Fw-190D-9 Paint Question "White 16"

[11bravo]

 

First off - I know everything regarding late-war Luftwaffe paint schemes is very subjective.    Second - I know very little about the D-9 so I apologize in advance if this opens up a big can of worms or was previously covered.    All that being said, I'm always on the lookout for a subject with a unique paint job and White 16 below certainly is unique.   This illustration is from the AZ model instructions.    Any thoughts on the validity of the paint scheme shown here?   Are there any pictures out there of the real thing?    Any information on this is greatly appreciated. 

 

Regards,

 

John

[Crimea River]

I believe it's this one: WNr 500636. Pictured in Crandall's Dora Volume 1 and called out as probably belonging to JG6.

 

Edited January 30, 2021 by Crimea River

[Crimea River]

Digging a bit further, the AZ profile seems to RLM 81 over the top of the fuselage except for a patch of the late war yellow/green version of 76 near the tail. Wings look to be 81 and 77 (I can't read any colour call outs on the supplied profile).

 

Crandall's analysis of this 500xxx block of D-9's maintains that the fuselage uppers are 81/83 with the wings 83/light grey (77?). Horizontal stabs 82/83 or 75/83. The latter would seem more plausible given the difference in shade evident in the above pic though I can't see a similar difference on the wings that I would expect with an 83/77 scheme.

 

The dark area on the underside forward wing would be 75. 

 

I don't have the Japo books but maybe someone who does can chime in on differences in interpretation, if any.

Edited January 30, 2021 by Crimea River

[Crimea River]

The below profile, according to a post on another forum, comes from JaPo's Focke Wulf 190 D camouflage and markings Part II:

 

[G.R.Morrison]

The photo is from the late James V. Crow's collection.  As you can observe, the unit-assignment for this one is a speculation: "1./JG6" or "I./JG2 ?"

My only additional reference point is that most of this late-production Mimetal/Erfurt series (5006xx) for which we have extant records seem to have been delivered to Jagdgeschwadern associated with the West, the JG 2 and the JG 26; but of course, not exclusively.

 

With the cowling panels missing in the photo, I'd be skeptical of the artists' treatment.  These were delivered pre-painted.

 

GRM

[Crimea River]

I agree that it would be a stretch to assume that the cowls were unpainted or all 76, unless of course there's another pic around.

[11bravo]

19 minutes ago, Crimea River said:

I agree that it would be a stretch to assume that the cowls were unpainted or all 76, unless of course there's another pic around.

Regarding the cowls, is there any documented info on other D-9’s having unpainted cowling panels?  

[Crimea River]

There is photo evidence of some apparent replacement panels which appear to be unpainted. White 11 of IV/JG51 is one example where in the below picture you can see the wing root gun cover and fuselage MG cowl unpainted. (Ignore the circle in front of the air intake).

 

 

 

So, yes there are precedents but it would seem odd to claim an unpainted cowl as a default case without photo evidence. It's commonly held that most "power eggs" left the factory complete with painted cowls.  

Edited January 30, 2021 by Crimea River

[David E. Brown]

Gents,

 

Way back in 2002 I posted the following on Hyper-Scale in response to a similar question:

 

Based on a comparison of the style and dimensions of the aircraft's number with other known JG 6 Fw 190 As and Ds, and the location of this aircraft and the others after the war, JG 6 is the best unit match. Furthermore, JG 2’s machines invariably wore the yellow/white/yellow tailband whereas JG 6 did not.

 

"White 16's" camouflage and markings were the same as other late-production 500000-Werknummerseries Doras built by Mimmetal at Erfurt.  The well-known colour photograph of the 6./JG 6 Dora "Blue 12", WNr.500570 indicates that its undersides and fuselage were painted the green-blue variation of 76. The fuselage spine and engine cowling were painted RLM 81 Braunviolett and with an RLM 82 Hellgrün overspray on the forward cowling and rear fuselage insert.  The fuselage underside was left in natural metal from the wheel well back to the fuselage insert.  The rudder appears to have been painted a light coat of standard RLM 76 Lichtblau over a base coat of RLM 75 Mittlegrau.  Upper wing camouflage was a modified splinter pattern of 81 Braunviolett and the green-blue variation of RLM 76.  The undersides were a combination of natural metal and RLM 76 with the forward third a darker shade, possibly RLM 75.

 

This camouflage scheme is consistently recognized in photographs of other later production 500000-series Dora aircraft. Here are some other examples:

 

WNr.500570 - 8./II./JG 6 - "Blue 12" - Surrendered at Furth.  Ref:  D.E. Brown & D. Wadman, "Experten Decals No.1" (7 photos).

WNr.500613 - 10./III./JG 26 - "Black 10" - Found at Celle.  Ref: C. Hildebrandt, "Broken Eagles 1 - Fw 190D" (4 photos).

WNr.500618 - 10./III./JG 26 - "Black 10" - Found at Celle.  Refs: A. Urbanke "Green Hearts: First in Combat with the Dora-9" (3 photos); J. Crandall, “Yellow 10” (photos).

WNr.500638 - 5./II./JG301 - "White 12" - Found at Langensalza. Ref: J.V. Crow (6 photos).

WNr.500645 - ?/.I./JG 2 - (Code unknown) - Discovered burnt  out in northern Germany. Wooden Ta 152 tail. 08-05-45. Ref: Smith & Creek, Monogram Close Up-10 "Fw 190 D" (1 photo).

WNr.500647 - 7./II./JG 26 - "Brown 4" - Found abandoned at  Hustedt. Wooden Ta 152 tail. 08-05-45. Ref: A. Urbanke "Green Hearts: First in Combat with the Dora-9" (2 photos).

WNr.500666 - 7./II./JG 301 - "Yellow 15" - Found at  Straubing. Ref: C. Hildebrandt, "Broken Eagles 1 - Fw 190D", J.V. Crow (2 photos).

 

 

BTW, there are two other known photos of this machine.

 

Best, David