Kitbasher's Captured GB Diary

[NARSES2]

Each to their own.  I prefer Griffon Spitfires to Merlin Spitfires, for example.

As do I

Always had a soft spot for the old Airfix 190D-9

[kitbasher]

16 January 2021

Dear diary,

Finally the PM Ta154 demon exorcised - a convoluted path to completion (so many ideas around whiffing a Ta154), but never again.  Dreadful kit, yet why so many reboxings (Revell, Matchbox, Airfix)?  Still, it's done. 

Several layers of whiffery:

• it appears there was never a captured Ta154
• 'Air Min 125' seems never to have been assigned to a captured Axis aircraft (there's a 124 and a 126 but no 125)
• 'hidden' whiffery has a reward-facing radar operator - helps hide some of the cockpit inadequacies and uses up Matchbox Meteor cockpit items from the spares box

And so the paint job.  Overall Humbrol HU247 RLM76 Lichtblau with mottled HU246 RLM75 Grauviolett uppers.  Xtracolor Medium Sea Grey where the original Luftwaffe markings would be.  No masking anywhere (how liberating!) - painted decal strips used for canopy framing. 

National markings are from the spares box - Almark Sea Fury roundels on the wigs (upper and lower) with the fuselage markings from an ancient sheet belonging to the ancient Airfix Typhoon Ib.  I guess there are those who may query the mix of styles, roundel proportions and the shades of red and blue.  Well, I came very close to using Modeldecal/Xtradecal type C and C1 markings but perusal of magazine articles and tinterweb delving very quickly shows that, while smart, tidy C/C1 markings would be carried by 1426 Flt aircraft, those captured at the end of the war seem to have had British markings hastily applied, and in a variety of styles.  as for colours, yes the dull red and blue associated with British wartime markings may have been used, but I've assumed that captured stocks of RLM colours would have been used and the British markings applied 'in the field'.

As for the Air Min number, I made my own decals for these.  I'm tempted to touch them up a little, but as so many of the actual Air Min numbers a rather scruffily applied (and quickly worn) I probably won't.

So here you have a Ta154 as displayed at RAE Farnborough in October-November 1945:

[NARSES2]

You've done a good job with that beast of a kit 

[PR19_Kit]

I do like the look of that, and the scruffy AirMin numbers work a treat, well done. 

[TomZ]

Really like this one. Looking very good indeed!

TomZ

[PR19_Kit]

Try as I may, I cannot find any pics of captured Luftwaffe aircraft showing the AirMin numbers. Every search comes up with zillions of pics of ALLIED aircraft captured by the Germans!

Does anyone have any links for such pics please?

[63cpe]

Marvelous. what a great job on such a pig of a kit..

David aka 63cpe

[kitbasher]

Very generous comments, thanks chaps.

Try as I may, I cannot find any pics of captured Luftwaffe aircraft showing the AirMin numbers. Every search comes up with zillions of pics of ALLIED aircraft captured by the Germans!

Does anyone have any links for such pics please?

Kit - suggest you search using 'RAF' followed by the aircraft type, e.g. 'RAF He219', 'RAF FW190', etc.

There was a 'Farnborough 1945' article in Jan 21's 'Aeroplane' (not the first they've run one, btw).  Alan Hall-era SAM ran such an article complete with profiles.  Flypast ran a three-part article some years ago.

List of Air Min numbers is at https://forums.ubisoft.com/showthread.php/393935-A-British-US-Lists-of-Captured-German-Aircraft-Forums

If the link doesn't work (doesn't appear to want to) then Google 'list of captured German aircraft' and it should come up.

Better still, go to http://silverhawkauthor.com/axis-warplane-survivors-german-aircraft, scroll a way down the page and you'll get to 'Axis Aircraft of the Second World War' and a bunch of linkies.

[Knightflyer]

Thanks for the links above, brilliant stuff

Checking out the above for a FW-190D in RAF markings (still can't find one!) I did come across the following which on initial glance caused a double take!



Ideal one for Kit, at first glance (at the smaller original photo) the wing of the Junkers (?) behind blended in as an extension of the Ta-152 already long wing. For a second I thought I'd found a pointy-longer winged ultra high variant of the Ta-152..... over to you Kit 

[PR19_Kit]

Ideal one for Kit, at first glance (at the smaller original photo) the wing of the Junkers (?) behind blended in as an extension of the Ta-152 already long wing. For a second I thought I'd found a pointy-longer winged ultra high variant of the Ta-152..... over to you Kit 

And why not? 

I have the Aosima Ta-152H kit in The Loft anyway, and some pointy wing extensions should be pretty straightforward.

A Ta-152H-3 maybe?

[kitbasher]

You're welcome, Knightflyer, and yes it's a Ju352.

Captured FW190Ds.  No I don't recall seeing anything in British markings, either - As, maybe Fs but not Ds (or Gs, IIRC).

[Knightflyer]

You're welcome, Knightflyer, and yes it's a Ju352.

Captured FW190Ds.  No I don't recall seeing anything in British markings, either - As, maybe Fs but not Ds (or Gs, IIRC).

I enjoyed browsing the links, but a small correction - the long wingtips come from another Junkers between the TA-152 and the Ju-352, it looks like a Ju-88 descendant?

*edit - just checked ....a Ju-388 methinks

[Knightflyer]

Ideal one for Kit, at first glance (at the smaller original photo) the wing of the Junkers (?) behind blended in as an extension of the Ta-152 already long wing. For a second I thought I'd found a pointy-longer winged ultra high variant of the Ta-152..... over to you Kit 

And why not? 

I have the Aosima Ta-152H kit in The Loft anyway, and some pointy wing extensions should be pretty straightforward.

A Ta-152H-3 maybe?

And if not you Kit, it'd be the sort of thing that Dizzyfugu would throw together in an afternoon! 

[Rick Lowe]

Nicely done on those, Kitbasher. Satisfying to get a long-term in-progress finally completed.

Yeah, I had high hopes for the PM -154, but even in my younger and more foolish days I could see it ... well, let's say it wasn't the best.
The current Plan is to use the engines (and maybe wings) on an Arado 234, much like TrickyRich did once.

The Dora is, I agree, the more handsome of the 190 stable, though the A/F is nice, too.

[kitbasher]

You're welcome, Knightflyer, and yes it's a Ju352.

Captured FW190Ds.  No I don't recall seeing anything in British markings, either - As, maybe Fs but not Ds (or Gs, IIRC).

I enjoyed browsing the links, but a small correction - the long wingtips come from another Junkers between the TA-152 and the Ju-352, it looks like a Ju-88 descendant?

*edit - just checked ....a Ju-388 methinks

A Ju188 methinks.  Based upon my recollection of a pic in Aeroplane.  Note the turret arrangement on the canopy, not on the 388.

And if you like the FW190D, Rick, then the Ta152C is just as smart.