My first mottled 109 in over fifty years. An Airfix 1:48 Bf109 E

[Mark Harmsworth]

On the 6th September 1940 there were three large raids by German aircraft with the first of these between 8.30 and 10 am involving 250 aircraft in five formations.

 

At 8.30 am on 6th Fw Erich Braun in Bf109E-4 WNr. 2762 'black 6' and the pilots of 5./JG27 took off from an airfield near St Omer to fly the short distance to Griz Nez on the coast of Pas-de-Calais to collect their bombers.

 

Griz Nez is the closest point on the French coast to England – only 21 miles (34 km) to Dover.

 

At 15,000 feet near Mayfield, just south of Tunbridge Wells, the records of 601 Squadron at RAF Tangmere, state that 50 Bf 109s were attacked by 12 Hurricanes of 601 Sqn. Erich Braun's Black 6 took hits in one wing and in the engine from Hurricane Mk I (P3675) of F/Lt Michael Robinson. As Erich Braun turned for home, loosing coolant, he was attacked again (possibly by Hurricanes from 303 Sqn from Northolt) and bailed out. Black 6 did not survive, ending up in a smoking hole at Bank Farm, Tudeley near Tonbridge, Kent. The slightly wounded Erich Braun became a PoW.

 

I have an interest in 'local' histories of WW2 and with Tonbridge a 40 minute drive for me that pretty much classifies as local.

 

I found this story of Erich Braun and Black 6 in the excellent 'Luftwaffe Crash Archive' by Nigel Parker and, with AeroMaster having decals for this, the choice was made. It seems there are no surviving photos of Black 6 so the scheme by AeroMaster is based on other planes from that unit.

 

 

This is the Airfix 1:48 Bf 109E kit from 2010 which builds up nicely. The extras were a Yahu instrument panel (one designed for the Eduard kits but it can be made to fit with minor surgery and a little persuasion), Montex canopy masks and those Aeromaster decals which settled down perfectly without any need for added persuasion.

 

I enjoyed the build and am mostly pleased how it turned out.

 

I had some slight difficulty with fitting the leading edge flaps as I wanted them closed which meant some surgery to remove tabs from the inner curve and then I found them a little too large. But I got there in the end.

 

Paints were Ultimate grey primer and xtracrylix for the main colours. I've avoided mottled finishes up to now but decided to take the plunge with this one. I had looked up various methods on Britmodeller (brush painting and some fantastic work with pastels) but decided I needed a new skill so went with the airbrush.

 

The last plane I mottled (around 1969-ish), done with a cut down paint brush, was the Airfix 1:72 109 G-6 from 1965:

 

So, fast-forward to 2022, paint thinned far more than usual, low air pressure and close up work. I tried my new skill on a paint mule first (a rather unhappy Frog Hornet) and then off I went. I stayed on the side of little is better so ended up with a fainter mottle than I would really like but I'm fairly happy with that.

 

A little bit of oils to dirty it up a bit (that yellow nose did look very bright) and some chalk pastels for dirt on the wheels, nose gun troughs and for the exhaust stains.

 

I then added the aerial wires with invisible mending thread. And there I was. Done.

 

Next up I'm probably rather bravely tackling a Special Hobby Anson and also working on my lighting methods - the blue background in these pictures is white in real life.

 

All the best

Mark

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[IanC]

That turned out very nicely indeed, Mark. Great photos too. I also remember stippling mottle on with a cut down brush, in those far off days! 😃

[keith in the uk]

Lovely 109 Mark , the pics with the background really make the model look real , super job.  

[ColinChipmunkfan]

Very nice model and story  of Erich Braun and your build journey Mark.🙂

Colin

[Pantherhawk27263]

Excellent work!! It's a beauty!

[109 fan]

Looking good, Mark!

 

[Maginot]

Nice work. Good pics. Exceptional mottling.

[mick]

great work

[noelh]

That's my favourite Bf109 scheme. It's a very nice model you've built. 

 

Coincidentally my last mottled 109 was the Airfix G6 probably about fifty  years ago too. Mottled with the classic cut down brush.  I built it for one of my friends. I was quite  proud of it. I sometimes think I was a better modeller back then.

[jackroadkill]

A very nicely built kit; that subtle mottling looks very attractive indeed.  I also enjoyed the backstory behind the build; for me that one of the biggest drivers behind my choice of scheme