Pritzel's Crate

[Rampage55]

His name may be eighth overall on the list of "Experten", but I think you'll be hard pressed to find another pilot who had more success against British and American flown aircraft during WWII than Heinrich "Pritzel" Bär. Who recorded his first victory against a French Curtiss Hawk along the French and German border during the "Phony War" in 1939. He would add three more during the Battle of France. By the end of the Battle of Britain he would have a total of 17 aerial victories to his credit. At wars end Oberstleutnant Heinrich "Pritzel" Bär had completed over 1,000 combat missions with 220 aerial victories to his credit including 21 heavy bombers. Starting out with the Luftwaffe as a mechanic in 1934 he never gave up his dream to fly and in 1937 he earned his pilots license, to fly transport aircraft. His superiors quickly recognized his natural aptitude as a pilot and encouraged him to train to fly fighters but he was reluctant and refused. It wasn't until after he was busted for doing aerobatics in a Ju 86 precipitating an engine failure that he reluctantly agreed to become a fighter pilot.

During the Battle of Britain Pritzel flew with JG 51 and regularly found himself in the thick of the action during that fateful summer of 1940. While he did receive credit for 13 victories that summer he also had several emergency landings and was shot down on 2 Aug courtesy of an RAF Spitfire. Hermann Göring latter would ask him what he was thinking about while he was floating in the channel and Pritzel responded "Your speech, Herr Reichsmarschall, that England is no longer an island!", referring to a speech that Göring had given to the fighter pilots a few weeks before. This would set the tone for the rest of Heinz Bär's time in Luftwaffe service. His straight talking manner and his often flippant disregard for authority were not appreciated by Herr Reichsmarschall. Despite this his flying abilities were hard to ignore and in classic Heinrich Bär fashion his response to not being given command was, in the air he was the "Kommodore of his own crate".

My entry for this GB will be a 1/48 Messerschmitt Bf 109E-3 flown by Uffz. Heinz Bär during the Battle of Britain while he was with 1/JG51. For this build I will be using the excellent 1/48 Tamiya Bf-109E 3 kit.

In addition to the Tamiya kit I will be using a set of SuperScale Decals, True Details seat and wheels, and Quickboost exhaust. I also found a resin German parashoot and flying helmet that I thought would make a nice addition.

Thanks for looking,

Mark

[maltadefender]

Looks like a late surge for the yellow snappers! Looking forward to more.

[Enzo the Magnificent]

Looking forward to this.

[AnonymousDFB1]

Nice choice Mark

[Rampage55]

Looks like a late surge for the yellow snappers! Looking forward to more.

Looking forward to this.

Thanks guy's,

This kit has been in my stash ever since they were first released back in 1996 and it's been about that long since I've built a Bf 109. I figured this was the perfect occasion to finally build it.

Nice choice Mark

Thanks Mish,

It's been a busy summer and I'm getting a bit of a late start but I didn't want to miss out on this GB...

Heres the cockpit. I'm about ready to close up the fuselage halves.

The True Detail seat and a scratched O2 hose from some brass wire are the only additions I made to the excellent Tamiya cockpit.

The wheel wells have been painted prior to gluing he wing halves together.

I'm hoping to get the fuselage buttoned up and the wings together this afternoon.

Thanks for looking,

Mark

[rowmk9]

looking splendid. one to watch for sure

[AnonymousDFB1]

Lovely work on the cockpit Mark

[Rampage55]

Here's a brief update to let you all know I'm still here.

The fuselage has been buttoned up and the wing assembly attached. The fit of this kit is so good I only needed a small amount of filler on the bottom side where the wing and fuselage meet. I plan to paint the model before adding the horz stabs and the supports to minimize the amount of masking I'll need to do.

I hope to start painting sometime this week.

I got a bit carried away with some scale lumber I found on sale at the LHS the other day. I've been considering a base like this for sometime now and I finally took the plunge.

Here it is wth one of my old 109's to help provide some scale.

I plan to add some trees and equipment to busy it up a little and perhaps a figure or two.

Thanks for looking,

Mark

[Deacon]

Looking great so far Mark.

I like the idea of painting the wheel wells before putting the wings together.

The diarama will 'frame' the kit beautifully.

I'm looking forward to the next update.

Deacon

[Rampage55]

Thanks Deacon!

I got some painting done this weekend and as I was sorting through my paints I had to dig fairly deep into the paint drawer because it's been about 12 years since I've done a Luftwaffe paint scheme. To my surprise I found a few bottles of Aeromaster Warbird Enamels ( Floquill I think) in the exact colors I was looking for. I must have had these paints for well over 15 years and they worked like a charm and I was reminded of how much I loved working with these paints. Unfortunately Aeromaster stopped offering these paints quite sometime ago. I now covet every last drop of these wonderful paints. I think I managed to get everything painted. Now I just need to assemble it all, but before I do that I'm going to spray a clear coat and give everything a light wash.

There are a few paint touch ups that need to be addressed and I got a bit carried away with airbrush while doing the gun muzzle staining on the cowl but I think another light coat of yellow will tone that down a bit. Overall I'm pleased with the looks of this one so far. I think I prefer the looks of the 109 without the mottling on the fuselage sides, it has a much sleeker look.

I hope to start getting the decals on this Hun soon, I gotta keep moving before the GB deadline passes me by.

Cheers,

Mark

[AnonymousDFB1]

Nice work Mark, love the reventment

[Rampage55]

Thanks Mish!

While I was able to finish Pritzel's 109 in time for the deadline, I wasn't able to get the revetment finished in time.

Here's as far as I got with the revetment. Still quite a lot of work to do on it yet.

This Tamyia 109 is a fantastic kit and I enjoyed it very much. I'll post the rest of the images in the Gallery section.

Thanks to everyone for a terrific GB,

Mark

[Deacon]

Fantastic build mate.

I hope you will continue with the diorama bacause it is going to look awesome.

Well done.

Deacon

[AnonymousDFB1]

Beautiful build Mark

[Rampage55]

Thanks again Mish and Deacon, I truly appreciate your encouragement.

I hope you will continue with the diorama bacause it is going to look awesome.

I certainly will. I also have a few figures and a Klubelwagen I'm looking to add to the scene.

I be sure to post some updates along the way.

[Enzo the Magnificent]

Oh my word, that looks good! I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished diorama.