow!  Great resource!  I wonder why I can never turn these things up when I use a search engine? 😉 

 

The Erla pattern is what is in the Eduard instructions.  The original post says the Erla-built a/c carry the sawtooth pattern, however, one of the commenters says that the "sawtooth" was found on the layout drawings to indicate a soft and irregular demarcation between colors.  This might help explain why I've never seen that pattern in any photo before.  Do you know if it is true that the sawtooth means "soft edge"?

 

At any rate, thanks for the help and I will do a little more scouring my self!

[Kari Lumppio]

Hallo!

 

MT-423 was WNr 412122 and manufactured by Erla like Mersu G-6 MT-401-430 were.

So Erla pattern is fitting.

 

Cheers,

Kari

[Antti_K]

Hello guys,

 

I did a quick search through my books and found only one photo of MT-423 showing the whole aircraft (two close-ups won't help in this case). Unfortunately the wing points directly into the camera and nothing can be seen of the camouflage pattern.

 

Finnish Air Force Museum have a digital, online photo archive but no luck there either; only close-ups there.

 

Cheers,

Antti

[opus999]

2 minutes ago, Kari Lumppio said:

Hallo!

 

MT-423 was WNr 412122 and manufactured by Erla like Mersu G-6 MT-401-430 were.

So Erla pattern is fitting.

 

Cheers,

Kari

I just found the WNr myself, but was unable to find the factory yet... so Thank you!

 

2 minutes ago, Antti_K said:

Hello guys,

 

I did a quick search through my books and found only one photo of MT-423 showing the whole aircraft (two close-ups won't help in this case). Unfortunately the wing points directly into the camera and nothing can be seen of the camouflage pattern.

 

Finnish Air Force Museum have a digital, online photo archive but no luck there either; only close-ups there.

 

Cheers,

Antti

Thank you for looking anyway!  I appreciate it.

 

So, is it correct that the "Dogtooth" pattern at http://theprofilepaintshop.blogspot.com/2013/10/chosing-correct-wingpattern-for-bf109g-6.html indicates a soft edge?  That seems to make sense to me.

 

[Troy Smith]

15 minutes ago, opus999 said:

The original post says the Erla-built a/c carry the sawtooth pattern, however, one of the commenters says that the "sawtooth" was found on the layout drawings to indicate a soft and irregular demarcation between colors.  This might help explain why I've never seen that pattern in any photo before.  Do you know if it is true that the sawtooth means "soft edge"?

no, it means saw tooth

 

and

also note the 4 colour mottle, 74/75, see wing, and by the hanging lead from the cockpit, 02 (compare to engine bearer) and 70 (prop blades)

 

which is a close up of this

 

see here for more

 

[opus999]

1 minute ago, Troy Smith said:

no, it means saw tooth

Wow!!  no kidding!  I've never seen that before.  Although I only have about 8-10 books about the Luftwaffe in general. 

 

Well... That's going to be a challenge.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

[Antti_K]

Excellent photos Troy, thanks for sharing. It's been a while when I last built a Finnish Mersu and this gave me a sudden boost to rectify that😉

 

Cheers,

Antti

[opus999]

Too bad Hasegawa didn't get it right in their instructions.  But... Eduard did!

 

I haven't done a lot of looking yet, but does anyone know what factory Erich Hartmann's G-14 "White 1" was manufactured at?  Eduard's instructions shows a pattern that is "mostly" like WNF.  All the models I've seen made of it are not dog-toothed.

[opus999]

According to Eduard's facebook post (https://www.facebook.com/EduardCompany/posts/1888982511116687) Hartmann's White 1 was a WNF machine.

[Peter Roberts]

1 hour ago, opus999 said:

Wow!!  no kidding!  I've never seen that before.  Although I only have about 8-10 books about the Luftwaffe in general. 

 

Well... That's going to be a challenge.

 

Thanks for the info!

There are painting masks for that camouflage pattern, if you don't want to mask it 'manually', so to speak.

[opus999]

2 hours ago, Peter Roberts said:

There are painting masks for that camouflage pattern, if you don't want to mask it 'manually', so to speak.

....and, Done! Found some on ebay.  I tried to make my own and just don't have the patience right now.

[Peter Roberts]

I reckon you're a brave modeller for giving it a go! Well done.

[Vesa Jussila]

Sorry I am late for this, but Kari already gave good answer. I can look tomorrow my books if there is anything useful.

[opus999]

Quick question about the mottling pattern on Leino's machine... if anyone knows... I've only been able to find one picture of it and there was so much soot on the side that I can't see the mottling:

 

 

The link provided by @Troy Smith showed Erla machines with large mottle spots, in four colors.  Eduard's instructions on the other hand show a pattern kind of like the WNF, but a little more intricate:

 

 

I suppose it might look like that toward the tail in the black and white photo... maybe over the exhaust... but it's hard to say. 

 

Frankly I don't think I have a hope of creating the intricate mottling pattern in the Eduard instructions in 1/72... but I'm willing to try.  I just want to try to be authentic.  Does anyone have any insight? @Kari Lumppio @Antti_K @Vesa Jussila ?

 

Thanks for your kind help so far.

[Vesa Jussila]

Hi,

 

I would say Eduard instructions are good starting point for RLM 74, 75 ja 76. looks there is not too many photos from MT-423.

 

Br. Vesa

[Antti_K]

Hello guys,

 

here are two close-up photos of MT-423. Unfortunately I don't have any information concerning dates. Maybe this will help you.

 

 

 

At least these will provide you some detailed information about the tail wheel, squadron insignia and individual number "3".

 

Cheers,

Antti

[opus999]

On 5/12/2020 at 2:25 AM, Vesa Jussila said:

I would say Eduard instructions are good starting point for RLM 74, 75 ja 76. looks there is not too many photos from MT-423.

 

On 5/13/2020 at 3:18 AM, Antti_K said:

Maybe this will help you

These are some good photos.  I found them before, but these are bigger and clearer so thank you!  They give me an good idea that perhaps, like @Vesa Jussila said, the Eduard instructions are a good starting point.

 

Thanks guys for the help!