Saturday, June 21, 2014

Military Illustrated Modeller 07/2014

The majority of camouflage schemes for the Messerschmitt Bf 109 G comprise RLM 74 Grey Green and RLM 75 Grey Violet over RLM 76 Light Blue lower surfaces. Fortunately, there is plenty of variety in the application of the colours. Grey certainly does not have to be dull. I found a photo of Black 4, an Erla built Bf 1 09 G-10, that displayed a number of very interesting features. The camouflage colours were quite faded to the point that demarcation was indistinct in places. The fuselage and wing crosses were noticeably smaller than the standard too. The wing crosses were also located further outboard than usual, but larger crosses in the original positions appeared to be painted out with a fresh coat of RLM 74 Grey Green. A large patch of fresh dark grey also appeared on the mid-rear fuselage spine and side. The top of the elevators were painted in a very pale colour - most likely RLM 76 Light Blue. The canopy and windscreen framing was a very dark colour, probably RLM 66 Black Grey. The fin and rudder appeared to be finished with a mottled overspray of RLM 76 over a darker shade. And the cherry on this grey pie was the Blue-White-Blue fuselage band typical of late-war JG300 aircraft. This was a truly fascinating camouflage scheme. BarracudaCals has released two 1:32 scale decal sheets covering Erla built Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-10s; and Black 4 was amongst the schemes. Not only were the unique markings perfectly depicted, but the decal sheet also included the small-sized crosses. Now all I had to do was paint the model!

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