01/2024

Welcome to the New Year! January’s new releases have been on sale for almost three weeks now, so I assume that you are already thoroughly familiar with them and many of you already have them in your posession. Nevertheless, I have to mention that, from my point of view, we are starting this year off with a bit of a bang. A first glance at the 48th scale Albatros D.III may not indicate this, but it too was once the top predator in a sky dominated by war clouds, and this kit offers a superb mix of stories and fates of its pilots and their opponents, as is our custom to uncover over the course of a kit’s development. We also had more than good reason to revive this topic, as you are about to find out.

• Page 1

  INFO Eduard

  # 167

  e-magazine FREE Vol 23 January 2024

• Page 2

  INFO Eduard

  # 167

  e-magazine FREE Vol 23 January 2024

  © Eduard - Model Accessories, 2024

  FREE FOR DOWNLOAD, FREE FOR DISTRIBUTION!

  This material may only be used for personal use. No part of the text

  or graphic presentations can be used in another publication in any other media

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  Editorial and Graphics - Marketing department, Eduard - Model Accessories, Ltd.

• Page 3

  eduard

  eduard

  JANUARY 2024

  CONTENTS

  EDITORIAL

  KITS

  BRASSIN

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED SETS

  SPACE

  EXPLORING SPACE

  BUILT

  ON APPROACH

  –

  February 2024

  TAIL END CHARLIE

  HISTORY

  BOXART STORY

  GUSTAV pt.1 Limited 1/72

  Bf 109K-4 Weekend 1/48

  Albatros D.III ProfiPACK 1/48

  MiG-15bis ProfiPACK 1/72 Re-release

  P-51D-5 Mustang Weekend 1/48 Re-release

  Gustav 1/72

  The Zipper 1/48

  Kurfürst 1/48

  Bf 109K-4 1/48

  A6M2 Zero Type 21 1/48

  GUSTAV VI. -

  Messerschimt Bf 109G-6

  Interview with Jan Bobek

  Air War in Ukraine

  -

  Strengthening

  of Anti-Aircraft Defense before Winter

  The Red Hunters

  Unsuspecting victim

  The long wait

  Until the last bullet

  4

  10

  36

  40

  66

  80

  88

  92

  102

  110

  128

  Published by Eduard-Model Accessories, spol. s.r.o.

  Mírová 170, Obrnice 435 21

  support@eduard.com www.eduard.com

• Editorial

  Welcome to the New Year! January’s new releases have been on sale for almost three weeks now, so I assume that you are already thoroughly familiar with them and many of you already have them in your posession. Nevertheless, I have to mention that, from my point of view, we are starting this year off with a bit of a bang. A first glance at the 48th scale Albatros D.III may not indicate this, but it too was once the top predator in a sky dominated by war clouds, and this kit offers a superb mix of stories and fates of its pilots and their opponents, as is our custom to uncover over the course of a kit’s development. We also had more than good reason to revive this topic, as you are about to find out.

  Welcome to the New Year!

  January’s new releases have been on sale

  for almost three weeks now, so I assume that

  you are already thoroughly familiar with them

  and many of you already have them in your

  posession. Nevertheless, I have to mention

  that, from my point of view, we are starting

  this year off with a bit of a bang. A first

  glance at the 48th scale Albatros D.III may

  not indicate this, but it too was once the top

  predator in a sky dominated by war clouds,

  and this kit offers a superb mix of stories

  and fates of its pilots and their opponents, as

  is our custom to uncover over the course of

  a kit’s development. We also had more than

  good reason to revive this topic, as you are

  about to find out.

  Two Messerschmitt Bf 109s, the 72nd scale

  Bf 109 G-6 in the form of the Limited Edition

  Gustav Pt.1 kit, together with the Bf 109 K-4

  Weekend release, are already in a league of

  their own. I dare say that the Bf 109 G-6 is

  the pinnacle of our 1:72nd scale work so far,

  and is at least worth a good look from the

  point of view of its design. But regardless

  of the quality of its rendering, I must first

  emphasize that the plane itself, in any of

  its many versions, is amazing. I noted this

  fact years ago, back when I had no idea

  that I would be involved in the design and

  manufacture of kits of this aircraft, but at the

  time it seemed almost like a cliche, the kind

  of inflated superlative that we are constantly

  surrounded by. Then, sometime around fifteen

  years ago, when we started our first 109,

  I didn't see the big whoop around it, and the

  first results looked accordingly. However,

  we worked on improving ourselves and our

  performance and on elevating our 109s to

  a decent level, which eventually ensured their

  record sales. At the end of last summer we

  were at 260,000 sold sprue sets of all versions

  of the Bf 109 we released in all scales, from

  which I would venture to assume that you

  are still enjoying our Bf 109s. But most of

  all, I confess to enjoying them too, and that

  enjoyment is actually increasing the more

  I know about them. So I'll admit that I've been

  thinking about what to do about the situation

  for a few weeks now, because I really don't

  want to end it here and now in terms of this

  aircraft. They say it’s best to go out on top, and

  we're still not quite there, and with the 109s,

  we can move even higher. However, we only

  have a few sub types left and we'll be done in

  both main scales. In all honesty, I don’t think

  that the attempt to keep this family at a peak

  by making the Buchon is not the way to go. So

  now what? Looks like I might have to change

  my mind about 1:32nd….

  New Items, 2024

  P-51B Mustang

  Not that we don't have other things to

  do. Our goal is to release at least four new

  items this year. If we manage to do that, rest

  assured that we, and you, are in for one hot

  summer regardless of global warming. First

  up is our 48th scale P-51B/C Mustang project.

  I anticipate that we will have a complete set

  of molds ready at the end of March or the

  beginning of April. If so, we will introduce the

  P-51B at the Easter show in Prostejov in the

  form of a special introductory display tailor

  made for the Prostějov Easter event, which

  this year takes place on March 30, if I'm not

  mistaken. The launch kit will be a limited

  Edition Duo Combo boxing, dedicated to the

  first Mustangs of the 8th Air Force, the name

  of which we still have to come up with. This

  will be in May and we will baptize it in Pilsen

  at the airport in Line. This will follow in the

  footsteps of the Spitfire Mk.I christening

  we put together at the same location in

  September, 2020. Our friends from Classic

  Trainers Association have a new Mustang in

  Line, so doing some version of a joint venture

  seems a bit of a no-brainer, no?

  One More Mustang

  Given that the Mustang at Line is a P-51D,

  you might think that the fit’s not quite right,

  since we are releasing a P-51B. The secret in

  this recipe is that we won't just have one new

  Mustang this year, we'll have two….that’s two

  Mustangs. With an ‘s’! We also have our P-51D

  in 72nd up our sleeve. We should have it ready

  so that it will hit the market in June, allowing

  us to premiere both Mustangs, a big B and

  little D simultaneously. Mark your calendars,

  folks! It's going to be big and Pilsen's ‘Little

  Rebel’ will have a great time!

  EDITORIAL

  P-51B 1/48 P-51B 1/48

  The P-51B Mustang is in the tools making phase.

  We have machined three of the six tools; the others

  are in various stages of development, with most

  already in an advanced tooling phase. Only one, the

  last mold, is still being programmed. We expect to

  be ready for machining by the end of January, and

  the tools will be completely finished by Easter.

  INFO Eduard4

  January 2024

• Page 5

  P-40E Warhawk

  That still leaves us with the fourth premiere

  for the year. You already know this one, it's the

  P-40E Warhawk. Currently, we are working

  on the design of the kit, on pace for release in

  October. That means it will premiere at E

  -

  Day.

  It's not going to be easy, though. The Warhawk

  at E

  -

  Day is an ambitious goal. But we're

  really trying, and we've changed our work

  process, adjusted our planning, streamlined

  our production operation and we're on track.

  I imagine there will be questions about the

  subsequent versions of the Warhawk as

  well. The answer is that we are working on

  all versions from the P-40E onwards, that

  is the P-40K, P-40M and N, as well as the

  P-40F and L. Of course, the British versions,

  the Kittyhawk Mk.III and the Kittyhawk

  Mk.IV, shall not be neglected on our watch.

  We would like to have the Kittyhawk Mk.III

  ready in November so we can bring it to

  Telford. I would like to return to the Mustang,

  the 48th scale one, at this point if I can. Here,

  too, there will be questions about the British

  Some time ago there were many complaints

  that we are neglecting 1:72nd. Things are

  settling down a bit at the Bf 109 end of things

  for us, and I think our 72nd scale fans will be

  satisfied. I expect that there will be questions

  about future releases and especially whether

  or not there will also be a P-51B. The answer is

  yes, there will be. Everything we've released

  so far and will release in the future in 48th,

  we'll also release in 72nd. It's always going to

  take us a little while, but that’ll be the pattern,

  and it's good to know that you can count on

  it. Those kits will be at least as good as our

  Gustavs, and they won't be more expensive

  either. I am betting that you all know how to

  count!

  Albatros D.III

  Just to show that we are not slacking off,

  we've got one more little thing in store. This

  is a 72nd scale Albatros D.III. We also want

  to have this out by the summer. We’ve trained

  for it, we have new knowledge about it, and

  that adds up to a result that promises to be

  thrilling!

  P-51D

  1/72

  P-51D 1/72

  Albatros D.III

  1/72

  Albatros D.III

  1/72

  The Albatros D.III is in the tools-making phase, covering the three developmental versions of the Albatros D.III. The kit will follow the style of successful biplanes such

  as the Nieuport 17 or the Fokker D.VII.

  The P-51D 1/72 is in the programming phase, and we will start machining the tools this month. There will be four in total: one sprue for fuselage and wings, two for small parts,

  and one for clear parts. The sliding cockpit canopy will be three in total, and the small transparent parts like gun sights, position lights, or rear-view mirrors will be duplicated.

  P-40E 1/48

  P-40E

  1/48

  For the P-40E, construction of the 3D model is still in progress. As you can see, the 3D model does not yet have the wing/fuselage transitions completed,

  nor does it have a cockpit. We are working on both of these sections current days.

  INFO Eduard

  5

  January 2024

• Page 6

  Mustang Mk.III, when it will be and whether

  there will be connections to Polish pilots.

  The answer is yes on all counts, and our plan

  is to have the Mustang Mk.III in Telford as well.

  And for those of you wondering about a 72nd

  scale version...again, yes. Just not this year.

  Reboxings

  In addition to new release kits, we will of

  course also focus on non-premiere new items,

  which modelers somewhat unflatteringly

  refer to as ‘repops’. In this assortment, we

  will mainly continue to focus on the 72nd

  Bf 109s. In April, we will launch the Gustav

  Pt.2, dedicated to the late versions of the

  Bf 109 G-6, Bf 109 G-5 and Bf 109 G-14. If you

  read my Gustav article today, you will find

  that the late Bf 109 G-6s fall under production

  variants 4,5 and 6. These are the Bf 109 G-6s

  with the Erlahaube canopy, tall tail and

  combinations thereof, including the Bf 109

  G-5. Because yes, even the G-5 sported the

  Erlahaube canopy, and quite often at that, as

  will be indicated in the second part of the

  Gustav article, slated to be published in the

  February newsletter. The third part of the

  Gustavs article will be dedicated to the Bf 109

  G-6/AS and Bf 109 G-14/AS, and the fourth to

  all versions of the Bf 109 G-10.

  We will also be releasing various versions

  of the Bf 109 G in 1:72nd scale in the Profipack

  range. The same goes for the L-39 Albatros,

  which will be released in two Profipack

  versions, the L-39C and L-39ZA. We will

  then have additional ‘repops’ in 1:48th scale,

  in both the Weekend and Profipack lines.

  In no particular order, this procedure will find

  its way to the Spitfire Mk.Va, F4F-4 Wildcat

  and Bf 110 F. Interesting pieces will also see

  reissues, such as the Bf 108, Fw 190 A-2 and

  the MiG-21PF.

  Limited Edition

  F-5E Tiger II

  This year again, there will be a focus on

  repackaged Limited Edition kits, using plastic

  from other manufacturers cooperating with

  us. Sprue frames for this year's first such

  project are already on their way from Taiwan,

  and features the F-5E Tiger II originally from

  AFV Club. We plan to release the F-5E Tiger

  II in two versions, early and late, the one in

  March will be the early version, leaving the

  late version for next year. It is an interesting

  project for us, because last year we had the

  honor of participating in the restoration of the

  F-5E on exhibit at the air museum in Kbely.

  When you look at the F-5E in Kbely, take

  a look at the stencil data...they were supplied

  by us. We would like to tell you more about

  how they got on this F-5 in a later issue of our

  newsletter this year.

  B-26B/C Marauder

  In June, we will celebrate a milestone

  anniversary of Operation Overlord, the Allied

  invasion of Normandy. We intend to dedicate

  a series of kits in the Limited Edition line

  to this anniversary. Some of them will be

  from our own molds, featuring Mustangs

  and Spitfires, and one item will be based on

  someone else’s plastic. It will be a 1:72nd scale

  B-26B/C Marauder originally from Hasegawa.

  B-17F Flying Fortress

  Then in August it will be time for another

  major release. I mentioned at the beginning

  that this year, we intend to make it a hot

  summer for modelers, and the main fuel on

  this fire will be the B-17F Flying Fortress, in

  our favorite scale, 1:48th. We are cooperating

  with HKM on this one, and the basis of our

  project are the plastic sprues of this company.

  However, we will also add something of our

  own, our main contribution to this project

  centering around alternative noses, which

  will significantly expand the possibilities

  of this kit to map out the first two years

  of the Allied bombing offensive against

  Nazi Germany. Of course, we will expend

  considerable effort to chart the fates of the

  bomber crews that led this offensive, to the

  men that paid dearly for its success. We want

  to give this kit our personal touch, and to retell

  the stories of famous aircraft and famous

  airmen, and we definitely will not be limiting

  ourselves to Memphis Belle. Nothing against

  it, it's a famous bird, but in truth, the B-17F

  has been pretty much always about Memphis

  Belle. It's a shame, because the story of the

  deployment of the B-17F and its technical

  development is much more colorful than just

  that name, as you will soon see with the new

  Masters of the Air series. Cinematic art has

  its own captivating storytelling devices, and if

  Misters Hanks and Spielberg make the series,

  we definitely have something to look forward

  to. But kits, and especially our kits, also have

  their own specific means of expression, and

  I guarantee you that in this case, you have

  something to look forward to. It will be very

  different, but it will not be boring!

  F-5E Tiger II

  F-5E Tiger II

  INFO Eduard6

  January 2024

• Page 7

  Subscriptions

  Our program of repackaged Limited Edition

  kits, those that are formed around other

  manufacturer’s plastic, is very ambitious for

  this year. There is one development that puts

  us down a necessary road. We pay for most of

  the sprues we buy in advance, several months

  in advance and sometimes even nine months

  before the release of the model. This is why

  there are usually only a few large projects of

  this magnitude in our release schedule, with

  lengthy gaps between them, often several

  months. In order to manage this and to be

  able to afford to do bigger, more challenging

  projects and possibly do more of them, we've

  decided to start a subscription program

  for some of the Limited Edition kits. We will

  gradually release information as to which kits

  they will be and what the specific conditions

  of the subscription are on our Facebook page

  and from mailings. Of course, we will offer

  significant benefits to subscribers, and to

  boot, if you join our subscription program,

  you will help us make our offer of interesting

  kits more attractive and frequent. The goal is

  a win-win situation that I am confident it can

  be achieved.

  Shows

  In mid-January, we will be at the Hradecky

  Lev (Hradecky Lion) exhibition in Hradec

  Králové in the Czech Republic. I cordially

  invite you to our tables. We'll have our full

  range there, including the Gunze paint range,

  although it's getting a little thin again right

  now.

  January 30th to February 3rd, we are at the

  Nuremberg Toy Fair, and this time, I think we

  can go back to calling the visit ‘traditional’.

  This time we will have a setup to ourselves

  again, our colleagues from Special Hobby

  have, like us, reason enough for their own.

  We will use the space to organize a series of

  lectures or, perhaps more accurately, press

  conferences. Instead of one press conference

  that we held in one of the conference rooms

  before covid, we will hold three separate

  conferences right at our booth. The main

  reason is that in the past, we couldn't find

  a date that suited all of our partners, so there

  was always someone missing. I would even

  venture to say that those who were absent

  numbered more than those who were in

  attendance. So we changed the schedule and

  are offering three dates and times instead of

  one. In this editorial, I have offered several

  reasons to visit us and a number of topics for

  discussion. I look forward to seeing you!

  Articles

  In addition to the usual and now mandatory

  by popular demand Boxart Stories and the

  continuation of the Air War in Ukraine, today

  we bring you an article about the usage of

  our Space items by Jakub Nademlejnský, an

  interview with Honza Bobek, who describes

  the origins of the Eduard bunnies and the

  personality of their creator, and a technical-

  historical article about the development of

  the Bf 109 G-6. It was written by yours truly,

  and took almost the entire autumn to put

  together, when I wasn't on the road, and you

  will find interesting information and some

  lesser-known facts in it, as did I putting it

  together. The original article has now been

  split into two parts, because it is simply, but

  necessarily, that long and publishing it in its

  entirety would be both difficult to prepare

  and a long read. And we don't want to put you

  to sleep, even though several readers have

  already told me that they take the newsletter

  to bed as their end-of-the-day ritual. The

  second part is ready, we will add some

  pictures to it and post it in the February issue.

  It will mainly be about the high-altitude Bf 109

  G-5, the Bf 109 G-14, as well as the photo-

  reconnaissance versions of the Bf 109 G-6 and

  the photo-reconnaissance specific Bf 109 G-8.

  These are versions that I have long considered

  marginal and essentially uninteresting, and

  working on this article made me realize that

  my impression was incorrect. So now, I wish

  you all a pleasant read and I hope you glean

  a lot of new and interesting bits of information!

  Happy Modelling!

  Vladimir Sulc

  INFO Eduard

  7

  January 2024

• Page 8

• Page 9

• Gustav VI.

  During February 1943, the Messerschmittt A.G.factories in Augsburg and Regensburg, as well as the Wiener Neustädter Flugzeugwerke (WNF) facility in Vienna's New Town (Wiener Neustadt), initiated manufacture of the main production version of the Messerschmitt Bf 109, the Bf 109 G-6. In March, production of the Bf 109 G-6 also began at the Erla factory in Leipzig. The production of the first Bf 109G-6 smoothly flowed out from the end of production of the Bf 109 G-4 thanks to its design versatility as a whole, its production at the Messerschmitt plant having ended in January. At WNF and in Erla, the production of the Bf 109 G-4 fighter ended in February and March, but the production of the photo-reconnaissance version of the Bf 109 G-4 continued until May at WNF and until June, 1943 in Erla, parallel with the Bf 109 G-6/R3, of which a total of 324 units were produced by both factories. The reason for the continued production of this subtype was probably the special modifications that these machines had, which at that time had not yet been structurally incorporated into the new G-6. It is also possible that the more powerful armament in the form of larger fuselage mounted machine guns, which was the main difference between the G-4 and G-6, was not a critical feature of the photo-reconnaissance aircraft tojustify the disruption of an already functioning assembly line. From September 1943, licensed Bf 109 Ga-6s were produced in Györ, Hungary.

  Engine and Armament

  The Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 was powered by

  the DB 605 A engine, as were the Bf 109 G-2 and

  G-4. The airframe was also largely identical to

  the Bf 109 G-4, again, due to its versatility, fine-

  tuned specifically around the Bf 109 G-4. The en-

  Title photo: Bf 109 G-6 WNr. 165 001 (MT-460) of ylikersantti Emil Vesa, HLeLv 34 at Lappeenranta on 30 June 1944. [Photo: SA

  -

  Kuva]

  gine mounted weapon consisting of the MG 151/20

  remained the same. The fuselage machine guns

  did undergo a change, however. The main differ-

  ence here between the Bf 109 G-6 and the G-4 was

  the installation of 13 mm MG 131 weapons. These

  was developed over a relatively long time, the

  first tests having already taken place on the Bf

  109 F. MG 131 machine guns were experimentally

  used, for example, by Adolf Galland on the Bf 109

  F-2, but in practice, their use was not expanded.

  The development of the series installation of the

  MG 131 was quite complex. For example, it took

  some time to deal with the ejection of spent car-

  tridges, and practical widespread installation

  was only undertaken at the beginning of 1943.

  On the other hand, the rapid transition of the

  production lines from the G-4 version to the G-6

  made possible, among other things, the redesign

  of the fuselage gun installation which had al-

  ready been solved on the Bf 109 G-4.

  The 13 mm MG 131 machine gun weighed 21.24

  kg (M.Baumgartl, other sources quoting low-

  er, usually 16.6 kg). There were several types of

  ammunition used. Fragmentation, anti-armor

  rounds, two types of incendiary rounds, one

  type of fragmentation-incendiary and one type

  of incendiary anti-armor round was used and

  was effective against self-sealing fuel tanks.

  One type of incendiary cartridge (13 mm Brand-

  granatpatrone L’spur/Gl’spur El. ohne Zerleger)

  was also effective against fuel tanks. The weight

  of the projectile was 34 grams for fragmentation

  and incendiary rounds, the muzzle velocity was

  750 m/s (2,460 ft/s). For anti-armor shells the

  weight was 38 grams and the muzzle velocity

  was 710 m/s (2,330 ft/s). The firing rates were

  900 rounds per minute for armor piercing rounds

  and 930 rounds per minute for incendiary and

  fragmentation rounds The effective range was

  1,700 meters (5,580 feet), the service life of the

  During February 1943, the Messerschmittt A.G.factories in Augsburg and Regensburg, as well as the Wiener Neustädter Flugzeugwerke

  (WNF) facility in Vienna’s New Town (Wiener Neustadt), initiated manufacture of the main production version of the Messerschmitt Bf

  109, the Bf 109 G-6. In March, production of the Bf 109 G-6 also began at the Erla factory in Leipzig. The production of the first Bf 109G-

  6 smoothly flowed out from the end of production of the Bf 109 G-4 thanks to its design versatility as a whole, its production at the

  Messerschmitt plant having ended in January. At WNF and in Erla, the production of the Bf 109 G-4 fighter ended in February and March,

  but the production of the photo-reconnaissance version of the Bf 109 G-4 continued until May at WNF and until June, 1943 in Erla, paral-

  lel with the Bf 109 G-6/R3, of which a total of 324 units were produced by both factories. The reason for the continued production of this

  subtype was probably the special modifications that these machines had, which at that time had not yet been structurally incorporated

  into the new G-6. It is also possible that the more powerful armament in the form of larger fuselage mounted machine guns, which was

  the main difference between the G-4 and G-6, was not a critical feature of the photo-reconnaissance aircraft tojustify the disruption of

  an already functioning assembly line. From September 1943, licensed Bf 109 Ga-6s were produced in Györ, Hungary.

  barrel was 17,000 rounds. Firing of the round was

  initiated electrically.

  The larger elements of the MG 131 machine guns

  did not fit under the original smoothly contoured

  engine cowl of the Bf 109 G-2/G-4, bringing about

  the G-6 version’s (as well as the G-5, G-8 and

  G-14) large oval fairings over the gun breeches,

  half of which was on the engine cowl and half on

  the gun port cover in front of the cockpit wind-

  screen.

  From the Bf 109 G-6 was derived the high-al-

  titude version of the Bf 109 G-5 with a pressur-

  ized cockpit, which will be discussed later. One of

  the hallmarks of this version was a small bulge,

  covering the cockpit pressurization air compres-

  sor, emerging from the lower leading edge of the

  large fairing above the right machine gun breech.

  The Bf 109 G-5s were produced exclusively at the

  Erla works in Leipzig and this is probably why

  the same fairing with this small bulge was used

  on most Erla-built G-6s. Technically the bulge

  made no sense, since there was no air compres-

  sor under it when mounted on the G-6, but it was

  present presumably to minimize production in-

  terruptions. This anomaly was previously thought

  to be a characteristic of Erla-built Bf 109 G-6s,

  but is now known to have also been present on

  Bf 109 G-6s in production block 140 000 from WNF

  and production blocks 165 000 to 167 000 from

  Messerschmittt.

  Aircraft of the following production blocks had

  the above described bump on the right side of the

  While the troughs for the Bf 109 G-6 supplied by

  Erla looked like this:

  Aircraft of the following production blocks had the above described bump on the right side of the engine cover: 15000 (not all),

  26000, 27000, 110000, 410000 to 413000 (all Erla), 140000 (WNF), and 165000 to 167,000 (Messerschmitt).

  Landing Gear

  Another change came in the landing gear. After

  problems with the setup and its wheels, mainly

  with the tires wearing quickly, the wheels were

  modified during G-4 production. The tire size was

  increased to 660 x 160mm and the brake disc

  was enlarged. This improved the situation, but it

  was still not perfect, as the brake discs heated

  up during braking and the resulting heat caused

  rapid degradation of the rubber compound used,

  which eventually led to the destruction of the

  tire. As a result, the landing gear was further

  strengthened, the oleo pistons were modified

  and strengthened, and the brakes and the entire

  wheel disc were redesigned. A significant change

  was the all-new steel brake discs, which was re-

  flected in the look of the wheel, now having full

  outer hubs. These new wheels were later fitted

  to older Bf 109 G-4s during overhauls, which was

  strongly reflected in the two-seat Bf 109 G-12,

  built from Bf 109 G-4 airframes, and the original

  G-4s that remained in service with training units

  until the end of the war. In the picture, the Bf 109

  G-4 wheel is on the left, the Bf 109 G-6 wheel is

  on the right.

  engine cover: 15000 (not all), 26000, 27000, 110000,

  410000 to 413000 (all Erla), 140000 (WNF), and

  165000 to 167,000 (Messerschmitt).

  Conversely, some airframes of the initial pro-

  duction block of 15000 from Erla did not have this

  bump, but featured on the right side the same

  bump above the gun breech that was on most

  Messerschmitt and WNF produced machines.

  The Bf 109 G-6s produced at the Erla plant

  also featured a different cowl incorporating gun

  troughs that were longer than those of the Mess-

  erschmitt and WNF-built examples.

  The gun troughs of the Bf 109 G-6 coming from

  Messerschmittt and WNF looked like this:

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard10

  January 2024

• Page 11

  barrel was 17,000 rounds. Firing of the round was

  initiated electrically.

  The larger elements of the MG 131 machine guns

  did not fit under the original smoothly contoured

  engine cowl of the Bf 109 G-2/G-4, bringing about

  the G-6 version’s (as well as the G-5, G-8 and

  G-14) large oval fairings over the gun breeches,

  half of which was on the engine cowl and half on

  the gun port cover in front of the cockpit wind-

  screen.

  From the Bf 109 G-6 was derived the high-al-

  titude version of the Bf 109 G-5 with a pressur-

  ized cockpit, which will be discussed later. One of

  the hallmarks of this version was a small bulge,

  covering the cockpit pressurization air compres-

  sor, emerging from the lower leading edge of the

  large fairing above the right machine gun breech.

  The Bf 109 G-5s were produced exclusively at the

  Erla works in Leipzig and this is probably why

  the same fairing with this small bulge was used

  on most Erla-built G-6s. Technically the bulge

  made no sense, since there was no air compres-

  sor under it when mounted on the G-6, but it was

  present presumably to minimize production in-

  terruptions. This anomaly was previously thought

  to be a characteristic of Erla-built Bf 109 G-6s,

  but is now known to have also been present on

  Bf 109 G-6s in production block 140 000 from WNF

  and production blocks 165 000 to 167 000 from

  Messerschmittt.

  Aircraft of the following production blocks had

  the above described bump on the right side of the

  While the troughs for the Bf 109 G-6 supplied by

  Erla looked like this:

  Aircraft of the following production blocks had the above described bump on the right side of the engine cover: 15000 (not all),

  26000, 27000, 110000, 410000 to 413000 (all Erla), 140000 (WNF), and 165000 to 167,000 (Messerschmitt).

  Landing Gear

  Another change came in the landing gear. After

  problems with the setup and its wheels, mainly

  with the tires wearing quickly, the wheels were

  modified during G-4 production. The tire size was

  increased to 660 x 160mm and the brake disc

  was enlarged. This improved the situation, but it

  was still not perfect, as the brake discs heated

  up during braking and the resulting heat caused

  rapid degradation of the rubber compound used,

  which eventually led to the destruction of the

  tire. As a result, the landing gear was further

  strengthened, the oleo pistons were modified

  and strengthened, and the brakes and the entire

  wheel disc were redesigned. A significant change

  was the all-new steel brake discs, which was re-

  flected in the look of the wheel, now having full

  outer hubs. These new wheels were later fitted

  to older Bf 109 G-4s during overhauls, which was

  strongly reflected in the two-seat Bf 109 G-12,

  built from Bf 109 G-4 airframes, and the original

  G-4s that remained in service with training units

  until the end of the war. In the picture, the Bf 109

  G-4 wheel is on the left, the Bf 109 G-6 wheel is

  on the right.

  engine cover: 15000 (not all), 26000, 27000, 110000,

  410000 to 413000 (all Erla), 140000 (WNF), and

  165000 to 167,000 (Messerschmitt).

  Conversely, some airframes of the initial pro-

  duction block of 15000 from Erla did not have this

  bump, but featured on the right side the same

  bump above the gun breech that was on most

  Messerschmitt and WNF produced machines.

  The Bf 109 G-6s produced at the Erla plant

  also featured a different cowl incorporating gun

  troughs that were longer than those of the Mess-

  erschmitt and WNF-built examples.

  The gun troughs of the Bf 109 G-6 coming from

  Messerschmittt and WNF looked like this:

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

  11

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  Evolution of Bf 109 G-6 Subvari-

  ants / Production Blocks and their

  Variations

  Bf 109 G-6s were produced in many production

  blocks until December 1944. In the context of this

  article, production blocks refers to a sequential

  series of production numbers, specified by the

  customer (RLM) to the manufacturer in blocks of

  one thousand. Each block is a sequence of num-

  bers, such as 15 000 to 15 999, or 441 000 to 441

  999.

  Total production of the Bf 109 G-6, including

  the Bf 109 G-6/AS with the DB 605 AS engine,

  is estimated at 13,000, but the exact number

  is unknown due to incomplete documentation.

  Its long production run during the war natural-

  ly saw various mods and upgrades incorporat-

  ed that had an effect on the appearance of the

  aircraft. These changes were introduced grad-

  ually, often mid block. This means that, within

  a single production block, there were aircraft with

  differing equipment setups or airframe design

  elements. This evolution of the Bf 109 G-6 stems

  from the fact that these aircraft were produced

  in the factories of three different manufacturers,

  where new equipment or airframe construction

  changes were gradually introduced. The pres-

  sure of prevailing circumstances, especially the

  increasing Allied bombing raids, also directly im-

  pacted production plants, as well as to the plants

  of their subcontractors, not to mention German

  infrastructure proper, most notably the railway

  system. For airframes within higher production

  numbers, produced in the second half of 1944,

  these changes were already deeply embedded

  within the production blocks, in such a way that

  even three different production versions can be

  documented within one production block. Another

  problem is that the machines were modified and

  modernized during repairs and overhauls, so that

  later changes, especially in equipment, could be

  retroactively reflected in the appearance of the

  aircraft of earlier production blocks. All this adds

  complexity to the discussed theme.

  Telling ‘em apart

  In order to be able to describe the developmen-

  tal evolution of the Bf 109 G-6 in a structured way,

  I tried to divide the individual production blocks

  into six production variants that show corre-

  sponding elements of equipment and airframe

  characteristics. Since these elements were

  gradually introduced during running production,

  they can appear in two or even three different

  production blocks. This classification of intro-

  duced changes into production blocks is mainly

  based on the work of Harald Helmut Vogt and his

  book Messerschmittt Bf 109 – Einsatzmaschinen –

  Das Nachslagwerk. H.H. Vogt lists five production

  variations, I decided on six, based on a study of

  photographs of airframes with known produc-

  tion numbers, and also in some cases adjusted

  the assignment of some frames from individual

  production blocks with respect to production

  variants compared to the distribution given by

  H.H. Vogt.

  The attempt to clarify a division into produc-

  tion block variants is also complicated by the

  existence of special production versions brought

  about by the installation of Umrüstsätze equip-

  ment and armament factory level conversion

  sets. These include the Bf 109 G-6/U2 with the

  GM 1 boost system, the Bf 109 G-6/U4, armed

  with MK 108 engine mounted cannon, several

  versions of photo reconnaissance aircraft, trop-

  ical machines and night fighters. These aircraft

  were generally not built as complete production

  blocks in and of themselves, but were integrat-

  ed into running production lines among aircraft

  without such special equipment. The exception is

  the Bf 109 G-6/U4, which was produced in com-

  plete production blocks 440 000 to 442 099 and

  510 000. Production block 510 000 included both

  the Bf 109 G-6/U4 and the Bf 109 G-14/U4. These

  production versions, as well as the tropical modi-

  fication G-6/trop, are described both as divisions

  into production variants, and then in separate

  paragraphs dedicated to them. To the contrary,

  the G-6/U3, G-6/R2 and G-6/R3 photoreconnais-

  sance versions are only mentioned by virtue of

  their division into existing production variants,

  and are subsequently described in separate

  paragraphs dedicated to them. Therefore, some

  information will be duplicated in the following

  passages of the article. However, I believe that

  this does not matter due to the complexity of the

  topic, and is ultimately the way to go.

  As with the Bf 109 G-6, I divided production of

  the Bf 109 G-5 and Bf 109 G-14 into production

  versions, which will be described in the second

  part of this article.

  The breakdown of Bf 109 G-6 into production

  versions is as follows:

  First Production Variation:

  Production blocks 15 000 (Erla), 16 000 (Mess-

  erschmittt and Györ WF

  -

  Hungary), 17 000 (un-

  known producer), 18 000 (Messerschmittt), 19 000

  (WNF) and 20 000 (WNF).

  These batches corresponded to the Bf 109 G-4

  except for the installation of MG 131 machine

  guns and modernized landing gear including the

  new type of main wheels. They were character-

  ized thus:

  • Tall antenna mast (1).

  • FuG 16Z Radio. Aircraft carrying this unit lacked the

  Morane whip antenna (Moranmast), which was a FuG

  16Y specific item.

  • IFF system FuG 25a with its associated rod antenna

  under fuselage bulkhead No.2 (2).

  • Straight steel armor headrest (3).

  • Usually, these airframes lacked the ZVG 16 direction

  finding equipment with the associated PR 16 loop

  antenna on the spine.

  • The above mentioned pieces of equipment, the ZVG

  16 / PR 16 antenna and the FuG 16ZY with the Morane

  antenna under the fuselage do appear on rare occasion

  in this production block.

  • REVI C 12 D gunsight.

  • The right side of the fuselage featured an outlet for

  the connection of an external electrical power source

  (4) and an access hatch to access compressed oxygen

  bottles (5) between bulkheads 1 and 2.

  • From production block 19 000 (WNF), Bf 109 G-6s had

  a small engine-starting fuel tank between fuselage

  bulkheads 4 and 5, with a filler neck on the right side

  of the fuselage spine (6).

  • Bf 109 G-6/trop production blocks 15 000 (15 209 –

  15 499, Erla, with a small bump on the right fairing

  above the fuselage gun breech), 16 000 (16 313 – 16 650,

  Messerschmittt) and 18 000 (18 001 - 18 903, Messer-

  schmittt) had two sunshade mounts on the left side of

  the fuselage under the cockpit (7).

  • Production block in the 20 000 (WNF) range produced

  35 photo-reconnaissance Bf 109 G-6/R3s and about 20

  Bf 109 G-6/U3s. Their differences from the standard G-6

  are described in the paragraphs dedicated to them.

  • The Bf 109 G-6/U4 of production block 20 000 from WNF

  had a cover on the right side of the fuselage between

  the 4th and 5th fuselage bulkheads to access the

  compressed air bottle for the MK 108 cannon (8).

  The aircraft of this production block also featured

  a small fuel tank connected to engine starting located

  between fuselage bulkheads 4 and 5 on the top of the

  fuselage, with a filler neck on the right side of the

  spine (9).

  • Some of the 15 000 production block (Erla) machines

  did not have a bump on the right breech cover of the

  MG 131 machine gun, which is an anomaly for Erla

  production airframes.

  Example: Bf 109 G-6, W.Nr. 18 107 (produced by Messerschmitt), flown by Uffz. Georg Amon, 7./JG53, Torazzo Airfield, Sicily, June 1943

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard12

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  • From production block 19 000 (WNF), Bf 109 G-6s had

  a small engine-starting fuel tank between fuselage

  bulkheads 4 and 5, with a filler neck on the right side

  of the fuselage spine (6).

  • Bf 109 G-6/trop production blocks 15 000 (15 209 –

  15 499, Erla, with a small bump on the right fairing

  above the fuselage gun breech), 16 000 (16 313 – 16 650,

  Messerschmittt) and 18 000 (18 001 - 18 903, Messer-

  schmittt) had two sunshade mounts on the left side of

  the fuselage under the cockpit (7).

  • Production block in the 20 000 (WNF) range produced

  35 photo-reconnaissance Bf 109 G-6/R3s and about 20

  Bf 109 G-6/U3s. Their differences from the standard G-6

  are described in the paragraphs dedicated to them.

  • The Bf 109 G-6/U4 of production block 20 000 from WNF

  had a cover on the right side of the fuselage between

  the 4th and 5th fuselage bulkheads to access the

  compressed air bottle for the MK 108 cannon (8).

  The aircraft of this production block also featured

  a small fuel tank connected to engine starting located

  between fuselage bulkheads 4 and 5 on the top of the

  fuselage, with a filler neck on the right side of the

  spine (9).

  • Some of the 15 000 production block (Erla) machines

  did not have a bump on the right breech cover of the

  MG 131 machine gun, which is an anomaly for Erla

  production airframes.

  Example: Bf 109 G-6, W.Nr. 18 107 (produced by Messerschmitt), flown by Uffz. Georg Amon, 7./JG53, Torazzo Airfield, Sicily, June 1943

  HISTORY

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  13

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  Second Production Variation:

  Production blocks 26 000 (Erla), 27 000 (Erla),

  32 000 (Erla), 33 000 (Erla) and 140 000 (WNF).

  • They were usually equipped with a ZVG 16 direction

  finder system with a PR 16 loop antenna (Peilrahmen)

  on the fuselage spine (11), but not all aircraft carried

  this system.

  • The Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) FuG 25a system

  with a rod antenna on the lower part of the fuselage

  behind the 2nd fuselage bulkhead.

  • Commanders’ machines could be equipped with

  a FuG 16 ZY radio with an on-board transponder for

  the Pegasus Y targeting system with a Morane-type

  whip antenna (Moranmast), located under the fuselage

  on the wing center section.

  • Straight steel armor plate headrest.

  • From production block 26 000 (Erla), Bf 109 G-6s had

  a small fuel tank for used for engine starting between

  fuselage bulkheads 4 and 5 on the fuselage spine, with

  a filler neck on the right side (12).

  • A REVI C 12 D gunsight.

  • Bf 109 G-6/trop production block 140 000 of the WNF

  (140 000 to 140 360) had two sunshade mounts on the

  left side of the fuselage under the cockpit (13).

  These airframes could be identified by the fol-

  lowing features:

  • Short antenna mast (10).

  • The FuG 16 Z radio was carried. Aircraft with the FuG 16

  Z lacked the Morane whip aerial (Moranmast), which

  was specific to the FuG 16 ZY.

  • Five photo-reconnaissance Bf 109 G-6/R3s were built

  as part of the 140 000 (WNF) production block. Their

  differences from the standard G-6 are described in the

  paragraphs dedicated to them.

  Example: Bf 109 G-6, W.Nr. 27169 (Erla Production), flown by Fw. Heinrich

  Bartels, 11./JG 27, Kalamaki Air Field, November, 1943

  • The 26 000 and 27 000 (Erla), and 140 000 (WNF)

  production block airframes had a bump on the right

  fairing above the breech of the MG 131 machine gun.

  • Conversely, the 32 000 and 33 000 (Erla) production

  blocks machines did not have the bump on the right

  fairing above the breech of the MG 131 fuselage ma-

  chine gun, which is an anomaly for the Erla-built

  Bf 109 G-6.

  Third Production Variation:

  Production blocks 160 000 to 163 000 (Messer-

  schmittt), 410 000 to 413 000 (Erla), 440 000 to

  442 000 (WNF), 510 000 (WNF) and 760 000 (Györ

  – Hungary).

  These aircraft were identical to the second pro-

  duction variation, the only visible change being

  the new Gallandpanzer armor with laminated

  armored glass behind the pilot’s head. The ques-

  tion is whether or not it is necessary to consider

  this incarnation as a separate production variant,

  or whether it is merely an extension of the sec-

  ond production variant, which were retroactively

  equipped with this item.

  These aircraft had the following distinctive fea-

  tures:

  • Armor plating behind the pilot’s head made of laminat-

  ed armored glass of the Gallandpanzer type (14).

  • Short antenna mast.

  • FuG 16 Z radio unit.

  • ZVG 16 homing system with a PR 16 loop antenna

  (Peilrahmen) at the top of the fuselage (not always).

  • Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) FuG 25a system with

  its rod antenna on the bottom of the fuselage behind

  bulkhead No.2.

  • Commanders’ aircraft could be equipped with a FuG 16

  ZY radio station with an on-board transponder for the

  Pegasus Y targeting system with a Morane-type whip

  antenna (Moranmast), located under the fuselage at

  the wing center section.

  • REVI C 12 D gunsight

  • A small fuel tank used for starting the engine, with

  a filler cap on the right side of the top of the fuselage

  between fuselage bulkheads 4 and 5.

  • Bf 109 G-6/U4/trop from production blocks 440 000

  to 442 000 (up to 442 099) from WNF had two sunshade

  mounts on the left side of the fuselage below the

  cockpit.

  • Bf 109 G-6/U4/trop from production blocks 440 000

  to 442 000 (up to 442 099) and Bf 109 G-6/U4 from

  510,000 by WNF had a hatch on the right side of the

  fuselage between the 4th and 5th fuselage bulkheads

  providing access to the compressed air bottles for the

  MK 108 cannon (15).

  • Bf 109 G-6/U2s from production blocks 410 000 to

  412 000 (105 units) and 413 000 (240 units) from Erla

  had a GM-1 cylinder access hatch on the right side of

  the fuselage spine in front of the third fuselage bulk-

  head (16).

  • From the summer of 1944, Bf 109 G-6s were fitted with

  the REVI 16 B gunsight. This applies to production blocks

  162 000 (Messerschmittt), 413 000 (Erla), 442 000 and

  510 000 (WNF).

  • Production blocks 410 000 to 413 000 (Erla) aircraft had

  a bump on the right fairing covering the breech of the

  MG 131 machine gun.

  Example: Bf 109 G-6, W.Nr. 440190 (WNF production), flown by Lt. Alfred

  Hammer, Commanding Officer of 6./JG 53, Vienna - Seyring, February 1944.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard14

  January 2024

• Page 15

  • Conversely, the 32 000 and 33 000 (Erla) production

  blocks machines did not have the bump on the right

  fairing above the breech of the MG 131 fuselage ma-

  chine gun, which is an anomaly for the Erla-built

  Bf 109 G-6.

  Third Production Variation:

  Production blocks 160 000 to 163 000 (Messer-

  schmittt), 410 000 to 413 000 (Erla), 440 000 to

  442 000 (WNF), 510 000 (WNF) and 760 000 (Györ

  – Hungary).

  These aircraft were identical to the second pro-

  duction variation, the only visible change being

  the new Gallandpanzer armor with laminated

  armored glass behind the pilot’s head. The ques-

  tion is whether or not it is necessary to consider

  this incarnation as a separate production variant,

  or whether it is merely an extension of the sec-

  ond production variant, which were retroactively

  equipped with this item.

  These aircraft had the following distinctive fea-

  tures:

  • Armor plating behind the pilot’s head made of laminat-

  ed armored glass of the Gallandpanzer type (14).

  • Short antenna mast.

  • FuG 16 Z radio unit.

  • ZVG 16 homing system with a PR 16 loop antenna

  (Peilrahmen) at the top of the fuselage (not always).

  • Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) FuG 25a system with

  its rod antenna on the bottom of the fuselage behind

  bulkhead No.2.

  • Commanders’ aircraft could be equipped with a FuG 16

  ZY radio station with an on-board transponder for the

  Pegasus Y targeting system with a Morane-type whip

  antenna (Moranmast), located under the fuselage at

  the wing center section.

  • REVI C 12 D gunsight

  • A small fuel tank used for starting the engine, with

  a filler cap on the right side of the top of the fuselage

  between fuselage bulkheads 4 and 5.

  • Bf 109 G-6/U4/trop from production blocks 440 000

  to 442 000 (up to 442 099) from WNF had two sunshade

  mounts on the left side of the fuselage below the

  cockpit.

  • Bf 109 G-6/U4/trop from production blocks 440 000

  to 442 000 (up to 442 099) and Bf 109 G-6/U4 from

  510,000 by WNF had a hatch on the right side of the

  fuselage between the 4th and 5th fuselage bulkheads

  providing access to the compressed air bottles for the

  MK 108 cannon (15).

  • Bf 109 G-6/U2s from production blocks 410 000 to

  412 000 (105 units) and 413 000 (240 units) from Erla

  had a GM-1 cylinder access hatch on the right side of

  the fuselage spine in front of the third fuselage bulk-

  head (16).

  • From the summer of 1944, Bf 109 G-6s were fitted with

  the REVI 16 B gunsight. This applies to production blocks

  162 000 (Messerschmittt), 413 000 (Erla), 442 000 and

  510 000 (WNF).

  • Production blocks 410 000 to 413 000 (Erla) aircraft had

  a bump on the right fairing covering the breech of the

  MG 131 machine gun.

  Example: Bf 109 G-6, W.Nr. 440190 (WNF production), flown by Lt. Alfred

  Hammer, Commanding Officer of 6./JG 53, Vienna - Seyring, February 1944.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

  15

  January 2024

• Page 16

  Fourth Production Variation:

  Production blocks 160 000 to 163 000 (Mess-

  erschmittt), 410 000 to 413 000 (Erla), 440 000

  to 442 099 (WNF).

  These airframes corresponded in their equip-

  ment and details to those of the previous produc-

  tion variant. In addition, they received a tall tail

  with a straight leading edged rudder. They also

  had the following characteristics:

  • Aforementioned tall tail (17) and a standard canopy.

  • Tail surfaces and wing/fuselage interface could be

  wood.

  • Short antenna mast

  • FuG 16 Z radio

  • Commanders’ airplanes could be equipped with a FuG 16

  ZY radio with a transponder for the Pegasus Y targeting

  system and its Morane-type whip antenna (Moranmast)

  located under the fuselage under the wing center

  section or under the left wing.

  • Direction finding ZVG 16 system with its PR 16 (Peil-

  rahmen) loop antenna on the top of the fuselage.

  • Identification system Friend or Foe (IFF) FuG 25a with

  a rod antenna under the fuselage behind the

  2nd fuselage bulkhead.

  • Small engine starting fuel tank, with filler neck on

  the right side of the fuselage spine, between fuselage

  bulkheads 4 and 5.

  • Bf 109 G-6/U4/trop from production blocks 440 000 to

  442 000 (up to 442 099) from WNF had two sunshade

  mounts on the left side of the fuselage below the

  cockpit.

  • Bf 109 G-6/U4/trop from production blocks 440 000

  through 442 000 (up to 442 099) produced by WNF had

  a cover on the right side of the fuselage between

  the 4th and 5th fuselage bulkheads to access

  the compressed air cylinder for the MK 108 gun.

  • Bf 109 G-6/U2s from production blocks 410 000 to 412

  000 (105 units) and 413 000 (240 units) from Erla had

  a GM-1 cylinder access cover on the right side of the

  fuselage spine in front of the third fuselage bulkhead.

  • A REVI 16 B gunsight from the summer of 1944. Applies

  to production blocks 413 000 (Erla) and 440 000 to 442

  000 (WNF).

  • Production blocks 410 000 to 413 000 (Erla) machines

  had a bump on the right fairing covering the breech of

  the MG 131 machine gun.

  Example: Bf 109G-6/R6, W. Nr. 412951 (Erla Production),

  flown by Lt. Horst Prenzel, 1./JG 301, Gardelegen, Germany, July 1944

  Fifth Production Variation:

  163 000 to 167 000 (Messerschmitt)

  The equipment of these airframes correspond-

  ed to those of the fourth production variant. They

  are characterized as follows:

  • Erlahaube canopy (18).

  • Small rudder.

  • Wing/fuselage interface could be of wood.

  • Short antenna mast

  • They were alternatively equipped with a FuG 16 Z or

  FuG 16 ZY radio with an on-board transponder for the

  Pegasus Y targeting system with a Morane-type whip

  antenna (Moranmast) located under the left wing (19).

  • Guidance system consisting of a ZVG 16 unit with its PR

  16 (Peilrahmen) loop antenna on the top of the fuselage.

  • Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) FuG 25a system with

  a rod antenna under the fuselage behind the 2nd

  fuselage bulkhead.

  • A small fuel tank for starting the engine, with a filler

  neck on the right side at the top of the fuselage

  between fuselage bulkheads 4 and 5.

  • A REVI 16 B gunsight from the summer of 1944. A part

  of production block 163 000 still had the REVI C 12 D

  sight installed.

  • Production blocks 165 000 to 167 000 (Messerschmittt)

  airframes had a bump on the right fairing covering the

  breech of the MG 131 machine gun.

  Example: Bf 109G-6, MT-477 (Messerschmitt production), HLeLv 31, Utti, Finland, Summer, 1948

  Sixth Production Variation:

  Production blocks 164 000 to 167 000 (Messer-

  schmittt) and 413 000 (Erla).

  These airframes displayed the following char-

  acteristics:

  • Tall tail.

  • Erlahaube canopy.

  • Some sections of the airframe were made of wood (tail

  surfaces and wing/fuselage interface)

  • Small fuel tank for use in engine starting with a filler

  neck on the right side of the fuselage spine between

  bulkheads 4 and 5.

  • Most were equipped with a FuG 16 ZY radio with an its

  associated transponder for the Pegasus Y goniometric

  targeting system with a Morane-type whip antenna

  (Moranmast) located under the left wing.

  • Short antenna mast.

  • ZVG 16 guidance system with its associated PR 16

  (Peilrahmen) loop antenna on the top of the fuselage.

  • Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) FuG 25a with a rod

  antenna under the fuselage behind the 2nd fuselage

  bulkhead.

  • Some of the 167 000 production block airframes had

  a longer tailwheel strut without a cover sleeve (29).

  • Production blocks 165 000 to 167 000 (Messerschmitt)

  and 413,000 (Erla) aircraft had a bump on the right

  fairing covering the breech of the MG 131 machine gun.

  • A REVI 16B gunsight was fitted.

  Example: Bf 109 G-6/R6, W.Nr. 165350 (supplied by Messerschmitt), flown by

  Lt. Anton Hafner, Commanding Officer of 8./JG 51, Tilsit-Ost, August 1944

  Bf 109 G-6 Subtypes

  Factory Level Conversion Equipment

  and Weapons Sets / Umrüstsätze U2

  and U4

  Bf 109 G-6/U2: a total of 345 aircraft, produced

  by Erla A.G. Leipzig, were equipped with a GM-1

  (injecting nitrous oxide into the cylinders) system

  providing a short-term increase in engine power.

  The nitrous oxide pressure bottles were located

  in the fuselage, the access hatch to them was in

  the upper part on the right side of the fuselage

  between the second and third fuselage bulk-

  heads (20). The first 105 aircraft were built in the

  410 000 to 412 000 production blocks between

  October, 1943 and June, 1944. A further 240 units

  were built in the 413 000 (more precisely 413 300

  A significant number of this production varia-

  tion were delivered to the Hungarian and Finnish

  air forces.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard16

  January 2024

• Page 17

  a rod antenna under the fuselage behind the 2nd

  fuselage bulkhead.

  • A small fuel tank for starting the engine, with a filler

  neck on the right side at the top of the fuselage

  between fuselage bulkheads 4 and 5.

  • A REVI 16 B gunsight from the summer of 1944. A part

  of production block 163 000 still had the REVI C 12 D

  sight installed.

  • Production blocks 165 000 to 167 000 (Messerschmittt)

  airframes had a bump on the right fairing covering the

  breech of the MG 131 machine gun.

  Example: Bf 109G-6, MT-477 (Messerschmitt production), HLeLv 31, Utti, Finland, Summer, 1948

  Sixth Production Variation:

  Production blocks 164 000 to 167 000 (Messer-

  schmittt) and 413 000 (Erla).

  These airframes displayed the following char-

  acteristics:

  • Tall tail.

  • Erlahaube canopy.

  • Some sections of the airframe were made of wood (tail

  surfaces and wing/fuselage interface)

  • Small fuel tank for use in engine starting with a filler

  neck on the right side of the fuselage spine between

  bulkheads 4 and 5.

  • Most were equipped with a FuG 16 ZY radio with an its

  associated transponder for the Pegasus Y goniometric

  targeting system with a Morane-type whip antenna

  (Moranmast) located under the left wing.

  • Short antenna mast.

  • ZVG 16 guidance system with its associated PR 16

  (Peilrahmen) loop antenna on the top of the fuselage.

  • Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) FuG 25a with a rod

  antenna under the fuselage behind the 2nd fuselage

  bulkhead.

  • Some of the 167 000 production block airframes had

  a longer tailwheel strut without a cover sleeve (29).

  • Production blocks 165 000 to 167 000 (Messerschmitt)

  and 413,000 (Erla) aircraft had a bump on the right

  fairing covering the breech of the MG 131 machine gun.

  • A REVI 16B gunsight was fitted.

  Example: Bf 109 G-6/R6, W.Nr. 165350 (supplied by Messerschmitt), flown by

  Lt. Anton Hafner, Commanding Officer of 8./JG 51, Tilsit-Ost, August 1944

  Bf 109 G-6 Subtypes

  Factory Level Conversion Equipment

  and Weapons Sets / Umrüstsätze U2

  and U4

  Bf 109 G-6/U2: a total of 345 aircraft, produced

  by Erla A.G. Leipzig, were equipped with a GM-1

  (injecting nitrous oxide into the cylinders) system

  providing a short-term increase in engine power.

  The nitrous oxide pressure bottles were located

  in the fuselage, the access hatch to them was in

  the upper part on the right side of the fuselage

  between the second and third fuselage bulk-

  heads (20). The first 105 aircraft were built in the

  410 000 to 412 000 production blocks between

  October, 1943 and June, 1944. A further 240 units

  were built in the 413 000 (more precisely 413 300

  A significant number of this production varia-

  tion were delivered to the Hungarian and Finnish

  air forces.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

  17

  January 2024

• Page 18

  to 413 800) production block between June and

  August, 1944

  The 413 000 production block airframes were

  already built with the tall rudder and Erlahaube

  canopy.

  Bf 109 G-6/U4: ca total of 1,634 aircraft, pro-

  duced by WNF as the Bf 109 G-6/U-4, were armed

  with the MK 108 30 mm fuselage gun. The first

  85 Bf 109 G-6/U4s were produced within pro-

  duction block 20 000 between June and August,

  1943. These machines had a tall antenna mast

  (1) and did not have the PR 16 antenna, however

  they could still have a short antenna mast and

  could be fitted with a direction guidance ZVG 16

  system with its associated PR 16 loop antenna.

  Between hull bulkheads 4 and 5 (21), they had

  a compressed air cylinder for charging the

  MK 108 engine mounted gun and therefore had

  a pressure bottle access hatch on the right side

  of the fuselage bottom between the fourth and

  fifth fuselage bulkheads (22).

  A further 1,419 Bf 109 G-6/U4/trop within pro-

  duction blocks 440 000, 441 000 and 442 000 (last

  being 442 099) were produced between Septem-

  ber, 1943 and August, 1944, and the last 130 Bf 109

  G-6/U4s in production block 510 000 were pro-

  duced between August and October, 1944. These

  machines had a short antenna mast (10), could

  be fitted with a ZVG 16 direction finder with a PR

  16 loop antenna. They also had a compressed air

  bottle access hatch for the MK 108 weapon on

  the lower right side of the fuselage between the

  fourth and fifth bulkheads (22).

  Some of the units in production blocks 440 000

  to 442 000 were produced with a tall rudder (17)

  and a standard canopy, while some in production

  block 510 000 had an Erlahaube canopy (18), but

  the short rudder. A part of the 600 Bf 109 G-14/

  U4s were produced as part of the 510 000 pro-

  duction block (see Bf 109 G-14 section in the sec-

  ond part of this article).

  Bf 109 G-6/trop:

  Some sources state that the Bf 109 G-6, like the

  Bf 109 G-4, was exclusively produced with trop-

  ical equipment. This is most likely a speculative

  error, possibly caused by the fact that all G-6s

  produced could be fitted with a dust filter on the

  supercharger air intake. But only part of Bf 109

  G-6 production was produced with full tropical

  equipment. There were 277 aircraft with pro-

  duction numbers 15290 to 15 499 built between

  March and May, 1943 at Erla, and 338 machines

  with production numbers

  16 313 and 16 650 built be-

  tween February and April,

  1943 at Messerschmittt.

  Also, 903 aircraft in the

  18 000 production block

  were produced between

  April and July, 1943, again

  by Messerschmittt. At WNF,

  262 machines in production block 140 000 were

  produced between September and December,

  1943 with tropical equipment, as well as most of

  the 1,419 Bf 109 G-6/U4s in production blocks 440

  000 to 442 000, produced from September 1943 to

  August, 1944. Conversely, the Bf 109 G-6/U4 from

  production block 510 000 apparently did not have

  the tropical equipment fitted. Machines built as

  the Bf 109 G-6/trop are externally recognizable

  by the two sunshade mounting brackets on the

  right side of the fuselage below the windscreen

  (23) and dust filter on the supercharger air intake

  (24). And take note, a number of these were not

  equipped with a dust filter in service!

  Example: Bf 109G-6/R6/trop, Oblt. Emil Josef Clade,

  7./ JG 27, Kalamaki, Greece, January 1944

  Bf 109G-6 Nightfighter:

  Schlechtwetter-Nachtjäger

  A number of Bf 109 G-6s from various produc-

  tion blocks and various production variations

  were modified for blind and poor weather flying.

  They were deployed by Wilde Sau units, carrying

  out target of opportunity night intercepts. They

  fought mainly against squadrons of four-engine

  bombers and RAF Mosquitoes flying at night.

  These aircraft received special equipment:

  • FuG 16 ZY radio equipment, enabling the Pegasus Y

  guidance system to be used. These machines had

  a Morane-type whip antenna (Moranmast) either under

  the fuselage or under the left wing (25).

  • Some of the aircraft were equipped with the FuBl 2

  (Funk Blindanlage 2) system with a dipole antenna

  under the rear fuselage (26), commonly associated

  from twin-engined heavy fighters and bombers.

  • On the lower surface of the wing, downward aimed

  lights were placed to help determine the height of the

  aircraft during landing. Shining at an obtuse angle to

  the plane’s axis below the plane, the beams’ conver-

  gence on the airfield surface gave the pilot his height.

  • Some aircraft had infrared lamps.

  • The exhausts had sheet metal anti-glare shields (27),

  and the first exhaust pipe was fitted with Ebersprächer

  whistles (28), which produced a screeching sound to

  alert anti-aircraft gun operators around the home

  airfield that an approaching aircraft was a friendly.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard18

  January 2024

• Page 19

  Bf 109 G-6/trop:

  Some sources state that the Bf 109 G-6, like the

  Bf 109 G-4, was exclusively produced with trop-

  ical equipment. This is most likely a speculative

  error, possibly caused by the fact that all G-6s

  produced could be fitted with a dust filter on the

  supercharger air intake. But only part of Bf 109

  G-6 production was produced with full tropical

  equipment. There were 277 aircraft with pro-

  duction numbers 15290 to 15 499 built between

  March and May, 1943 at Erla, and 338 machines

  with production numbers

  16 313 and 16 650 built be-

  tween February and April,

  1943 at Messerschmittt.

  Also, 903 aircraft in the

  18 000 production block

  were produced between

  April and July, 1943, again

  by Messerschmittt. At WNF,

  262 machines in production block 140 000 were

  produced between September and December,

  1943 with tropical equipment, as well as most of

  the 1,419 Bf 109 G-6/U4s in production blocks 440

  000 to 442 000, produced from September 1943 to

  August, 1944. Conversely, the Bf 109 G-6/U4 from

  production block 510 000 apparently did not have

  the tropical equipment fitted. Machines built as

  the Bf 109 G-6/trop are externally recognizable

  by the two sunshade mounting brackets on the

  right side of the fuselage below the windscreen

  (23) and dust filter on the supercharger air intake

  (24). And take note, a number of these were not

  equipped with a dust filter in service!

  Example: Bf 109G-6/R6/trop, Oblt. Emil Josef Clade,

  7./ JG 27, Kalamaki, Greece, January 1944

  Bf 109G-6 Nightfighter:

  Schlechtwetter-Nachtjäger

  A number of Bf 109 G-6s from various produc-

  tion blocks and various production variations

  were modified for blind and poor weather flying.

  They were deployed by Wilde Sau units, carrying

  out target of opportunity night intercepts. They

  fought mainly against squadrons of four-engine

  bombers and RAF Mosquitoes flying at night.

  These aircraft received special equipment:

  • FuG 16 ZY radio equipment, enabling the Pegasus Y

  guidance system to be used. These machines had

  a Morane-type whip antenna (Moranmast) either under

  the fuselage or under the left wing (25).

  • Some of the aircraft were equipped with the FuBl 2

  (Funk Blindanlage 2) system with a dipole antenna

  under the rear fuselage (26), commonly associated

  from twin-engined heavy fighters and bombers.

  • On the lower surface of the wing, downward aimed

  lights were placed to help determine the height of the

  aircraft during landing. Shining at an obtuse angle to

  the plane’s axis below the plane, the beams’ conver-

  gence on the airfield surface gave the pilot his height.

  • Some aircraft had infrared lamps.

  • The exhausts had sheet metal anti-glare shields (27),

  and the first exhaust pipe was fitted with Ebersprächer

  whistles (28), which produced a screeching sound to

  alert anti-aircraft gun operators around the home

  airfield that an approaching aircraft was a friendly.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

  19

  January 2024

• Page 20

  Example: Bf 109G-6, 2./JG 302,

  Götzendorf, Germany, July, 1944Bf 109 Ga-6

  An unknown number (probably around 300) li-

  cense built Bf 109 Ga-6s were produced in Györ,

  Hungary at the Györ Wagon Fabrik. Between May

  and September 1943, 13 were produced in a pro-

  duction block serialed 16 000 (16 651 to 16 667),

  between September 1943 and May 1944 another

  131 were produced in a production block in the

  95 000 range, and between September, 1943 and

  September, 1944, a further 399 Ga -6s in produc-

  tion block 760 000 were added. In addition, an

  undetermined number of airframes in the 96 000

  were made.

  The Bf 109 Ga-6 in the 16 000 range correspond-

  ed to the equipment of the first production vari-

  ant. They had the following characteristics:

  • Tall antenna mast.

  • Straight armor plating behind the pilot’s head.

  • On the right side of the fuselage, there was only

  a socket for an external electrical power source and

  the access hatch for the compressed oxygen bottle

  between fuselage bulkheads 1 and 2.

  • All had the short gun troughs for the fuselage weapons.

  • The sunshade mounts were lacking on the left side of

  the fuselage below the windscreen.

  .

  Bf 109 Ga-6s from production blocks 95 000,

  96 000 and 760 000 were produced over a long

  time, corresponding to three different production

  variations over differing production spans:

  • Early machines corresponded to the first production

  variant, had a long antenna mast, but were mostly

  equipped with a ZVG 16 direction finding equipment

  with a PR 16 loop antenna (Peilrahmen) on the top of

  the fuselage.

  • Other airframes then corresponded to the second and

  third production variants.

  • However, they probably did not have the additional

  fuel tank used in starting the engine, with a filler neck

  on the right side at the top of the fuselage, between

  fuselage bulkheads 4 and 5.

  .Example: Bf 109Ga-6, W.Nr. 95 417, Lt. Pál Bélavári, 101/3. Vadászszázad, Veszprém, Hungary, August 1944

  As part of production block in the 760 000 range,

  an unknown number of Bf 109 Ga-14s were pro-

  duced in September, 1944. These units corre-

  sponded to the those of production block 781 000

  from Messerschmitt in terms of their production

  variation, armament and equipment. They had an

  Erlahaube-type canopy and a small rudder.

  In the second part of this article, we will look at

  the field modification armament and equipment

  sets carrying the ‘R’ designation (Rüstsatz), the

  Bf 109 G-6/R2 photoreconnaissance versions,

  Bf 109 G-6/R3, Bf 109 G-6/U3, the Bf 109 G-8,

  the high-altitude version of the Bf 109 G-5, Bf 109

  G-12 trainers and finally, the Bf 109 G-14.

  To be continued

  Sources:

  VOGT, H. H.: Messerschmittt Bf 109 – Einsatzmaschinen – Das Nachslagwerk

  BAUMGARTL, M: Das Jagdflugzeug Messerschmitt Bf 109

  PRIEN J., RODEIKE P.: Messerschmitt Bf109 F, G, and K: An Illustrated Study

  HALDIMANN, M.-A.: Bf 109 G-6 Mtt Regensburg, Erla and WNF; Flickr

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y

  -

  Control_for_fighters

  https://www.cdvandt.org/fu-bl-fertig-demo.htm

  https://www.palba.cz/viewtopic.php?f=88&t=3027

  http://www.vrtulnik.cz/ww2/protektorat5.htm

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_injection_(engine)

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM-1

  https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erla_Maschinenwerk

  http://www.luftfahrt-erfurt.de/seite11.htm

  https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_GmbH

  https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rootsovo_dmychadlo

  https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiener_Neust%C3%A4dter_Flugzeugwerke

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard20

  January 2024

• Page 21

  As part of production block in the 760 000 range,

  an unknown number of Bf 109 Ga-14s were pro-

  duced in September, 1944. These units corre-

  sponded to the those of production block 781 000

  from Messerschmitt in terms of their production

  variation, armament and equipment. They had an

  Erlahaube-type canopy and a small rudder.

  In the second part of this article, we will look at

  the field modification armament and equipment

  sets carrying the ‘R’ designation (Rüstsatz), the

  Bf 109 G-6/R2 photoreconnaissance versions,

  Bf 109 G-6/R3, Bf 109 G-6/U3, the Bf 109 G-8,

  the high-altitude version of the Bf 109 G-5, Bf 109

  G-12 trainers and finally, the Bf 109 G-14.

  To be continued

  Sources:

  VOGT, H. H.: Messerschmittt Bf 109 – Einsatzmaschinen – Das Nachslagwerk

  BAUMGARTL, M: Das Jagdflugzeug Messerschmitt Bf 109

  PRIEN J., RODEIKE P.: Messerschmitt Bf109 F, G, and K: An Illustrated Study

  HALDIMANN, M.-A.: Bf 109 G-6 Mtt Regensburg, Erla and WNF; Flickr

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y

  -

  Control_for_fighters

  https://www.cdvandt.org/fu-bl-fertig-demo.htm

  https://www.palba.cz/viewtopic.php?f=88&t=3027

  http://www.vrtulnik.cz/ww2/protektorat5.htm

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_injection_(engine)

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM-1

  https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erla_Maschinenwerk

  http://www.luftfahrt-erfurt.de/seite11.htm

  https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_GmbH

  https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rootsovo_dmychadlo

  https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiener_Neust%C3%A4dter_Flugzeugwerke

  A Bf 109 G-6 from 2./JG 53 at Maniago base in Italy in early 1944. The machine is armed with 210mm BR 21 rockets and carries the designation Black 1 or Black 4. The BR 21

  (Bordrakete 21) missiles and other additional armament and equipment sets R (Rüstsatz), photo reconnaissance versions of the Bf 109 G-6/R2, Bf 109 G-6/R3, Bf 109 G-6/U3

  and Bf 109 G-8, the high-altitude version of the Bf 109 G-5, the training Bf 109 G-12 and finally the Bf 109 G-14 will be discussed in the second part of this article in the next

  issue of Info. Photo: Bundesarchiv

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

  21

  January 2024

• Interview with Jan Bobek

  Jan Bobek is working at Eduard since 2020 and focuses on sales, marketing and social media. Previously, he worked for twenty years in management positions at the international consulting and engineering firm Tebodin. Before that he worked for five years at MPM (now Special Hobby). His great passion is aviation history. He is the author of more than a hundred articles mainly about German and Japanese airmen and their units during World War II. Since 2005 he has been a member of the Gemeinschaft der Flieger deutscher Streitkräfte e.V. and in 2018 he became an honorary member of L'Association des Amis du Musée de l'Ordre de la Libération (AAMOL). Thanks to his knowledge of history, he also works on the editorial board of the INFO Eduard magazine and contributes to the preparation of some of the kits. And he draws rabbits for Eduard. This interview was prepared by Vladimír Šulc on the topic of Jan's cartoons.

  INTERVIEW

  Jan Bobek is working at Eduard since 2020 and focuses

  on sales, marketing and social media. Previously,

  he worked for twenty years in management positions

  at the international consulting and engineering firm

  Tebodin. Before that he worked for five years at MPM

  (now Special Hobby). His great passion is aviation

  history. He is the author of more than a hundred articles

  mainly about German and Japanese airmen and their

  units during World War II. Since 2005 he has been

  a member of the Gemeinschaft der Flieger deutscher

  Streitkräfte e.V. and in 2018 he became an honorary

  member of L‘Association des Amis du Musée de l‘Ordre

  de la Libération (AAMOL). Thanks to his knowledge

  of history, he also works on the editorial board of the INFO

  Eduard magazine and contributes to the preparation

  of some of the kits. And he draws rabbits for Eduard.

  This interview was prepared by Vladimír Šulc on the

  topic of Jan‘s cartoons.

  Jan, where did the rabbit that

  accompanies various Eduard events,

  advertisements and texts come from?

  It‘s a long story. Anyway, I‘ve the honour of

  drawing the rabbit for the Eduard team since

  2010, even though I didn‘t become an employee

  of the company until ten years later. The clients

  themselves named the cartoon character Eduard

  Bunny, E

  -

  Bunny for short.

  It‘s obvious that you have drawing

  in your hand, so to speak, you

  are talented. How did you get into

  drawing?

  Parents are to blame for a lot of things in our youth.

  For me, it includes drawing. I inherited my drawing

  and painting skills from my mom and her male

  ancestors. She never pushed me to draw, I created

  from a very early age, and quite intensively. During

  my youth, I was very much influenced by comic

  books, which, strangely enough, were published

  in occupied Czechoslovakia. It wasn‘t just the

  domestic science fiction comics, which were

  created, for example, by Václav Šorel, the spiritual

  father of many Czechoslovak plastic modellers,

  but also Asterix, which was published in the

  weekly Sedmička pionýrů (The Pioneers´ Seven),

  despite communist censorship. I still love Asterix

  and we all miss the gentleman Václav Šorel.

  And Asterix made you draw rabbits?

  Are these ears on his helmet?

  They‘re not ears, they‘re wings! When I was young,

  my main themes were science fiction, aviation

  and mice. Strangely enough, not rabbits, but mice.

  Until the age of 38, not a single rabbit appeared

  in my work. But Rabbit was my nickname since

  my early childhood thanks to the Czech TV kids‘

  cartoon series with Bob and Bobek the rabbits.

  One of the members of the team that created this

  great evening cartoon was my teacher‘s brother.

  You wouldn‘t believe how encouraged I was

  in drawing as a first grader when he gave me

  original animation sheets of rabbits or other TV

  cartoons for children. I still have them to this day.

  So that‘s what got you into art?

  Did you study drawing at a specialized

  school?

  No, I didn‘t. When my parents were considering

  what subjects I was going to study, my mother

  categorically forbade me to apply to an art

  school because she had graduated from one

  herself. She was convinced that as an electrical

  engineer I had a better chance of making a living.

  I think it was a good move.

  Who are your aviation art

  inspirations?

  After 1989, with no formal art training, I started to

  paint aviation paintings, either with a brush or an

  airbrush, or a combination of both. Legends such

  as Shigeo Koike, Jaroslav Velc, Robert Taylor, Roy

  Grinnell and others have been a great inspiration

  to me. I also started painting colour profiles for

  Czech HPM and REVI magazines. It was through

  one of my paintings (Polikarpov I-153) that

  I was introduced to you. It was a stimulating

  acquaintance, during which you immediately

  suggested that the painting was not worth much

  and that I should rather pursue another field.

  Despite your advice, I later illustrated several

  books. My work wasn‘t the best, but it wasn‘t that

  bad.

  Jan Bobek and Vladimír Šulc at a joint photography

  from Prague Castle. Jan is wearing a T-shirt

  of the Japanese company Beaver Corporation,

  whose mascot he designed.

  INFO Eduard22

  January 2024

• Page 23

  INTERVIEW

  That was insensitive of me. Actually,

  I was trying to push you away from

  drawing. Fortunately, I didn‘t succeed,

  you didn‘t give up and you kept on

  drawing!

  At some point, in the days before scanners and

  emails, I realized I had to think about whether

  I would be an illustrator or a writer of historical

  articles in my spare time. I felt that if I did both,

  I would soon go crazy. I decided to do historical

  research and publishing, but my experience as

  a modest artist still makes it easy to communicate

  with the fellow artists about their profiles

  or paintings.

  Where did you get published?

  At the end of the 90‘s I first published articles

  in Czech HPM magazine, then I became an

  author and later also an external editor of

  the Czech aviation-historical magazine REVI.

  I published articles in it with my nickname Králík

  (rabbit) as Jan “Králík” Bobek and I even started

  a modelling section in it, which is still published

  today. Back then it was called in Czech language

  as Bobek Rabbit Modeling Section. REVI is a very

  professionally produced magazine, aimed more

  at those seriously interested in aviation history.

  Its publisher, and my friend, Petr Stachura is an

  aviation history buff who didn‘t admit that the

  1990s were over. Somehow, after a few years

  of cooperation, I couldn‘t come to terms with

  some of his views, for example, I was bothered

  by the absence of external communication on

  the Internet at that time. So I decided to start

  a rebellious editorial blog called Revi Illegal. On it

  I began to comment humorously on the progress

  of the preparation of individual issues of REVI

  and other topics. When Petr came out of his

  unconsciousness after seeing the blog, he at first

  strongly asked me to cancel it. Gradually, however,

  he found the whole „online thing“ beneficial and

  ended up publishing an advertisement for my

  blog in his magazine.

  So as a member of the editorial board,

  you led a kind of resistance within the

  law, shall we say. You used Rabbit as

  your author‘s pseudonym, so rabbit

  was already your alter ego?

  Yes, that‘s when the rabbit came to the world!

  For the blog, I developed the rabbit character as

  the mascot of the Revi Illegal blog. I‘m a fairly

  friendly non-smoker, so I designed the rebellious

  rabbit as my alter ego in the form of a rodent

  with a bandit‘s tape who smokes cigarettes at all

  times. The graphics were designed by my friend

  Michal Skurovec, who worked for HPM. After

  a couple of years, I also started a Facebook

  gallery with my cartoons under the name Upset

  Rabbits. The first version of the rabbits didn‘t

  have toes on their front paws yet, but they had

  a bit of sharp features, which gradually rounded

  out. The rabbits gained weight as they got older.

  I still create bandit rabbits on my Facebook page.

  So REVI and Petr Stachura helped

  the rabbit to be born.

  Undoubtedly! One of my very first rabbits was

  the editor-in-chief of REVI Petr Stachura. In the

  drawing I pictured his office, his chair and himself

  as a rabbit, who says in the Ostrava dialect that

  “publishing a magazine is a very difficult job”.

  Fortunately, he still does it today, with the help

  Polikarpov I-153, oil on cardboard, 1993. Thanks to this painting Jan Bobek and Vladimír Šulc

  met for the first time. Vladimír advised Jan not to continue painting.

  Airship by Paul

  Haenlein, Brno, 1872.

  Acrylic on cardboard,

  1994. Painting for the

  LHS magazine.

  INFO Eduard

  23

  January 2024

• Page 24

  INTERVIEW

  of fellow editors, friends and authors. Although

  his wife says the drawing is still very apt nearly

  20 years later

  And how and why did the rabbit

  get to Eduard?

  In 2010, I stopped posting on my blog because the

  Czech platform on which the blog was running

  was about to be shut down. However, I have

  republished some posts, especially my stories

  written in Prague Czech, on my new blog Czech

  Flying Rabbit.

  2010 also marked a significant milestone in the

  lives of my rabbits. When you and I were on

  a cycling holiday together, you told me you

  wanted a new friendly mascot. Eduard‘s knight

  in armour seemed a bit inflexible and you were

  looking for an alternative. Word got around, and

  my rabbit went into Eduard‘s service. It was mid-

  2010. That‘s also when the INFO Eduard magazine

  was modernized and historical articles, some of

  them written by me, started to appear in it.

  You and Jan Zdiarský started sending me

  requests for rabbit drawings that appeared in

  various parts of INFO for products or articles.

  Soon they also appeared on Facebook, which

  Eduard was starting at the time. Gradually, the

  rabbit drawings settled down to one drawing in

  the editorial, and occasionally one more would

  appear on another INFO page. The rabbit no

  longer had a bandit tape or cigarettes. Only when

  it‘s the director‘s rabbit representing You, he has

  a cigar, despite You being a militant non-smoker.

  I even tried to make four comic stories for Eduard,

  with one of the scripts by Martin Ferkl, but it‘s

  so time-consuming that I‘ve abandoned further

  attempts at comic stories for now. The comics‘

  creators have my deepest admiration.

  It was also the time of the famous

  MiG-21MF advertisement with the

  parade of rabbit cars.

  Yes. The big milestone in the rabbits‘ lives was the

  launch of the 1/48 scale MiG-21MF kit in spring

  2011 and the promotional video by Miguary Song.

  The tune was based on Long Way to Tipperary, but

  I composed new lyrics for it. Eduard colleagues

  took care of the rest. You can recall it here.

  According to my colleagues‘ spec, I drew rabbits

  that mimicked the MiGs from the different Air

  Forces whose machines were depicted in the

  kit. The Vietnamese lady who was selling in the

  shop near our house burst out laughing when she

  saw the Vietnamese rabbit at the end of the video.

  She recognized the scooter the rabbit was riding

  and remarked that it was a Piaggio and pretty

  expensive.

  The

  rabbit then made its way into

  the name of the Eduard club and

  onto the club T-shirts.

  Two years after the rabbits invaded Eduard‘s

  media, Eduard decided to start a customer loyalty

  club called the Bunny Fighter Club, or BFC.

  The name of the club was associated with

  the MiG-21 “Bunny Fighter”, whose fictional

  markings were part of an activation kit that, if

  purchased, allowed one to become a member

  of the club. With the activation kit, the customer

  also received a BFC T-shirt with a rabbit on it.

  And I have to admit, it‘s an amazing sight to see the

  modelers wearing our shirt at shows. To all who

  wear our t-shirts at shows, I say a hearty hello.

  I spotted a club member wearing a BFC t-shirt the

  other day while visiting a Czech castle, but before

  I could say hello, I had to head to the Knights Hall

  with my group and the really big modeler headed

  for the hunger room.

  We also made a video in Hungary

  with a real MiG-21MF, which we

  painted blue and stuck a rabbit sticker

  on its tail.

  Not only on the tail! Along with the release

  of the first activation model, you published an

  article in INFO 11/2012 about the fictional Czech

  rabbit aviator Eduard Kleinkönnig, who fought

  with the “Bunny Fighter” in the Carrot War! Here.

  A duel between Bohumil Fürst of No. 310 Squadron

  RAF and Werner Goetting of I.(J)/LG 2. Acrylic

  on cardboard, 1994. Painting for the publishing house

  Naše Vojsko.

  A duel between the Me 262 of JV 44 and the P-47D

  of the 365th FG “Hell Hawks”. Acrylic on cardboard,

  1994. Painting for Mustang publishing house.

  Japanese Navy fighter seaplane Kawanishi

  N1K Kyōfū (Rex). Acrylic on cardboard, 1994.

  INFO Eduard24

  January 2024

• Page 25

  The design of the MiG with the rabbits was

  created by Jan Zdiarský, and less than a year

  later we painted a real MiG-21 in Hungary in

  the Bunny Fighter livery with a lot of help from

  Eduard associate Karel Pádár and Hungarian

  researcher and friend Gábor Szekeres.

  For me it was an incredible experience, but what

  a chore it was for all involved over two days. I was

  even more than surprised by some all-knowing

  internet discussants who were sure that these

  were not real photos, but photoshopped fiction.

  It wasn‘t! But Photoshop came later.

  I remember that event, I think we

  should do something like that again.

  But in truth, I‘m convinced that

  you invented the character of pilot

  Kleinkönnig, not me.

  No no, I didn‘t invent it. You invented the character,

  and the fact that he‘s from Žatec. You also invented

  his name and you wrote the first story. Stories

  about the rabbit pilot Eduard Kleinkönnig have

  accompanied most of the activation kits. If I put

  the stories in chronological order, they were the

  battles of Bf 109 G-6 from JG 9‘s against giant

  carnivore penguins in the Arctic Circle, the Hawker

  Tempest “Bunny Lady” from battles against Nazi

  flying saucers over Antarctica, the MiG-15 “Bunny

  Racer” from races around Africa and MiG-21 “Bunny

  Fighter” from Carrot War. While typesetting these

  articles, we occasionally used the aforementioned

  Photoshop, for example, the MiG-15 guncamera

  shots of a dinosaur, the photo of the Tempest

  “Bunny Lady” from the bergship HMS Habbakuk,

  or the Tempest guncamera shots of German flying

  discs.

  I mustn‘t forget Eduard Kleinkönnig‘s 1/32 scale

  Curtiss P-40, for which Libor Špůrek has written

  a history in the caption, he also covers the bunny

  INTERVIEW

  German fighter pilot Josef Mai. Pencil drawing based

  on historical photograph, 2015. Compared to the

  original photograph, a teddy bear of Ulrich Neckel

  and a bottle of Chateu Margaux have been added

  to the drawing.

  Manfred von Richthofen‘s Albatros after his injury and emergency landing in July 1917. Pencil drawing, 2020.

  The background area without the posing soldiers was reconstructed from other historical photographs

  and Google Street View.

  INFO Eduard

  25

  January 2024

• Page 26

  INTERVIEW

  pilot‘s service in the Korean War on the MiG-15

  and admits the possibility that Kleinkönnig got

  into space a year before Yuri Gagarin. All of

  the stories are written in a somewhat complex

  Czech humour with many references to historical

  events and characters. Some readers, especially

  foreign ones, may find this a somewhat boring

  read. I think that in the Czech Republic we do

  a lot of things in a complicated way because we

  have a complicated language and it affects our

  thought process.

  Thought processes are also important

  for the creation of motifs for drawings.

  How difficult is it for you to find

  subjects for your drawings? From the

  outside, it seems like they jump out

  at you without much effort!

  Often they do. In some cases you and Jan

  Zdiarský give me the scenario and texts for the

  drawings, but most of the time I just think of

  a rabbit in a situation, make a sketch in pencil

  and finish the final drawing with Japanese

  Sakura pens. With Eduard, we did several events

  that were very challenging for me as an artist.

  But I‘m very happy that we prepared them. These

  were quick drawings of rabbits on demand.

  I did them at a factory open day we used to

  have called Novemberfest. And once, during the

  E

  -

  Day exhibition, we organized a fundraising

  event around my quick drawings with a voluntary

  contribution to the fund for veterans under

  the patronage of the Czechoslovak Legionary

  Community. At the end of these drawing

  marathons I could hardly see and my hands

  were shaking, but it was for a good cause. I still

  do quick drawings on War Veterans Day at Peace

  Square in Prague. Proceeds from our kits and

  veteran memorabilia go to the Military Solidarity

  Fund of the Czech Army. And once again, thank

  you to the organizers and especially to everyone

  who came both this year and in previous years.

  INFO Eduard and Eduard social media

  is not the only platform where your

  rabbit appears. How did he get to the

  UK?

  It was a great pleasure to start working with

  the UK‘s Scale Aircraft Modelling magazine

  (Guideline Publications Ltd). In late 2012, Jan

  Zdiarsky introduced me to magazine Editor Gary

  Hatcher as a freetime artist. We agreed to publish

  one rabbit drawing regularly in this British

  monthly magazine with an international reach,

  with focus either on Eduard products or on topics

  relevant to SAM readers. Most of the scenarios

  and text for my drawings have been prepared by

  Gary. I didn‘t realize until now that I have been

  drawing rabbits for SAM magazine for ten years.

  I hereby apologize to Gary for all the delays and

  other rabbit troubles.

  Sometimes I really do draw such specific British

  topics for Gary and the team at SAM that I don‘t

  really understand what the rabbits are actually

  up to. But Gary has always been pleased and no

  UK modelling club has yet published a “Wanted

  Dead or Alive” for me. No complaints have come

  in from Commonwealth countries either. I‘m just

  not sure whether I didn‘t contribute a little to

  the Brexit referendum victory with my cartoons

  on the EU‘s excesses in the form of the banana

  shape standard and other nonsense when I was

  drawing jokes about the coming Brexit years ago.

  So in addition to the resistance

  against REVI, you also supported

  the resistance against the EU! Good

  grief! Do you still make do with talent

  and experience alone in this activity,

  or have you had some professional

  training in the meantime?

  A rescue swimmer and a waist gunner aboard a PBY Catalina seaplane under Japanese fire after retrieving

  an injured pilot from the water. White pastel on black paper, 2016

  Color profile of the Bf 109 G-2 of commander II./JG 52 Maj. Johannes

  Steinhoff, Russia, spring 1943. Acrylic and tempera on paper, 1995.

  INFO Eduard26

  January 2024

• Page 27

  When I once tried to draw a pencil drawing

  of Manfred von Richthofen‘s Albatros after the

  emergency landing in July 1917, I showed it to my

  friend, the aviation artist Pavel Rampír. He looked

  at the drawing carefully and then said to me: “You

  know, Jan, it is clear in this drawing that you have

  a gift from God, but it is also clear that you don‘t

  know what you are doing with this pencil!”. This

  inspired me and so in 2014 I found an art studio in

  Prague, not far from my office, where my current

  friend Pavlína Pavliš worked as a lecturer.

  Under her guidance I started to supplement

  my education. Her advice really helped me

  a lot, as did the advice of my female classmates,

  who were mostly architects, civil or chemical

  engineers. The experience of Pavlína‘s lessons

  helped me to take my rabbits a step further, but

  I also enjoyed creating some classic aviation

  themes under her guidance. I will continue to do

  this from time to time.

  It‘s obvious that the rabbit is doing

  a good job, including socializing its

  author! How would you yourself

  rate the rabbit‘s contribution to the

  modelling community?

  We introduced the rabbit to Eduard media

  14 years ago because we felt the scale modelling

  community needed some humour, perspective,

  and relaxation. If that‘s what our rabbits bring,

  that‘s exactly why I draw them. And maybe

  sometime in the future we‘ll create a 3D printed

  1/48 scale rabbit, which modelers sometimes ask

  about. With an aviator helmet, goggles and scarf,

  he might be nice. Maybe there will be a carrot too.

  Your - our rabbits have your own

  historical knowledge and your

  linguistic equipment as background.

  Your historical knowledge goes

  through World War I to the various

  air forces of World War II, and is

  anything but superficial. Where did all

  this come from? You haven‘t studied

  history, or am I wrong?

  Unfortunately I haven‘t yet really studied history.

  I was thoroughly encouraged to take an interest in

  history, in a very broad sense, by my father. When

  I was a kid, he built plastic model airplanes for

  me, and later I started building them myself and

  became increasingly focused on military aircraft

  and WWII. From there, it was a fairly quick path to

  reading publications on the subject and memoirs

  of famous aviators, although it wasn‘t easy to get

  hold of them under the pro-Soviet communist

  government. Russian was compulsory then, but

  I learned English and Polish voluntarily because

  of the magazines and books on aviation. When

  the Iron Curtain fell, it was possible to get access

  to practically any foreign literature if you knew

  how and where to get it in Europe or at home.

  I searched like a wild man, most interested in

  fighter units and air aces. I became more and

  more interested in the air forces of Germany

  INTERVIEW

  Jan Bobek creating quick drawings during the Novemberfest event at Eduard in 2015.

  Jan Bobek with his friend and art lecturer Pavlína Pavliš.

  INFO Eduard

  27

  January 2024

• Page 28

  and Japan, and I was able to find literature from

  those countries, so to understand the subject

  better, I began to learn German and Japanese.

  A few years after the Velvet Revolution, various

  magazines on this subject started to be published

  in the Czech Republic. Of course, when I looked at

  these articles, I sometimes shook my head and

  thought that I could have written them better.

  So I gave it a try, I started writing firstly for HPM

  and then for REVI.

  You‘re a member of the German

  Airmen‘s Association. How a guy from

  Prague, a Czech as much Czech I can

  imagine, does become a member

  of such a venerable organization?

  My friend Jarda Hradec brought me to

  communicate with German pilots because of

  my articles, and through him I met Heribert

  Koller from JG 54 “Grünherz” and other veterans.

  But most of all I was in contact with Mr. Koller,

  who came up with the idea for me to become

  a member of the association. Together with Jarda,

  I also helped Heribert as a driver with several

  long trips in Germany and abroad. In the process

  I managed to introduce Mr. Koller to Mr. Hans E.

  Bob. They did not know each other, although both

  had served in JG 54 and were long-time members

  of the association. I had more such opportunities

  in my life, for example as a driver I had the honour

  to assist Gen. Šiška of the Czechoslovak 311

  Squadron of the RAF. I appreciate that immensely.

  Are you also a member of some

  Japanese Airmen‘s Association?

  I think I first became aware of your

  historical knowledge at your lecture

  on the air battles over Guadalcanal

  in Ostrov nad Ohří around the turn of

  the millennium. I was very impressed

  with that lecture. How did you get into

  the Japanese?

  I wasn‘t a member of the Zero Fighter Pilots

  Association, and I can‘t become one without

  personal, long-term contact with Japanese

  veterans. I remember the lecture you‘re talking

  about, I projected slides during it, and I have

  a feeling you fell asleep for a while. I got interested

  in Japanese Naval and Army aviation in high

  school when I read Mr. Hubáček‘s books on the

  fighting in the Pacific, and also when I got a copy

  of Saburō Sakai‘s memoir, which was published

  in Czech in 1968 and 1969 in L+K magazine. Since

  the end of the 1990s, I have published articles on

  this subject in the Czech Republic and a few years

  ago I published an article on Sakai in the French

  magazine ACES, later also in the magazine INFO

  Eduard.

  I fell asleep, that‘s true. When I woke

  up, I hit my head on a beam. Still, the

  lecture broadened my horizons, it

  was actually a significant event for

  INTERVIEW

  The model for one of the very first rabbits by Jan Bobek in 2005 was his friend and editor-in-chief of REVI

  magazine Petr Stachura.

  Jan Bobek during a fundraising event held at the E

  -

  Day exhibition in Prague in 2014. The proceeds

  of the voluntary fees for the rabbit drawings went to the Czechoslovak Legionary Community.

  Jan Bobek next to a real MiG-21 Bunnyfighter in Hungary in 2013. He also took care of the rabbit featured

  in the promo video during filming.

  INFO Eduard28

  January 2024

• Page 29

  INTERVIEW

  me. Since then I have had the idea

  that we should hold similar lectures

  at Eduard as part of the events

  for modelers. But let‘s get back to

  education. Are you thinking

  of studying history?

  Our recent joint presentation of the new FM-1 kit

  in Prostějov was a bit like a history lecture. I have

  a feeling the audience liked it. So I agree with

  you, lectures would probably be an attractive

  topic. I would love to study history, but due to

  the increased amount of work at Eduard since

  the spring 2022 crisis, and the serious health

  situation of a family member, I can‘t imagine

  finding the required time for study right now.

  Following a college cursus while working is not

  fun, I‘ve already tried it once.

  We have a lot of work behind us,

  and there are other big projects

  ahead of us. We‘ve kind of made them

  up together. But when it‘s all over,

  we can go back to school. For

  example, I have been tempted for

  some time by the idea that I could

  enter the Faculty of Arts and, with

  a little effort, I could receive

  a scholarship and a retirement

  pension at the same time. What do

  you think?

  There are other colleagues thinking up new

  projects with you, not just me. Last year I was

  already interested in where it is possible to study

  history remotely in the Czech Republic. I would

  prefer to study it in Prague, but the extra-mural

  study programme that would suit me has not

  been open for several years. So we‘ll have to wait

  a bit, maybe when I retire!

  I‘d go to Pilsen! But we still have

  plenty of time to decide, and in the

  meantime we can write a few more

  articles and practice our editorial

  work. What are you writing now

  and when will it be published?

  Pilsen would be complicated for me. For the

  March issue of INFO Eduard magazine I am

  preparing a boxart story about one of Hannes

  Trautloft‘s fights on the Eastern Front in 1942.

  For REVI magazine I have an article about

  a German fighter pilot from WWI called Marwede.

  I think when he died in 1993 as a British citizen,

  he was the last surviving German WW1 fighter

  pilot. For REVI, I would also like to complete

  a book on Heinz Bär, which my colleague Martin

  Šíla and I have been working on for a long time.

  So hopefully it will be completed in 2024.

  Fingers crossed and thank you

  for the interview!

  Thank you too! Bunny Ho!

  INFO Eduard

  29

  January 2024

• Page 30

  ROZHOVOR

  INFO Eduard30

  January 2024

• Page 31

• Air War in Ukraine - Strengthening of Anti-Aircraft Defense before Winter

  The destruction of a Russian corvette, confirmation (or refutation) of several losses from previous months, and especially the reinforcement of Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense – all of this unfolded in connection with the air war in Ukraine from November 1 to November 31. On the ground, Russian forces attempted massive attacks throughout the month. However, despite significant losses in armored vehicles and manpower, they achieved only minimal territorial gains.

  Miro Barič

  Air War in Ukraine

  Strengthening of Anti-Aircraft Defense before Winter

  In the second half of November, it snowed in eastern Ukraine. This shot of Oksana was published on November 20.

  The destruction of a Russian corvette, confirmation (or refutation) of

  several losses from previous months, and especially the reinforcement

  of Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense – all of this unfolded in connection

  with the air war in Ukraine from November 1 to November 31. On the

  ground, Russian forces attempted massive attacks throughout the

  month. However, despite significant losses in armored vehicles and

  manpower, they achieved only minimal territorial gains.

  During the observed period, there were no

  known losses of Ukrainian aircraft or helicopters,

  whether on the ground or in the air. In early

  November, a previously unknown photo of two

  wrecks of Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopters surfaced.

  They were evidently transported to a dump from

  the crash site, and their loss occurred sometime

  in the past.

  Towards the end of the month, the Russians

  also boasted about the destruction of another

  Ukrainian Su-25 fighter at the Dolgintsevo

  airport near the city of Kryvyi Rih. In September

  and October, both this base and the Kulbakino

  airport near Mykolayiv had experienced several

  drone attacks using the new version of the Lancet

  drones on parked Ukrainian aircraft, including

  MiG-29s and Su-25s. While the initial attacks were

  surprising, the repeated ones raised questions

  about why the Ukrainians allowed it. A video

  released on November 30 may provide an answer,

  capturing a machine in hiding exploding after

  being hit by a drone. At first glance, it appears to

  be a Su-25 in digital camouflage with Ukrainian

  markings. However, closer inspection reveals

  inconsistencies, such as a missing antenna

  and only four underwing hardpoints, while

  a Su-25 should have five. The shadow of the front

  landing gear indicates significant simplification.

  The definitive proof that it is a decoy lies in the

  engine nacelles, which are entirely suspended

  under the wings, whereas in reality, they smoothly

  transition to the upper surface of the wings. The

  model perfectly fulfilled its role as bait, and the

  Russians needlessly wasted a Lancet drone on it.

  At the same time, it raises doubts about previous

  attacks. The first ones probably did target real

  aircraft, but with the repeated ones, it's not

  as certain.

  Older Losses

  On the Russian side, there were no losses

  during the observed period, but new information

  emerged about some previous losses. In Soledar,

  north of Bachmut, a new image showed the

  tail surfaces of a shot-down Su-24M with the

  designation RF-92025 and fuselage number

  "blue 48." The aircraft belonged to the 37th

  mixed aviation regiment and was likely shot

  down in the vicinity of Soledar in December

  2022. Some wreckage was then transferred

  to a residential area directly in the city.

  HISTORY

  Photos: Ukrainian

  armed forces,

  social media and

  other public sources

  INFO Eduard32

  January 2024

• Page 33

  The Air Force Command published a photo of the latest

  80K6KC1 Fenix-1 radar, which was developed in Ukraine

  and entered service in 2021.

  Tail of the Russian Su-24M with the designation

  RF-92025 and fuselage number "blue 48" in Soledar.

  Wrecks of two Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopters.

  Wreckage of Su-24M "blue 48" at the original location.

  A shot from a Russian video captures the attack

  of the Lancet drone on a dummy Su-25.

  Colonel Alexander Gal died in the Ukrainian drone

  attack on Kursk airport.

  When Russians are under Ukrainian attacks, they

  tend to claim that their anti-aircraft defense

  worked flawlessly, and all attacking drones

  (or missiles or projectiles with a flat trajectory)

  were destroyed. They often forget to mention how

  many were destroyed upon hitting the target...

  A rare confirmation that some losses occurred

  is the information about the death of Colonel

  Alexander Gala. He was a Su-30SM fighter pilot

  and the deputy commander for political affairs

  in the 14th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment.

  He died on the ground on September 24, 2023,

  during a Ukrainian drone attack on the Kursk

  airport.

  Footage also emerged of a heavily damaged

  Kamov Ka-52 helicopter, claiming it was a victim

  of ATACMS missile attack on the Berdyansk

  airport. With over 50 shrapnel holes in the

  fuselage and canopy, The Military Watch clarified

  the situation. The attack on Berdyansk occurred

  in mid-October, and the first photos of this

  helicopter appeared in September. It's a Ka-52

  with the designation RF-13442 and fuselage

  number "blue 50," which was irreparably

  damaged earlier and, after cannibalization of

  usable equipment, was sold to a private aviation

  museum at the Oreshkovo airport in the Russian

  Kaluga region. Thus, it ended up in the museum

  before the attack on Berdyansk.

  Destroyed Corvette

  This does not in any way diminish the

  effectiveness of Ukrainian attacks on distant

  targets, which occur on the regular basis. Let's

  mention one in particular, which took place on

  Saturday, November 4, in the city of Kerch on the

  eastern part of the occupied Crimea peninsula.

  In the Zaliv shipyards, the Russian corvette Askold

  was anchored, which had not yet been officially

  completed and commissioned. According to

  footage from the video, it was hit at least twice

  by Storm Shadow cruise missiles. The third

  explosion could have been either a third hit or an

  explosion of ammunition on board. Subsequently,

  a photograph emerged confirming that the ship

  was seriously, possibly irreparably damaged.

  The entire port side, roughly from a third of the

  vessel backward, is torn and scorched.

  The Askold corvette belongs to the Project

  22800 Karakurt class, representing modern

  ships and an example of how sanctions against

  Russia work. In this case, sanctions imposed

  after the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014

  have had an impact. Originally, Russia planned

  to build 18 of these corvettes and began building

  the first one in 2015. However, two corvettes

  were entirely canceled, and the completion of the

  remaining ones has been significantly delayed.

  So far, only four have been commissioned, and

  the fifth is undergoing trials. Another eight were

  launched several years ago, but they still lack all

  the necessary equipment. This also applied to

  the Askold corvette, whose commissioning was

  indefinitely postponed after the attack. Ships

  of this class have a length of 67 meters and

  a displacement of 820 tons. They carry a 100mm

  caliber gun and eight launchers for Kalibr cruise

  missiles.

  After all the previous Ukrainian attacks, the

  Russian Black Sea Fleet is left with seven

  surface ships and three submarines capable

  of launching Kalibr missiles. In the past, they

  routinely used them to shell Ukrainian cities.

  However, since September, they haven't done

  so. According to Ukrainian Navy representative

  Dmytro Pletenchuk, logistics issues are to blame.

  All infrastructure for storing Kalibr missiles and

  handling them was concentrated in the port of

  Sevastopol. However, after the Ukrainian attacks,

  the ships withdrew to Novorossiysk or smaller

  ports. These ports are not equipped to load Kalibr

  missiles into the warships' launchers. "Until they

  solve this problem, they can't attack from the

  sea. Or move to Sevastopol to load missiles. And

  that's dangerous for them," Pletenchuk told the

  Nexta channel.

  Shahid Drone Offensive

  Of course, the Russian side does not confirm

  this claim by the Ukrainian representative.

  In the case of other types of missiles, however,

  it was clear that the Russians were saving

  them for mass attacks on Ukrainian energy

  infrastructure. They did the same last winter.

  November brought increased intensity of

  Iranian Shahid 131 and 136 drone attacks. Russia

  launched a total of 374 of them onto Ukraine, the

  third-highest number for a single month so far.

  They even set a record – on the night of November

  25, they launched 75, the highest number in

  a single attack. However, it didn't help them much

  because Ukrainian air defense destroyed 74.

  Russians are not very satisfied with the Shahid

  drones. They had high expectations, but the

  success of Iranian kamikaze drones significantly

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

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  lagged behind. Moreover, according to the

  Obozrevatel server, they still struggle to start

  mass production of their version called Gerań

  and continue to depend on supplies from Iran.

  They are trying to test a new tactic at least. After

  mobile teams with anti-aircraft machine guns

  proved effective against Shahids, the Russians

  started sending them over impassable terrain

  – such as dense forests or swamps. Cars with

  machine guns have a lower chance of catching

  them. However, changing routes only extended

  the lifespan of Shahids in the Ukrainian sky,

  but it did not affect their success. There was

  a case when a Shahid flew over Ukraine for

  a full nine hours. However, as soon as the drones

  approach heavily defended targets, they are shot

  down.

  Iranian kamikaze drones also do not help

  weaken Ukrainian defenses because Ukraine

  does not use its most valuable missiles against

  them. The only benefit Russians get from them is

  that they help map the positions of air defenses.

  They can use this information in planning missile

  attacks. One unpleasant consequence for

  Ukraine during the observed period occurred in

  the Kherson region, where an important radar

  was revealed during a drone attack. Since it did

  not change its position, it was soon destroyed by

  the Russians.

  FrankenSAM Program

  However, Ukraine and its allies are not sitting

  idle in anticipation of the expected winter wave of

  Russian attacks. Germany has been particularly

  active, delivering another IRIS

  -

  T system and

  promising a Patriot system. Norway has also

  pledged additional NASAMS systems. In the case

  of IRIS

  -

  T, it is the most modern German air defense

  system, which Ukraine received even before the

  German armed forces. The first system arrived

  in October of the previous year, and the second

  was delivered in April. In both cases, it was

  the SLM medium-range version with a range of

  40 km horizontally and 20 km vertically. In August,

  Ukraine received two systems in the short-range

  SLS version with a range of 12 km horizontally

  and vertically. The fifth delivered IRIS

  -

  T system

  is again in the SLM version.

  The delivery of the first Patriot battery was

  announced by the USA a year ago in December.

  Germany delivered the second battery. Initially,

  both were deployed to defend Kyiv. Currently,

  one battery is stationed near the capital, and the

  other is near Odessa. Germany announced in the

  fall that it would deliver a third Patriot system

  battery to Ukraine during the winter.

  Approximately a year ago, the USA initiated

  a program unofficially called FrankenSAM.

  The last three letters stand for Surface-to-air

  missile, symbolizing the merging of various

  elements of different air defense systems

  into a new, consolidated one. This program

  The wreckage of the Ka-52 helicopter appeared in a private museum at Oreškovo airport in the Russian Kaluga region.

  The corvette Askold was destroyed by Storm Shadow

  missiles in the port of Kerch in Crimea.

  Against drones, Ukrainians use everything from machine guns to portable missiles (MANPADS)

  and anti-aircraft tanks Gepard.

  Ukrainian defenders respond to a night attack

  by Shahid drones.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard34

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• Page 35

  also includes the delivery of MIM-23 Hawk

  missiles, signifying the revival of an old system.

  The Hawk system dates back to the 1960s but

  has undergone continuous modernization.

  The United States retired it in 2002, but they still

  have enough missiles stored in warehouses.

  Currently, around 20 countries still use it and

  could supply it to Ukraine. Spain did so already

  in November of the previous year, providing its

  MIM-23 missiles in the Phase III version from

  the late '80s and early '90s. However, it turned

  out that the Spanish systems were in very poor

  technical condition and needed comprehensive

  repair and modernization. Now, the MIM-23 Hawk

  has arrived in Ukraine for the second attempt.

  The system has a range of 40 km horizontally and

  18 km vertically. Ukrainians used them for the

  first time on the night of October 22-23, shooting

  down several Shahid drones and one Ch-59

  cruise missile.

  Further projects within the FrankenSAM

  program are more complex. One was initiated by

  Ukrainians who had around 60 Buk launcher units

  but lacked missiles. They asked foreign partners

  if they could modify them for the use of Western

  missiles. American engineers modified them to

  be able to launch RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missiles.

  According to an article in the New York Times,

  this conversion took seven months, and currently,

  Americans can modify five Buk systems per

  month. The range of these missiles is 19 km.

  Ukraine also received AIM-9M Sidewinder

  missiles from the USA modified for ground use.

  Originally, they are short-range air-to-air missiles

  with infrared guidance. Details about their

  launching system are not yet known, but there

  is speculation that they could be launched from

  self-propelled Osa systems (NATO code name

  Gecko). Soviet radars, of which Ukraine has plenty,

  are supposed to take care of target acquisition.

  Even more interesting is the connection between

  old Soviet radars and American missiles in the

  latest known project from the FrankenSAM

  program. This time it involves Patriot missiles

  that the USA would deliver. Other allies would

  provide the launching systems. Testing is

  currently underway, and during the winter,

  Ukraine could receive Patriot missiles connected

  to Soviet radars. The first test of this combination

  took place in October at the rocket range in New

  Mexico, successfully destroying a target drone.

  Czech Trace

  Finally, let's mention one curiosity that is

  only remotely related to the air war but could be

  interesting for Czech and Slovak readers. The

  Ukrainian 241st Territorial Defense Brigade has

  included the Oksana self-propelled gun in its

  armament, based on the Tatra 815 chassis. This

  truck was manufactured in Czechoslovakia since

  1982, and a modified version is still produced

  in the Czech Republic nowadays. However,

  Ukrainians used the original vehicles with

  original cabins. Photos reveal versions AV-15,

  which was originally a crane vehicle, and version

  20-VP, a flatbed truck for container transport.

  On the deck of these 8x8 vehicles, Ukrainians

  mounted old Soviet 100 mm caliber anti-aircraft

  guns KS-19 dating back to 1947. Now, of course,

  they are not used for fighting aircraft but for

  shelling ground targets. Their range in this role is

  21 km. The advantage of the KS-19 cannons is that

  no other weapon uses 100mm caliber ammunition,

  so Ukrainians have plenty. The disadvantage is

  that this weapon requires a large crew and is

  also very heavy. For comparison, the American

  howitzer M777 caliber 155mm weighs 4.2 tons,

  while the KS-19 cannon weighs almost 10 tons.

  Old Maxim machine guns will also

  come into play.

  There are few shots of IRIS

  -

  T systems in Ukraine. If any are published,

  they conceal their place of deployment.

  The Ukrainian army aviation published a series of shots of Mi-8 helicopter winter operations.

  Ukrainian two-seater Su-27UB.

  Ukrainian self-propelled artillery Oksana

  on the chassis of Tatra 815 8x8 AV-15.

  This version of Oksana is on the chassis

  of Tatra 815 8x8 20-VP.

  An older photo of the Ukrainian S-300 system in action.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

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  BOXART STORY

  In mid-September 1942, Oblt. Hermann Graf,

  the commander of 9./JG 52, received Diamonds

  to the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and

  Swords for surpassing the 200 air victories

  mark. Propaganda didn't want such a media star

  to fall in combat or into enemy hands. Therefore,

  in late January 1943, Graf became commander

  of the operational training unit Erg. Gr. Ost in

  France. In this capacity, he finally got around

  to his passion, which was football. It was then

  that the red tulip marking first appeared on his

  Fw 190.

  Before the war, Graf was trying to qualify for

  the Germany national football team, and in the

  process he met the legendary German player

  Sepp Heberger for the first time. This footballer

  later became famous as coach of the West

  German national team that won the 1954 World

  Cup final, in a match later dubbed the “The

  Miracle of Bern”. In the second half, the German

  team completely outclassed the Hungarians,

  thanks to Adidas soccer cleats and probably

  also thanks to Pervitin, which was officially

  used by the German armed forces during the

  war.

  Graf and Heberger met again in 1941, when

  they organised the participation of first league

  footballers in a friendly match between the

  German military mission and the Romanian

  team. In early 1943, Graf tried to organize

  a football team to relax and increase physical

  fitness. His men, however, had little affinity for

  the sport. Though, he was soon approached by

  a soldier from a neighbour unit named Bruno

  Klaffke, a football player, and Graf quickly

  arranged for his transfer to his own unit.

  Heberger took advantage of Graf's contacts

  and gave him the idea of pulling top German

  footballers to Graf's unit. They were assigned to

  ground personnel and it saved a large number

  of them from death at the front. Heberger also

  helped Graf train them.

  Thus Graf's football team “Red Hunters” (Rote

  Jäger) was formed. They got the “red” nickname

  from the colour of the jerseys donated by

  a prominent German businessman. One of Graf's

  superiors was suspicious of his communist

  sympathies. Gradually, 20 first league players

  from Germany and Austria were concentrated

  on the Rote Jäger team. From August 1943

  to November 1943 they played a total of

  29 matches, 22 of them victorious. A detailed

  overview can be found here.

  When Graf became CO of the high-altitude

  fighter unit JG 50, he managed to take the

  football team with him. The same was repeated

  when he was appointed Kommodore of JG 1,

  later the players followed him to JG 11 and in

  October 1944 moved with him to the Eastern

  Front to JG 52. Graf at that time was unable

  to perform combat flights due to the effects of

  a serious injury and so he gradually recruited

  JG 52 aces for his Stab. They were Lt. Karl

  Gratz (138 v., KC), Oblt. Heinrich Füllgrabe

  (67 v., KC) and Lt. Anton Resch. Gratz became CO

  of 10./JG 52 in January 1945 and Füllgrabe was

  killed in late January 1945 after being hit by flak

  in a “Green 2”.

  Hermann Graf also provided his Stab with

  latest equipment. Although JG 52 is considered

  one of the German units that used exclusively

  Messerschmitt Bf 109s, Graf was the exception

  to this rule. In December 1944, in addition

  to eight Bf 109 G-14/U4s and one Bf 109 G-14,

  he had three Fw 190 A-9s, which outperformed

  the Messerschmitt at low level flights. However,

  Graf had one Focke-Wulf (unsuccessfully)

  converted to the DB 605 engine, much to the

  displeasure of his mechanics! No further

  records of the Fw 190 at Stab JG 52 are yet

  available.

  Of the approximately thirty victories achieved

  by the airmen of Stab JG 52 in 1945, mostly

  during the battles in Silesia, Anton Resch scored

  22. For achieving 88 kills he was awarded the

  Knight's Cross on 7 April and by the end of

  the war he had gained three more victories.

  In the last days of the war, Stab, I. and

  III./JG 52 moved to Deutschbrod (now Havlíčkův

  Brod, Czech Republic). Among the wreckage at

  this base probably ended up not only Hartmann's

  plane from I./JG 52 with a black tulip on the

  nose, but also several Bf 109 K-4s of the Stab

  JG 52 with red tulips and small fuselage numbers

  placed behind the cross. Graf's Stab JG 50

  aircraft were already similarly marked in 1943.

  In a private collection in the Czech Republic is

  part of the engine cowling of a K-4 which, apart

  from the camouflage in shades of grey, bears

  part of the red tulip . For a more detailed study

  of the fate of Hermann Graf I recommend the

  excellent publication Graf & Grislawski A Pair

  of Aces by Christer Bergström.

  Illustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz

  The Red Hunters

  Text: Jan Bobek

  #84197

  INFO Eduard36

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  #8114

  BOXART STORY

  The red-nosed blue aircraft with a white

  stylized winged sword on the sides of the

  fuselage became the real threat to Allied airmen

  from August 1917. Not only because its pilot, the

  commander of Jasta 14, Rudolf Berthold, posed

  a mortal danger to any adversary, but also

  because he was an exceptional leader with

  great ability to prepare his unit for combat.

  Berthold was a gutsy personality and quite

  an aggressive pilot. He often took his aircraft

  to their limits , and the vice of the Albatros D.III,

  the lower wing failures, was an unpleasant

  complication for him. Like other commanders,

  he had a personal spare aircraft of the same

  type. But while his better-known D.III came

  from the Albatros factory, the other one was

  the product of the O.A.W. factory. Little is known

  about this Albatros, only one photograph is

  known to us, showing it after an unspecified

  crash. It was not the lightest one, as the poor

  aircraft lost its undercarriage, the nose was

  badly damaged, the upper wing broken, and

  the lower wing was destroyed by contact

  with the ground. However, if Berthold himself

  flew the plane and did not lend it to someone

  else, then he probably escaped unharmed.

  There is no mention of any such crash even in

  Peter Kilduff's biographical book Iron Man.

  Berthold was wounded on April 24 while in

  command of Jasta 14. He had to take a break

  for treatment and convalescence until June

  15, when he rejoined the unit. But on August

  12 he learned that he was to take command

  of Jasta 18 and six days later he was cleared

  to fly again. The whole of Jasta 18, by then

  a unit with little success, had repainted their

  aircraft in Berthold's red and blue scheme, but

  the winged sword remained the commander's

  personal symbol.

  Berthold drilled his new unit from the start

  and within a short time he was able to increase

  both the combat morale and the tactical

  abilities of its pilots, and thus their combat

  success. Since August 21, he also increased his

  own score , which before his injury had stopped

  at 12,and during September 14 opponents fell

  victim to him! One of them was Lt. Bernard

  Alexander Powers of No. 19 Squadron RFC. The

  20-year-old young man, admittedly already

  a fairly experienced pilot, volunteered to go

  on a dangerous reconnaissance flight over

  enemy territory to find out the current position

  of two regiments of the German 30th Division,

  which were to counter-strike the positions of

  the British 33rd Division. For the Britons this

  was an extremely dangerous opponent, as

  the 30th Division was classified as first class,

  that is in full condition and with a wealth of

  combat experience. This could not be said of

  the British, who had shortly before relieved

  the 23rd Division. When a request came from

  headquarters for an aerial reconnaissance

  to reveal the German positions on September

  25, Powers started studying the maps while

  his mechanics prepared his Spad IX (B3520).

  As soon as he received his final instructions, he

  took off. It was 4:30 in the afternoon and the

  weather was less than ideal. Unfortunately

  for him, Rudolf Berthold, flying an Albatros

  D.III, was also in the area east of Ypres.

  We don't know which of his aircraft Berthold

  was flying, but this was the period in which he

  might have been using his spare aircraft, the

  one produced by O.A.W. (number unknown). Near

  the town of Geluveld, close to the road between

  Ypres and Menin, the German ace attacked

  from above and fired a precise fatal burst

  on the British pilot and his aircraft. The lone

  reconnaissance pilot, who quite possibly did not

  even realize the attack, crashed and Berthold

  scored his victory number 24. This situation is

  captured on the boxart for the Albatros D.III kit

  (Cat. No. 8114) by Antonis Karydis.

  Just two weeks later, while leading his pilots

  into one of their many battles, the commander

  of Jasta 18 suffered a serious injury to his right

  arm, which until that moment he claimed was

  his only limb still uninjured. A bullet, probably

  fired by Capt. Gerald Maxwell of No. 56 Squadron

  RFC, ricocheted in the cockpit and devastated

  his right humerus. Berthold was flying a Pfalz

  D.III (probably No. 4004/17) on this flight and

  while single-handed, he was able to get his

  aircraft back to the airfield and land safely.

  Only then he collapsed and was transported

  unconscious to the hospital in Courtrai, where

  he began his harrowing journey to recovery,

  which never ended.

  Berthold's 24th casualty was reported to

  have had one kill on July 29, 1917. With his

  wingman Lt. Francis Behrens, Powers fought

  with fighters from Jasta 29. It ended in a draw;

  Powers shot down one of his opponents, while

  his wingman was shot down by Vzfw. Misch.

  Text: Richard Plos

  Illustration: Antonis Karydis

  Unsuspecting victim

  INFO Eduard

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  BOXART STORY #7059

  ‘One day you’re up, the next you’re down’ is not only

  a rule of thumb description of the job of a pilot, but

  also a general rule about the cycle of life's successes

  and failures…

  The most successful 216th IAD V

  -

  PVO in the

  Korean War was the 518th ‘Berlin’ IAP. The pilots of

  this regiment shot down 38 enemy aircraft in the

  skies over Korea and damaged another 26, at the

  cost fifteen aircraft and five pilots of their own. Only

  one of the regiment's pilots achieved ace status

  and was the only one in the division to receive the

  highest Soviet honor, the title of Hero of the Soviet

  Union. It was Mikhail Mikhin, the deputy of eskadrilya

  commander for the flight training.

  Mikhail Ivanovich Mikhin was born on October

  25th, 1923 in the village of Borovoye in the Altai

  Region. After graduating from the Orenburg Aviation

  School and the Stalingrad Higher Military Aviation

  School, he joined the 4th ZAB (Reserve Aviation

  Brigade) of the North Caucasus Military District in

  December, 1944 as an instructor. He was transferred

  to the 518th IAP in January, 1946.

  It was st. Lt. Mikhin who started the combat

  success of the 518th IAP in Korea on August 19th,

  1952 by shooting down an F-86 Sabre. His claim to

  fame came in September of the same year. During

  the five days from September 4th to the 9th,

  he added three more Sabers and one F-84 Thunderjet

  to earn him ace status. By the end of September,

  he added another pair of Sabers (September 12th

  and September 29th) and one Thunderjet (September

  18th). For these impressive results, IAD Command

  recommended he be awarded the title of Hero of

  the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, the overall picture

  of the fighting was not very favorable at that time,

  so the headquarters of the 64th IAK suspended the

  award proposal. As ‘compensation’, Mikhin received

  the Order of Lenin and was specially promoted to the

  rank of captain, a method not a commonly done.

  However, after the successes of September, things

  began to grind down. Not that Mikhin began to lose

  his touch - pilots led by him successfully performed

  all combat tasks assigned to them. But even

  a Commander at times hits a cold streak – perhaps,

  in this case, as the result of a psychological block

  from the disappointment of not being awarded the

  HSU (although, of course, Soviet propaganda always

  claimed that ‘a Soviet soldier does not fight for

  honors’).

  After almost nine months, on May 18th, 1953,

  he finally regained his touch. That day, the pilots of

  the 518th IAP again faced off against their old friends

  from the US 39th FIS, 51st FIW. Captain Joseph

  M. McConnell Jr. bagged his 14th and 15th kills that

  morning, making him the most successful American

  ace of the Korean War. In the second battle of the

  day, McConnell scored his 16th and final victory by

  shooting down the MiG of 2nd eskadrilya Commander

  kpt. Stadnik. Stadnik ejected from the burning MiG.

  The second kill of this battle was scored by the

  commander of the 39th FIS, Lt. Col. Radell, making

  him the 31st ace of the US Air Force in the Korean War

  (his victim, the pilot of the 3rd eskadrilya, Lt. Rybakov,

  died in the cockpit of his plane).

  However, the pilots of the 518th IAP did not owe

  anything to the aces of the 39th FIS and also sent two

  Sabers to the ground. One of them was attributed to

  Mikhail Mikhin, who stated in his report:

  ‘Att.Unit Commander P/P142192. I report that on

  18/05/1953 at 1355h during air combat in the area

  east of Siodzia, 35-40 km, an enemy aircraft of the

  F-86 type was shot down by me under the following

  circumstances:

  Flying on a 300 degree heading at 13,500m

  I discovered four F-86s on a collision course

  1000m below. I approached with a right half-turn

  and attacked the leader of the second pair. From

  a distance of 1000m at an angle of 2/4 right, I opened

  fire. The intended target escaped the attack below

  the leading pair. I repeated the attack from the top

  left and from a distance of 700-800m at P = 1/4

  opened fire again. The enemy aircraft made a sharp

  turn to the left and went into a descent. I started my

  attack on the lead of the first pair with a slight climb

  but I was attacked and fired upon by the wingman of

  the second pair, and was forced to break off using

  a right combat turn. During the shooting, I observed

  hits to the left wing and to the fuselage. According to

  the observation of my wingman the enemy aircraft

  did not come out of the dive. I believe the enemy F-86

  aircraft was shot down. According to the deciphered

  data, the enemy plane was hit. kpt M. Mikhin.'

  This kill was confirmed by other sources:

  ‘On May 18th, 1953, at 1430 - 1530h (Pongyang time),

  an aerial battle took place over the Yen-pyen District

  area, and the plane exploded midair. I confirm

  this. 05/27/1953 Sinchisyu Police Chief Major Tsoi

  Chu-Hak.’

  The armistice, signed on July 27, 1953, came into

  effect with Mikhail Ivanovich Mikhin holding the

  rank of mayór and the title of Hero of the Soviet

  Union, which was awarded to him by decree of the

  Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on July

  14th, 1953. In total, during his stay in Korea, he flew

  140 sorties, participated in 39 air battles, in which

  he personally shot down nine enemy aircraft and

  damaged another three.

  Illustration: Adam Tooby

  The Long Wait

  Text: Libor Špůrek

  INFO Eduard38

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• Page 39

  #84172

  BOXART STORY

  On September 11, 1944, one of the wildest

  days of the Allied strategic bombing offensive

  over Germany, the 352nd Fighter Group

  escorted the last combat boxes in the bomber

  stream of the 3rd Bombardment Division of the

  8th Air Force.

  At around 1150h, pilots of the 328th FS

  spotted a group of around thirty German

  fighters located about halfway between them

  and an unspecified group of American bombers.

  The latter were most likely B-17s from the

  1st Bomb Division headed for Merseburg/

  Lützkendorf. The squadron leader, Lt. Col. John

  C. Meyer, later reported:

  ‘They were pulling

  contrails and appeared to be forming up. We

  headed towards them and as we got closer

  they dove out of contrails level in ones and

  twos. Contrail level was 28000´plus. At 29000´,

  I identified them as Me 109s and attacked one

  as he headed down in a 60° dive. The whole

  squadron then engaged small groups of the

  E/A after their original gaggle had been split up.

  At about 17000´ the E/A I was chasing leveled

  off and I closed rapidly. He saw me and started

  in a steep climbing turn, my first burst was

  about 20° deflection at 300 yards. I observed

  few hits. I closed on him in the climbing turn

  and at 30° deflection and 200 yards I got hits on

  the rear portion of his fuselage, pieces coming

  off. He split S´d, recovered and turned into me.

  I had little difficulty in overtaking and in turning

  inside of him. At 20° and 300 yards I got good

  strikes on wing root and E/A started to smoke.

  It rolled over and crashed straight into the

  deck from 8000´. Pilot seemed inexperienced,

  his breaks were conspicuously non-violent.

  He was hesitant in all his maneuvers.’

  John C. Meyer did not get the described

  kill while in the cockpit of his iconic Mustang

  s/n 44-14151 HO

  -

  M, named ‘Petie 2nd’, which

  remained on the ground. Good fortune on this

  day was bestowed on Meyer by a borrowed, and

  a little orphaned, Mustang named ‘Stardust’,

  which carried the serial 44-13597 and code

  HO

  -

  F, who’s pilot, Lt. William E. Fowler, had just

  completed a combat tour.

  After getting that first kill of the day,

  Lt. Col. Meyer felt a little abandoned. He spotted

  another group of German fighters, made up

  of around fifteen Bf 109s and Fw 190s, a little

  higher than himself in altitude and further

  to the northwest. He climbed about 2,000

  feet above the level of his foes and attacked

  a mixed pair of aircraft, one of each type:

  ‘They

  had belly tanks and appeared to be forming

  up. I approached them from out of the sun

  and attacked the #2 of a pair of E/A that were

  farthest from the mass. I fired at 15° deflection

  from 300 yards to point blank range. The E/A

  burst into flames, I broke into the sun, cleared

  my tail and attacked the element leader, at

  300 yards I got few strikes on his right wing tip

  and he broke. As he broke I got strikes in the

  vicinity of the cockpit and wing roots. The E/A

  rolled over and spiraled down, crashing into

  the ground.’

  Shortly afterwards, Meyer spotted his

  final victim of this fight:

  ‘A lone Me 109 was

  emerging from a cloud in the vicinity of the

  large enemy gaggle. And as I was not yet under

  attack, I attacked the E/A. Only my right wing

  guns were now firing so I opened at 200 yards

  and no deflection closing to point blank range

  and 10° deflection. I saw strikes all over the

  E/A and pieces flew off the tail and fuselage.

  He caught fire at his left wing root. I broke off

  the attack and headed for the deck and home.’

  The combat that lasted only a few minutes

  brought Lt. Col. Meyer the rare triumph of

  four kills. The drama, though, was not at its

  end. After his last kill, pretty much out of

  ammunition and his fuel reserves leaving much

  to be desired, he turned for home and dropped

  down to a lower altitude where he would be

  safer. At that point, he spotted two Bf 109s

  below him that glued themselves to his tail.

  For a short period of time, he set his throttle to

  emergency boost and began climbing again at

  a rate of 980 ft per minute. The enemy aircraft

  pursued him at a distance of almost 330 yd,

  and still 100 to 120 yd from below. Every now

  and again, they would be able to lift their noses

  up and get off a few rounds, but to Meyer’s

  luck, without success. This unlikely group flew

  almost 100 miles between Kassel and Bonn,

  and when they reached the Rhine, the German

  pilots turned back.

  During his WWII combat tour, John C.

  Meyer achieved 24 confirmed aerial victories.

  He passed away on December 2, 1975, at the

  age of 56, holding the rank of General. The full

  story about this combat can be read in Info

  02/2021, in the article 'Stardust: Four Trips

  To Hell On a Borrowed Horse.

  Text: Jan Zdiarský

  Illustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz

  Until the last bullet

  INFO Eduard

  39

  January 2024

• Page 40

  #2144

  GUSTAV pt.1

  1/72

  The Limited edition of the kit of the famous German WWII fighter aircraft Bf 109G in 1/72 scale. The kit

  offers aircraft of G-5 and G-6 versions. Marking selection covers all fronts of WWII where these “Gustavs”

  were fighting including airplanes from the Ilmavoimat (Finish Air Force), Italian Aeronautica Nazionale

  Repubblicana and Slovak aircraft from National Urprising.

  plastic parts: Eduard

  marking options: 14

  decals: Eduard

  PE parts: yes, pre-painted

  painting mask: yes

  resin parts: no

  Product page

  KITS 01/2024

  INFO Eduard40

  January 2024

• Page 41

  Bf 109G-5, WNr. 27119, Uffz. Gerhard Kroll, Ofw. Friedrich Ungar,

  Fw. Emil Hecker 9./JG 54, Ludwigslust, Germany, February 1944

  Bf 109G-5, WNr. 26082, Flg. Victor Widmaier, 7./JG 11, Oldenburg,

  Germany, October 1943

  The aircraft WNr. 27119 was flown by three

  different pilots of the 9./JG 54. These were

  Uffz. Gerhard Kroll, Ofw. Friedrich Ungar and

  Fw. Emil Hecker. The upper surfaces of this

  aircraft were painted with irregular patches of

  light color, probably RLM 76. The layout of the

  original camouflage fields was based on the Erla

  factory pattern. The wide blue band was marking

  of JG 54 machines. The III. Gruppe emblem

  of this Jagdgeschwader is located on the sides

  of the fuselage under the cockpit. The devil's

  head, photographically documented only on the

  left side of the engine cowling, was used by the

  9. Staffel. This machine had gun cameras mounted

  in the leading edge of the wing. She was lost on

  April 8, 1944, when Uffz. Gerhard Kroll was shot

  down and wounded near Lüneburg. This aviator

  did not record any victories during his career but

  was shot down several times and suffered burns

  three times.

  This aircraft belonged to JG 11 but was also flown

  by members of JG 300 as part of Wilde Sau tactics.

  Note the black paint on the lower right wing.

  The camouflage scheme was sprayed on the

  pattern used on the Bf 109G at the Erla factory

  in Leipzig. Flg. Victor Widmaier scored his first

  victory with this aircraft when he shot down

  a B-17 bomber on October 2, 1943. By the end

  of 1943, he had destroyed three more bombers

  of this type and in early January he scored

  a victory over a P-38. After III./JG 11 was rearmed

  with Fw 190s in February, Widmaier scored

  a victory over a B-17 and a P-47 on February 10,

  but suffered injuries after hit from another P-47

  and bailed out of. He landed about 200 meters

  from the American pilot, who also bailed out by

  parachute. Widmaier underwent a surgery on the

  same evening, but after only two weeks he forced

  his return to the unit. He learned the pilot he had

  shot down fallen into captivity. It was probably

  a 20-year-old 2nd Lt. Merrill W. De Merit, Jr. of the

  361st FG, 356th FG, who was on his fourth combat

  flight. Victor Widmaier died in 2011.

  KITS 01/2024

  INFO Eduard

  41

  January 2024

• Page 42

  Bf 109G-5/U2, WNr. 27112, Maj. Walther Dahl, CO of III./JG 3, Bad Wörishofen,

  Germany, December 1943

  Bf 109G-5, WNr. 110047, Ofw. Hanns-Werner Gross, 1./JG 300,

  Bonn-Hangelar, Germany, March 1944

  Walther Dahl was born on March 27, 1916, in

  Lug. On May 1, 1939, he joined the Luftwaffe

  and became a fighter pilot. In May 1941, he was

  transferred to JG 3. Dahl achieved his first victory

  on June 22, 1941, in the Soviet Union and his last

  on April 26, 1945. On July 20, 1943, he became

  commander of III./JG 3 on the Eastern Front.

  In August his unit moved to Western Europe, at

  that time armed with Bf 109G-6s. In October his

  unit also received three G-5 version aircraft and

  by the end of the year the number had increased to

  nine. His rudder shows 52 Eastern Front victories

  instead of the 51 he was credited with. Images

  of the aircraft were taken sometimes between

  October 14 and December 19, 1943, during which

  time it achieved its fourth and fifth victories

  against American bombers. His total score was

  128 kills, and he was awarded the Knight’s Cross

  with Oak Leaves. Bf 109G-5 WNr. 27112 has RLM 76

  paint on all surfaces, only the right, lower half of

  the wing is black. Maj. Walther Dahl survived the

  war and died on November 25, 1985.

  This unusual camouflage scheme was seen on

  several JG 300 aircraft. These were deployed

  for night operational flights. The upper surfaces

  were painted over with RLM 76 and grey wavy

  lines. The exact shade used for the waves is

  unknown, but it was probably RLM 75 or RLM 74.

  The bottom surfaces were black. Hanns-Werner

  Gross was apparently shot down in this aircraft

  (WNr. 110047) over Pfungstadt near Darmstadt

  on March 18, 1944. His conqueror was probably

  a Mustang pilot from the 4th FG. Gross landed in

  a treetop on a parachute and was hanging some

  15 meters above the ground in a landscape where

  there were hardly any trees. He lost his shoes

  during the jump. Soldiers, who at first thought

  him an enemy, helped him down and villagers

  found both his shoes. Gross continued to serve

  in I./JG 300 and in the last months of the war he

  converted for Me 262 jet.

  KITS 01/2024

  INFO Eduard42

  January 2024

• Page 43

  Bf 109G-6, WNr. 20499, Lt. Erich Hartmann, CO of 9./JG 52,

  New Zaporozhye, the Soviet Union, October 1943

  Bf 109G-6, WNr. 20272, Oblt. Heinrich Klöpper, CO of 7./JG 1,

  Rheine, Germany, November 1943

  With this aircraft, Erich Hartmann shot down his

  121th victim on October 2, 1943. The same number

  of kills was also painted on the aircraft’s rudder.

  The red heart with the inscription Karaya was the

  emblem of the 9. Staffel of JG 52, which Hartmann

  commanded at the time. The white inscription

  Dicker Max in the heart can be translated

  as “Big Show”. The aircraft was built at the Wiener

  Neustadt Werke factory in a tropical finish and

  had hatches for the sunshade on the left side

  of the fuselage under the cockpit. It has been

  used extensively and had its camouflage repaired

  several times. Erich Hartmann became the most

  successful fighter ace not only in the Luftwaffe,

  but also in the history of aviation. He achieved

  his first victory on November 5, 1942 and his last

  victim number 352 was a Yak-9 shot down on May

  8, 1945. Hartmann scored all of his victories on

  the Eastern Front. After the surrender he was

  captured by American troops, but they handed

  him over to the Soviets who sentenced him

  to 25 years of forced labor. After ten years he

  was repatriated to Germany and participated in

  the rebirth of the German Air Force. Hartmann

  became the recipient of the then highest German

  war decoration when he was awarded the

  Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and

  Diamonds on August 25, 1944.

  A native of Peine in Lower Saxony, born on

  January 9, 1918 and future Knight’s Cross winner

  Heinrich Klöpper took part in the ranks of JG 77

  in the Battle of France and in the Battle of Britain.

  He achieved one victory during both campaigns.

  After the start of Operation Barbarossa,

  as a member of the 11. Staffel of JG 51, he shot

  down another 80 enemy fighters between June

  22, 1941 and November 1943. In early November

  1943, he took command of the 7. Staffel JG 1,

  which was assigned to the Reich Defense Force

  (Reichsverteidigung). In this unit he shot down

  five four-engine B-17s, one B-24, and two P-38s.

  He was killed on November 29, 1943, when he

  was hit in the cockpit of his Messerschmitt

  during a dogfight with two P-38s over Vollenhove,

  the Netherlands. Some tactical formation

  commanders had the vertical tail surfaces spray-

  painted white for quicker identification of the

  leader in combat. The rudder bears the symbols

  of Klöpper’s victories.

  KITS 01/2024

  INFO Eduard

  43

  January 2024

• Page 44

  Bf 109G-6, WNr.18502 or 18503, Hptm. Horst Carganico,

  CO of II./JG 5, Pskov-South, the Soviet Union, early 1944

  Bf 109G-6 Trop, WNr. 27169, Fw. Heinrich Bartels, 11./JG 27,

  Kalamaki, Greece, November 1943

  Horst Carganico was born on September 27,

  1917 in Breslau (Wroclaw in Poland nowadays).

  The first combat unit to which the then twenty-

  two-year-old Lt. Carganico joined was JG 1

  at the beginning of the war. This was followed by

  a return to Norway on January 1, 1941, where he

  served as commander of 1./JG 77. On September

  25, 1941, Carganico was awarded the Knight’s

  Cross after achieving his 27th victory. In March

  1942 Carganico’s unit was renamed 6./JG 5, but

  by April 1942 he had already taken command

  of the entire II. Gruppe. On March 26, 1944,

  he was appointed commander of I./JG 5, which

  participated in the fighting against the Allies as

  part of the Defense of the Reich. On May 27 of that

  year Major Carganico flew his last sortie. During

  an attack on a B-17 formation his Bf 109G-5 was

  badly damaged, hitting a high tension power line

  while attempting an emergency landing. He did

  not survive the crash near the French town of

  Chevry. Carganico’s total score stands at sixty

  kills in 600 missions. The camouflage of his

  aircraft was painted over with white and RLM 70

  on the upper surfaces. Under the cockpit was the

  marking of II./JG 5 aircraft on both sides. On the

  left side of the fuselage behind the cockpit was

  Carganico’s personal emblem – Mickey Mouse

  dragging his boots with dates commemorating

  the pilot’s returns to the unit after emergency

  landings behind enemy lines. On the right side

  of the fuselage, there was probably the marking

  of the Gruppe commander – a double chevron

  and a horizontal bar.

  Austrian Heinrich Bartels was born on July 13,

  1918, in Linz. He began his career as a fighter pilot

  over the English Channel, where as a member

  of the Erg./JG 26, he shot down two Spitfires in

  August 1941. He then went on to the ranks of JG 5

  in northern Europe, where he scored 47 victories

  against the Soviet air force. The remainder of his

  99 victories came in the ranks of JG 27. Fateful to

  Bartels was an encounter with American fighters

  on December 23, 1944. He managed to shoot down

  one of the Thunderbolts, but he did not return to

  the base. The wreckage of his aircraft was not

  found until a quarter of a century later in January

  1968. An unused parachute was found in the

  cockpit, which is now on display at the Deutsches

  Technikmuseum in Berlin. Bartels’ Bf 109G-6

  is shown as it was captured in photographs

  taken on the occasion of scoring his 70th kill.

  The photographs can thus be dated to November

  15, 1943. A total of 70 Abschussbalken (victory

  marks) are painted on the rudder along with

  the Knight’s Cross, which Bartels had received

  a year earlier, on November 13, 1942. The sawtooth

  border of camouflage paint on the upper surface

  of the wing is typical of some of the aircraft

  produced at the Erla factory in 1943.

  KITS 01/2024

  INFO Eduard44

  January 2024

• Page 45

  Bf 109G-6 Trop, Oblt. Alfred Grislawski, CO of 1./JG 50,

  Wiesbaden-Erbenheim, Germany, September 1943

  Bf 109G-6, WNr. 18107, Uffz. Georg Amon, 7./JG 53, Torazzo, Sicily, June 1943

  Alfred Grislawski was born on November 2, 1919,

  in Wanne-Eickel in the Ruhr. Jagdgeschwader

  50 was formed on August 15, 1943, by renaming

  the Jagdgeschwader Süd, which had already

  been engaged in the pursuit of reconnaissance

  Mosquitos flying at high altitudes since July 21.

  However, only its I. Gruppe was formed. It was led

  by Hermann Graf, who was also the force behind

  the creation of the Gruppe emblem painted on

  the left side of the fuselage below the cockpit.

  The figure of the Roten Jäger (the Red Hunter)

  symbolized the Luftwaffe football team, in which

  Graf played together with a number of the German

  national team at the time, and which was known

  as die Roten Jäger. Alfred Grislawski commanded

  the 1. Staffel of this unit, as evidenced by the

  white-colored tail, reserved for the commanders

  of the combat formations. JG 50 existed for

  a relatively short period of time, becoming part of

  I./JG 301 in October 1943. Grislawski then served

  with JG 1 and JG 53, increasing his score to 133

  victories by the end of the war. His achievements

  earned him the Knight’s Cross, which he was

  awarded on July 1, 1943. On April 11, 1944,

  he received the Oak leaves.

  Georg Amon was born on July 1, 1920.

  He joined the Luftwaffe in 1941 and began fighter

  training in January 1942. In September 1942,

  he was assigned to 7./JG 53, which was then

  in the African theater. In the summer of 1943,

  the Luftwaffe was under great pressure from

  Allied air raids, resulting in the withdrawal

  from the African theatre of operations and the

  subsequent capture of Sicily as German forces

  retreated to Italy. This aircraft was manufactured

  in April or early May 1943 at the Messerschmitt

  plant in Regensburg. The camouflage of RLM

  74, 75 and 76 colors was complemented by

  splotches of RLM 02 on the fuselage sides.

  The color of the limbs of the Spade floating in the

  boat is not completely confirmed, the blue color

  is based on the theory that der Seemann (sailor),

  which was Amon’s nickname, wore blue clothing.

  The aircraft was lost on July 3, 1943, when Uffz.

  Walter Reinicke was shot down flying it, falling

  in captivity. In January 1944, Georg Amon began

  working as a fighter instructor in the south of

  France. The last day of Georg Amon’s wartime

  career was April 2, 1945. He was shot down by

  American anti-aircraft half-track fire. He jumped

  from a low-flying, burning aircraft. With serious

  burns, he was captured and survived the war.

  Georg Amon achieved nine victories.

  KITS 01/2024

  INFO Eduard

  45

  January 2024

• Page 46

  Bf 109G-6, WNr. 19456, Oberst Hannes Trautloft, Stab General der Jagdflieger,

  the Soviet Union, August 1943

  Bf 109G-6, WNr. 163627, ylikersantti Leo Ahokas, 3/HLeLv 24,

  Lappeenranta, Finland, June 1944

  This aircraft was originally manufactured as the

  Bf 109G-4 with the factory code CL+OQ and was

  assigned to 6./JG 27 in the Mediterranean. After

  being severely damaged at Trapani on May 10,

  1943, it was converted to the G-6 version during

  an overhaul and accepted by the Stab of General

  der Jagdflieger Adolf Galland. In the summer and

  autumn of 1943, the plane was used by Oberst

  Trautloft, the inspector for fighter units on the

  Eastern Front. The aircraft bore a markings

  that tied it to JG 54, the unit he was previously

  commanding. However, Günther Lützow, then

  inspector for fighter units in the West and MTO,

  was also photographed in its cockpit. Hannes

  Trautloft began his fighting career in the Spanish

  Civil War. There he flew the Bf 109 and was

  instrumental in developing the tactics for the

  deployment of this type. He also flew in the Polish

  campaign and the French campaign. During each

  conflict he scored at least one victory. On August

  25, 1940, he became commander of the newly

  formed JG 54. Trautloft’s overall record totals

  58 victories, and he was able to pin the Knight’s

  Cross on July 27, 1941. The aircraft bears the

  standard RLM 74/75/76 camouflage scheme, with

  splotches of what was probably RLM 70 green

  paint on the fuselage

  Leo Ahokas was born on April 25, 1915, in Jaakkima,

  Karelia, a town annexed by the then Soviet Union

  in 1940. He received pilot training from 1936–1937,

  and after mobilization at the start of the Winter

  War was sent to training unit T

  -

  LentoR 2, then in

  February 1940 to LLv 24, armed with Hurricanes

  and Brewsters. He was demobilized after the end

  of the Winter War. He joined LLv 32 for further

  military service on June 3, 1941, later LLv 24

  armed with American Brewsters. In 1943, this unit

  received Messerschmitts Bf 109G. Ylikersantti

  Ahokas demobilized on November 10, 1944, and

  worked as a driver in civilian life. He died on

  October 25, 1988. During the Continuation War he

  flew a total of 189 combat sorties and shot down

  12 enemy aircraft. The standard-camouflaged

  Bf 109G-6 from the Messerschmitt factory in

  Regensburg was supplemented with the yellow

  recognition markings of the machines from the

  Eastern Front after being assigned to the Finnish

  Air Force. On the rudder it bore the new emblem

  HLeLv 24, the head of a lynx.

  KITS 01/2024

  INFO Eduard46

  January 2024

• Page 47

  Bf 109G-6, WNr. 163162, 2

  a

  Squadriglia, 2

  o

  Gruppo Caccia, Verona-Villafranca,

  Italy, October 1944

  Bf 109G-6, WNr. 161742, Rtk. Rudolf Božik, Combined Flight, Slovak National Uprising,

  Tri Duby airflield, Slovakia, September 1944

  The Aeronautica Nazionalle Repubblicana (ANR)

  was the air force possessed by the Italian

  Socialist Republic, which was formed in late

  September 1943 in the northern part of Italy and

  was an ally of the German Third Reich. At first

  the ANR deployed Italian-built fighters, later

  receiving German Bf 109Gs. From October 1944,

  the 109s bore a combination of German insignia

  and the insignia of the Italian Socialist Republic.

  On the nose was painted a cartoon of a red devil,

  emblem of 2a Squadriglia, which was called

  Diavoli Rossi.

  Rudolf Božík was born on July 10, 1920,

  in Hrnčiarovce nad Parnou. In January 1940,

  he voluntarily enlisted in the Slovak army and

  completed his basic military and pilot training in

  Piešťany. In June 1943 he was sent to the Eastern

  Front. He flew with the Letka 13 (Squadron

  13, subordinated to II./JG 52) in Anapa, over

  Kuban and the Black Sea. On July 26, 1943, he

  achieved his first two kills. He scored six more

  by September 26, 1943, on that day he crashed

  during takeoff and suffered a severe spinal injury.

  At the end of October 1943, he was transported

  to Slovakia for treatment. From January 31, 1944,

  he served at Vajnory airfield, again in Letka 13,

  which was withdrawn from the Eastern Front

  to defend Bratislava from American air raids.

  On June 26, 1944, he damaged one B-17, but in

  dogfights with American escorts, Letka 13 was

  decimated. Only four Bf 109G-6s could be used for

  the Slovak National Uprising (SNP). The Bf 109G-6

  had the standard Mtt Regensburg RLM 74/75/76

  camouflage. The original Slovakian crosses were

  oversprayed with insurgent markings. The red

  section was always on the right. The markings

  on the wing had a red outline, sometimes

  a blue outline is mentioned, so both variants are

  offered in the decal. The insignia on the tail have

  a blue outline. Božik is credited with three kills of

  German aircraft during the SNP. After the SNP he

  was transported to the USSR and joined the 2nd

  Czechoslovak Fighter Aviation Regiment.

  KITS 01/2024

  INFO Eduard

  47

  January 2024

• Page 48

  BUILT

  Built by Robert Szwarc

  #2144

  MARKING D

  1/72

  Product page

  INFO Eduard48

  January 2024

• Page 49

  BUILT

  Bf 109G-5, WNr. 110047, Ofw. Hanns-Werner Gross, 1./JG 300, Bonn-Hangelar, Germany, March 1944

  This unusual camouflage scheme was seen on

  several JG 300 aircraft. These were deployed

  for night operational flights. The upper surfaces

  were painted over with RLM 76 and grey wavy

  lines. The exact shade used for the waves

  is unknown, but it was probably RLM 75 or

  RLM 74. The bottom surfaces were black.

  Hanns-Werner Gross was apparently shot

  down in this aircraft (WNr. 110047) over

  Pfungstadt near Darmstadt on March 18, 1944.

  His conqueror was probably a Mustang pilot

  from the 4th FG. Gross landed in a treetop on

  a parachute and was hanging some 15 meters

  above the ground in a landscape where there

  were hardly any trees. He lost his shoes during

  the jump. Soldiers, who at first thought him an

  enemy, helped him down and villagers found

  both his shoes. Gross continued to serve in

  I./JG 300 and in the last months of the war

  he converted for Me 262 jet.

  INFO Eduard

  49

  January 2024

• Page 50

  Recommended:

  for Bf 109G-5 and G-6 1/72

  672324 Bf 109 SC250 bomb (Brassin)

  672329 Bf 109 balance weights PRINT (Brassin)

  672338 Bf 109G undercarriage legs BRONZE (Brassin)

  672344 Bf 109G radio compartment PRINT (Brassin)

  672346 Bf 109G propeller PRINT (Brassin)

  672347 Bf 109G-5/G-6 cockpit PRINT (Brassin)

  672348 Bf 109G-5/G-6 wheels PRINT (Brassin)

  672349 WGr.21 for Bf 109G PRINT (Brassin)

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  Bf 109G-5/6

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  OVERLEPT OVERLEPT

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  INFO Eduard50

  January 2024

• Page 51

  1/48

  Bf 109K-4

  The Weekend edition kit of German WWII fighter aircraft

  Bf 109K-4 in 1/48 scale.

  plastic parts: Eduard

  marking options: 4

  decals: Eduard

  PE parts: no

  painting mask: no

  resin parts: no

  #84197

  Product page

  KITS 01/2024

  INFO Eduard

  51

  January 2024

• Page 52

  WNr. 332529, Stab JG 52, Deutsch Brod, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, May 1945

  WNr. 330204, Hptm. Franz Mentzel, 9./JG 77, Neuruppin, Germany,

  November 1944

  At the end of the war, at least three Bf 109s

  with a tulip pattern on the nose were found at

  the Deutsch Brod base (Havlíčkův Brod today).

  The surviving engine cowling bears a grey paint

  and red tulip marking. These were apparently

  the machines of the Stab JG 52, commanded by

  Kommodore Hermann Graf, who had the same

  markings in 1943 with JG 50. When Oberst Graf

  became CO of JG 52 in October 1944, he introduced

  the same markings to his Stab planes, including

  the green fuselage numbers. Graf brought two

  wingmen to his Stab, Lt. Anton Resch and Oblt.

  Heinrich Füllgrabe (67 victories; KC holder),

  who was killed in January 1945 on the “green 2”.

  By the end of the war, Resch had scored most of

  the victories of Stab JG 52, so it is possible that

  he also flew 332529. He was awarded the Knight’s

  Cross in early April 1945 and achieved a total of 91

  victories during 210 combat sorties. The fuselage

  number was probably green, but the decal also

  offers a black variant. Fuselage was painted in

  RLM 74 and RLM 75 with yellow-grey version

  of RLM 76. Vertical tail was painted in darker

  version of RLM 74 and 75, the RLM 74 had a tinge

  of green. Wing was painted with lighter shade of

  colors RLM 74, 75 and 76.

  In October 1944, III./JG 77 became the first

  Luftwaffe fighter unit to be completely re-

  equipped with the Bf 109K-4. They received

  68 of these aircraft. Its commander was the

  experienced JG 77 veteran Major Armin Köhler

  (40 victories, KC). Its 9. Staffel was newly

  established in November 1944 and the commander

  was appointed Hptm. Franz Mentzel (also referred

  to as Menzel). At the beginning of the war, he flew

  the Bf 110 in I./ZG 2 and was captured during the

  French campaign. Later he served also in JG 5

  and in several flight schools. His last (eighth?)

  aerial victory was an Il-2 shot down in combat

  over Silesia on February 3, 1945. During Operation

  Bodenplatte, III./JG 77 lost 11 aircraft and pilots.

  One of the lost Bf 109s was Mentzel’s 330204,

  its pilot Lt. Herbert Abendroth was captured.

  At the end of the war this unit fought in Upper

  Silesia, based at Beneschau in the Hlučín

  region (today Dolní Benešov, Czech Republic).

  Fuselage was painted in RLM 74 and RLM 75

  with yellow-grey version of RLM 76. Vertical tail

  was painted in darker version of RLM 74 and 75,

  the RLM 74 had a tinge of green. Wing was painted

  with lighter shade of colors RLM 74, 75 and 76.

  INFO Eduard52

  January 2024

• Page 53

  WNr. 330209, 3

  a

  Squadriglia, I

  o

  Gruppo Caccia, Lonate Pozzolo, Italy, March 1945

  This aircraft, manufactured in February 1945, was

  one of six Bf 109K-4s received by the Aeronautica

  Nazionale Repubblicana in Northern Italy. During

  February it was assigned to 3

  a

  Squadriglia

  “Arciere”, which was part of I

  o

  Gruppo Caccia

  “Asso di Bastoni” under the command of Maggiore

  Adriano Visconti (10 victories). Unit’s Bf 109K-4s

  took part in aerial combat on April 10, 1945.

  In the early morning hours, three Bf 109s from I

  o

  Gr. C. were sent against four P-47s from the 65th

  FS, 57th FG, which were conducting a weather

  reconnaissance in the Milan-Lago di Como area.

  In the aerial combat a Bf 109G-14/AS “1-7“, flown

  by M.ll

  o

  Veronesi, and a Bf 109K-4 “3-14”, flown

  by S. Ten Gallori, were damaged. One P-47 was

  reported damaged by M.ll

  o

  Forlani. The American

  pilots did not claim any victories. In late April, the

  I

  o

  Gr. C. moved to Malpensa. Fuselage was painted

  in RLM 74 and RLM 75 with yellow-grey version

  of RLM 76. Vertical tail was painted in darker

  version of RLM 74 and 75, the RLM 74 had a tinge

  of green. Wing was painted with lighter shade of

  colors RLM 74, 75 and 76.

  WNr. 330255, Stab III./JG 27, Wunstorf, Germany, May 1945

  The commander of III./JG 27 from October 1944

  until the end of the war was Austrian Hptm.

  Dr. Peter Werfft (26 victories). During the same

  month his unit received Bf 109K-4s. From

  February 1945 his deputy was CO of 12./JG 27,

  Oblt. Emil Clade (27 victories). While serving

  in Africa with II./JG 27, Clade and his Schwarm

  attacked a lone low-flying Bristol Bombay

  transport from No. 216 Sqn RAF on August 7, 1942

  in the Allied rear. He managed to shoot it down

  and on the ground the machine was destroyed

  by Uffz. Schneider, who was awarded the victory.

  The commander of the British Eighth Army,

  Lt. Gen. W. H. E. Gott, was killed on board. In his

  place was appointed Lt. Gen. Montgomery, for

  whom Gott’s death became a major milestone

  in his career. Clade led 12./JG 27 from November

  1944 during the fighting in western Germany

  until its disbandment in early April 1945. In the

  last month of the war, he commanded I./JG 27.

  After the war, he worked as an airline pilot, took

  up sport flying, and published a memoir in 1996.

  Fuselage was painted in RLM 74 and RLM 75

  with yellow-grey version of RLM 76. Vertical tail

  was painted in darker version of RLM 74 and 75,

  the RLM 74 had a tinge of green. Wing was painted

  with lighter shade of colors RLM 74, 75 and 76.

  KITS 01/2024

  INFO Eduard

  53

  January 2024

• Page 54

  FE1413 Bf 109K-4 Weekend (PE

  -

  Set)

  644227 Bf 109K-4 LööK (Brassin)

  644233 Bf 109K-4 LööKplus (Brassin)

  648902 Bf 109K-4 engine (Brassin)

  648903 Bf 109K-4 propeller PRINT (Brassin)

  648904 Bf 109K-4 cockpit PRINT (Brassin)

  648905 Bf 109K-4 undercarriage legs BRONZE (Brassin)

  648906 Bf 109K external fuel tanks (Brassin)

  648913 Bf 109K-4 exhaust stacks PRINT (Brassin)

  648914 Bf 109K-4 wheels (Brassin)

  648939 Bf 109K-4 gun barrels PRINT (Brassin)

  648954 Bf 109K-4 wheel bays PRINT (Brassin)

  648961 Bf 109K-4 radio compartment PRINT (Brassin)

  SIN648118 Bf 109K-4 ESSENTIAL (Brassin)

  3DL48135 Bf 109K SPACE (3D Decal Set)

  EX976 Bf 109K TFace (Mask)

  EX985 Bf 109K national insignia (Mask)

  EX1002 Bf 109K-4 (Mask)

  Recommended:

  for Bf 109K-4 1/48

  #644233

  #648961

  #648904

  #648954

  #648905

  #648902

  INFO Eduard54

  January 2024

• Page 55

  1/48

  Albatros D.III

  The ProfiPACK edition kit of German WWI fighter aircraft

  Albatros D.III in 1/48 scale.

  plastic parts: Eduard

  marking options: 6

  decals: Eduard

  PE parts: yes, pre-painted

  painting mask: yes

  resin parts: no

  #8114

  Product page

  KITS 01/2024

  INFO Eduard

  55

  January 2024

• Page 56

  Oblt. Rudolf Berthold, Jasta 18, Harelbeke, Belgium, September 1917

  D.2006/16, Lt. Lothar & Rtm. Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen, Jasta 11, La Brayelle, France, March–May 1917

  Shortly after taking command of Jasta 18, Rudolf

  Berthold introduced a new livery for the unit’s

  aircraft. It consisted of a red nose and blue

  fuselage and possibly also of blue on the upper

  surfaces of both wings. These were the uniform

  colors of the infantry regiment with which

  Berthold served before the war. The red and blue

  livery was first applied to Berthold’s Albatros D.III,

  built in Johannisthal, but during the autumn of 1917

  Berthold flew one more Albatros, this one built in

  Schneidemühl (O.A.W.). This aircraft carried the

  same paint scheme, but it is likely that the upper

  surfaces of the lower wing retained the original

  camouflage paint. Berthold crashed this aircraft

  under unclear circumstances, probably shortly

  before suffering a devastating gunshot wound

  to his right arm while flying a second Albatros

  on October 10, 1917. This injury took him out of

  combat for a long time and left his right arm

  permanently paralyzed. After the war, Berthold

  formed his own Freikorps infantry unit and fought

  against the Bolsheviks. These battles proved

  fatal for him, however, when he was attacked

  and lynched by an angry mob in Hamburg as he

  retreated from combat on March 15, 1919.

  What is interesting about this Albatross D.III

  manufactured by the Johannisthal factory is

  that both von Richthofen brothers scored aerial

  victories when flying it. However, it is not clear

  exactly how many of them. Lothar himself

  stated that after joining the unit commanded

  by his brother (Jasta 11) in early March 1917, he,

  as a rookie, was provided with an aircraft on

  which Manfred scored ten victories. However,

  this is contradicted by a number of facts and the

  famous Red Baron probably only scored three or

  four kills with this aircraft. Lothar himself flew

  this Albatros until May 13, when he was seriously

  injured. By that time, he had already scored

  24 kills. It is not known how many of these he

  achieved flying the D.2006/16, he himself stated

  that it was ten of them. The aircraft was scrapped

  on June 7, 1917, as badly worn and damaged many

  times. Apart from a red band around the fuselage

  behind the cockpit, it bore the standard color

  scheme with wooden fuselage.

  INFO Eduard56

  January 2024

• Page 57

  Lt. Emil Schäfer, CO Jasta 28, Wasquehal, France, May 1917

  Karl Maria Emil Schäfer achieved thirty confirmed

  aerial victories and became the nineteenth

  German pilot to be awarded the Pour le Mérite.

  He was one of the pilots highly respected by

  Manfred von Richthofen himself, and his brother

  Lothar even owed him his life when, with his

  crippled aircraft he was just waiting for a “coup

  de grace” from an attacking British pilot. Instead,

  the enemy aircraft burst into flames just before

  firing the fatal shot, and Schäfer’s Albatros raced

  past! It was recognizable by the black tail that

  adorned aircraft number D.2062/16, but later it

  was given a red fuselage paint job, following von

  Richthofen’s coloring. It is not clear whether the

  black tail was covered with red paint or whether

  the aircraft retained the black color. In any case,

  in the photographs the rear fuselage looks darker.

  We are inclined to believe the reason is that the

  red paint was darkened by the overpainted black

  color. With the aircraft so colored, Schäfer took

  command of Jasta 28 in late April 1917 and was

  shot down by a trio of attacking FE.2d’s from

  No. 20 Squadron RFC on June 5. However, it is

  not clear whether this was D.2062/16 or another

  aircraft of the same coloring.

  D.2049/16, Oblt. Hermann Göring, CO of Jasta 27, Ghistelles, Belgium, May 1917

  This aircraft was used by Hermann Göring from

  February 24, 1917, i.e., already during his service

  with Jasta 26. At that time, its only decoration

  was a black band with white bordering around

  the fuselage behind the cockpit and diagonal

  stripes of the same color combination on the

  upper side of the upper wing. When Göring took

  command of Jasta 27 in May, the aircraft received

  a more distinctive livery, corresponding to the

  Staffelführer’s position. The entire fuselage was

  painted black, the nose and tail were white, as

  were all struts and wheel discs. The crosses on

  the rudder and vertical stabilizer were given a thin

  black line to make their white bordering obvious

  against the white background. The stripes on

  the upper wing have been significantly widened

  compared to the previous design. According

  to some sources, these were just double white

  stripes with camouflage paint between them, but

  in a picture of the Albatross D.V used by Göring

  a little later, the black paint between the white

  stripes is clearly visible. We are inclined to think

  that the stripes on the wing were black and white

  on this aircraft as well.

  KITS 01/2024

  INFO Eduard

  57

  January 2024

• Page 58

  D.1996/16, Lt. Hans-Georg Edward Lübbert, Jasta 11, La Brayelle, France, March 1917

  Lt. Franz Ray, Jasta 28, Varsenare, Belgium, autumn 1917

  This attractively colored Albatross D.III was

  a personal mount of Edward Lübert during

  his service with Jasta 11. According to the

  interpretation of the black and white photographs,

  the aircraft most likely bore a yellow and blue

  fuselage livery, with the order of colors being

  reversed on the left and right sides, as well as on

  the rudder and vertical stabilizer. However, the

  serial number was left unpainted on the wooden

  base on both sides. Lübbert was wounded

  in combat with this aircraft on March 6, 1917

  (shoulder gunshot wound) but managed to land

  it and Manfred von Richthofen flew it back to

  the unit. The Red Baron also borrowed Lübbert’s

  aircraft on March 17 and scored his 27th kill

  with it. Less than two weeks later, on March 30,

  Lübbert was shot down and killed, but he did

  not fly this aircraft on that occasion. It remained

  with the unit until May 11, 1917, after which it was

  used by Lt. Rudolf Hohberg of FF(A) 263 for photo

  reconnaissance purposes. Edward Lübbert was

  nicknamed Kugelfang (bullet catcher), as there

  was perhaps not a single engagement from which

  his aircraft did not bring some sort of damage.

  On the D.1996/16 there are patches of shots-

  through of the vertical stabilizer clearly visible.

  Franz Ray began his career as a fighter pilot

  on October 1, 1916, when he joined Jasta 1.

  He achieved his first kill on November 23 that year,

  then was transferred to Jastaschule 1 in mid-

  December, where he remained until mid-January

  1917. Subsequently, together with Max von Müller,

  he was tasked to form the new Jasta 28w

  (w as the Württemberg). Ray did not achieve his

  second kill until September 10, 1917, but thereafter

  further successes began to rapidly accrue and

  on September 23 he became the fighter ace after

  achieving his fifth victory. At the end of 1917, Jasta

  49, one of the new units formed in response to

  the US entry into the war (the so-called “Amerika

  Programm”, i.e., doubling the number of Jasta

  units from 40 to 80) was established. Franz Ray

  became its commander and achieved eight more

  kills there, raising his score to a final 17 victories.

  He achieved his last one on September 30, 1918,

  then was called to Germany in October to test

  new aircraft and never returned to the front.

  His Albatros D.III he was flying in autumn 1917

  had the rear half of the fuselage painted blue-

  violet, the upper surface of the upper wing having

  a reversed order of camouflage colors compared

  to the standard.

  INFO Eduard58

  January 2024

• Page 59

  1/72

  MiG-15bis

  The ProfiPACK edition kit of Soviet Cold War jet fighter

  plane MiG-15bis in 1/72 scale.

  plastic parts: Eduard

  marking options: 5

  decals: Eduard

  PE parts: yes, pre-painted

  painting mask: yes

  resin parts: no

  #7059

  Product page

  Re-release

  KITS 01/2024

  INFO Eduard

  59

  January 2024

• Page 60

  c/n 613234, kpt. Oldřich Paldus, 15th Fighter Regiment, Czechoslovak Air Force,

  Cottbus Airfield, German Democratic Republic, August 30, 1957

  No. 20 Squadron, Egypt.,

  Late 1950s / Early 1960s

  c/n 1315376, ex 64th IAK, Soviet Union, Mid 1950s

  A group of three MiGs-15bis of 15 Fighter

  Regiment from Žatec Air Base took part in the

  2nd Cultural and Sport Celebration organized in

  Cottbus, German Democratic Republic from late

  August to early September 1957. The distinctive

  blue marking was applied on these aircraft

  especially for this event. During the display two

  aircraft, this No. 3234, and another MiG-15bis

  No. 3233 collided. No. 3234 lost the tip of its

  left horizontal stabilizer, but the pilot managed

  to keep control of the aircraft and was able to

  land safely. After the 15th FR was disbanded, two

  pilots of its display team, Oldřich Paldus and

  Václav Polášek were transferred to 11 FR in 1958.

  Capt. Jaromír Palečný joined them in 1959 and as

  all of them were not tall at all, the display team

  was unofficially dubbed “Trio Prckos” (“The Three

  Shorties” in English).

  Egypt purchased a total of 110 MiG-15bis aircraft

  from Czechoslovakia. This particular one

  served with No. 20 Squadron of the United Arab

  Republic Air Force. The United Arab republic

  was a federation of Egypt and Syria that lasted

  from 1958 to 1961. Egypt kept this name untill

  1971. No. 20 Squadron was based at Deversoir,

  El Qabrit and Inshas air bases.

  This aircraft took part in the Korean War – the

  communist attempt to occupy the entire Korean

  peninsula. At the time it was marked with red

  number 1976 on its fuselage. Back in the USSR,

  the number was simply overpainted with the

  yellow 30, as well as the fading North Korean

  insignia was freshly overpainted. As the North

  Korean national insignia was simply an extension

  of the Soviet red star, removing the white outline

  and adding the red and blue circles, only these

  circles (rather faded) were visible. The original

  star was simply overpainted with fresh outlined

  one. Based on photographic evidence, the

  insignia was applied on the fuselage only, but it is

  possible these were painted on the lower surface

  of the wings as well.

  INFO Eduard60

  January 2024

• Page 61

  This MiG was delivered together with another

  29 aircraft in April 1962. These originally served

  with the Soviet Air Force and after the overhaul

  were supplied in the natural metal finish to

  Hungary. During the overhaul the aircraft

  c/n 0320138 had the upgraded wing installed

  featuring the landing light located at the left

  wheel well. The light was later covered with

  a sheet aluminum. In August 1968 this particular

  airplane participated in the Warsaw Pact armed

  forces invasion (except Romania and Albania) to,

  at that time, Czechoslovakia. Before the invasion

  it was marked with the red stripes which were

  later deleted. In March 1970 the aircraft was

  overpainted in the camouflage colors including

  all stencils. In September 1975 the airframe was

  struck off charge having logged 1535 flight hours

  and was abandoned at the Szolnok airbase.

  Mikhail Mikhin was born on October 25th, 1923

  and right after the graduation from the high

  school he started his pilot training finishing it in

  the end of 1944. He did not manage to participate

  in any combat during the World War Two, however

  he participated in the air combat over Korea

  where he was deployed in July 1952 with the

  entire 518th IAP. The unit remained in the combat

  zone until the end of hostilities, Major Mikhin shot

  down 9 enemy aircraft in total (7 x F-86, 2 x F-84)

  for which accomplishment he was awarded the

  title Hero of the Soviet Union on July 14, 1953.

  He remained in the active service of the Red

  Army Air Force after the Korean War and retired

  with the rank of Major General in 1980. He passed

  away on March 25, 2007 in St. Petersburg.

  c/n 0320138, 1st Squadron, 101st Reconnaissance Regiment,

  Szolnok, Hungary, 1972

  Maj. Mikhail Ivanovich Mikhin, 518th IAP, North Korea, May 1953

  72574 MiG-15 landing flaps (PE

  -

  Set)

  672007 MiG-15 wheels (Brassin)

  672008 MiG-15 ejection seat (Brassin)

  672020 MiG-15bis airbrakes (Brassin)

  672024 MiG-15bis cockpit (Brassin)

  3DL72026 MiG-15bis SPACE (3D Decal Set)

  Recommended:

  for MiG-15bis 1/72

  #672024

  #672008

  #672020

  KITS 01/2024

  INFO Eduard

  61

  January 2024

• Page 62

  #84172

  P-51D-5 Mustang

  1/48

  The Weekend edition kit of US WWII fighter P-51D-5

  in 1/48 scale.The kit contains parts for aircraft without

  the dorsal fin assembly.

  plastic parts: Eduard

  marking options: 4

  decals: Eduard

  PE parts: no

  painting mask: no

  resin parts: no

  Product page

  Re-release

  INFO Eduard62

  January 2024

• Page 63

  44-13761, Capt. Jack M. Ilfrey, 79th FS, 20th FG, 8th AF, USAAF Station 367 Kings Cliffe,

  Northamptonshire, Great Britain, autumn 1944

  44-13316, Leonard K. Carson, 362nd FS, 357th FG, 8th AF, USAAF Station 373 Leiston,

  Suffolk, Great Britain, June 1944

  Captain Jack Ilfrey became an ace in North Africa,

  where he claimed 5½ kills (plus two damaged

  enemy aircraft) while flying P-38F “Texas Terror”.

  He joined 20th FG, 79th FS at USAAF Station Kings

  Cliffe in England on April 20, 1944 and served

  as an Operations Officer from June 14, 1944.

  He claimed two more Bf 109Gs on May 24, flying

  P-38J “Happy Jack’s go Buggy”. He was shot down

  behind enemy lines in France on June 12, but he

  successfully evaded capture walking and cycling

  150 miles to Allied lines in Normandy with a help

  of French civilians. He became 79th FS CO on

  September 7, leading the unit until December 9,

  1944. He completed 142 combat missions over ETO

  and MTO. The 20th FG did not replace their P-38Js

  with P-51Cs until July 1944, changing them for

  P-51Ds shortly afterwards. The early Mustangs of

  the 20th FG are known to have upper surfaces

  overpainted with green color, probably with RAF

  Dark Green, with irregular splitting line between

  green upper surfaces and silver/natural metal

  bottom surfaces. The 20th FG was nicknamed

  “Loco Busters” because made significant number

  of attacks against railroad network.

  The second top scoring Fighter Group of the 8th

  USAAF and the top scoring FG equipped with

  P-51D Mustangs was 357nd FG, credited with

  609 German aircraft destroyed in the air and

  106 on the ground, with their own losses of 128

  aircraft. With the unit served 35 aces, led by Major

  Leonard “Kit” Carson with 18½ aerial victories.

  He became 362nd FS CO on April 8, 1945. The key

  to the success of the unit was its fighting academy,

  called Clobber College, where the experienced

  pilots taught the newcomers the fighting

  tactics. The 362nd FS received their P-51Ds just

  a few days before D-day. Most of the unit’s early

  Mustangs had upper surfaces camouflaged Dark

  Green with Neutral Grey bottom surfaces, or Dark

  Green upper surfaces over the aluminum/natural

  metal bottom surfaces with border between

  green and NMF surfaces high on fuselage sides.

  The colors were probably RAF paints overtaken

  from RAF stock. The “Nooky Booky II” wore full

  D-day stripes, as the aircraft was delivered to the

  unit probably around June 6, 1944. The previous

  name of this plane was “Mildred”.

  KITS 01/2024

  INFO Eduard

  63

  January 2024

• Page 64

  44-13317, Capt. Donald R. Emerson, 336th FS, 4th FG, 8th AF, USAAF Station 356 Debden,

  Essex, Great Britain, September 1944

  44-13597, Lt. William E. Fowler, 487th FS, 352nd FG, 8th AF, USAAF Station 141 Bodney,

  Norfolk, Great Britain, September 1944

  The 4th FG was nicknamed Debden Eagles thanks

  to its home base and origins, as it was formed

  from RAF Eagle squadron (71st, 121st and 133rd

  squadrons). After the incorporation into 8th AF

  the squadrons were re-named to 334th FS, 335th

  FS and 336th FS. As of April 1, 1943, their Spitfires

  were replaced by P-47s and in February 1944

  these were changed for P-51s. Donald Emerson

  joined the ranks of 4th Fighter Group on March 9,

  1944 and during the following eight months of duty

  he flew 89 sorties during which he was credited

  with 4½ enemy aircraft shot down. On December

  25, 1944, he perished returning from the bomber

  escort mission when he spotted six Bf 109s.

  During the ensuing combat he descended close

  to the terrain and was hit by the anti-aircraft fire

  over the front. Pilot was probably killed, and his

  aircraft crashed nearby the town of Sittard in The

  Netherlands. However, he had managed to shoot

  down two of his opponents. Capt. Emerson had the

  port side of his Mustang decorated with boxing

  Donald Duck in resemblance to his first name.

  There were seven kill markings painted under

  the windshield. From the beginning of September,

  the invasion stripes on the upper wings and

  fuselage sides surfaces of the allied aircraft

  were deleted and left on the lower surfaces only.

  Lt. Col. John C. Meyer, acting CO of the 487th FS

  and the ace credited with 37½ destroyed enemy

  aircraft, claimed four of his 24 aerial victories

  in cockpit of this aircraft on September 11, 1944.

  Stardust was originally a personal aircraft of Lt.

  William E. Fowler, nicknamed “Flaps”, who ended

  his combat tour just three days before Meyer’s

  four-victory raid. The Stardust was then assigned

  to Lt. Jack “Moose” Landrum, who renamed

  it “Moose”. He was shot down and killed on

  October 24, 1944, while strafing near to Hannover.

  The 352nd Fighter Group, based at USAAF Station

  Bodney, was fourth most successful FG of the 8th

  USAAF with 519 enemy planes destroyed in the

  air and 287 on the ground with 119 losses of their

  own. All three squadrons painted noses of their

  Mustangs with blue color. In September 1944,

  the paint of the noses was changed from Medium

  Blue to the Dark Blue, which remained the

  Group’s color until end of the War. Note the light

  area over the fuselage national insignia of the

  Stardust, which is clear natural metal surface

  after the invasion stripes on the upper surfaces

  were washed off.

  INFO Eduard64

  January 2024

• Page 65

  481000 P-51D (PE

  -

  Set)

  FE1021 P-51D seatbelts STEEL (PE

  -

  Set)

  FE1141 P-51D-5 Weekend (PE

  -

  Set)

  644021 P-51D-5 LööK (Brassin)

  648086 US 250lb bombs (2 pcs) (Brassin)

  648485 P-51D exhaust stacks (Brassin)

  648486 P-51D exhaust stacks w/ fairing (Brassin)

  648487 P-51D Hamilton Standard propeller (Brassin)

  648489 P-51D-5 cockpit (Brassin)

  648494 P-51D wheels diamond tread (Brassin)

  648495 P-51D undercarriage legs BRONZE (Brassin)

  648503 P-51D wheels oval tread (Brassin)

  648504 P-51D wheels cross tread (Brassin)

  648505 P-51D wheels block tread (Brassin)

  648511 P-51D wheels diamond tread 2 (Brassin)

  648517 P-51D gun bays (Brassin)

  648531 P-51D 110gal fuel tank (Brassin)

  648555 P-51D engine (Brassin)

  648570 P-51D gun sights (Brassin)

  648571 P-51D 75gal drop tanks (Brassin)

  648572 P-51D 108gal drop tanks 1 (Brassin)

  648647 P-51D wheels block tread 2 (Brassin)

  648742 P-51D wheel bay PRINT (Brassin)

  SIN64864 P-51D-5 ESSENTIA (Brassin)

  SIN64865 P-51D ESSENTIAL (Brassin)

  SIN64869 P-51D ADVANCED (Brassin)

  3DL48002 P-51D-5 SPACE (3D Decal Set)

  D48077 P-51D-5 “357th FG“ (Decal Set)

  D48080 P-51D-5 "15th AF" (Decal Set)

  D48085 P-51D-5 "8th AF" (Decal Set)

  EX663 P-51D TFace (Mask)

  EX740 P-51D Weekend (Mask)

  EX953 P-51D surface panels (Mask)

  EX954 P-51D national insignia (Mask)

  Recommended:

  for P-51D-5 Mustang 1/48

  #648742

  #648571

  #648489

  #648555

  #648570

  #648495

  #644021

  KITS 01/2024

  INFO Eduard

  65

  January 2024

• Page 66

  BRASSIN

  LööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboards and STEEL

  seatbelts for TBF-1C in 1/48 scale. Easy to assemble,

  replaces plastic parts. Recommended kit: Academy

  Set contains:

  - resin: 5 parts

  - 3D print: 1 part

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  LööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboard

  and STEEL seatbelts for P-39N in 1/48 scale.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - resin: 2 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  644244

  TBF-1C LööK

  1/48 Academy

  644245

  P 39N LööK

  1/48 Eduard

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard66

  January 2024

• Page 67

  644246

  P-47D-25 LööK

  1/48 MINIART

  LööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboard and STEEL

  seatbelts for P-47D-25 in 1/48 scale. Easy to assemble,

  replaces plastic parts. Recommended kit: Miniart

  Set contains:

  - resin: 2 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  BRASSIN

  Collection of 3 sets for F-16D Block 40

  in 1/48 scale. Recommended kit: Kinetic

  - LööK set (pre-painted Brassin dashboards & Steelbelts)

  - TFace painting mask

  - ejection seats

  644238

  F-16D Block 40 LööKplus

  1/48 Kinetic

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  67

  January 2024

• Page 68

  BRASSIN

  Collection of 4 sets for FM-1 40 in 1/48 scale.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  - LööK set (pre-painted Brassin dashboards & Steelbelts)

  - TFace painting mask

  - pilot seat

  - undercarriage wheels

  Brassin set - rudder pedals for Bf 109E in 1/48 scale.

  The set consists of 2 pairs of the pedals. Easy to assemble,

  replaces plastic parts.

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 4 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  644242

  FM-1 LööKplus

  1/48 Eduard

  648873

  Bf 109E rudder pedals early

  1/48

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard68

  January 2024

• Page 69

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - gun barrels for Bf 109K-4 in 1/48 scale.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts. Made by direct

  3D printing. Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 2 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  Brassin set - rudder pedals for Bf 109E in 1/48 scale.

  The set consists of 2 pairs of the pedals.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 4 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  648874

  Bf 109E rudder pedals late

  1/48

  Product page

  Product page

  648939

  Bf 109K-4 gun barrels PRINT

  1/48 Eduard

  INFO Eduard

  69

  January 2024

• Page 70

  648951

  FM-1 cockpit PRINT

  1/48 Eduard

  648952

  FM-1 gun bays PRINT

  1/48 Eduard

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - cockpit for FM-1

  in 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 13 parts

  - decals: yes

  - photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  Brassin set - gun bays for FM-1 in 1/48 scale.

  The set consists of gun bays for both wings.

  Made by direct 3D printing.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 16 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes

  - painting mask: no

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard70

  January 2024

• Page 71

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - wheels bays for Bf 109K-4

  in 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 4 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  648954

  Bf 109K-4 wheel bays PRINT

  1/48 Eduard

  Brassin set - cockpit for Bf 109G-6/AS

  in 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 18 parts

  - resin: 1 part

  - decals: yes

  - photo-etched details:

  yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  648953

  Bf 109G-6/AS cockpit PRINT

  1/48 Eduard

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  71

  January 2024

• Page 72

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - cockpit for F-16A MLU

  in 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.

  Recommended kit: Kinetic

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 15 parts

  - decals: yes

  - photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  Brassin set - wheels bay for FM-2

  in 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 14 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  648956

  FM-2 wheel bay PRINT

  1/48 Eduard

  648955

  F-16A MLU cockpit PRINT

  1/48 Kinetic

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard72

  January 2024

• Page 73

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - exhaust stacks for P-39 in 1/48 scale.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Made by direct 3D printing. Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 2 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  648958

  P-39 exhaust stacks fishtail PRINT

  1/48 Eduard

  Brassin set - pilot seat for P-39 in 1/48 scale.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts. Made by direct

  3D printing. Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 1 part

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  648957

  P-39 seat PRINT

  1/48 Eduard

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  73

  January 2024

• Page 74

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - exhaust stacks for P-39 in 1/48 scale.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Made by direct 3D printing. Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 2 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  Brassin set - engine for FM-2

  in 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 17 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes

  - painting mask: no

  648960

  FM-2 engine PRINT

  1/48 Eduard

  648959

  P-39 exhaust stacks rounded PRINT

  1/48 Eduard

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard74

  January 2024

• Page 75

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - the undercarriage wheels for P-47D

  in 1/48 scale. The set consists of the main wheels

  and a tail wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic

  parts. Recommended kit: Miniart

  Set contains:

  - resin: 3 parts

  - 3D print: 4 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes

  - painting mask: yes

  648962

  P-47D wheels cross tread

  1/48 MINIART

  Brassin set - radio compartment for Bf 109K-4

  in 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 7 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes

  - painting mask: no

  648961

  Bf 109K-4 radio compartment PRINT

  1/48 Eduard

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  75

  January 2024

• Page 76

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - aibrakes for MiG-29 in 1/72 scale.

  Made by direct 3D printing.

  Recommended kit: Great Wall HObby

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 3 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  Brassin set - cockpit for Bf 109G-5 or Bf 109G-6

  in 1/72 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 14 parts

  - decals: yes

  - photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  672347

  Bf 109G-5/G-6 cockpit PRINT

  1/72 Eduard

  672337

  MiG-29 airbrakes PRINT

  1/72 Great Wall Hobby

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard76

  January 2024

• Page 77

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - the undercarriage wheels for Bf 109G-5

  or Bf 109G-6 in 1/72 scale. The set consists of the

  main wheels and a tail wheel. Easy to assemble,

  replaces plastic parts. Made by direct 3D printing.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 3 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: yes

  672348

  Bf 109G-5/G-6 wheels PRINT

  1/72 Eduard

  Product page

  Brassin set - WGr.21 rocket launchers for Bf 109G

  in 1/72 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 4 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes

  - painting mask: no

  672349

  WGr.21 for Bf 109G PRINT

  1/72 Eduard

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  77

  January 2024

• Page 78

  BRASSIN

  Collection of 3 sets for Bf 109K-4 in 1/48 scale.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  - cockpit

  - exhausts

  - undercarriage wheels

  All sets included in this BIG SIN are available separately,

  but with every BIG SIN set you save up to 30 %.

  SIN648118

  Bf 109K-4 ESSENTIAL

  1/48 Eduard

  stránka produktu

  INFO Eduard78

  January 2024

• Page 79

  BRASSIN

  Collection of 4 sets for F-35A in 1/72 scale.

  Recommended kit: Tamiya

  - cockpit

  - undercarriage wheels

  - exhaust nozzle

  - Remove Before Flight tags STEEL

  All sets included in this BIG SIN are available separately,

  but with every BIG SIN set you save up to 30 %.

  SIN67222

  F-35A

  1/72 Tamiya

  stránka produktu

  INFO Eduard

  79

  January 2024

• Page 80

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED

  JANUARY 2024

  USS Iowa BB-61

  1/350 Hobby Boss

  #53302

  #53303

  INFO Eduard80

  January 2024

• Page 81

  BRASSIN 02/2022BRASSIN 02/2022

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED

  INFO Eduard

  81

  January 2024

• Page 82

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED

  Ferret Scout Car Mk.2

  1/35 Airfix

  #36513

  INFO Eduard82

  January 2024

• Page 83

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED

  T-72M

  1/35 Trumpeter

  #36514

  INFO Eduard

  83

  January 2024

• Page 84

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED

  F-35B

  1/32 Trumpeter

  #32489 external pylons

  #321016 general set

  #33363 Zoom

  #33364 seatbelts STEEL

  INFO Eduard84

  January 2024

• Page 85

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED

  #491407 general set

  #FE1407 Zoom

  #FE1408 seatbelts STEEL

  P-47D-25

  1/48 MINIART

  INFO Eduard

  85

  January 2024

• Page 86

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED

  Fulmar Mk.I

  1/48 Trumpeter

  #491409 general set

  #FE1409 Zoom

  #FE1410 seatbelts STEEL

  INFO Eduard86

  January 2024

• Page 87

  FOTOLEPTY

• Page 88

  3DL32022 F-35B SPACE 1/32 Trumpeter

  3DL48152

  Fulmar Mk.I SPACE 1/48 Trumpeter

  Product page

  Product page

  easy

  application

  INFO Eduard88

  January 2024

• Page 89

  easy

  application

  SPACE

  3DL48153 Hurricane Mk.IIc SPACE 1/48 Hobby Boss

  3DL48154

  P-47D-25 SPACE 1/48 MINIART

  SPACE

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  89

  January 2024

• Page 90

  SPACE

  3DL48155 F-16 Block 25 SPACE 1/48 Tamiya

  3DL72025

  MiG-29 9-19 SMT SPACE 1/72 Great Wall Hobby

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard90

  January 2024

• Page 91

  Product page

  DECAL SET

  D32022

  F-35A stencils

  1/32 Italeri

  SPACESPACE

  3DL72026 MiG-15bis SPACE 1/72 Eduard

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  91

  January 2024

• Exploring SPACE: A Guide to Using SPACE Decals

  In this article, I aim to familiarize readers with products from the SPACE range, often recognized as 3D decals among modelers. It's important to clarify that SPACE products are distinct from 3D prints, which we label as PRINT and manufacture using 3D printers at Eduard. The SPACE decals employ technology akin to color photo-etched sets. Each product includes a sheet of 3D decals and a planchette featuring photo-etched parts, where designers opt for steel etching, primarily for seatbelts, levers, and grids.

  SPACE

  Exploring SPACE:

  A Guide to Using SPACE Decals

  Jakub Nademlejnský

  In this article, I aim to familiarize readers with products from the

  SPACE range, often recognized as 3D decals among modelers.

  It's important to clarify that SPACE products are distinct from 3D

  prints, which we label as PRINT and manufacture using 3D printers

  at Eduard. The SPACE decals employ technology akin to color photo-

  etched sets. Each product includes a sheet of 3D decals and a

  planchette featuring photo-etched parts, where designers opt

  for steel etching, primarily for seatbelts, levers, and grids.

  Tools and Accessories for constructing the

  SPACE Instrument Panel for TBD-1 in 1/32

  scale by Trumpeter (cat.no. 3DL 32020)

  SPACE 3D Decal

  Sheet

  Glossy Varnish

  on Instruments

  Note the glossy

  varnish on the

  instruments,

  mimicking their

  glazing.

  INFO Eduard92

  January 2024

• Page 93

  SPACESPACE

  Etching Plate

  with seatbelts

  and levers for

  instrument

  panel.

  Follow the instructions

  to sand the relief from

  the plastic part of

  the instrument panel

  where the SPACE decal

  will be applied.

  Leaving Enough

  Space for Comfortable

  Tweezer Handling

  It is good to leave

  enough space

  around the piece to

  comfortably hold it

  in the tweezers.

  Applying the SPACE Decal onto a Dampened Kitchen Sponge

  Removing SPACE Decal from the Paper

  Sanding the Relief from the Instrument Panel Plastic Part

  Applying SPACE Decal to its Position

  Use tweezers to hold the SPACE decal in place, applying and spreading

  a drop of dispersion adhesive underneath, typically requiring only a few

  drops of water. Instant super glue is not recommended for SPACE decals.

  Gently press the SPACE

  decal onto a kitchen

  sponge soaked in

  slightly detergented

  water to wet only the

  backing paper. Avoid

  soaking the entire decal

  to prevent swelling.

  Pressing SPACE Decal

  to Remove Excess

  Water

  After applying the

  SPACE decal, press

  it with a finger wrapped

  in cloth or roll it with

  a cotton swab to remove

  excess water.

  Carefully Cutting

  the SPACE Decal

  with Scissors

  Due to its strength,

  the SPACE decal can

  be removed from the

  backing paper after

  about one minute, in

  contrast to classic

  decals.

  INFO Eduard

  93

  January 2024

• Page 94

  SPACE

  Gluing Etched Levers with Instant Super Glue

  Following the procedure from the last and previous issues, glue the photo-etched levers with

  instant super glue. Cut the lever from the planchette with etch scissors and dip it in a drop of

  instant glue dripped onto the glossy paper (I use the backing paper from a painting mask).

  New maska by Eduard

  INFO Eduard 07/2023

  page 94.

  RIVET THE EDDIE WAY

  INFO Eduard 08/2023

  page 87.

  How to Work with PE-

  Accessories - Part I

  INFO Eduard 11/2023

  page 104.

  How to Work with PE-

  Accessories - Part II

  INFO Eduard 12/2023

  page 84.

  Finished Instrument Panel

  Seating the Lever

  onto SPACE

  Decal

  Use pointed

  tweezers to seat

  the photo-etched

  detail onto the

  SPACE decal.

  Have you read?

  INFO Eduard94

  January 2024

• Page 95

  www.eduard.com/bfc

  BUNNY BUNNY FIGHTERFIGHTER

  CLUB

  Eduard's special membership club for all modeling enthusiasts!

  15% Permanent Club discount at Eduard Store – you will receive permanent 15% discount on all Eduard

  products and also discount on various other non-Eduard products. Fixed, permanent, forever!

  Unique valuable Club kits and accessories – you will gain access to unique and nowhere else to be sold

  products, specially made for BFC members.

  Even better prices at Eduard events stand – do you know that Eduard usually has huge discounts on

  their products at fairs and events all over the world? BFC members will have even higher discount at

  these events.

  Club T-shirt – you will receive fancy BFC T-shirt with unique design and special barcode

  (used for event discounts). This exclusive T-shirt will be only available

  to the members of BFC.

  Free entry fee on E-day – you will not have to pay a penny to visit Eduard's E-day.

  That means lot of fun at E-day for two days and entry kit, absolutely free!

  * E-day - INTERNATIONAL SCALE KIT EXHIBITION - IPMS Czech Republic Championship

  BOX CONTENT:

  Plastic parts, Marking options 6, Decal Set, PE parts, Maska, Brassin

  parts (two different types of wheels, landing flaps, dust filter with

  eyelid, intake ring and RP-3 60lb rockets), 3D decals for main and si

  -

  dewalk instrument and control panels with photo-etched details and

  seat belts.

  BOX CONTENT:

  Plastic parts, Marking options 4, Decal Set, PE parts, Maska, Brassin

  parts (undercarriage wheels, cockpit, exhaust nozzle, FOD).

  How to become a member of BFC?How to become a member of BFC?

  Simply by purchasing the Activation product. You will be given 15% discount on (almost) every Eduard

  product in your shopping cart. To apply this discount, the Activation product has to be in your shopping

  cart. Activation product is excluded from this calculation.

  Activation products:Activation products:

  Tempest Mk. V + T-shirt 1/48MiG-21MF + T-shirt 1/72

• Page 96

  BIG ED

  All sets included in this BIG ED are available separately,

  but with every BIG ED set you save up to 30 %.

  BIG49390 Hurricane Mk.IIc 1/48 Arma Hobby

  BIG49391

  Hunter FGA.9 1/48 Airfix

  BIG49392

  Hunter FR.10 1/48 Airfix

  BIG49393

  Hunter GA.11 1/48 Airfix

  491382 Hurricane Mk.IIc 1/48

  FE1383 Hurricane Mk.IIc seatbelts STEEL 1/48

  EX980 Hurricane Mk.IIc TFace 1/48

  481122 Hunter FGA.9 landing flaps 1/48

  491388 Hunter FGA.9 1/48

  FE1391 Hunter FGA.9/FR.10/GA.11 seatbelts STEEL 1/48

  EX986 Hunter FGA.9/FR.10/GA.11 1/48

  481123 Hunter FR.10 landing flaps 1/48

  491389 Hunter FR.10 1/48

  FE1391 Hunter FGA.9/FR.10/GA.11 seatbelts STEEL 1/48

  EX986 Hunter FGA.9/FR.10/GA.11 1/48

  481124 Hunter GA.11 landing flaps 1/48

  491390 Hunter GA.11 1/48

  FE1391 Hunter FGA.9/FR.10/GA.11 seatbelts STEEL 1/48

  EX986 Hunter FGA.9/FR.10/GA.11 1/48

  Product page

  Product page

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard96

  January 2024

• Page 97

  All sets included in this BIG ED are available separately,

  but with every BIG ED set you save up to 30 %.

  BIG ED

  BIG49394 Vampire FB.5 1/48 Airfix

  BIG49395

  Vampire FB.9 1/48 Airfix

  BIG72177

  B-29 1/72 Hobby 2000/Academy

  72731 PBY-5A exterior 1/72

  73806 PBY-5A 1/72

  CX115 PBY-5 Catalina 1/72

  491385 Vampire FB.9 1/48

  FE1386 Vampire FB.5/9 seatbelts STEEL 1/48

  EX981 Vampire FB.5/9 1/48

  72732 B-29 exterior 1/72

  72733 B-29 bomb bay 1/72

  73807 B-29 interior 1/72

  SS809 B-29 seatbelts STEEL 1/72

  CX018 B-29 1/72

  Product page

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  97

  January 2024

• Page 98

  MASKS

  IT FITS!

  JX322 F-35B

  1/32 Trumpeter

  JX323 F-35B TFace

  1/32 Trumpeter

  EX997 P-47D-25

  1/48 MINIART

  EX998 P-47D-25 TFace

  1/48 MINIART

  EX999 Fulmar Mk.I TFace

  1/48 Trumpeter

  EX1000 Hurricane Mk.IIc TFace

  1/48 Hobby Boss

  EX1001 FM-1 TFace

  1/48 Eduard

  EX1002 Bf 109K-4

  1/48 Eduard

  EX1003 F6F-3 US national

  insignia w/ red outline

  1/72 Eduard

  CX657 MiG-29 9-19 SMT

  1/72 Great Wall Hobby

  EX997 P-47D-25

  EX997 P-47D-25

  EX998 P-47D-25 TFace EX998 P-47D-25 TFace

  EX998 P-47D-25 TFaceEX998 P-47D-25 TFace

  JX323 F-35B TFace

  JX323 F-35B TFace

  JX322 F-35B

  JX322 F-35B

  JX323 F-35B TFace

  JX323 F-35B TFace

  INFO Eduard98

  January 2024

• Page 99

  MASKS

  EX999 Fulmar Mk.I TFace

  EX1000 Hurricane Mk.IIc TFace

  EX1001 FM-1 TFace

  EX999 Fulmar Mk.I TFace

  EX1000 Hurricane Mk.IIc TFace

  EX1001 FM-1 TFace

  EX999 Fulmar Mk.I TFace

  EX1000 Hurricane Mk.IIc TFace

  EX1001 FM-1 TFace

  EX999 Fulmar Mk.I TFace

  EX1000 Hurricane Mk.IIc TFace

  EX1001 FM-1 TFace

  CX657 MiG-29 9-19 SMT CX657 MiG-29 9-19 SMT

  INFO Eduard

  99

  January 2024

• Page 100

  RELEASES

  JANUARY 2024

  KITS

  PE

  -

  SETS

  ZOOMS

  MASKS

  2144 GUSTAV pt.1 1/72 Limited

  84197 Bf 109K-4 1/48 Weekend

  8114 Albatros D.III 1/48 ProfiPACK

  7059 MiG-15bis Re-release 1/72 ProfiPACK

  84172 P-51D-5 Mustang Re-release 1/48 Weekend

  53302 USS Iowa BB-61 part 1 1/350 Hobby Boss

  53303 USS Iowa BB-61 part 2 1/350 Hobby Boss

  36513 Ferret Scout Car Mk.2 1/35 Airfix

  36514 T-72M 1/35 Trumpeter

  32489 F-35 external pylons 1/32 Trumpeter

  321016 F-35B 1/32 Trumpeter

  481128 Hurricane Mk.IIc landing flaps 1/48 Hobby Boss

  491407 P-47D-25 1/48 MINIART

  491409 Fulmar Mk.I 1/48 Trumpeter

  491411 Hurricane Mk.IIc 1/48 Hobby Boss

  73816 MiG-29 9-19 SMT 1/72 Great Wall Hobby

  33363 F-35B 1/32 Trumpeter

  33364 F-35B seatbelts STEEL 1/32 Trumpeter

  FE1407 P-47D-25 1/48 MINIART

  FE1408 P-47D-25 seatbelts STEEL 1/48 MINIART

  FE1409 Fulmar Mk.I 1/48 Trumpeter

  FE1410 Fulmar Mk.I seatbelts STEEL 1/48 Trumpeter

  FE1411 Hurricane Mk.IIc 1/48 Hobby Boss

  FE1412 Hurricane Mk.IIc seatbelts STEEL 1/48 Hobby Boss

  FE1413 Bf 109K-4 Weekend 1/48 Eduard

  JX322 F-35B 1/32 Trumpeter

  JX323 F-35B TFace 1/32 Trumpeter

  EX997 P-47D-25 1/48 MINIART

  EX998 P-47D-25 TFace 1/48 MINIART

  EX999 Fulmar Mk.I TFace 1/48 Trumpeter

  EX1000 Hurricane Mk.IIc TFace 1/48 Hobby Boss

  EX1001 FM-1 TFace 1/48 Eduard

  EX1002 Bf 109K-4 1/48 Eduard

  EX1003 F6F-3 US national insignia w/ red outline 1/48 Eduard

  CX657 MiG-29 9-19 SMT 1/72 Great Wall Hobby

  BIG ED

  BIG49390 Hurricane Mk.IIc 1/48 Arma Hobby

  BIG49391 Hunter FGA.9 1/48 Airfix

  BIG49392 Hunter FR.10 1/48 Airfix

  BIG49393 Hunter GA.11 1/48 Airfix

  BIG49394 Vampire FB.5 1/48 Airfix

  BIG49395 Vampire FB.9 1/48 Airfix

  BIG72177 B-29 1/72 H

  obby 2000/Academy

  INFO Eduard100

  January 2024

• Page 101

  BIG-EDBIG-ED

  RELEASES

  BRASSIN

  LöökPLUS

  BIG SIN

  SPACE

  644244 TBF-1C LööK 1/48 Academy

  644245 P-39N LööK 1/48 Eduard

  644246 P-47D-25 LööK 1/48 MINIART

  648873 Bf 109E rudder pedals early 1/48

  648874 Bf 109E rudder pedals late 1/48

  648939 Bf 109K-4 gun barrels PRINT 1/48 Eduard

  648951 FM-1 cockpit PRINT 1/48 Eduard

  648952 FM-1 gun bays PRINT 1/48 Eduard

  648953 Bf 109G-6/AS cockpit PRINT 1/48 Eduard

  648954 Bf 109K-4 wheel bays PRINT 1/48 Eduard

  648955 F-16A MLU cockpit PRINT 1/48 Kinetic

  648956 FM-2 wheel bay PRINT 1/48 Eduard

  648957 P-39 seat PRINT 1/48 Eduard

  648958 P-39 exhaust stacks fishtail PRINT 1/48 Eduard

  648959 P-39 exhaust stacks rounded PRINT 1/48 Eduard

  648960 FM-2 engine PRINT 1/48 Eduard

  648961 Bf 109K-4 radio compartment PRINT 1/48 Eduard

  648962 P-47D wheels cross tread 1/48 MINIART

  672337 MiG-29 airbrakes PRINT 1/72 Great Wall Hobby

  672347 Bf 109G-5/G-6 cockpit PRINT 1/72 Eduard

  672348 Bf 109G-5/G-6 wheels PRINT 1/72 Eduard

  672349 WGr.21 for Bf 109G PRINT 1/72 Eduard

  644238 F-16D Block 40 LööKplus 1/48 Kinetic

  644242 FM-1 LööKplus 1/48 Eduard

  SIN648118 Bf 109K-4 ESSENTIAL 1/48 Eduard

  SIN67222 F-35A 1/72 Tamiya

  3DL32022 F-35B SPACE 1/32 Trumpeter

  3DL48152 Fulmar Mk.I SPACE 1/48 Trumpeter

  3DL48153 Hurricane Mk.IIc SPACE 1/48 Hobby Boss

  3DL48154 P-47D-25 SPACE 1/48 MINIART

  3DL48155 F-16C Block 25 SPACE 1/48 Tamiya

  3DL72025 MiG-29 9-19 SMT SPACE 1/72 Great Wall Hobby

  3DL72026 MiG-15bis SPACE 1/72 Eduard

  JANUARY 2024

  DECAL SET

  D32022 F-35A stencils 1/32 Italeri

  INFO Eduard

  101

  January 2024

• Page 102

  BUILT

  1/48

  Built by Jan Novotný

  #11169

  MARKING F

  INFO Eduard102

  January 2024

• Page 103

  BUILT

  F-104C-5-LO, 56-0910, Capt. James B. Trice, 435th TFS, 479th TFW, Udorn RTAFB, Thailand, 1967

  One of the first F-104 delivered to the Udorn AFB

  on June 6, 1966 was Starfighter serial number

  56-0910. It was assigned as a personal mount to

  Capt. James Trice who had his Starfighter nose

  decorated with a nose art with the inscription

  PUSSYCAT. Initially the noseart consisted of the

  cat caricature only, the text was applied later.

  After the operations in Udorn ceased, in July 1967

  the aircraft was flown back to the USA to the

  Muniz AFB in Puerto Rico and starting in August

  1967 it was assigned to the 198th TFS.

  INFO Eduard

  103

  January 2024

• Page 104

  BUILT

  Kurfürst

  1/48

  Built by Shane Doak

  #11177

  MARKING A

  Product page

  INFO Eduard104

  January 2024

• Page 105

  Fw. Hans Strebel, 11./JG 3, Franzfelde airfield near Pasewalk, Germany, March 1945

  Hans Strebel originally served with 9./JG 3 and

  achieved his second victory during Operation

  Bodenplatte. In early 1945 he was transferred

  to 11./JG 3, which was also part of III./JG 3 Udet.

  From the end of January 1945, this unit was

  deployed in combat against the Red Army and

  by the end of the war had achieved at least

  80 victories. Its missions included also attacking

  supply columns or escorting anti-tank Ju 87s.

  The last commander of 11./JG 3 was Lt. Rudolf

  Escherich, who originally served on He 177s with

  KG 1. In mid-April, 14 pilots of III./JG 3 volunteered

  for suicide deployment as part of Operation

  Freiheit. These were attacks by crashing into

  bridges over the Oder River. Their suicide action

  scheduled on April 16 ended in failure and the

  formation under Escherich's command lost six

  airmen. The C3 label on the fuel tank indicates

  engine that required 100-octane fuel. At the end

  of the war, machine with same design of fuselage

  number was photographed by a Soviet reporter

  at Finow airfield. Fuselage was probably painted

  in RLM 81 (dark brown variant) and RLM 82 with

  yellow-grey version of RLM 76. Vertical tail was

  painted in darker version of RLM 74 and 75,

  the RLM 74 had a tinge of green. Wing was painted

  with lighter shade of colors RLM 74, 75 and 76.

  Accessories used:

  648902 Bf 109K-4 engine (Brassin)

  648903 Bf 109K-4 propeller PRINT (Brassin)

  648914 Bf 109K-4 wheels (Brassin)

  3DL48135 Bf 109K SPACE (3D Decal Set)

  BUILT

  INFO Eduard

  105

  January 2024

• Page 106

  Built by Paolo Portuesi

  #84197

  MARKING A

  Bf 109K-4

  1/48

  Accessories used:

  FE1413 Bf 109K-4 Weekend (PE

  -

  Set)

  648913 Bf 109K-4 exhaust stacks PRINT (Brassin)

  648914 Bf 109K-4 wheels (Brassin)

  3DL48135 Bf 109K SPACE (3D Decal Set)

  EX976 Bf 109K TFace (Mask)

  BUILT

  INFO Eduard106

  January 2024

• Page 107

  WNr. 332529, Stab JG 52, Deutsch Brod, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, May 1945

  At the end of the war, at least three Bf 109s

  with a tulip pattern on the nose were found at

  the Deutsch Brod base (Havlíčkův Brod today).

  The surviving engine cowling bears a grey paint

  and red tulip marking. These were apparently

  the machines of the Stab JG 52, commanded by

  Kommodore Hermann Graf, who had the same

  markings in 1943 with JG 50. When Oberst

  Graf became CO of JG 52 in October 1944,

  he introduced the same markings to his Stab

  planes, including the green fuselage numbers.

  Graf brought two wingmen to his Stab,

  Lt. Anton Resch and Oblt. Heinrich Füllgrabe

  (67 victories; KC holder), who was killed in

  January 1945 on the “green 2”. By the end of the

  war, Resch had scored most of the victories

  of Stab JG 52, so it is possible that he also

  flew 332529. He was awarded the Knight’s

  Cross in early April 1945 and achieved a total

  of 91 victories during 210 combat sorties. The

  fuselage number was probably green, but the

  decal also offers a black variant. Fuselage was

  painted in RLM 74 and RLM 75 with yellow-grey

  version of RLM 76. Vertical tail was painted in

  darker version of RLM 74 and 75, the RLM 74

  had a tinge of green. Wing was painted with

  lighter shade of colors RLM 74, 75 and 76.

  Product page

  BUILT

  INFO Eduard

  107

  January 2024

• Page 108

  A6M2 ZERO TYPE 21

  1/48

  Built by Mattia Pancotti

  #82212

  MARKING A

  BUILT

  INFO Eduard108

  January 2024

• Page 109

  PO1c Saburō Sakai, Tainan Kōkūtai, Lakunai airfield, Rabaul, New Britain island, August 1942

  Saburō Sakai is best known Japanese fighter

  pilot, thanks to his memoirs and meetings

  with Allied airmen after World War II. He was

  born in 1916 and served from September 1938

  with the 12th Kōkūtai in China. In October 1941,

  he was assigned to the newly organized Tainan

  Kōkūtai in Taiwan and took part in campaign

  heading South until he was wounded on August

  7, 1942 off Guadalcanal. After recovering,

  he served as an instructor with Ōmura Kōkūtai,

  and later, despite bad eyesight, was combat

  deployed with Yokosuka Kōkūtai on Iwo Jima.

  At the end of war he served with Kōkūtai

  343 (II) and Yokosuka Kōkūtai. He is listed as

  an ace with 64 victories, but Sakai himself

  claimed the number of his victories was lower.

  With the first two units he actually achieved

  12 individual victories, 8 shared and 4 probables.

  The V-128 was also flown by PO2c Arita and

  PO1c Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, who is credited

  with 87 victories. The color of the stripes is

  chosen from Sakai's recollection, but there

  are other interpretations, such as a black or

  yellow stripe on the fuselage. During a fighter

  escort to Guadalcanal on August 7, Sakai shot

  down Wildcat “F12” from VF-5 piloted by "Pug"

  Southerland in an epic dogfight. Sakai was later

  severely wounded in the face by fire from VB-6

  Dauntless near Tulagi Island. After nearly five

  hours and more than 1,000 km, he managed to

  land back at Rabaul. Sakai died in 2000 after

  formal dinner with members of the US Navy.

  Product page

  BUILT

  INFO Eduard

  109

  January 2024

• Page 110

  ON APPROACH

  FEBRUARY 2024

  644247

  Sea King HAS.1 LööK

  1/48 Airfix

  644248

  Sea King HAS.5 LööK

  1/48 Airfix

  644252

  S.79 LööK

  1/48 Eduard

  644250

  Hurricane Mk.IIc LööK

  1/48 Hobby Boss

  BIG33157 TBD-1 1/32 Trumpeter

  BIG33158 MC.202 1/32 Italeri

  BIG72178 AC-130J PART I 1/72 Zvezda

  BIG72179 AC-130J PART II 1/72 Zvezda

  644247 Sea King HAS.1 LööK 1/48 Airfix

  644248 Sea King HAS.5 LööK 1/48 Airfix

  644250 Hurricane Mk.IIc LööK 1/48 Hobby Boss

  644252 SM.79 LööK 1/48 Eduard

  648933 J-35 Draken seat 1/48 Hasegawa

  648934 J-35 Draken wheels Type 1 1/48 Hasegawa

  648936 P-38J left engine PRINT 1/48 Tamiya

  648963 Italian WWII torpedo A.130 1/48

  648964 TBF/TBM wheels w/smooth tire 1/48 Academy

  648965 TBF/TBM wheels w/pattern 1/48 Academy

  648966 TBM seats PRINT 1/48 Academy

  648967 TBF seats PRINT 1/48 Academy

  648968 J-35 Draken wheels Type 2 1/48 Hasegawa

  672319 Bf 109E rudder pedals early PRINT 1/72

  672320 Bf 109E rudder pedals late PRINT 1/72

  672350 Bf 109F engine PRINT 1/72 Eduard

  672351 L-39 wheels PRINT 1/72 Eduard

  644239 F-16D Block 50 LööKplus 1/48 Kinetic

  644251 P-47D-25 LööKplus 1/48 MINIART

  SIN648119 Bf 109K-4 ADVANCED 1/48 Eduard

  SIN648120 Fw 190A-7 1/48 Eduard

  BIG ED (February)

  BRASSIN (February)

  LöökPlus (February)

  BIGSIN (February)

  LööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboards

  and STEEL seatbelts for Sea King HAS.1 in 1/48 scale.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Airfix

  Set contains:

  - resin: 3 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details:

  yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  LööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboards

  and STEEL seatbelts for Sea King HAS.5 in 1/48 scale.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Airfix

  Set contains:

  - resin: 4 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details:

  yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  LööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboard and STEEL

  seatbelts for S.79 in 1/48 scale. Easy to assemble,

  replaces plastic parts. Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - resin: 1 part

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details:

  yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  LööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboard

  and STEEL seatbelts for Hurricane Mk.IIc in 1/48 scale.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Hobby Bosss

  Set contains:

  - resin: 2 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details:

  yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  PRELIMINARY IMAGES

  PRELIMINARY IMAGES

  PRELIMINARY IMAGES

  PRELIMINARY IMAGES

  INFO Eduard110

  January 2024

• Page 111

  648933

  J-35 Draken seat

  1/48 Hasegawa

  ON APPROACH

  Brassin set - ejection seat for J-35 Draken in 1/48

  scale. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Hasegawa

  Set contains:

  - resin: 3 parts

  - decals: yes

  - photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  648934

  J-35 Draken wheels Type 1

  1/48 Hasegawa

  648936

  P-38J left engine PRINT

  1/48 Tamiya

  Brassin set - the undercarriage wheels for J-35 Draken

  in 1/48 scale. The set consists of the main wheels and

  a nose wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Hasegawa

  Set contains:

  - resin: 5 parts

  - decals: yes

  - photo-etched details: yes

  - painting mask: yes

  Brassin set - left engine for P-38J

  in 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.

  Recommended kit: Tamiya

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 48 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes

  - painting mask: no

  INFO Eduard

  111

  January 2024

• Page 112

  ON APPROACH

  FEBRUARY 2024

  648963

  Italian WWII torpedo A.130

  1/48

  648964

  TBF/TBM wheels w/smooth tire

  1/48 Academy

  648965

  TBF/TBM wheels w/pattern

  1/48 Academy

  Brassin set - a torpedo fo Italian WW2 aircraf

  in 1/48 scale. The set consists of 2 torpedoes.

  Set contains:

  - resin: 10 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes

  - painting mask: no

  Brassin set - the undercarriage wheels for TBF/TBM

  in 1/48 scale. The set consists of the main wheels and

  a tail wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Academy / Accurate Miniatures

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 4 parts

  - resin: 5 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: yes

  Brassin set - the undercarriage wheels for

  TBF/TBM in 1/48 scale. The set consists of

  the main wheels and a tail wheel. Easy

  to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Academy / Accurate Miniatures

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 4 parts

  - resin: 5 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: yes

  INFO Eduard112

  January 2024

• Page 113

  ON APPROACHFEBRUARY 2024

  648966

  TBM seats PRINT

  1/48 Academy

  648967

  TBF seats PRINT

  1/48 Academy

  648968

  J-35 Draken wheels Type 2

  1/48 Hasegawa

  Brassin set - seats for TBM in 1/48 scale.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Made by direct 3D printing.

  Recommended kit: Academy / Accurate Miniatures

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 3 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  Brassin set - seats for TBF in 1/48 scale.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Made by direct 3D printing.

  Recommended kit: Academy / Accurate Miniatures

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 3 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  Brassin set - the undercarriage wheels for J-35 Draken

  in 1/48 scale. The set consists of the main wheels and

  a nose wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Hasegawa

  Set contains:

  - resin: 5 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes

  - painting mask: yes

  INFO Eduard

  113

  January 2024

• Page 114

  ON APPROACH

  672319

  Bf 109E rudder pedals early PRINT

  1/72 Eduard

  672320

  Bf 109E rudder pedals late PRINT

  1/72 Eduard

  672350

  Bf 109F engine PRINT

  1/72 Eduard

  Brassin set - rudder pedals for Bf 109E in 1/72 scale.

  The set consists of 2 pairs of the pedals. Easy to

  assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 4 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  Brassin set - rudder pedals for Bf 109E in 1/72 scale.

  The set consists of 2 pairs of the pedals.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 4 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  Brassin set - engine for Bf 109F in 1/72 scale.

  Made by direct 3D printing.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 21 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes

  - painting mask: no

  FEBRUARY 2024

  INFO Eduard114

  January 2024

• Page 115

  ON APPROACH

  672351

  L-39 wheels PRINT

  1/72Eduard

  Brassin set - the undercarriage wheels for L-39

  in 1/72 scale. The set consists of the main wheels

  and a nose wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces

  plastic parts. Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 3 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: yes

  FEBRUARY 2024

  INFO Eduard

  115

  January 2024

• Page 116

  ON APPROACH

  644239

  F-16D Block 50 LööKplus

  1/48 Kinetic

  Collection of 3 sets for F-16D Block 50 in 1/48 scale.

  Recommended kit: Kinetic

  - LööK set (pre-painted Brassin dashboards & Steelbelts)

  - TFace painting mask

  - ejection seats

  FEBRUARY 2024

  INFO Eduard116

  January 2024

• Page 117

  ON APPROACH

  Collection of 3 sets for P-47D-25 in 1/48 scale.

  Recommended kit: Miniart

  - LööK set (pre-painted Brassin dashboards & Steelbelts)

  - TFace painting mask

  - undercarriage wheels

  644251

  P-47D-25 LööKplus

  1/48 MINIART

  FEBRUARY 2024

  INFO Eduard

  117

  January 2024

• Page 118

  SIN648119

  Bf 109K-4 ADVANCED

  1/48 Eduard

  Collection of 4 sets for Bf 109K-4 in 1/48 scale.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  - enjgine

  - propeller

  - undercarriage legs BRONZE

  - fuel drop tanks

  All sets included in this BIG SIN are available separately,

  but with every BIG SIN set you save up to 30 %.

  ON APPROACH

  FEBRUARY 2024

  INFO Eduard118

  January 2024

• Page 119

  SIN648120

  Fw 190A-7

  1/48 Eduard

  Collection of 4 sets for FW 190A-7 in 1/48 scale.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  - cockpit

  - undercarriage legs BRONZE

  - landing flaps

  - engine and fuselage guns

  All sets included in this BIG SIN are available separately,

  but with every BIG SIN set you save up to 30 %.

  BRASSIN 02/2022BRASSIN 02/2022

  ON APPROACHFEBRUARY 2024

  INFO Eduard

  119

  January 2024

• Page 120

  PE

  -

  SETS

  53304 USS Iowa BB-61 part 3 1/350 Hobby Boss

  53305 HMS Ark Royal 1939 part 1 1/350 I LOVE KIT

  36515 M16 U.S. multiple gun motor carrier 1/35 Tamiya

  36516 M3A2 Half Track 1/35 Tamiya

  481129 SM.79 bomb bay 1/48 Eduard

  481130 SM.79 undercarriage 1/48 Eduard

  481131 SM.79 rear fuselage interior 1/48 Eduard

  491414 Ki-21-I 1/48 ICM

  491417 Go 244B 1/48 ICM

  73817 Me 410A-1 1/72 Airfix

  ZOOMS

  FE1414 Ki-21-I 1/48 ICM

  FE1415 Ki-21-I seatbelts STEEL 1/48 ICM

  FE1416 SM.79 seatbelts STEEL 1/48 Eduard

  FE1417 Go 244B 1/48 ICM

  FE1418 Go 244B seatbelts STEEL 1/48 ICM

  FE1419 Fokker D.VIIF Weekend 1/48 Eduard

  SS817 Me 410A-1 1/72 Airfix

  MASKS

  EX1004 Ki-21-I 1/48 ICM

  EX1005 Ki-21-I TFace 1/48 ICM

  EX1006 Go 244B 1/48 ICM

  EX1007 Go 244B TFace 1/48 ICM

  EX1008 Fokker D.VIIF Weekend 1/48 Eduard

  EX1009 Spitfire Mk.Vb early Weekend 1/48 Eduard

  EX1010 Bf 109K-4 tulip pattern & national insignia 1/48 Eduard

  CX658 Me 410A-1 1/72 Airfix

  SPACE

  3DL48156 Ki-21-I SPACE 1/48 ICM

  3DL48157 I-16 Type 10 SPACE 1/48 Eduard

  3DL48158 SM.79 SPACE 1/48 Eduard

  3DL48159 Go 244B SPACE 1/48 ICM

  3DL72027 Me 410A-1 SPACE 1/72 Airfix

  DECAL SET

  D48115 F-104A/C stencils 1/48 Kinetic

  ON APPROACH

  FEBRUARY 2024

  INFO Eduard120

  January 2024

• Page 121

  ON APPROACH

  SPARVIERO #11179

  Eduard Heavy Retro Limited Edition, plastic parts Special Hobby.

  1/48

  FEBRUARY 2024

  INFO Eduard

  121

  January 2024

• Page 122

  ON APPROACH

  FEBRUARY 2024

  INFO Eduard122

  January 2024

• Page 123

  ON APPROACH

  L-39C Albatros #7044 1/72

  L-39CM, s/n 915254, 2 Fighter Squadron, 81 Wing,

  Slovak Air Force, Sliač AFB, Slovakia, 2022

  L-39C, No.16, Russian Navy Air Force, 859 TsBP, Yeysk AB,

  Russia, 2018

  L-39C, No. 20, Kazakhstan Air Force, Taldykorgan AB,

  Kazakhstan, 2012

  L-39C, s/n 131904, OK

  -

  JET, Czech Jet Team,

  airport Plzeň-Líně, Czech Republic, 2004–2014

  L-39C, No. 0445, Pardubice, Czech Republic, 2023

  L-39C, s/n 533229, No. 77, Ukrainian Air Force, 299 brTA,

  Kulbakino AB, Nikolaev, Ukraine, 2015

  FEBRUARY 2024

  INFO Eduard

  123

  January 2024

• Page 124

  Fokker D.VIIF

  1/48

  ON APPROACH

  #8483

  Lt. Olivier freiherr von Beaulieu-Marconnay,

  Jasta 19, Stenay, France, September 1918

  378/18, Lt. Ernst Udet, Jasta 4,

  Monthussart Ferme aerodrome, France, June 1918

  465/18, Lt. Georg von Hantelmann, Jasta 15,

  Chéry-les-Pouilly, France, August 1918

  Rittm. Karl Bolle, Jasta 2, Lens Mons,

  France, October 1918

  FEBRUARY 2024

  INFO Eduard124

  January 2024

• Page 125

  W3312, S/Ldr James Rankin, No. 92 Squadron,

  RAF Biggin Hill, Great Britain, June–August 1941

  W3257, F/Lt Eric S. Lock, No. 611 Squadron,

  RAF Hornchurch, Great Britain, July-August 1941

  P8537, Sgt J. Hloužek, No. 313 Squadron, RAF Hornchurch,

  Great Britain, November 1941 – March 1942

  W3312, W/Cdr James Rankin, Biggin Hill Wing, RAF Biggin Hill,

  Great Britain, August-December 1941

  W3774, P/O William V. Crawford-Compton, No. 485 Squadron,

  RAF Kenley, Great Britain, November 1941 – March 1942

  #84198

  ON APPROACH

  Spitfire Mk.Vb early 1/48

  FEBRUARY 2024

  INFO Eduard

  125

  January 2024

• Page 126

  Bf 109G-10 WNF

  1/48

  #82161Re-release

  ON APPROACH

  Bf 109G-10/U4, WNr. 612769, 101. vadászezred,

  Neubiberg airfield, Germany, May 1945

  Bf 109G-10/U4, Jasta 5 der ROA, Nemecky Brod,

  Protektorat Böhmen und Mähren, May 1945

  Bf 109G-10/U4, WNr. 611048, II./JG 52,

  Neubiberg airfield, Germany, May 1945

  Bf 109G-10/U4, II./JG 52, Brno,

  Protektorat Böhmen und Mähren, April 1945

  FEBRUARY 2024

  INFO Eduard126

  January 2024

• Page 127

  Re-release

  ON APPROACH

  I-16 Type 10

  #8148

  1/48

  Leningrad, the Soviet Union, 1941

  The Soviet Union, summer 1941

  Genmjr. Ivan A. Lakeev, 46 IAP, Vasilkov,

  the Soviet Union, 1941

  Maj. Mikhail N. Yakushin, the Red Five aerobatic group,

  the Soviet Union, 1939

  FEBRUARY 2024

  INFO Eduard

  127

  January 2024

• Tail End Charlie

  The biggest premiere for this year, full of new kits of all scales, manufacturers and types of aircraft as well as other related items, awaits us in a different, yet closely related field within our modeling world – in film. On January 26th, Apple TV+ will launch the first two episodes of Masters of the Air. A series about the men of the 100th Bombardment Group of the 8th AF, as the series promotion says, ‘a brotherhood forged by courage, loss, and triumph’.

  MASTERS OF THE AIR, EPISODE 0: THE WAIT Jan Zdiarský

  The biggest premiere for this year, full of new

  kits of all scales, manufacturers and types of

  aircraft as well as other related items, awaits

  us in a different, yet closely related field within

  our modeling world – in film. On January 26th,

  Apple TV+ will launch the first two episodes of

  Masters of the Air. A series about the men of the

  100th Bombardment Group of the 8th AF, as the

  series promotion says, ‘a brotherhood forged by

  courage, loss, and triumph’.

  Of course, such a wait is accompanied by a lot

  of anticipation. After watching the first trailers

  and a sneak peek into the tightly guarded back-

  stage, a lot of discussion has arisen stemming

  from the observed snippets of scenes regarding

  possible transgressions of the creators against

  historical accuracy, the laws of air combat and

  tactics, as well commentaries about the faithful-

  ness to accuracy as a whole. And the fervor of

  these debates, above all, points to one thing – the

  level of interest in the series and its subject mat-

  ter is great, and so is the level of anticipation.

  Despite the stellar combination of the origi-

  nal events, the book and the series, I have no

  doubt that after watching the first episodes, de-

  spite all the efforts of the creators, there will be

  a lot of know-it-alls, intolerant of possible omis-

  sions and necessary compromises, as well as

  their sighs over perceived ‘missed opportunities’

  (something we know all too well from the world

  of plastic modeling). I myself assume that I will

  find some details in the series that the creators

  considered an acceptable compromise, but they

  will only slightly annoy me. But I don’t think that

  these will cross the line out of the tolerable and

  into something else. All the more so because

  I now know that the filmmakers went farther in

  their pursuit of fidelity of detail than anyone be-

  fore them in aerial combat cinematography has

  ever done. Of course, I know, for example, about

  the problematic involvement of the black Tuske-

  gee airmen in the story of the men of the 8th Air

  Force. However, I want to wait with my judgments

  until I see how the filmmakers have actually in-

  tegrated them into the main story.

  The series, which was originally developed over

  more than ten years under the banner of HBO

  and will be launched on the Apple TV+ platform,

  comes from the same production team as its

  iconic predecessors “Band Of Brothers” and “The

  Pacific”, i.e. the creative trio of Steven Spielberg,

  Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman.

  John Orloff’s screenplay was based on the book

  of the same name by American historian Donald

  L. Miller from 2007. It reflects the real life sto-

  ries of the men from the US 8th Air Force, es-

  pecially the 100th Bomb Group (100th BG), known

  as ‘The Bloody Hundred’. This brings me to why

  that expectation touches me so deeply and

  I take it almost personally. For more than a quar-

  ter of a century, since 1997, my activities and

  my heart have been closely connected to the

  100th BG. I have had the honor of knowing a num-

  ber of the airmen who will now come to life again

  on television screens personally, even if as older

  gentlemen and veterans, and I have had great

  relationships with them and their families, even

  with those who left before I joined the 100th BG

  Association, later Foundation.

  At several of the last (I think three or four)100th

  BG reunions, we’ve been meeting various person-

  alities from the Masters of the Air creative staff.

  Representatives of the production and creators

  informed us about the progress of preparations,

  filming, post-production... No different was the

  case at the last 100th BG reunion in Savannah, GA

  at the end of May and beginning of June, 2023,

  when, among other things, the anticipated com-

  pletion date of early 2024 was already openly

  discussed. During these meetings, members of

  the 100th BG Foundation were assured of the dil-

  igence of the filmmakers’ approach. The team of

  the series tried to follow up on the precise work

  of the author of the book template in such a way

  as not to embarrass the book or the actual histo-

  ry. The pursuit of historical and technical fidelity

  went to unusual lengths - not only in the con-

  struction of facilities at two former airfields in

  East England and the reconstruction of faithful

  replicas of the B-17, the equipment used, repli-

  cating the realities and post-production effects,

  but also in capturing the character of the indi-

  vidual personalities whose stories are recalled.

  The people associated in one way or another

  with the ‘Hundred’ have a term that they use….

  the ‘100th BG Family’. This very close-knit family

  consists of four entities - primarily the veteran

  organization of the 100th BG Foundation itself,

  the unique 100th Bomb Group Memorial Muse-

  um in Thorpe Abbotts, England, the Museum of

  Air Battle over the Ore Mountains on September

  11th, 1944 in the Czech Republic and the 100th Air

  Refueling USAF Wing based at Mildenhall.

  INFO Eduard128

  January 2024

• Page 129

  Our Czech museum, which is dedicated to one

  of the most tragic missions of the 100th BG, actu-

  ally brings a sequel to Masters of the Air, about

  a year later, related to the period when the ma-

  jority of Don Miller’s book and thus the series

  takes place.

  The master template book and series focus

  mainly on the early period of the 100th BG, in the

  second half of 1943 and early 1944. Here, we will

  encounter mainly the B-17 in its F version. How-

  ever, the stories of some men go up to 1945, so

  olive green and natural metal B-17Gs will also

  appear in the series. Although the story focuses

  on the 100th BG, it is a tribute to all the airmen

  who took part in the terrible enterprise called

  the Bombing Offensive in Europe. By intertwin-

  ing the fates of pilots from different areas of

  the air war over Europe, the series also touches

  on stories from POW camps and the sister unit

  Robert Rosenthal during his service in the 100th Bomb

  Group, 1943-45.

  Robert Rosenthal with the article’s author at the

  100th BG Reunion in Pittsburgh, 2005.

  Robert and Phillis Rosenthal with the article’s author at the Museum of Air Battle over

  the Ore Mountains on September 11th, 1944, in Kovarska, Czech Republic, July 2005.

  Rosenthal crew with their B-17F-120-BO s/n 42-30758 “Rosie’s

  Riveters,” 418th BS, 100th Bomb Group.

  Below left: Meeting of the generations from the 100th BG Family

  – youngest volunteers of the Museum of Air Battle over the Ore

  Mountains Vít and Pavel Zdiarský, with the “Masters of the Air”

  author Don Miller in Thorpe Abbotts, the former base of the

  100th BG, July 2002.

  On the right: Title of the first edition of “Masters of the Air,” 2007.

  INFO Eduard

  129

  January 2024

• Page 130

  15th Air Force. One thing the series probably can-

  not convey from the book are the chapters on the

  creation of the 8th Air Force and, above all, on the

  development of the idea of a strategic bombing

  offensive as an effective way of conducting a de-

  fensive war, from the time of Italian Giulio Douhet

  and American Billy Mitchell. Not only because

  these parts need to convey the understanding of

  the ‘son of a bitch dirty work’ that the boys from

  the 8th Air Force had to do, but also because the

  series can’t possibly transfer everything from the

  book to the screen, I highly recommend reading

  Don Miller’s book.

  Many of the unit’s legends come to life in the

  ‘Masters of the Air’ stories, and the creators of

  the series have maintained their real names, un-

  derscoring the desire for maximum faithfulness

  to accuracy. The choice of actors tried also be as

  faithful as possible. To this end, the author of the

  book, Don Miller, and later members of the series’

  INFO Eduard130

  January 2024

• Page 131

  creative team, spent long hours interviewing the

  family members of individual airmen, and where

  possible, the veterans themselves... and last but

  not least, the leadership of the 100th Bombard-

  ment Group Foundation and its historians as well.

  The power of the legacy of the 100th BG has

  been preserved by the veterans themselves

  for years and today by its Foundation as well.

  The latter is made up of, in addition to the last

  surviving veterans, by direct descendants of

  the second, third and subsequent generations,

  and will thus be strengthened by the work on

  the front lines of attention and deep reverence.

  Names such as Robert Rosenthal, Buck Cleven,

  John Egan, Frank Murphy, Everett Blakely, John

  Brady, Harry Crosby, as well as ‘forgotten’ ground

  crewmen such as Ken Lemmons and many oth-

  ers, will enter the general public’s consciousness.

  And with them, of course, the iconic ‘Square D’,

  the 100th BG identification marking that the unit’s

  B-17s carried on their rudders in missions over

  Germany and occupied Europe… and which was

  also prevalent on the wreckage of the B-17G

  flown by Lt. Trommer that was photographed

  sticking out of the roof of the school in Kovářská,

  which I went to four decades later as a pupil at

  the local elementary school. The mysticism of the

  place dug deep into me and caused me to pretend

  to be ‘there’ and write with seeming insight about

  figures like Rosie Rosenthal or Harry Crossby.

  No way, I’m not an insider, I’ve just been extreme-

  ly lucky and honored in this direction that at the

  end of January the stories of the men of the

  Bloody Hundred will come to life, I will be able to

  look behind the faces of the actors and witness

  the moments spent with those about whom the

  stories will be told. And I’m just looking forward

  to it.

  Photo Sources:

  Masters Of The Air Behind The Scenes (FB group)

  100th Bomb Group Foundation - “The Bloody Hundredth” (FB group)

  Archives of the 100th Bomb Group Foundation

  Archives of the Museum of Air Battle Over the Ore Mountains

  Additional information:

  https://100thbg.com

  https://100thbg.com/masters-of-the-air/

  https://www.100bgmus.org.uk/

  https://tv.apple.com/us/show/masters-of-the-air/umc.

  cmc.7bxcni0vwgll9kmicq738k5q2

  https://www.facebook.com/groups/873968469854049

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RWohylGm3c

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA-1JCRguZ0

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SDBjgIC93E

  https://www.facebook.com/groups/873968469854049

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_the_Air

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_L._Miller

  INFO Eduard

  131

  January 2024

• Page 132

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• Unsuspecting victim

  
  

  Text: Richard Plos

  Illustration: Antonis Karydis

  Cat. No. 8114 

  
  

  The  red-nosed blue aircraft with a white stylized winged sword on the sides of the fuselage became the real threat to Allied airmen from August 1917. Not only because its pilot, the commander of Jasta 14, Rudolf Berthold, posed a mortal danger to any adversary, but also because he was an exceptional leader with great ability to prepare his unit for combat.

  Berthold was a gutsy personality and quite an aggressive pilot. He often took his aircraft to their limits , and the vice of the Albatros D.III, the lower wing failures, was an unpleasant complication for him. Like other commanders, he had a personal spare aircraft of the same type. But while his better-known D.III came from the Albatros factory, the other one was the product of the O.A.W. factory. Little is known about this Albatros, only one photograph is known to us, showing it after an unspecified crash. It was not the lightest one, as the poor aircraft lost its undercarriage, the nose was badly damaged, the upper wing broken, and the lower wing was destroyed by contact with the ground. However, if Berthold himself flew the plane and did not lend it to someone else, then he probably escaped unharmed. There is no mention of any such crash even in Peter Kilduff's biographical book Iron Man.

  Berthold was wounded on April 24 while in command of Jasta 14. He had to take a break for treatment and convalescence until June 15, when he rejoined the unit. But on August 12

  he learned that he was to take command of Jasta 18 and six days later he was cleared to fly again. The whole of Jasta 18, by then a unit with  little success, had repainted their aircraft in Berthold's red and blue scheme, but the winged sword remained the commander's personal symbol.

  Berthold drilled his new unit from the start and within a short time he was able to increase both the combat morale and the tactical abilities of its pilots, and thus their combat success. Since August 21, he  also  increased his own score , which before his injury had stopped at 12,and during September 14 opponents fell victim to him! One of them was Lt. Bernard Alexander Powers of No. 19 Squadron RFC. The 20-year-old young man, admittedly already a fairly experienced pilot, volunteered to go on a dangerous reconnaissance flight over enemy territory to find out the current position of two regiments of the German 30th Division, which were to counter-strike the positions of the British 33rd Division. For the Britons this was an extremely dangerous opponent, as the 30th Division was classified as first class, that is in full condition and with a wealth of combat experience. This could not be said of the British, who had shortly before relieved the 23rd Division. When a request came from headquarters for an aerial reconnaissance to reveal the German positions on September 25, Powers started studying the maps while his mechanics prepared his Spad IX (B3520). As soon as he received his final instructions, he took off. It was 4:30 in the afternoon and the weather was less than ideal. Unfortunately for him, Rudolf Berthold, flying an Albatros D.III, was also in the area east of Ypres. We don't know which of his aircraft Berthold was  flying, but this was the period in which he might have been using his spare aircraft, the one produced by O.A.W. (number unknown). Near the town of Geluveld, close to the road between Ypres and Menin, the German ace attacked from  above and fired a precise fatal burst on the British pilot and his aircraft. The lone reconnaissance pilot, who quite possibly did not even realize the attack, crashed and Berthold scored his victory number 24. This situation is captured on the boxart for the Albatros D.III kit (Cat. No. 8114) by Antonis Karydis.

  Just two weeks later, while leading his pilots into one of their many battles, the commander of Jasta 18 suffered a serious injury to his right arm, which until that moment he claimed was his only limb still uninjured. A bullet, probably fired by Capt. Gerald Maxwell of No. 56 Squadron RFC, ricocheted in the cockpit and devastated his right humerus. Berthold was flying a Pfalz D.III (probably No. 4004/17) on this flight and while single-handed, he was able to get his aircraft back to the airfield and land safely. Only then he collapsed and was transported unconscious to the hospital in Courtrai, where he began his harrowing journey to recovery, which never ended.

  Berthold's 24th casualty was reported to have had one kill on July 29, 1917. With his wingman Lt. Francis Behrens, Powers fought with fighters from Jasta 29. It ended in a draw; Powers shot down one of his opponents, while his wingman was shot down by Vzfw. Misch.

• The Red Hunters

  
  

  Text: Jan Bobek

  Illustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz

  Cat. No. 84197

  
  

  In mid-September 1942, Oblt. Hermann Graf, the commander of 9./JG 52, received Diamonds to the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords for surpassing the 200 air victories mark. Propaganda didn't want such a media star to fall in combat or into enemy hands. Therefore, in late January 1943, Graf became commander of the operational training unit Erg. Gr. Ost in France. In this capacity, he finally got around to his passion, which was football. It was then that the red tulip marking first appeared on his Fw 190.

  Before the war, Graf was trying to qualify for the Germany national football team, and in the process he met the legendary German player Sepp Heberger for the first time. This footballer later became famous as coach of the West German national team that won the 1954 World Cup final, in a match later dubbed the “The Miracle of Bern”. In the second half, the German team completely outclassed the Hungarians, thanks to Adidas soccer cleats and probably also thanks to Pervitin, which was officially used by the German armed forces during the war.

  Graf and Heberger met again in 1941, when they organised the participation of first league footballers in a friendly match between the German military mission and the Romanian team. In early 1943, Graf tried to organize a football team to relax and increase physical fitness. His men, however, had little affinity for the sport. Though, he was soon approached by a soldier from a neighbour unit named Bruno Klaffke, a football player, and Graf quickly arranged for his transfer to his own unit. Heberger took advantage of Graf's contacts and gave him the idea of pulling top German footballers to Graf's unit. They were assigned to ground personnel and it saved a large number of them from death at the front. Heberger also helped Graf train them.

  Thus Graf's football team “Red Hunters” (Rote Jäger) was formed. They got the “red” nickname from the colour of the jerseys donated by a prominent German businessman. One of Graf's superiors was suspicious of his communist sympathies. Gradually, 20 first league players from Germany and Austria were concentrated on the Rote Jäger team. From August 1943 to November 1943 they played a total of 29 matches, 22 of them victorious. A detailed overview can be found here.

  When Graf became CO of the high-altitude fighter unit JG 50, he managed to take the football team with him. The same was repeated when he was appointed Kommodore of JG 1, later the players followed him to JG 11 and in October 1944 moved with him to the Eastern Front to JG 52. Graf at that time was unable to perform combat flights due to the effects of a serious injury and so  he gradually recruited JG 52 aces for his Stab. They were Lt. Karl Gratz (138 v., KC), Oblt. Heinrich Füllgrabe (67 v., KC) and Lt. Anton Resch. Gratz became CO of 10./JG 52 in January 1945 and Füllgrabe was killed in late January 1945 after being hit by flak in a “Green 2”.

  Hermann Graf also provided his Stab with latest equipment. Although JG 52 is considered one of the German units that used exclusively Messerschmitt Bf 109s, Graf was the exception to this rule. In December 1944, in addition to eight Bf 109 G-14/U4s and one Bf 109 G-14, he had three Fw 190 A-9s,  which outperformed the Messerschmitt at low level flights. However, Graf had one  Focke-Wulf (unsuccessfully) converted to the DB 605 engine, much to the displeasure of his mechanics! No further records of the Fw 190 at Stab JG 52 are yet available.

  Of the approximately thirty victories achieved by the airmen of Stab JG 52 in 1945, mostly during the battles in Silesia, Anton Resch scored 22. For achieving 88 kills he was awarded the Knight's Cross on 7 April and by the end of the war he had gained three more victories. In the last days of the war, Stab, I. and III./JG 52 moved to Deutschbrod (now Havlíčkův Brod, Czech Republic). Among the wreckage at this base probably ended up not only Hartmann's plane from I./JG 52 with a black tulip on the nose, but also several Bf 109 K-4s of the Stab JG 52 with red tulips and small fuselage numbers placed behind the cross. Graf's Stab JG 50 aircraft were already similarly marked in 1943. In a private collection in the Czech Republic is part of the engine cowling of a  K-4 which, apart from the camouflage in shades of grey, bears part of the red tulip . For a more detailed study of the fate of Hermann Graf I recommend the excellent publication Graf & Grislawski A Pair of Aces by Christer Bergström.

• The Long Wait

  
  

  Text: Libor Špůrek

  Illustration: Adam Tooby

  Cat. No. 7059

  
  

  ‘One day you’re up, the next you’re down’ is not only a rule of thumb description of the job of a pilot, but also a general rule about the cycle of life's successes and failures…

   The most successful 216th IAD V-PVO in the Korean War was the 518th ‘Berlin’ IAP. The pilots of this regiment shot down 38 enemy aircraft in the skies over Korea and damaged another 26, at the cost fifteen aircraft and five pilots of their own. Only one of the regiment's pilots achieved ace status and was the only one in the division to receive the highest Soviet honor, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. It was Mikhail Mikhin, the deputy of eskadrilya commander for the flight training.

   Mikhail Ivanovich Mikhin was born on October 25th, 1923 in the village of Borovoye in the Altai Region. After graduating from the Orenburg Aviation School and the Stalingrad Higher Military Aviation School, he joined the 4th ZAB (Reserve Aviation Brigade) of the North Caucasus Military District in December, 1944 as an instructor. He was transferred to the 518th IAP in January, 1946.

   It was st. Lt. Mikhin who started the combat success of the 518th IAP in Korea on August 19th, 1952 by shooting down an F-86 Sabre. His claim to fame came in September of the same year. During the five days from September 4th to the 9th, he added three more Sabers and one F-84 Thunderjet to earn him ace status. By the end of September, he added another pair of Sabers (September 12th and September 29th) and one Thunderjet (September 18th). For these impressive results, IAD Command recommended he be awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, the overall picture of the fighting was not very favorable at that time, so the headquarters of the 64th IAK suspended the award proposal. As ‘compensation’, Mikhin received the Order of Lenin and was specially promoted to the rank of captain, a method not a commonly done.

   However, after the successes of September, things began to grind down. Not that Mikhin began to lose his touch - pilots led by him successfully performed all combat tasks assigned to them. But even a Commander at times hits a cold streak – perhaps, in this case, as the result of a psychological block from the disappointment of not being awarded the HSU (although, of course, Soviet propaganda always claimed that ‘a Soviet soldier does not fight for honors’).

   After almost nine months, on May 18th, 1953, he finally regained his touch. That day, the pilots of the 518th IAP again faced off against their old friends from the US 39th FIS, 51st FIW. Captain Joseph M. McConnell Jr. bagged his 14th and 15th kills that morning, making him the most successful American ace of the Korean War. In the second battle of the day, McConnell scored his 16th and final victory by shooting down the MiG of 2nd eskadrilya Commander kpt. Stadnik. Stadnik ejected from the burning MiG. The second kill of this battle was scored by the commander of the 39th FIS, Lt. Col. Radell, making him the 31st ace of the US Air Force in the Korean War (his victim, the pilot of the 3rd eskadrilya, Lt. Rybakov, died in the cockpit of his plane).

   However, the pilots of the 518th IAP did not owe anything to the aces of the 39th FIS and also sent two Sabers to the ground. One of them was attributed to Mikhail Mikhin, who stated in his report:

   ‘Att.Unit Commander P/P142192. I report that on 18/05/1953 at 1355h during air combat in the area east of Siodzia, 35-40 km, an enemy aircraft of the F-86 type was shot down by me under the following circumstances:

   Flying on a 300 degree heading at 13,500m I discovered four F-86s on a collision course 1000m below. I approached with a right half-turn and attacked the leader of the second pair. From a distance of 1000m at an angle of 2/4 right, I opened fire. The intended target escaped the attack below the leading pair. I repeated the attack from the top left and from a distance of 700-800m at P = 1/4 opened fire again. The enemy aircraft made a sharp turn to the left and went into a descent. I started my attack on the lead of the first pair with a slight climb but I was attacked and fired upon by the wingman of the second pair, and was forced to break off using a right combat turn. During the shooting, I observed hits to the left wing and to the fuselage. According to the observation of my wingman the enemy aircraft did not come out of the dive. I believe the enemy F-86 aircraft was shot down. According to the deciphered data, the enemy plane was hit. kpt M. Mikhin.'

   This kill was confirmed by other sources:

   ‘On May 18th, 1953, at 1430 - 1530h (Pongyang time), an aerial battle took place over the Yen-pyen District area, and the plane exploded midair. I confirm this. 05/27/1953 Sinchisyu Police Chief Major Tsoi Chu-Hak.’

   The armistice, signed on July 27, 1953, came into effect with Mikhail Ivanovich Mikhin holding the rank of mayór and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, which was awarded to him by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on July 14th, 1953. In total, during his stay in Korea, he flew 140 sorties, participated in 39 air battles, in which he personally shot down nine enemy aircraft and damaged another three.

• Until the last bullet

  
  

  Text: Jan Zdiarský

  Illustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz

  Cat. No. 84172

  
  

  On September 11, 1944, one of the wildest days of the Allied strategic bombing offensive over Germany, the 352nd Fighter Group escorted the last combat boxes in the bomber stream of the 3rd Bombardment Division of the 8th Air Force.

  At around 1150h, pilots of the 328th FS spotted a group of around thirty German fighters located about halfway between them and an unspecified group of American bombers. The latter were most likely B-17s from the 1st Bomb Division headed for Merseburg/Lützkendorf. The squadron leader, Lt. Col. John C. Meyer, later reported: ‘They were pulling contrails and appeared to be forming up. We headed towards them and as we got closer they dove out of contrails level in ones and twos. Contrail level was 28000´plus. At 29000´, I identified them as Me 109s and attacked one as he headed down in a 60° dive. The whole squadron then engaged small groups of the E/A after their original gaggle had been split up. At about 17000´ the E/A I was chasing leveled off and I closed rapidly. He saw me and started in a steep climbing turn, my first burst was about 20° deflection at 300 yards. I observed few hits. I closed on him in the climbing turn and at 30° deflection and 200 yards I got hits on the rear portion of his fuselage, pieces coming off. He split S´d, recovered and turned into me. I had little difficulty in overtaking and in turning inside of him. At 20° and 300 yards I got good strikes on wing root and E/A started to smoke. It rolled over and crashed straight into the deck from 8000´. Pilot seemed inexperienced, his breaks were conspicuously non-violent. He was hesitant in all his maneuvers.’

  John C. Meyer did not get the described kill while in the cockpit of his iconic Mustang s/n 44-14151 HO-M, named ‘Petie 2nd’, which remained on the ground.  Good fortune on this day was bestowed on Meyer by a borrowed, and a little orphaned, Mustang named ‘Stardust’, which carried the serial 44-13597 and code HO-F, who’s pilot, Lt. William E. Fowler, had just completed a combat tour.

  After getting that first kill of the day, Lt. Col. Meyer felt a little abandoned. He spotted another group of German fighters, made up of around fifteen Bf 109s and Fw 190s, a little higher than himself in altitude and further to the northwest. He climbed about 2,000 feet above the level of his foes and attacked a mixed pair of aircraft, one of each type: ‘They had belly tanks and appeared to be forming up. I approached them from out of the sun and attacked the #2 of a pair of E/A that were farthest from the mass. I fired at 15° deflection from 300 yards to point blank range. The E/A burst into flames, I broke into the sun, cleared my tail and attacked the element leader, at 300 yards I got few strikes on his right wing tip and he broke. As he broke I got strikes in the vicinity of the cockpit and wing roots. The E/A rolled over and spiraled down, crashing into the ground.’

  Shortly afterwards, Meyer spotted his final victim of this fight: ‘A lone Me 109 was emerging from a cloud in the vicinity of the large enemy gaggle. And as I was not yet under attack, I attacked the E/A. Only my right wing guns were now firing so I opened at 200 yards and no deflection closing to point blank range and 10° deflection. I saw strikes all over the E/A and pieces flew off the tail and fuselage. He caught fire at his left wing root. I broke off the attack and headed for the deck and home.’

  The combat that lasted only a few minutes brought Lt. Col. Meyer the rare triumph of four kills. The drama, though, was not at its end. After his last kill, pretty much out of ammunition and his fuel reserves leaving much to be desired, he turned for home and dropped down to a lower altitude where he would be safer. At that point, he spotted two Bf 109s below him that glued themselves to his tail. For a short period of time, he set his throttle to emergency boost and began climbing again at a rate of 980 ft per minute. The enemy aircraft pursued him at a distance of almost 330 yd, and still 100 to 120 yd from below. Every now and again, they would be able to lift their noses up and get off a few rounds, but to Meyer’s luck, without success. This unlikely group flew almost 100 miles between Kassel and Bonn, and when they reached the Rhine, the German pilots turned back.

  During his WWII combat tour, John C. Meyer achieved 24 confirmed aerial victories. He passed away on December 2, 1975, at the age of 56, holding the rank of General. The full story about this combat can be read in Info 02/2021, in the article 'Stardust: Four Trips To Hell On a Borrowed Horse.

• Markings for GUSTAV 1/72

  Bf 109G-5, WNr. 27119, Uffz. Gerhard Kroll, Ofw. Friedrich Ungar, Fw. Emil Hecker 9./JG 54, Ludwigslust, Germany, February 1944

  The aircraft WNr. 27119 was flown by three different pilots of the 9./JG 54. These were Uffz. Gerhard Kroll, Ofw. Friedrich Ungar and Fw. Emil Hecker. The upper surfaces of this aircraft were painted with irregular patches of light color, probably RLM 76. The layout of the original camouflage fields was based on the Erla factory pattern. The wide blue band was marking of JG 54 machines. The III. Gruppe emblem of this Jagdgeschwader is located on the sides of the fuselage under the cockpit. The devil's head, photographically documented only on the left side of the engine cowling, was used by the 9. Staffel. This machine had gun cameras mounted in the leading edge of the wing. She was lost on April 8, 1944, when Uffz. Gerhard Kroll was shot down and wounded near Lüneburg. This aviator did not record any victories during his career but was shot down several times and suffered burns three times.

   

  Bf 109G-5, WNr. 26082, Flg. Victor Widmaier, 7./JG 11, Oldenburg, Germany, October 1943

  This aircraft belonged to JG 11 but was also flown by members of JG 300 as part of Wilde Sau tactics. Note the black paint on the lower right wing. The camouflage scheme was sprayed on the pattern used on the Bf 109G at the Erla factory in Leipzig. Flg. Victor Widmaier scored his first victory with this aircraft when he shot down a B-17 bomber on October 2, 1943. By the end of 1943, he had destroyed three more bombers of this type and in early January he scored a victory over a P-38. After III./JG 11 was rearmed with Fw 190s in February, Widmaier scored a victory over a B-17 and a P-47 on February 10, but suffered injuries after hit from another P-47 and bailed out of. He landed about 200 meters from the American pilot, who also bailed out by parachute. Widmaier underwent a surgery on the same evening, but after only two weeks he forced his return to the unit. He learned the pilot he had shot down fallen into captivity. It was probably a 20-year-old 2nd Lt. Merrill W. De Merit, Jr. of the 361st FG, 356th FG, who was on his fourth combat flight. Victor Widmaier died in 2011.

   

  Bf 109G-5/U2, WNr. 27112, Maj. Walther Dahl, CO of III./JG 3, Bad Wörishofen, Germany, December 1943

  Walther Dahl was born on March 27, 1916, in Lug. On May 1, 1939, he joined the Luftwaffe and became a fighter pilot. In May 1941, he was transferred to JG 3. Dahl achieved his first victory on June 22, 1941, in the Soviet Union and his last on April 26, 1945. On July 20, 1943, he became commander of III./JG 3 on the Eastern Front. In August his unit moved to Western Europe, at that time armed with Bf 109G-6s. In October his unit also received three G-5 version aircraft and by the end of the year the number had increased to nine. His rudder shows 52 Eastern Front victories instead of the 51 he was credited with. Images of the aircraft were taken sometimes between October 14 and December 19, 1943, during which time it achieved its fourth and fifth victories against American bombers. His total score was 128 kills, and he was awarded the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves. Bf 109G-5 WNr. 27112 has RLM 76 paint on all surfaces, only the right, lower half of the wing is black. Maj. Walther Dahl survived the war and died on November 25, 1985.

   

  Bf 109G-5, WNr. 110047, Ofw. Hanns-Werner Gross, 1./JG 300, Bonn-Hangelar, Germany, March 1944

  This unusual camouflage scheme was seen on several JG 300 aircraft. These were deployed for night operational flights. The upper surfaces were painted over with RLM 76 and grey wavy lines. The exact shade used for the waves is unknown, but it was probably RLM 75 or RLM 74. The bottom surfaces were black. Hanns-Werner Gross was apparently shot down in this aircraft (WNr. 110047) over Pfungstadt near Darmstadt on March 18, 1944. His conqueror was probably a Mustang pilot from the 4th FG. Gross landed in a treetop on a parachute and was hanging some 15 meters above the ground in a landscape where there were hardly any trees. He lost his shoes during the jump. Soldiers, who at first thought him an enemy, helped him down and villagers found both his shoes. Gross continued to serve in I./JG 300 and in the last months of the war he converted for Me 262 jet.

   

  Bf 109G-6, WNr. 20499, Lt. Erich Hartmann, CO of 9./JG 52, New Zaporozhye, the Soviet Union, October 1943

  With this aircraft, Erich Hartmann shot down his 121th victim on October 2, 1943. The same number of kills was also painted on the aircraft’s rudder. The red heart with the inscription Karaya was the emblem of the 9. Staffel of JG 52, which Hartmann commanded at the time. The white inscription Dicker Max in the heart can be translated as “Big Show”. The aircraft was built at the Wiener Neustadt Werke factory in a tropical finish and had hatches for the sunshade on the left side of the fuselage under the cockpit. It has been used extensively and had its camouflage repaired several times. Erich Hartmann became the most successful fighter ace not only in the Luftwaffe, but also in the history of aviation. He achieved his first victory on November 5, 1942 and his last victim number 352 was a Yak-9 shot down on May 8, 1945. Hartmann scored all of his victories on the Eastern Front. After the surrender he was captured by American troops, but they handed him over to the Soviets who sentenced him to 25 years of forced labor. After ten years he was repatriated to Germany and participated in the rebirth of the German Air Force. Hartmann became the recipient of the then highest German war decoration when he was awarded the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds on August 25, 1944.

   

  Bf 109G-6, WNr. 20272, Oblt. Heinrich Klöpper, CO of 7./JG 1, Rheine, Germany, November 1943

  A native of Peine in Lower Saxony, born on January 9, 1918 and future Knight’s Cross winner Heinrich Klöpper took part in the ranks of JG 77 in the Battle of France and in the Battle of Britain. He achieved one victory during both campaigns. After the start of Operation Barbarossa, as a member of the 11. Staffel of JG 51, he shot down another 80 enemy fighters between June 22, 1941 and November 1943. In early November 1943, he took command of the 7. Staffel JG 1, which was assigned to the Reich Defense Force (Reichsverteidigung). In this unit he shot down five four-engine B-17s, one B-24, and two P-38s. He was killed on November 29, 1943, when he was hit in the cockpit of his Messerschmitt during a dogfight with two P-38s over Vollenhove, the Netherlands. Some tactical formation commanders had the vertical tail surfaces spray-painted white for quicker identification of the leader in combat. The rudder bears the symbols of Klöpper’s victories.

   

  Bf 109G-6, WNr.18502 or 18503, Hptm. Horst Carganico, CO of II./JG 5, Pskov-South, the Soviet Union, early 1944

  Horst Carganico was born on September 27, 1917 in Breslau (Wroclaw in Poland nowadays). The first combat unit to which the then twenty-two-year-old Lt. Carganico joined was JG 1 at the beginning of the war. This was followed by a return to Norway on January 1, 1941, where he served as commander of 1./JG 77. On September 25, 1941, Carganico was awarded the Knight’s Cross after achieving his 27th victory. In March 1942 Carganico’s unit was renamed 6./JG 5, but by April 1942 he had already taken command of the entire II. Gruppe. On March 26, 1944, he was appointed commander of I./JG 5, which participated in the fighting against the Allies as part of the Defense of the Reich. On May 27 of that year Major Carganico flew his last sortie. During an attack on a B-17 formation his Bf 109G-5 was badly damaged, hitting a high tension power line while attempting an emergency landing. He did not survive the crash near the French town of Chevry. Carganico’s total score stands at sixty kills in 600 missions. The camouflage of his aircraft was painted over with white and RLM 70 on the upper surfaces. Under the cockpit was the marking of II./JG 5 aircraft on both sides. On the left side of the fuselage behind the cockpit was Carganico’s personal emblem – Mickey Mouse dragging his boots with dates commemorating the pilot’s returns to the unit after emergency landings behind enemy lines. On the right side of the fuselage, there was probably the marking of the Gruppe commander – a double chevron and a horizontal bar.

   

  Bf 109G-6 Trop, WNr. 27169, Fw. Heinrich Bartels, 11./JG 27, Kalamaki, Greece, November 1943

  Austrian Heinrich Bartels was born on July 13, 1918, in Linz. He began his career as a fighter pilot over the English Channel, where as a member of the Erg./JG 26, he shot down two Spitfires in August 1941. He then went on to the ranks of JG 5 in northern Europe, where he scored 47 victories against the Soviet air force. The remainder of his 99 victories came in the ranks of JG 27. Fateful to Bartels was an encounter with American fighters on December 23, 1944. He managed to shoot down one of the Thunderbolts, but he did not return to the base. The wreckage of his aircraft was not found until a quarter of a century later in January 1968. An unused parachute was found in the cockpit, which is now on display at the Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin. Bartels’ Bf 109G-6 is shown as it was captured in photographs taken on the occasion of scoring his 70th kill. The photographs can thus be dated to November 15, 1943. A total of 70 Abschussbalken (victory marks) are painted on the rudder along with the Knight’s Cross, which Bartels had received a year earlier, on November 13, 1942. The sawtooth border of camouflage paint on the upper surface of the wing is typical of some of the aircraft produced at the Erla factory in 1943.

   

  Bf 109G-6 Trop, Oblt. Alfred Grislawski, CO of 1./JG 50, Wiesbaden-Erbenheim, Germany, September 1943

  Alfred Grislawski was born on November 2, 1919, in Wanne-Eickel in the Ruhr. Jagdgeschwader 50 was formed on August 15, 1943, by renaming the Jagdgeschwader Süd, which had already been engaged in the pursuit of reconnaissance Mosquitos flying at high altitudes since July 21. However, only its I. Gruppe was formed. It was led by Hermann Graf, who was also the force behind the creation of the Gruppe emblem painted on the left side of the fuselage below the cockpit. The figure of the Roten Jäger (the Red Hunter) symbolized the Luftwaffe football team, in which Graf played together with a number of the German national team at the time, and which was known as die Roten Jäger. Alfred Grislawski commanded the 1. Staffel of this unit, as evidenced by the white-colored tail, reserved for the commanders of the combat formations. JG 50 existed for a relatively short period of time, becoming part of I./JG 301 in October 1943. Grislawski then served with JG 1 and JG 53, increasing his score to 133 victories by the end of the war. His achievements earned him the Knight’s Cross, which he was awarded on July 1, 1943. On April 11, 1944, he received the Oak leaves.

   

  Bf 109G-6, WNr. 18107, Uffz. Georg Amon, 7./JG 53, Torazzo, Sicily, June 1943

  Georg Amon was born on July 1, 1920. He joined the Luftwaffe in 1941 and began fighter training in January 1942. In September 1942, he was assigned to 7./JG 53, which was then in the African theater. In the summer of 1943, the Luftwaffe was under great pressure from Allied air raids, resulting in the withdrawal from the African theatre of operations and the subsequent capture of Sicily as German forces retreated to Italy. This aircraft was manufactured in April or early May 1943 at the Messerschmitt plant in Regensburg. The camouflage of RLM 74, 75 and 76 colors was complemented by splotches of RLM 02 on the fuselage sides. The color of the limbs of the Spade floating in the boat is not completely confirmed, the blue color is based on the theory that der Seemann (sailor), which was Amon’s nickname, wore blue clothing. The aircraft was lost on July 3, 1943, when Uffz. Walter Reinicke was shot down flying it, falling in captivity. In January 1944, Georg Amon began working as a fighter instructor in the south of France. The last day of Georg Amon’s wartime career was April 2, 1945. He was shot down by American anti-aircraft half-track fire. He jumped from a low-flying, burning aircraft. With serious burns, he was captured and survived the war. Georg Amon achieved nine victories.

   

  Bf 109G-6, WNr. 19456, Oberst Hannes Trautloft, Stab General der Jagdflieger, the Soviet Union, August 1943

  This aircraft was originally manufactured as the Bf 109G-4 with the factory code CL+OQ and was assigned to 6./JG 27 in the Mediterranean. After being severely damaged at Trapani on May 10, 1943, it was converted to the G-6 version during an overhaul and accepted by the Stab of General der Jagdflieger Adolf Galland. In the summer and autumn of 1943, the plane was used by Oberst Trautloft, the inspector for fighter units on the Eastern Front. The aircraft bore a markings that tied it to JG 54, the unit he was previously commanding. However, Günther Lützow, then inspector for fighter units in the West and MTO, was also photographed in its cockpit. Hannes Trautloft began his fighting career in the Spanish Civil War. There he flew the Bf 109 and was instrumental in developing the tactics for the deployment of this type. He also flew in the Polish campaign and the French campaign. During each conflict he scored at least one victory. On August 25, 1940, he became commander of the newly formed JG 54. Trautloft’s overall record totals 58 victories, and he was able to pin the Knight’s Cross on July 27, 1941. The aircraft bears the standard RLM 74/75/76 camouflage scheme, with splotches of what was probably RLM 70 green paint on the fuselage

   

  Bf 109G-6, WNr. 163627, ylikersantti Leo Ahokas, 3/HLeLv 24, Lappeenranta, Finland, June 1944

  Leo Ahokas was born on April 25, 1915, in Jaakkima, Karelia, a town annexed by the then Soviet Union in 1940. He received pilot training from 1936–1937, and after mobilization at the start of the Winter War was sent to training unit T-LentoR 2, then in February 1940 to LLv 24, armed with Hurricanes and Brewsters. He was demobilized after the end of the Winter War. He joined LLv 32 for further military service on June 3, 1941, later LLv 24 armed with American Brewsters. In 1943, this unit received Messerschmitts Bf 109G. Ylikersantti Ahokas demobilized on November 10, 1944, and worked as a driver in civilian life. He died on October 25, 1988. During the Continuation War he flew a total of 189 combat sorties and shot down 12 enemy aircraft. The standard-camouflaged Bf 109G-6 from the Messerschmitt factory in Regensburg was supplemented with the yellow recognition markings of the machines from the Eastern Front after being assigned to the Finnish Air Force. On the rudder it bore the new emblem HLeLv 24, the head of a lynx.

   

  Bf 109G-6, WNr. 163162, 2a Squadriglia, 2o Gruppo Caccia, Verona-Villafranca, Italy, October 1944

  The Aeronautica Nazionalle Repubblicana (ANR) was the air force possessed by the Italian Socialist Republic, which was formed in late September 1943 in the northern part of Italy and was an ally of the German Third Reich. At first the ANR deployed Italian-built fighters, later receiving German Bf 109Gs. From October 1944, the 109s bore a combination of German insignia and the insignia of the Italian Socialist Republic. On the nose was painted a cartoon of a red devil, emblem of 2a Squadriglia, which was called Diavoli Rossi.

   

  Bf 109G-6, WNr. 161742, Rtk. Rudolf Božik, Combined Flight, Slovak National Uprising, Tri Duby airflield, Slovakia, September 1944

  Rudolf Božík was born on July 10, 1920, in Hrnčiarovce nad Parnou. In January 1940, he voluntarily enlisted in the Slovak army and completed his basic military and pilot training in Piešťany. In June 1943 he was sent to the Eastern Front. He flew with the Letka 13 (Squadron 13, subordinated to II./JG 52) in Anapa, over Kuban and the Black Sea. On July 26, 1943, he achieved his first two kills. He scored six more by September 26, 1943, on that day he crashed during takeoff and suffered a severe spinal injury. At the end of October 1943, he was transported to Slovakia for treatment. From January 31, 1944, he served at Vajnory airfield, again in Letka 13, which was withdrawn from the Eastern Front to defend Bratislava from American air raids. On June 26, 1944, he damaged one B-17, but in dogfights with American escorts, Letka 13 was decimated. Only four Bf 109G-6s could be used for the Slovak National Uprising (SNP). The Bf 109G-6 had the standard Mtt Regensburg RLM 74/75/76 camouflage. The original Slovakian crosses were oversprayed with insurgent markings. The red section was always on the right. The markings on the wing had a red outline, sometimes a blue outline is mentioned, so both variants are offered in the decal. The insignia on the tail have a blue outline. Božik is credited with three kills of German aircraft during the SNP. After the SNP he was transported to the USSR and joined the 2nd Czechoslovak Fighter Aviation Regiment.

• Markings for Bf 109K-4 1/48

  WNr. 332529, Stab JG 52, Deutsch Brod, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, May 1945

  At the end of the war, at least three Bf 109s with a tulip pattern on the nose were found at the Deutsch Brod base (Havlíčkův Brod today). The surviving engine cowling bears a grey paint and red tulip marking. These were apparently the machines of the Stab JG 52, commanded by Kommodore Hermann Graf, who had the same markings in 1943 with JG 50. When Oberst Graf became CO of JG 52 in October 1944, he introduced the same markings to his Stab planes, including the green fuselage numbers. Graf brought two wingmen to his Stab, Lt. Anton Resch and Oblt. Heinrich Füllgrabe (67 victories; KC holder), who was killed in January 1945 on the “green 2”. By the end of the war, Resch had scored most of the victories of Stab JG 52, so it is possible that he also flew 332529. He was awarded the Knight’s Cross in early April 1945 and achieved a total of 91 victories during 210 combat sorties. The fuselage number was probably green, but the decal also offers a black variant. Fuselage was painted in RLM 74 and RLM 75 with yellow-grey version of RLM 76. Vertical tail was painted in darker version of RLM 74 and 75, the RLM 74 had a tinge of green. Wing was painted with lighter shade of colors RLM 74, 75 and 76.

   

  WNr. 330204, Hptm. Franz Mentzel, 9./JG 77, Neuruppin, Germany, November 1944

  In October 1944, III./JG 77 became the first Luftwaffe fighter unit to be completely re-equipped with the Bf 109K-4. They received 68 of these aircraft. Its commander was the experienced JG 77 veteran Major Armin Köhler (40 victories, KC). Its 9. Staffel was newly established in November 1944 and the commander was appointed Hptm. Franz Mentzel (also referred to as Menzel). At the beginning of the war, he flew the Bf 110 in I./ZG 2 and was captured during the French campaign. Later he served also in JG 5 and in several flight schools. His last (eighth?) aerial victory was an Il-2 shot down in combat over Silesia on February 3, 1945. During Operation Bodenplatte, III./JG 77 lost 11 aircraft and pilots. One of the lost Bf 109s was Mentzel’s 330204, its pilot Lt. Herbert Abendroth was captured. At the end of the war this unit fought in Upper Silesia, based at Beneschau in the Hlučín region (today Dolní Benešov, Czech Republic). Fuselage was painted in RLM 74 and RLM 75 with yellow-grey version of RLM 76. Vertical tail was painted in darker version of RLM 74 and 75, the RLM 74 had a tinge of green. Wing was painted with lighter shade of colors RLM 74, 75 and 76.

   

  WNr. 330255, Stab III./JG 27, Wunstorf, Germany, May 1945

  The commander of III./JG 27 from October 1944 until the end of the war was Austrian Hptm. Dr. Peter Werfft (26 victories). During the same month his unit received Bf 109K-4s. From February 1945 his deputy was CO of 12./JG 27, Oblt. Emil Clade (27 victories). While serving in Africa with II./JG 27, Clade and his Schwarm attacked a lone low-flying Bristol Bombay transport from No. 216 Sqn RAF on August 7, 1942 in the Allied rear. He managed to shoot it down and on the ground the machine was destroyed by Uffz. Schneider, who was awarded the victory. The commander of the British Eighth Army, Lt. Gen. W. H. E. Gott, was killed on board. In his place was appointed Lt. Gen. Montgomery, for whom Gott’s death became a major milestone in his career. Clade led 12./JG 27 from November 1944 during the fighting in western Germany until its disbandment in early April 1945. In the last month of the war, he commanded I./JG 27. After the war, he worked as an airline pilot, took up sport flying, and published a memoir in 1996. Fuselage was painted in RLM 74 and RLM 75 with yellow-grey version of RLM 76. Vertical tail was painted in darker version of RLM 74 and 75, the RLM 74 had a tinge of green. Wing was painted with lighter shade of colors RLM 74, 75 and 76.

   

  WNr. 330209, 3a Squadriglia, Io Gruppo Caccia, Lonate Pozzolo, Italy, March 1945     

  This aircraft, manufactured in February 1945, was one of six Bf 109K-4s received by the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana in Northern Italy. During February it was assigned to 3a Squadriglia “Arciere”, which was part of Io Gruppo Caccia “Asso di Bastoni” under the command of Maggiore Adriano Visconti (10 victories). Unit’s Bf 109K-4s took part in aerial combat on April 10, 1945. In the early morning hours, three Bf 109s from Io Gr. C. were sent against four P-47s from the 65th FS, 57th FG, which were conducting a weather reconnaissance in the Milan-Lago di Como area. In the aerial combat a Bf 109G-14/AS “1-7“, flown by M.llo Veronesi, and a Bf 109K-4 “3-14”, flown by S. Ten Gallori, were damaged. One P-47 was reported damaged by M.llo Forlani. The American pilots did not claim any victories. In late April, the Io Gr. C. moved to Malpensa. Fuselage was painted in RLM 74 and RLM 75 with yellow-grey version of RLM 76. Vertical tail was painted in darker version of RLM 74 and 75, the RLM 74 had a tinge of green. Wing was painted with lighter shade of colors RLM 74, 75 and 76.

• Markings Albatros D.III 1/48

  Oblt. Rudolf Berthold, Jasta 18, Harelbeke, Belgium, September 1917

  Shortly after taking command of Jasta 18, Rudolf Berthold introduced a new livery for the unit’s aircraft. It consisted of a red nose and blue fuselage and possibly also of blue on the upper surfaces of both wings. These were the uniform colors of the infantry regiment with which Berthold served before the war. The red and blue livery was first applied to Berthold’s Albatros D.III, built in Johannisthal, but during the autumn of 1917 Berthold flew one more Albatros, this one built in Schneidemühl (O.A.W.). This aircraft carried the same paint scheme, but it is likely that the upper surfaces of the lower wing retained the original camouflage paint. Berthold crashed this aircraft under unclear circumstances, probably shortly before suffering a devastating gunshot wound to his right arm while flying a second Albatros on October 10, 1917. This injury took him out of combat for a long time and left his right arm permanently paralyzed. After the war, Berthold formed his own Freikorps infantry unit and fought against the Bolsheviks. These battles proved fatal for him, however, when he was attacked and lynched by an angry mob in Hamburg as he retreated from combat on March 15, 1919.

  
  

  D.2006/16, Lt. Lothar & Rtm. Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen, Jasta 11, La Brayelle, France, March–May 1917

  What is interesting about this Albatross D.III manufactured by the Johannisthal factory is that both von Richthofen brothers scored aerial victories when flying it. However, it is not clear exactly how many of them. Lothar himself stated that after joining the unit commanded by his brother (Jasta 11) in early March 1917, he, as a rookie, was provided with an aircraft on which Manfred scored ten victories. However, this is contradicted by a number of facts and the famous Red Baron probably only scored three or four kills with this aircraft. Lothar himself flew this Albatros until May 13, when he was seriously injured. By that time, he had already scored 24 kills. It is not known how many of these he achieved flying the D.2006/16, he himself stated that it was ten of them. The aircraft was scrapped on June 7, 1917, as badly worn and damaged many times. Apart from a red band around the fuselage behind the cockpit, it bore the standard color scheme with wooden fuselage.

   

  D.2049/16, Oblt. Hermann Göring, CO of Jasta 27, Ghistelles, Belgium, May 1917

  This aircraft was used by Hermann Göring from February 24, 1917, i.e., already during his service with Jasta 26. At that time, its only decoration was a black band with white bordering around the fuselage behind the cockpit and diagonal stripes of the same color combination on the upper side of the upper wing. When Göring took command of Jasta 27 in May, the aircraft received a more distinctive livery, corresponding to the Staffelführer’s position. The entire fuselage was painted black, the nose and tail were white, as were all struts and wheel discs. The crosses on the rudder and vertical stabilizer were given a thin black line to make their white bordering obvious against the white background. The stripes on the upper wing have been significantly widened compared to the previous design. According to some sources, these were just double white stripes with camouflage paint between them, but in a picture of the Albatross D.V used by Göring a little later, the black paint between the white stripes is clearly visible. We are inclined to think that the stripes on the wing were black and white on this aircraft as well.

   

  Lt. Emil Schäfer, CO Jasta 28, Wasquehal, France, May 1917

  Karl Maria Emil Schäfer achieved thirty confirmed aerial victories and became the nineteenth German pilot to be awarded the Pour le Mérite. He was one of the pilots highly respected by Manfred von Richthofen himself, and his brother Lothar even owed him his life when, with his crippled aircraft he was just waiting for a “coup de grace” from an attacking British pilot. Instead, the enemy aircraft burst into flames just before firing the fatal shot, and Schäfer’s Albatros raced past! It was recognizable by the black tail that adorned aircraft number D.2062/16, but later it was given a red fuselage paint job, following von Richthofen’s coloring. It is not clear whether the black tail was covered with red paint or whether the aircraft retained the black color. In any case, in the photographs the rear fuselage looks darker. We are inclined to believe the reason is that the red paint was darkened by the overpainted black color. With the aircraft so colored, Schäfer took command of Jasta 28 in late April 1917 and was shot down by a trio of attacking FE.2d’s from No. 20 Squadron RFC on June 5. However, it is not clear whether this was D.2062/16 or another aircraft of the same coloring.

   

  D.1996/16, Lt. Hans-Georg Edward Lübbert, Jasta 11, La Brayelle, France, March 1917

  This attractively colored Albatross D.III was a personal mount of Edward Lübert during his service with Jasta 11. According to the interpretation of the black and white photographs, the aircraft most likely bore a yellow and blue fuselage livery, with the order of colors being reversed on the left and right sides, as well as on the rudder and vertical stabilizer. However, the serial number was left unpainted on the wooden base on both sides. Lübbert was wounded in combat with this aircraft on March 6, 1917 (shoulder gunshot wound) but managed to land it and Manfred von Richthofen flew it back to the unit. The Red Baron also borrowed Lübbert’s aircraft on March 17 and scored his 27th kill with it. Less than two weeks later, on March 30, Lübbert was shot down and killed, but he did not fly this aircraft on that occasion. It remained with the unit until May 11, 1917, after which it was used by Lt. Rudolf Hohberg of FF(A) 263 for photo reconnaissance purposes. Edward Lübbert was nicknamed Kugelfang (bullet catcher), as there was perhaps not a single engagement from which his aircraft did not bring some sort of damage. On the D.1996/16 there are patches of shots-through of the vertical stabilizer clearly visible.

   

  Lt. Franz Ray, Jasta 28, Varsenare, Belgium, autumn 1917

  Franz Ray began his career as a fighter pilot on October 1, 1916, when he joined Jasta 1. He achieved his first kill on November 23 that year, then was transferred to Jastaschule 1 in mid-December, where he remained until mid-January 1917. Subsequently, together with Max von Müller, he was tasked to form the new Jasta 28w (w as the Württemberg). Ray did not achieve his second kill until September 10, 1917, but thereafter further successes began to rapidly accrue and on September 23 he became the fighter ace after achieving his fifth victory. At the end of 1917, Jasta 49, one of the new units formed in response to the US entry into the war (the so-called “Amerika Programm”, i.e., doubling the number of Jasta units from 40 to 80) was established. Franz Ray became its commander and achieved eight more kills there, raising his score to a final 17 victories. He achieved his last one on September 30, 1918, then was called to Germany in October to test new aircraft and never returned to the front. His Albatros D.III he was flying in autumn 1917 had the rear half of the fuselage painted blue-violet, the upper surface of the upper wing having a reversed order of camouflage colors compared to the standard.

• Markings for MiG-15bis 1/72

  c/n 613234, kpt. Oldřich Paldus, 15th Fighter Regiment, Czechoslovak Air Force, Cottbus Airfield, German Democratic Republic, August 30, 1957

  A group of three MiGs-15bis of 15 Fighter Regiment from Žatec Air Base took part in the 2nd Cultural and Sport Celebration organized in Cottbus, German Democratic Republic from late August to early September 1957. The distinctive blue marking was applied on these aircraft especially for this event. During the display two aircraft, this No. 3234, and another MiG-15bis No. 3233 collided. No. 3234 lost the tip of its left horizontal stabilizer, but the pilot managed to keep control of the aircraft and was able to land safely. After the 15th FR was disbanded, two pilots of its display team, Oldřich Paldus and Václav Polášek were transferred to 11 FR in 1958. Capt. Jaromír Palečný joined them in 1959 and as all of them were not tall at all, the display team was unofficially dubbed “Trio Prckos”( “The Three Shorties” in English).

   

  No. 20 Squadron, Egypt., Late 1950s / Early 1960s

  Egypt purchased a total of 110 MiG-15bis aircraft from Czechoslovakia. This particular one served with No. 20 Squadron of the United Arab Republic Air Force. The United Arab republic was a federation of Egypt and Syria that lasted from 1958 to 1961. Egypt kept this name untill 1971. No. 20 Squadron was based at Deversoir, El Qabrit and Inshas air bases.

   

  c/n 1315376, ex 64th IAK, Soviet Union, Mid 1950s

  This aircraft took part in the Korean War – the communist attempt to occupy the entire Korean peninsula. At the time it was marked with red number 1976 on its fuselage. Back in the USSR, the number was simply overpainted with the yellow 30, as well as the fading North Korean insignia was freshly overpainted. As the North Korean national insignia was simply an extension of the Soviet red star, removing the white outline and adding the red and blue circles, only these circles (rather faded) were visible. The original star was simply overpainted with fresh outlined one. Based on photographic evidence, the insignia was applied on the fuselage only, but it is possible these were painted on the lower surface of the wings as well.

   

  c/n 0320138, 1st Squadron, 101st Reconnaissance Regiment, Szolnok, Hungary, 1972

  This MiG was delivered together with another 29 aircraft in April 1962. These originally served with the Soviet Air Force and after the overhaul were supplied in the natural metal finish to Hungary. During the overhaul the aircraft c/n 0320138 had the upgraded wing installed featuring the landing light located at the left wheel well. The light was later covered with a sheet aluminum.

  In August 1968 this particular airplane participated in the Warsaw Pact armed forces invasion (except Romania and Albania) to, at that time, Czechoslovakia. Before the invasion it was marked with the red stripes which were later deleted. In March 1970 the aircraft was overpainted in the camouflage colors including all stencils. In September 1975 the airframe was struck off charge having logged 1535 flight hours and was abandoned at the Szolnok airbase.

   

  flown by Maj. Mikhail Ivanovich Mikhin, 518th IAP, North Korea, May 1953

  Mikhail Mikhin was born on October 25th, 1923 and right after the graduation from the high school he started his pilot training finishing it in the end of 1944. He did not manage to participate in any combat during the World War Two, however he participated in the air combat over Korea where he was deployed in July 1952 with the entire 518th IAP. The unit remained in the combat zone until the end of hostilities, Major Mikhin shot down 9 enemy aircraft in total (7 x F-86, 2 x F-84) for which accomplishment he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on July 14, 1953. He remained in the active service of the Red Army Air Force after the Korean War and retired with the rank of Major General in 1980. He passed away on March 25, 2007 in St. Petersburg.

• Markings for P-51D-5 Mustang 1/48

  44-13761, Capt. Jack M. Ilfrey, 79th FS, 20th FG, 8th AF, USAAF Station 367 Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire, Great Britain, autumn 1944

  Captain Jack Ilfrey became an ace in North Africa, where he claimed 5½ kills (plus two damaged enemy aircraft) while flying P-38F “Texas Terror”. He joined 20th FG, 79th FS at USAAF Station Kings Cliffe in England on April 20, 1944 and served as an Operations Officer from June 14, 1944. He claimed two more Bf 109Gs on May 24, flying P-38J “Happy Jack’s go Buggy”. He was shot down behind enemy lines in France on June 12, but he successfully evaded capture walking and cycling 150 miles to Allied lines in Normandy with a help of French civilians. He became 79th FS CO on September 7, leading the unit until December 9, 1944. He completed 142 combat missions over ETO and MTO. The 20th FG did not replace their P-38Js with P-51Cs until July 1944, changing them for P-51Ds shortly afterwards. The early Mustangs of the 20th FG are known to have upper surfaces overpainted with green color, probably with RAF Dark Green, with irregular splitting line between green upper surfaces and silver/natural metal bottom surfaces. The 20th FG was nicknamed “Loco Busters” because made significant number of attacks against railroad network.

   

  44-13316, Leonard K.  Carson, 362nd FS, 357th FG, 8th AF, USAAF Station 373 Leiston, Suffolk, Great Britain, June 1944

  The second top scoring Fighter Group of the 8th USAAF and the top scoring FG equipped with P-51D Mustangs was 357nd FG, credited with 609 German aircraft destroyed in the air and 106 on the ground, with their own losses of 128 aircraft. With the unit served 35 aces, led by Major Leonard “Kit” Carson with 18½ aerial victories. He became 362nd FS CO on April 8, 1945. The key to the success of the unit was its fighting academy, called Clobber College, where the experienced pilots taught the newcomers the fighting tactics. The 362nd FS received their P-51Ds just a few days before D-day. Most of the unit’s early Mustangs had upper surfaces camouflaged Dark Green with Neutral Grey bottom surfaces, or Dark Green upper surfaces over the aluminum/natural metal bottom surfaces with border between green and NMF surfaces high on fuselage sides. The colors were probably RAF paints overtaken from RAF stock. The “Nooky Booky II” wore full D-day stripes, as the aircraft was delivered to the unit probably around June 6, 1944. The previous name of this plane was “Mildred”. 

   

  44-13317, Capt. Donald R. Emerson, 336th FS, 4th FG, 8th AF, USAAF Station 356 Debden, Essex, Great Britain, September 1944

  The 4th FG was nicknamed Debden Eagles thanks to its home base and origins, as it was formed from RAF Eagle squadron (71st, 121st and 133rd squadrons). After the incorporation into 8th AF the squadrons were re-named to 334th FS, 335th FS and 336th FS. As of April 1, 1943, their Spitfires were replaced by P-47s and in February 1944 these were changed for P-51s. Donald Emerson joined the ranks of 4th Fighter Group on March 9, 1944 and during the following eight months of duty he flew 89 sorties during which he was credited with 4½ enemy aircraft shot down. On December 25, 1944, he perished returning from the bomber escort mission when he spotted six Bf 109s. During the ensuing combat he descended close to the terrain and was hit by the anti-aircraft fire over the front. Pilot was probably killed, and his aircraft crashed nearby the town of Sittard in The Netherlands. However, he had managed to shoot down two of his opponents. Capt. Emerson had the port side of his Mustang decorated with boxing Donald Duck in resemblance to his first name. There were seven kill markings painted under the windshield. From the beginning of September, the invasion stripes on the upper wings and fuselage sides surfaces of the allied aircraft were deleted and left on the lower surfaces only.

   

  44-13597, Lt. William E. Fowler, 487th FS, 352nd FG, 8th AF, USAAF Station 141 Bodney, Norfolk, Great Britain, September 1944

  Lt. Col. John C. Meyer, acting CO of the 487th FS and the ace credited with 37½ destroyed enemy aircraft, claimed four of his 24 aerial victories in cockpit of this aircraft on September 11, 1944. Stardust was originally a personal aircraft of Lt. William E. Fowler, nicknamed “Flaps”, who ended his combat tour just three days before Meyer’s four-victory raid. The Stardust was then assigned to Lt. Jack “Moose” Landrum, who renamed it “Moose”. He was shot down and killed on October 24, 1944, while strafing near to Hannover. The 352nd Fighter Group, based at USAAF Station Bodney, was fourth most successful FG of the 8th USAAF with 519 enemy planes destroyed in the air and 287 on the ground with 119 losses of their own. All three squadrons painted noses of their Mustangs with blue color. In September 1944, the paint of the noses was changed from Medium Blue to the Dark Blue, which remained the Group’s color until end of the War. Note the light area over the fuselage national insignia of the Stardust, which is clear natural metal surface after the invasion stripes on the upper surfaces were washed off. 

• Air War in Ukraine

  In the second half of November, it snowed in eastern Ukraine. This shot of Oksana was published on November 20.

  
  

  Strengthening of Anti-Aircraft Defense before Winter

   

  Text: Miro Barič

  Photos:  Ukrainian armed forces, social media and other public sources

  
  

  The destruction of a Russian corvette, confirmation (or refutation) of several losses from previous months, and especially the reinforcement of Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense – all of this unfolded in connection with the air war in Ukraine from November 1 to November 31. On the ground, Russian forces attempted massive attacks throughout the month. However, despite significant losses in armored vehicles and manpower, they achieved only minimal territorial gains.

  
  

   During the observed period, there were no known losses of Ukrainian aircraft or helicopters, whether on the ground or in the air. In early November, a previously unknown photo of two wrecks of Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopters surfaced. They were evidently transported to a dump from the crash site, and their loss occurred sometime in the past.

   Towards the end of the month, the Russians also boasted about the destruction of another Ukrainian Su-25 fighter at the Dolgintsevo airport near the city of Kryvyi Rih. In September and October, both this base and the Kulbakino airport near Mykolayiv had experienced several drone attacks using the new version of the Lancet drones on parked Ukrainian aircraft, including MiG-29s and Su-25s. While the initial attacks were surprising, the repeated ones raised questions about why the Ukrainians allowed it. A video released on November 30 may provide an answer, capturing a machine in hiding exploding after being hit by a drone. At first glance, it appears to be a Su-25 in digital camouflage with Ukrainian markings. However, closer inspection reveals inconsistencies, such as a missing antenna and only four underwing hardpoints, while a Su-25 should have five. The shadow of the front landing gear indicates significant simplification. The definitive proof that it is a decoy lies in the engine nacelles, which are entirely suspended under the wings, whereas in reality, they smoothly transition to the upper surface of the wings. The model perfectly fulfilled its role as bait, and the Russians needlessly wasted a Lancet drone on it. At the same time, it raises doubts about previous attacks. The first ones probably did target real aircraft, but with the repeated ones, it's not as certain.

  The Air Force Command published a photo of the latest 80K6KC1 Fenix-1 radar, which was developed in Ukraine and entered service in 2021.

  Wrecks of two Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopters.

  A shot from a Russian video captures the attack of the Lancet drone on a dummy Su-25.

  Tail of the Russian Su-24M with the designation RF-92025 and fuselage number "blue 48" in Soledar.

  Wreckage of Su-24M "blue 48" at the original location.

  Colonel Alexander Gal died in the Ukrainian drone attack on Kursk airport.

  
  

  Older Losses

   On the Russian side, there were no losses during the observed period, but new information emerged about some previous losses. In Soledar, north of Bachmut, a new image showed the tail surfaces of a shot-down Su-24M with the designation RF-92025 and fuselage number "blue 48." The aircraft belonged to the 37th mixed aviation regiment and was likely shot down in the vicinity of Soledar in December 2022. Some wreckage was then transferred to a residential area directly in the city.

   When Russians are under Ukrainian attacks, they tend to claim that their anti-aircraft defense worked flawlessly, and all attacking drones (or missiles or projectiles with a flat trajectory) were destroyed. They often forget to mention how many were destroyed upon hitting the target... A rare confirmation that some losses occurred is the information about the death of Colonel Alexander Gala. He was a Su-30SM fighter pilot and the deputy commander for political affairs in the 14th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. He died on the ground on September 24, 2023, during a Ukrainian drone attack on the Kursk airport.

   Footage also emerged of a heavily damaged Kamov Ka-52 helicopter, claiming it was a victim of ATACMS missile attack on the Berdyansk airport. With over 50 shrapnel holes in the fuselage and canopy, The Military Watch clarified the situation. The attack on Berdyansk occurred in mid-October, and the first photos of this helicopter appeared in September. It's a Ka-52 with the designation RF-13442 and fuselage number "blue 50," which was irreparably damaged earlier and, after cannibalization of usable equipment, was sold to a private aviation museum at the Oreshkovo airport in the Russian Kaluga region. Thus, it ended up in the museum before the attack on Berdyansk.

  The wreckage of the Ka-52 helicopter appeared in a private museum at Oreškovo airport in the Russian Kaluga region.

  The corvette Askold was destroyed by Storm Shadow missiles in the port of Kerch in Crimea.

  Ukrainian defenders respond to a night attack by Shahid drones.

   

  Destroyed Corvette

   This does not in any way diminish the effectiveness of Ukrainian attacks on distant targets, which occur on the regular basis. Let's mention one in particular, which took place on Saturday, November 4, in the city of Kerch on the eastern part of the occupied Crimea peninsula. In the Zaliv shipyards, the Russian corvette Askold was anchored, which had not yet been officially completed and commissioned. According to footage from the video, it was hit at least twice by Storm Shadow cruise missiles. The third explosion could have been either a third hit or an explosion of ammunition on board. Subsequently, a photograph emerged confirming that the ship was seriously, possibly irreparably damaged. The entire port side, roughly from a third of the vessel backward, is torn and scorched.

   The Askold corvette belongs to the Project 22800 Karakurt class, representing modern ships and an example of how sanctions against Russia work. In this case, sanctions imposed after the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 have had an impact. Originally, Russia planned to build 18 of these corvettes and began building the first one in 2015. However, two corvettes were entirely canceled, and the completion of the remaining ones has been significantly delayed. So far, only four have been commissioned, and the fifth is undergoing trials. Another eight were launched several years ago, but they still lack all the necessary equipment. This also applied to the Askold corvette, whose commissioning was indefinitely postponed after the attack. Ships of this class have a length of 67 meters and a displacement of 820 tons. They carry a 100mm caliber gun and eight launchers for Kalibr cruise missiles.

   After all the previous Ukrainian attacks, the Russian Black Sea Fleet is left with seven surface ships and three submarines capable of launching Kalibr missiles. In the past, they routinely used them to shell Ukrainian cities. However, since September, they haven't done so. According to Ukrainian Navy representative Dmytro Pletenchuk, logistics issues are to blame. All infrastructure for storing Kalibr missiles and handling them was concentrated in the port of Sevastopol. However, after the Ukrainian attacks, the ships withdrew to Novorossiysk or smaller ports. These ports are not equipped to load Kalibr missiles into the warships' launchers. "Until they solve this problem, they can't attack from the sea. Or move to Sevastopol to load missiles. And that's dangerous for them," Pletenchuk told the Nexta channel.

   Against drones, Ukrainians use everything from machine guns to portable missiles (MANPADS) and anti-aircraft tanks Gepard.

  
  

  Shahid Drone Offensive

   Of course, the Russian side does not confirm this claim by the Ukrainian representative. In the case of other types of missiles, however, it was clear that the Russians were saving them for mass attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. They did the same last winter. November brought increased intensity of Iranian Shahid 131 and 136 drone attacks. Russia launched a total of 374 of them onto Ukraine, the third-highest number for a single month so far. They even set a record – on the night of November 25, they launched 75, the highest number in a single attack. However, it didn't help them much because Ukrainian air defense destroyed 74.

   Russians are not very satisfied with the Shahid drones. They had high expectations, but the success of Iranian kamikaze drones significantly lagged behind. Moreover, according to the Obozrevatel server, they still struggle to start mass production of their version called Gerań and continue to depend on supplies from Iran. They are trying to test a new tactic at least. After mobile teams with anti-aircraft machine guns proved effective against Shahids, the Russians started sending them over impassable terrain – such as dense forests or swamps. Cars with machine guns have a lower chance of catching them. However, changing routes only extended the lifespan of Shahids in the Ukrainian sky, but it did not affect their success. There was a case when a Shahid flew over Ukraine for a full nine hours. However, as soon as the drones approach heavily defended targets, they are shot down.

   Iranian kamikaze drones also do not help weaken Ukrainian defenses because Ukraine does not use its most valuable missiles against them. The only benefit Russians get from them is that they help map the positions of air defenses. They can use this information in planning missile attacks. One unpleasant consequence for Ukraine during the observed period occurred in the Kherson region, where an important radar was revealed during a drone attack. Since it did not change its position, it was soon destroyed by the Russians.

  Old Maxim machine guns will also come into play.

  There are few shots of IRIS-T systems in Ukraine. If any are published, they conceal their place of deployment.

  An older photo of the Ukrainian S-300 system in action.

  The Ukrainian army aviation published a series of shots of Mi-8 helicopter winter operations.

  
  

  FrankenSAM Program

   However, Ukraine and its allies are not sitting idle in anticipation of the expected winter wave of Russian attacks. Germany has been particularly active, delivering another IRIS-T system and promising a Patriot system. Norway has also pledged additional NASAMS systems. In the case of IRIS-T, it is the most modern German air defense system, which Ukraine received even before the German armed forces. The first system arrived in October of the previous year, and the second was delivered in April. In both cases, it was the SLM medium-range version with a range of 40 km horizontally and 20 km vertically. In August, Ukraine received two systems in the short-range SLS version with a range of 12 km horizontally and vertically. The fifth delivered IRIS-T system is again in the SLM version.

   The delivery of the first Patriot battery was announced by the USA a year ago in December. Germany delivered the second battery. Initially, both were deployed to defend Kyiv. Currently, one battery is stationed near the capital, and the other is near Odessa. Germany announced in the fall that it would deliver a third Patriot system battery to Ukraine during the winter.

   Approximately a year ago, the USA initiated a program unofficially called FrankenSAM. The last three letters stand for Surface-to-air missile, symbolizing the merging of various elements of different air defense systems into a new, consolidated one. This program also includes the delivery of MIM-23 Hawk missiles, signifying the revival of an old system. The Hawk system dates back to the 1960s but has undergone continuous modernization. The United States retired it in 2002, but they still have enough missiles stored in warehouses. Currently, around 20 countries still use it and could supply it to Ukraine. Spain did so already in November of the previous year, providing its MIM-23 missiles in the Phase III version from the late '80s and early '90s. However, it turned out that the Spanish systems were in very poor technical condition and needed comprehensive repair and modernization. Now, the MIM-23 Hawk has arrived in Ukraine for the second attempt. The system has a range of 40 km horizontally and 18 km vertically. Ukrainians used them for the first time on the night of October 22-23, shooting down several Shahid drones and one Ch-59 cruise missile.

   Further projects within the FrankenSAM program are more complex. One was initiated by Ukrainians who had around 60 Buk launcher units but lacked missiles. They asked foreign partners if they could modify them for the use of Western missiles. American engineers modified them to be able to launch RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missiles. According to an article in the New York Times, this conversion took seven months, and currently, Americans can modify five Buk systems per month. The range of these missiles is 19 km.

   Ukraine also received AIM-9M Sidewinder missiles from the USA modified for ground use. Originally, they are short-range air-to-air missiles with infrared guidance. Details about their launching system are not yet known, but there is speculation that they could be launched from self-propelled Osa systems (NATO code name Gecko). Soviet radars, of which Ukraine has plenty, are supposed to take care of target acquisition.

   Even more interesting is the connection between old Soviet radars and American missiles in the latest known project from the FrankenSAM program. This time it involves Patriot missiles that the USA would deliver. Other allies would provide the launching systems. Testing is currently underway, and during the winter, Ukraine could receive Patriot missiles connected to Soviet radars. The first test of this combination took place in October at the rocket range in New Mexico, successfully destroying a target drone.

  Ukrainian two-seater Su-27UB.

  Ukrainian self-propelled artillery Oksana on the chassis of Tatra 815 8x8 AV-15.

  
  

  Czech Trace

   Finally, let's mention one curiosity that is only remotely related to the air war but could be interesting for Czech and Slovak readers. The Ukrainian 241st Territorial Defense Brigade has included the Oksana self-propelled gun in its armament, based on the Tatra 815 chassis. This truck was manufactured in Czechoslovakia since 1982, and a modified version is still produced in the Czech Republic nowadays. However, Ukrainians used the original vehicles with original cabins. Photos reveal versions AV-15, which was originally a crane vehicle, and version 20-VP, a flatbed truck for container transport.

   On the deck of these 8x8 vehicles, Ukrainians mounted old Soviet 100 mm caliber anti-aircraft guns KS-19 dating back to 1947. Now, of course, they are not used for fighting aircraft but for shelling ground targets. Their range in this role is 21 km. The advantage of the KS-19 cannons is that no other weapon uses 100mm caliber ammunition, so Ukrainians have plenty. The disadvantage is that this weapon requires a large crew and is also very heavy. For comparison, the American howitzer M777 caliber 155mm weighs 4.2 tons, while the KS-19 cannon weighs almost 10 tons.

  This version of Oksana is on the chassis of Tatra 815 8x8 20-VP.

  
  

• INTERVIEW with Jan Bobek

  Jan Bobek and Vladimír Šulc at a joint photography from Prague Castle. Jan is wearing a T-shirt of the Japanese company Beaver Corporation, whose mascot he designed.

  
  

  Jan Bobek  is working at Eduard since 2020 and focuses on sales, marketing and social media. Previously, he worked for twenty years in management positions at the international consulting and engineering firm Tebodin. Before that he worked for five years at MPM (now Special Hobby). His great passion is aviation history. He is the author of more than a hundred articles mainly about German and Japanese airmen and their units during World War II. Since 2005 he has been a member of the Gemeinschaft der Flieger deutscher Streitkräfte e.V. and in 2018 he became an honorary member of L'Association des Amis du Musée de l'Ordre de la Libération (AAMOL). Thanks to his knowledge of history, he also works on the editorial board of the INFO Eduard magazine and contributes to the preparation of some of the kits. And he draws rabbits for Eduard. This interview was prepared by Vladimír Šulc on the topic of Jan's cartoons.

   

  Jan, where did the rabbit that accompanies various Eduard events, advertisements and texts come from?

  It's a long story. Anyway, I've  the honour of drawing the rabbit for the Eduard team since 2010, even though I didn't become an employee of the company until ten years later. The clients themselves named the cartoon character Eduard Bunny, E-Bunny for short.

  It's obvious that you have drawing in your hand, so to speak, you are talented. How did you get into drawing?

  Parents are to blame for a lot of things in our youth. For me, it includes drawing. I inherited my drawing and painting skills from my mom and her male ancestors. She never pushed me to draw, I created from a very early age, and quite intensively. During my youth, I was very much influenced by comic books, which, strangely enough, were published in occupied Czechoslovakia. It wasn't just the domestic science fiction comics, which were created, for example,  by Václav Šorel, the spiritual father of many Czechoslovak plastic modellers, but also Asterix, which was published in the weekly Sedmička pionýrů (The Pioneers´ Seven), despite communist censorship. I still love Asterix and we all miss the gentleman Václav Šorel.

  Polikarpov I-153, oil on cardboard, 1993. Thanks to this painting Jan Bobek and Vladimír Šulc met for the first time. Vladimír advised Jan not to continue painting.

  
  

  And Asterix made you draw rabbits?  Are these ears on his helmet?

  They're not ears, they're wings! When I was young, my main themes  were science fiction, aviation  and mice. Strangely enough, not rabbits, but mice. Until the age of 38, not a single rabbit appeared in my work. But Rabbit was my nickname since my early childhood thanks to the Czech TV kids' cartoon series with Bob and Bobek the rabbits. One of the members of the team that created this great evening cartoon was my teacher's brother. You wouldn't believe how encouraged I was in drawing as a first grader when he gave me original animation sheets of rabbits or other TV cartoons for children. I still have them to this day.

  So that's what got you into art? Did you study drawing at a specialized school?

  No, I didn't. When my parents were considering what subjects  I was going to study, my mother categorically forbade me to apply to an art school because she had graduated from one herself. She was convinced that as an electrical engineer I had a better chance of making a living. I think it was a good move.

  Airship by Paul Haenlein, Brno, 1872. Acrylic on cardboard, 1994. Painting for the LHS magazine.

  
  

  Who are your aviation art inspirations?

  After 1989, with no formal art training, I started to paint aviation paintings, either with a brush or an airbrush, or a combination of both. Legends such as Shigeo Koike, Jaroslav Velc, Robert Taylor, Roy Grinnell and others have been a great inspiration to me. I also started painting colour profiles for Czech HPM and REVI magazines. It was through one of my paintings (Polikarpov I-153) that I was introduced to you. It was a stimulating acquaintance, during which you immediately suggested that the painting was not worth much and that I should rather pursue another field. Despite your advice, I later illustrated several books. My work wasn't the best, but it wasn't that bad.

  That was insensitive of me. Actually, I was trying to push you away from drawing. Fortunately, I didn't succeed, you didn't give up and you kept on drawing!

  At some point, in the days before scanners and emails, I realized I had to think about whether I would be an illustrator or a writer of historical articles in my spare time. I felt that if I did both, I would soon go crazy. I decided to do historical research and publishing, but my experience as a modest artist still makes it easy to communicate with the fellow artists about their profiles or paintings.

  A duel between Bohumil Fürst of No. 310 Squadron RAF and Werner Goetting of I.(J)/LG 2. Acrylic on cardboard, 1994. Painting for the publishing house Naše Vojsko.

  A duel between the Me 262 of JV 44 and the P-47D of the 365th FG “Hell Hawks”. Acrylic on cardboard, 1994. Painting for Mustang publishing house. 

  
  

  Where did you get published?

  At the end of the 90's I first published articles in Czech HPM magazine, then I became an author and later also an external editor of the Czech aviation-historical magazine REVI. I published articles in it with my nickname Králík (rabbit) as Jan “Králík” Bobek and I even started a modelling section in it, which is still published today. Back then it was called in Czech language as Bobek Rabbit Modeling Section. REVI is a very professionally produced magazine, aimed more at those seriously interested in aviation history. Its publisher, and my friend, Petr Stachura is an aviation history buff who didn't admit that the 1990s were over. Somehow, after a few years of cooperation, I couldn't come to terms with some of his views, for example, I was bothered by the absence of external communication on the Internet at that time. So I decided to start a rebellious editorial blog called Revi Illegal. On it I began to comment humorously on the progress of the preparation of individual issues of REVI and other topics. When Petr came out of his unconsciousness after seeing the blog, he at first strongly asked me to cancel it. Gradually, however, he found the whole "online thing" beneficial and ended up publishing an advertisement for my blog in his magazine.

  Japanese Navy fighter seaplane Kawanishi N1K Kyōfū (Rex). Acrylic on cardboard, 1994.

  
  

  So as a member of the editorial board, you led a kind of resistance within the law, shall we say. You used Rabbit as your author's pseudonym, so rabbit was already your alter ego?

  Yes, that's when the rabbit came to the world! For the blog, I developed the rabbit character as the mascot of the Revi Illegal blog. I'm a fairly friendly non-smoker, so I designed the rebellious rabbit as my alter ego in the form of a rodent with a bandit's tape who smokes cigarettes at all times. The graphics were designed by my friend Michal Skurovec, who worked for HPM. After a couple of years, I also started a Facebook gallery with my cartoons under the name Upset Rabbits.   The first version of the rabbits didn't have toes on their front paws yet, but they had a bit of sharp features, which gradually rounded out. The rabbits gained weight as they got older. I still create bandit rabbits on my Facebook page.

  German fighter pilot Josef Mai. Pencil drawing based on historical photograph, 2015. Compared to the original photograph, a teddy bear of Ulrich Neckel and a bottle of Chateu Margaux have been added to the drawing.

  
  

  So REVI and Petr Stachura helped the rabbit to be born.

  Undoubtedly! One of my very first rabbits was the editor-in-chief of REVI Petr Stachura. In the drawing I pictured his office, his chair and himself as a rabbit, who says in the Ostrava dialect that “publishing a magazine is a very difficult job”. Fortunately, he still does it today, with the help of fellow editors, friends and authors. Although his wife says the drawing is still very apt nearly 20 years later

  And how and why did the rabbit get to Eduard?

  In 2010, I stopped posting on my blog because the Czech platform on which the blog was running was about to be shut down. However, I have republished some posts, especially my stories written in Prague Czech, on my new blog Czech Flying Rabbit 

  2010 also marked a significant milestone in the lives of my rabbits. When you and I were on a cycling holiday together, you told me you wanted a new friendly mascot. Eduard's knight in armour seemed a bit inflexible and you were looking for an alternative. Word got around, and my rabbit went into Eduard's service. It was mid-2010. That's also when the INFO Eduard magazine was modernized and historical articles, some of them written by me, started to appear in it. .

  You and Jan Zdiarský started sending me requests for rabbit drawings that appeared in various parts of INFO for products or articles. Soon they also appeared on Facebook, which Eduard was starting at the time. Gradually, the rabbit drawings settled down to one drawing in the editorial, and occasionally one more  would appear on another INFO page. The rabbit no longer had a bandit tape or cigarettes. Only when it's  the director's rabbit representing You, he has a cigar, despite You being a militant non-smoker. I even tried to make four comic stories for Eduard, with one of the scripts by Martin Ferkl, but it's so time-consuming that I've abandoned further attempts at comic stories for now. The comics' creators  have my deepest admiration.

  Manfred von Richthofen's Albatros after his injury and emergency landing in July 1917. Pencil drawing, 2020. The background area without the posing soldiers was reconstructed from other historical photographs and Google Street View.

  
  

  It was also the time of the famous MiG-21MF advertisement with the parade of rabbit cars.

  Yes. The big milestone in the rabbits' lives was the launch of the 1/48 scale MiG-21MF kit in spring 2011 and the promotional video by Miguary Song. The tune was based on Long Way to Tipperary, but I composed new lyrics for it. Eduard colleagues took care of the rest. You can recall it here. According to my colleagues' spec, I drew rabbits that mimicked the MiGs from the different Air Forces whose machines were depicted in the kit. The Vietnamese lady who was selling in the shop near our house  burst out laughing when she saw the Vietnamese rabbit at the end of the video. She recognized the scooter the rabbit was riding and remarked that it was a Piaggio and pretty expensive.

  A rescue swimmer aboard the PBY Catalina seaplane. White pastel on black paper, 2016.

  
  

  The rabbit then made its way into the name of the Eduard club and onto the club T-shirts.

  Two years after the rabbits invaded Eduard's media, Eduard decided to start a customer loyalty club called the Bunny Fighter Club, or BFC.  The name of the club was associated with the MiG-21 “Bunny Fighter”, whose fictional markings were part of an activation kit that, if purchased, allowed one to become a member of the club. With the activation kit, the customer also received a BFC T-shirt with a rabbit on it. And I have to admit, it's an amazing sight to see the modelers wearing our shirt at shows. To all who wear our t-shirts at shows, I say a hearty hello. I spotted a club member wearing a BFC t-shirt the other day while visiting a Czech castle, but before I could say hello, I had to head to the Knights Hall with my group and the really big modeler headed for the hunger room.

  Color profile of the Bf 109 G-2 of commander II./JG 52 Maj. Johannes Steinhoff, Russia, spring 1943. Acrylic and tempera on paper, 1995.

  
  

  We also made a video in Hungary with a real MiG-21MF, which we painted blue and stuck a rabbit sticker on its tail.

  Not only on the tail! Along with the release of the first activation model, you published an article in INFO 11/2012 about the fictional Czech rabbit aviator Eduard Kleinkönnig, who fought with the “Bunny Fighter” in the Carrot War.  The design of the MiG with the rabbits was created by Jan Zdiarský, and less than a year later we painted a real MiG-21 in Hungary in the Bunny Fighter livery with a lot of help from Eduard associate Karel Pádár and Hungarian researcher and friend Gábor Szekeres. For me it was an incredible experience, but what a chore it was for all involved over two days. I was even more than surprised by some all-knowing internet discussants who were sure that these were not real photos, but photoshopped fiction. It wasn't! But Photoshop came later.

  Jan Bobek creating quick drawings during the Novemberfest event at Eduard in 2015.

  
  

  I remember that event, I think we should do something like that again. But in truth, I'm convinced that you invented the character of pilot Kleinkönnig, not me.

  No no, I didn't invent it. You invented the character, and the fact that he's from Žatec. You also invented his name and you wrote the first story. Stories about the rabbit pilot Eduard Kleinkönnig have accompanied most of the activation kits. If I put the stories in chronological order, they were the battles of Bf 109 G-6 from JG 9's against giant carnivore penguins in the Arctic Circle, the Hawker Tempest “Bunny Lady” from battles against Nazi flying saucers over Antarctica, the MiG-15 “Bunny Racer” from races around Africa and MiG-21 “Bunny Fighter” from Carrot War. While typesetting these articles, we occasionally used the aforementioned Photoshop, for example,  the MiG-15 guncamera shots of a dinosaur, the photo of the Tempest “Bunny Lady” from the bergship HMS Habbakuk, or the Tempest guncamera shots of German flying discs.

  I mustn't forget Eduard Kleinkönnig's 1/32 scale Curtiss P-40, for which Libor Špůrek has written a history in the caption, he also covers the bunny pilot's service in the Korean War on the MiG-15 and admits the possibility that Kleinkönnig got into space a year before Yuri Gagarin. All of the stories are written in a somewhat complex Czech humour with many references to historical events and characters. Some readers, especially foreign ones, may find this a somewhat boring read. I think that in the Czech Republic we do a lot of things in a complicated way because we have a complicated language and it affects our thought process.

  Jan Bobek with his friend and art lecturer Pavlína Pavliš.

  The model for one of the very first rabbits by Jan Bobek in 2005 was his friend and editor-in-chief of REVI magazine Petr Stachura.

  
  

  Thought processes are also important for the creation of motifs for drawings. How difficult is it for you to find subjects for your drawings? From the outside, it seems like they jump out at you without much effort!

  Often they do. In some cases  you and Jan Zdiarský give me the scenario and texts for the drawings, but most of the time I just think of a rabbit in a situation, make a sketch in pencil and finish the final drawing with Japanese Sakura pens. With Eduard, we did several events that were very challenging for me as an artist. But I'm very happy that we prepared them. These were quick drawings of rabbits on demand. I did them at a factory open day we used to have called Novemberfest. And once, during the E-Day exhibition, we organized a fundraising event around my quick drawings with a voluntary contribution to the fund for veterans under the patronage of the Czechoslovak Legionary Community. At the end of these drawing marathons I could hardly see and my hands were shaking, but it was for a good cause. I still do  quick drawings on War Veterans Day at Peace Square in Prague. Proceeds from our kits and veteran memorabilia go to the Military Solidarity Fund of the Czech Army. And once again, thank you to the organizers and especially to everyone who came both this year and in previous years.

  INFO Eduard and Eduard social media is not the only platform where your rabbit appears. How did he get to the UK?

  It was a great pleasure to start working with the UK's Scale Aircraft Modelling magazine (Guideline Publications Ltd). In late 2012, Jan Zdiarsky introduced me to magazine Editor Gary Hatcher as a freetime artist. We agreed to publish one rabbit drawing regularly in this British monthly magazine with an international reach, with focus either on Eduard products or on topics relevant to SAM readers. Most of the scenarios and text for my drawings have been prepared by Gary. I didn't realize until now that I have been drawing rabbits for SAM magazine for ten years. I hereby apologize to Gary for all the delays and other rabbit troubles.

  Sometimes I really do draw such specific British topics for Gary and the team at SAM that I don't really understand what the rabbits are actually up to. But Gary has always been pleased and no UK modelling club has yet published a “Wanted Dead or Alive”  for me. No complaints have come in from Commonwealth countries either. I'm just not sure whether I didn't contribute a little to the Brexit referendum victory with my cartoons on the EU's excesses in the form of the banana shape standard and other nonsense when I was drawing jokes about the coming Brexit years ago

  So in addition to the resistance against REVI, you also  supported the resistance against the EU! Good grief! Do you still make do with talent and experience alone in this activity, or have you had some professional training in the meantime?

  When I once tried to draw a pencil drawing of Manfred von Richthofen's Albatros after the emergency landing in July 1917, I showed it to my friend, the aviation artist Pavel Rampír. He looked at the drawing carefully and then said to me: “You know, Jan, it is clear in this drawing that you have a gift from God, but it is also clear that you don't know what you are doing with this pencil!”. This inspired me and so in 2014 I found an art studio in Prague, not far from my office, where my current friend Pavlína Pavliš worked as a lecturer. Under her guidance I started to supplement my education. Her advice really helped me a lot, as did the advice of my female classmates, who were mostly architects, civil or chemical engineers. The experience of Pavlína's lessons helped me to take my rabbits a step further, but I also enjoyed creating some classic aviation themes under her guidance. I will continue to do this from time to time.

  Jan Bobek during a fundraising event held at the E-Day exhibition in Prague in 2014. The proceeds of the voluntary fees for the rabbit drawings went to the Czechoslovak Legionary Community.

  
  

  It's obvious that the rabbit is doing a good job, including socializing its author! How would you yourself rate the rabbit's contribution to the modelling community?

  We introduced the rabbit to Eduard media 14 years ago because we felt the scale modelling community needed some humour, perspective, and relaxation. If that's what our rabbits bring, that's exactly why I draw them. And maybe sometime in the future we'll create a 3D printed 1/48 scale rabbit, which modelers sometimes ask about. With an aviator helmet, goggles and scarf, he might be nice. Maybe there will be a carrot too.

  Your - our rabbits have  your own historical knowledge and your linguistic equipment as background . Your historical knowledge goes through World War I to the various air forces of World War II, and  is anything but superficial. Where did all this come from? You haven't studied history, or am I wrong?

  Unfortunately I haven't yet really studied history. I was thoroughly encouraged to take an interest in history, in a very broad sense, by my father. When I was a kid, he built plastic model airplanes for me, and later I started building them myself and became increasingly focused on military aircraft and WWII. From there, it was a fairly quick path to reading publications on the subject and memoirs of famous aviators, although it wasn't easy to get hold of them under the pro-Soviet communist government. Russian was compulsory then, but I learned English and Polish voluntarily because of the magazines and books on aviation. When the Iron Curtain fell, it was possible to get access to practically any foreign literature if you knew how and where to get it in Europe or at home. I searched like a wild man, most interested in fighter units and air aces. I became more and more interested in the air forces of Germany and Japan, and I was able to find literature from those countries, so to understand the subject better, I began to learn German and Japanese. A few years after the Velvet Revolution, various magazines on this subject started to be published in the Czech Republic. Of course, when I looked at these articles, I sometimes shook my head and thought that I could have written them better. So I gave it a try, I started writing firstly for HPM and then for REVI.

  You're a member of the German Airmen's Association. How  a guy from Prague, a Czech as much Czech I can imagine, does become a member of such a venerable organization?

  My friend Jarda Hradec brought me to communicate with German pilots because of my articles, and through him I met Heribert Koller from JG 54 “Grünherz” and other veterans. But most of all I was in contact with Mr. Koller,  who came up with the idea for me to become a member of the association. Together with Jarda, I also helped Heribert as a driver with several long trips in Germany and abroad. In the process I managed to introduce Mr. Koller to Mr. Hans E. Bob. They did not know each other, although both had served in JG 54 and were long-time members of the association. I had more such opportunities in my life, for example as a driver I had the honour to assist Gen. Šiška of the Czechoslovak 311 Squadron of the RAF. I appreciate that immensely.

  Jan Bobek next to a real MiG-21 Bunnyfighter in Hungary in 2013. He also took care of the rabbit featured in the promo video during filming.

  
  

  Are you also a member of some Japanese Airmen's Association? I think I first became aware of your historical knowledge at your lecture on the air battles over Guadalcanal in Ostrov nad Ohří around the turn of the millennium. I was very impressed with that lecture. How did you get into the Japanese?

  I wasn't a member of the Zero Fighter Pilots Association, and I can't become one without personal, long-term contact with Japanese veterans. I remember the lecture you're talking about, I projected slides during it, and I  have a feeling you fell asleep for a while . I got interested in Japanese Naval and Army aviation in high school when I read Mr. Hubáček's books on the fighting in the Pacific, and also when I got a copy of Saburō Sakai's memoir, which was published in Czech in 1968 and 1969 in L+K magazine. Since the end of the 1990s, I have published articles on this subject in the Czech Republic and a few years ago I published an article on Sakai in the French magazine ACES, later also in the magazine INFO Eduard.

  I fell asleep, that's true. When I woke up, I hit my head on a beam. Still, the lecture broadened my horizons, it was actually a significant event for me. Since then I have had the idea  that we should hold similar lectures at Eduard as part of the events for modelers. But let's get back to education. Are you thinking of studying history?

  Our recent joint presentation of the new FM-1 kit in Prostějov was a bit like a history lecture. I have a feeling the audience liked it. So I agree with you, lectures would probably be an attractive topic. I would love to study  history, but due to the increased amount of work at Eduard   since the spring 2022 crisis, and the serious health situation of a family member, I can't imagine finding the required time for study right now. Following a college cursus while working is not fun, I've already tried it once.

  
  

  We have a lot of work behind us, and  there are other big projects ahead of us. We've kind of made them up together. But when it's all over, we can go back to school. For example, I have been tempted for some time by the idea that I could enter the Faculty of Arts and, with a little effort, I could receive a scholarship and a retirement pension at the same time. What do you think?

  There are other colleagues thinking up new projects with you, not just me. Last year I was already interested in where it is possible to study history remotely in the Czech Republic. I would prefer to study it in Prague, but the extra-mural study programme that would suit me has not been open for several years. So we'll have to wait a bit, maybe when I retire!

  I'd go to Pilsen! But we still have plenty of time to decide, and in the meantime we can write a few more articles and practice our editorial work. What are you writing now and when will it be published? 

  Pilsen would be complicated for me. For the March issue of INFO Eduard magazine I am preparing a boxart story about one of Hannes Trautloft's fights on the Eastern Front in 1942. For REVI magazine I have an article about a German fighter pilot from WWI called Marwede. I think when he died in 1993 as a British citizen, he was the last surviving German WW1 fighter pilot. For REVI, I would also like to complete a book on Heinz Bär, which my colleague Martin Šíla and I have been working on for a long time. So hopefully it will be completed in 2024.

  Fingers crossed and thank you for the interview!

  Thank you too! Bunny Ho!

  
  

  
  

• Tail End Charlie

  
  

  Masters of the Air, Episode 0: The Wait

  
  

  Text: Jan Zdiarský

  
  

  The biggest premiere for this year, full of new kits of all scales, manufacturers and types of aircraft as well as other related items, awaits us in a different, yet closely related field within our modeling world – in film. On January 26th, Apple TV+ will launch the first two episodes of Masters of the Air. A series about the men of the 100th Bombardment Group of the 8th AF, as the series promotion says, ‘a brotherhood forged by courage, loss, and triumph’.

  Of course, such a wait is accompanied by a lot of anticipation. After watching the first trailers and a sneak peek into the tightly guarded backstage, a lot of discussion has arisen stemming from the observed snippets of scenes regarding possible transgressions of the creators against historical accuracy, the laws of air combat and tactics, as well commentaries about the faithfulness to accuracy as a whole. And the fervor of these debates, above all, points to one thing – the level of interest in the series and its subject matter is great, and so is the level of anticipation.

  Robert Rosenthal during his service in the 100th Bomb Group, 1943-45.

  Robert Rosenthal with the article's author at the 100th BG Reunion in Pittsburgh, 2005.

  Robert and Phillis Rosenthal with the article's author at the Museum of Air Battle over the Ore Mountains on September 11th, 1944, in Kovarska, Czech Republic, July 2005.

  
  

  Despite the stellar combination of the original events, the book and the series, I have no doubt that after watching the first episodes, despite all the efforts of the creators, there will be a lot of know-it-alls, intolerant of possible omissions and necessary compromises, as well as their sighs over perceived ‘missed opportunities’ (something we know all too well from the world of plastic modeling). I myself assume that I will find some details in the series that the creators considered an acceptable compromise, but they will only slightly annoy me. But I don't think that these will cross the line out of the tolerable and into something else. All the more so because I now know that the filmmakers went farther in their pursuit of fidelity of detail than anyone before them in aerial combat cinematography has ever done. Of course, I know, for example, about the problematic involvement of the black Tuskegee airmen in the story of the men of the 8th Air Force. However, I want to wait with my judgments until I see how the filmmakers have actually integrated them into the main story.

  Rosenthal crew with their B-17F-120-BO s/n 42-30758 "Rosie's Riveters," 418th BS, 100th Bomb Group.

  
  

  The series, which was originally developed over more than ten years under the banner of HBO and will be launched on the Apple TV+ platform, comes from the same production team as its iconic predecessors "Band Of Brothers" and "The Pacific", i.e. the creative trio of Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman.

  John Orloff's screenplay was based on the book of the same name by American historian Donald L. Miller from 2007. It reflects the real life stories of the men from the US 8th Air Force, especially the 100th Bomb Group (100th BG), known as ‘The Bloody Hundred’. This brings me to why that expectation touches me so deeply and I take it almost personally. For more than a quarter of a century, since 1997, my activities and my heart have been closely connected to the 100th BG. I have had the honor of knowing a number of the airmen who will now come to life again on television screens personally, even if as older gentlemen and veterans, and I have had great relationships with them and their families, even with those who left before I joined the 100th BG Association, later Foundation.

  Meeting of the generations from the 100th BG Family – youngest volunteers of the Museum of Air Battle over the Ore Mountains Vít and Pavel Zdiarský, with the "Masters of the Air" author Don Miller in Thorpe Abbotts, the former base of the 100th BG, July 2002. On the right: Title of the first edition of "Masters of the Air," 2007.

  
  

  At several of the last (I think three or four)100th BG reunions, we've been meeting various personalities from the Masters of the Air creative staff. Representatives of the production and creators informed us about the progress of preparations, filming, post-production... No different was the case at the last 100th BG reunion in Savannah, GA at the end of May and beginning of June, 2023, when, among other things, the anticipated completion date of early 2024 was already openly discussed. During these meetings, members of the 100th BG Foundation were assured of the diligence of the filmmakers' approach. The team of the series tried to follow up on the precise work of the author of the book template in such a way as not to embarrass the book or the actual history. The pursuit of historical and technical fidelity went to unusual lengths - not only in the construction of facilities at two former airfields in East England and the reconstruction of faithful replicas of the B-17, the equipment used, replicating the realities and post-production effects, but also in capturing the character of the individual personalities whose stories are recalled.

  The people associated in one way or another with the ‘Hundred’ have a term that they use….the ‘100th BG Family’. This very close-knit family consists of four entities - primarily the veteran organization of the 100th BG Foundation itself, the unique 100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum in Thorpe Abbotts, England, the Museum of Air Battle over the Ore Mountains on September 11th, 1944 in the Czech Republic and the 100th Air Refueling USAF Wing based at Mildenhall.

  Our Czech museum, which is dedicated to one of the most tragic missions of the 100th BG, actually brings a sequel to Masters of the Air, about a year later, related to the period when the majority of Don Miller's book and thus the series takes place.

  
  

  
  

  The master template book and series focus mainly on the early period of the 100th BG, in the second half of 1943 and early 1944. Here, we will encounter mainly the B-17 in its F version. However, the stories of some men go up to 1945, so olive green and natural metal B-17Gs will also appear in the series. Although the story focuses on the 100th BG, it is a tribute to all the airmen who took part in the terrible enterprise called the Bombing Offensive in Europe. By intertwining the fates of pilots from different areas of the air war over Europe, the series also touches on stories from POW camps and the sister unit 15th Air Force. One thing the series probably cannot convey from the book are the chapters on the creation of the 8th Air Force and, above all, on the development of the idea of a strategic bombing offensive as an effective way of conducting a defensive war, from the time of Italian Giulio Douhet and American Billy Mitchell. Not only because these parts need to convey the understanding of the ‘son of a bitch dirty work’ that the boys from the 8th Air Force had to do, but also because the series can't possibly transfer everything from the book to the screen, I highly recommend reading Don Miller's book.

  Many of the unit's legends come to life in the ‘Masters of the Air’ stories, and the creators of the series have maintained their real names, underscoring the desire for maximum faithfulness to accuracy. The choice of actors tried also be as faithful as possible. To this end, the author of the book, Don Miller, and later members of the series' creative team, spent long hours interviewing the family members of individual airmen, and where possible, the veterans themselves... and last but not least, the leadership of the 100th Bombardment Group Foundation and its historians as well.

  
  

  
  

  The power of the legacy of the 100th BG has been preserved by the veterans themselves for years and today by its Foundation as well. The latter is made up of, in addition to the last surviving veterans, by direct descendants of the second, third and subsequent generations, and will thus be strengthened by the work on the front lines of attention and deep reverence. Names such as Robert Rosenthal, Buck Cleven, John Egan, Frank Murphy, Everett Blakely, John Brady, Harry Crosby, as well as ‘forgotten’ ground crewmen such as Ken Lemmons and many others, will enter the general public's consciousness. And with them, of course, the iconic ‘Square D’, the 100th BG identification marking that the unit’s B-17s carried on their rudders in missions over Germany and occupied Europe… and which was also prevalent on the wreckage of the B-17G flown by Lt. Trommer that was photographed sticking out of the roof of the school in Kovářská, which I went to four decades later as a pupil at the local elementary school. The mysticism of the place dug deep into me and caused me to pretend to be ‘there’ and write with seeming insight about figures like Rosie Rosenthal or Harry Crossby. No way, I'm not an insider, I've just been extremely lucky and honored in this direction that at the end of January the stories of the men of the Bloody Hundred will come to life, I will be able to look behind the faces of the actors and witness the moments spent with those about whom the stories will be told. And I'm just looking forward to it.

   

  
  

  External Links to other Sources:

   

  https://100thbg.com

  https://100thbg.com/masters-of-the-air/

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RWohylGm3c

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA-1JCRguZ0

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SDBjgIC93E

  https://tv.apple.com/us/show/masters-of-the-air/umc.cmc.7bxcni0vwgll9kmicq738k5q2

  https://www.facebook.com/groups/873968469854049

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_the_Air

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_L._Miller

• Editorial

  
  

  Welcome to the New Year!

  January’s new releases have been on sale for almost three weeks now, so I assume that you are already thoroughly familiar with them and many of you already have them in your posession. Nevertheless, I have to mention that, from my point of view, we are starting this year off with a bit of a bang. A first glance at the 48th scale Albatros D.III may not indicate this, but it too was once the top predator in a sky dominated by war clouds, and this kit offers a superb mix of stories and fates of its pilots and their opponents, as is our custom to uncover over the course of a kit’s development. We also had more than good reason to revive this topic, as you are about to find out.

   Two Messerschmitt Bf 109s, the 72nd scale Bf 109 G-6 in the form of the Limited Edition Gustav Pt.1 kit, together with the Bf 109 K-4 Weekend release, are already in a league of their own. I dare say that the Bf 109 G-6 is the pinnacle of our 1:72nd scale work so far, and is at least worth a good look from the point of view of its design. But regardless of the quality of its rendering, I must first emphasize that the plane itself, in any of its many versions, is amazing. I noted this fact years ago, back when I had no idea that I would be involved in the design and manufacture of kits of this aircraft, but at the time it seemed almost like a cliche, the kind of inflated superlative that we are constantly surrounded by. Then, sometime around fifteen years ago, when we started our first 109, I didn't see the big whoop around it, and the first results looked accordingly. However, we worked on improving ourselves and our performance and on elevating our 109s to a decent level, which eventually ensured their record sales. At the end of last summer we were at 260,000 sold sprue sets of all versions of the Bf 109 we released in all scales, from which I would venture to assume that you are still enjoying our Bf 109s. But most of all, I confess to enjoying them too, and that enjoyment is actually increasing the more I know about them. So I'll admit that I've been thinking about what to do about the situation for a few weeks now, because I really don't want to end it here and now in terms of this aircraft. They say it’s best to go out on top, and we're still not quite there, and with the 109s, we can move even higher. However, we only have a few sub types left and we'll be done in both main scales. In all honesty, I don’t think that the attempt to keep this family at a peak by making the Buchon is not the way to go. So now what? Looks like I might have to change my mind about 1:32nd….

   

  New Items, 2024

   P-51B Mustang

   Not that we don't have other things to do. Our goal is to release at least four new items this year. If we manage to do that, rest assured that we, and you, are in for one hot summer regardless of global warming. First up is our 48th scale P-51B/C Mustang project. I anticipate that we will have a complete set of molds ready at the end of March or the beginning of April. If so, we will introduce the P-51B at the Easter show in Prostejov in the form of a special introductory display tailor made for the Prostějov Easter event, which this year takes place on March 30, if I'm not mistaken. The launch kit will be a limited Edition Duo Combo boxing, dedicated to the first Mustangs of the 8th Air Force, the name of which we still have to come up with. This will be in May and we will baptize it in Pilsen at the airport in Line. This will follow in the footsteps of the Spitfire Mk.I christening we put together at the same location in September, 2020. Our friends from Classic Trainers Association have a new Mustang in Line, so doing some version of a joint venture seems a bit of a no-brainer, no?

  The P-51B Mustang is in the tools making phase. We have machined three of the six tools; the others are in various stages of development, with most already in an advanced tooling phase. Only one, the last mold, is still being programmed. We expect to be ready for machining by the end of January, and the tools will be completely finished by Easter.

   

  One More Mustang

   Given that the Mustang at Line is a P-51D, you might think that the fit’s not quite right, since we are releasing a P-51B. The secret in this recipe is that we won't just have one new Mustang this year, we'll have two….that’s two Mustangs. With an ‘s’! We also have our P-51D in 72nd up our sleeve. We should have it ready so that it will hit the market in June, allowing us to premiere both Mustangs, a big B and little D simultaneously. Mark your calendars, folks! It's going to be big and Pilsen's ‘Little Rebel’ will have a great time!

   Some time ago there were many complaints that we are neglecting 1:72nd. Things are settling down a bit at the Bf 109 end of things for us, and I think our 72nd scale fans will be satisfied. I expect that there will be questions about future releases and especially whether or not there will also be a P-51B. The answer is yes, there will be. Everything we've released so far and will release in the future in 48th, we'll also release in 72nd. It's always going to take us a little while, but that’ll be the pattern, and it's good to know that you can count on it. Those kits will be at least as good as our Gustavs, and they won't be more expensive either. I am betting that you all know how to count!

   The P-51D 1/72 is in the programming phase, and we will start machining the tools this month. There will be four in total: one sprue for fuselage and wings, two for small parts, and one for clear parts. The sliding cockpit canopy will be three in total, and the small transparent parts like gun sights, position lights, or rear-view mirrors will be duplicated.

  
  

  Albatros D.III

   Just to show that we are not slacking off, we've got one more little thing in store. This is a 72nd scale Albatros D.III. We also want to have this out by the summer. We’ve trained for it, we have new knowledge about it, and that adds up to a result that promises to be thrilling!

   The Albatros D.III is in the tools-making phase, covering the three developmental versions of the Albatros D.III. The kit will follow the style of successful biplanes such as the Nieuport 17 or the Fokker D.VII.

  
  

  P-40E Warhawk

   That still leaves us with the fourth premiere for the year. You already know this one, it's the P-40E Warhawk. Currently, we are working on the design of the kit, on pace for release in October. That means it will premiere at E-Day. It's not going to be easy, though. The Warhawk at E-Day is an ambitious goal. But we're really trying, and we've changed our work process, adjusted our planning, streamlined our production operation and we're on track. I imagine there will be questions about the subsequent versions of the Warhawk as well. The answer is that we are working on all versions from the P-40E onwards, that is the P-40K, P-40M and N, as well as the P-40F and L. Of course, the British versions, the Kittyhawk Mk.III and the Kittyhawk Mk.IV, shall not be neglected on our watch. We would like to have the Kittyhawk Mk.III ready in November so we can bring it to Telford.

   I would like to return to the Mustang, the 48th scale one, at this point if I can. Here, too, there will be questions about the British Mustang Mk.III, when it will be and whether there will be connections to Polish pilots. The answer is yes on all counts, and our plan is to have the Mustang Mk.III in Telford as well. And for those of you wondering about a 72nd scale version...again, yes. Just not this year.

  For the P-40E, construction of the 3D model is still in progress. As you can see, the 3D model does not yet have the wing/fuselage transitions completed, nor does it have a cockpit. We are working on both of these sections current days.

   

  Reboxings

   In addition to new release kits, we will of course also focus on non-premiere new items, which modelers somewhat unflatteringly refer to as ‘repops’. In this assortment, we will mainly continue to focus on the 72nd Bf 109s. In April, we will launch the Gustav Pt.2, dedicated to the late versions of the Bf 109 G-6, Bf 109 G-5 and Bf 109 G-14. If you read my Gustav article today, you will find that the late Bf 109 G-6s fall under production variants 4,5 and 6. These are the Bf 109 G-6s with the Erlahaube canopy, tall tail and combinations thereof, including the Bf 109 G-5. Because yes, even the G-5 sported the Erlahaube canopy, and quite often at that, as will be indicated in the second part of the Gustav article, slated to be published in the February newsletter. The third part of the Gustavs article will be dedicated to the Bf 109 G-6/AS and Bf 109 G-14/AS, and the fourth to all versions of the Bf 109 G-10.

   We will also be releasing various versions of the Bf 109 G in 1:72nd scale in the Profipack range. The same goes for the L-39 Albatros, which will be released in two Profipack versions, the L-39C and L-39ZA. We will then have additional ‘repops’ in 1:48th scale, in both the Weekend and Profipack lines. In no particular order, this procedure will find its way to the Spitfire Mk.Va, F4F-4 Wildcat and Bf 110 F. Interesting pieces will also see reissues, such as the Bf 108, Fw 190 A-2 and the MiG-21PF.

   

  Limited Edition

   F-5E Tiger II

   This year again, there will be a focus on repackaged Limited Edition kits, using plastic from other manufacturers cooperating with us. Sprue frames for this year's first such project are already on their way from Taiwan, and features the F-5E Tiger II originally from AFV Club. We plan to release the F-5E Tiger II in two versions, early and late, the one in March will be the early version, leaving the late version for next year. It is an interesting project for us, because last year we had the honor of participating in the restoration of the F-5E on exhibit at the air museum in Kbely. When you look at the F-5E in Kbely, take a look at the stencil data...they were supplied by us. We would like to tell you more about how they got on this F-5 in a later issue of our newsletter this year.

   

  B-26B/C Marauder

   In June, we will celebrate a milestone anniversary of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy. We intend to dedicate a series of kits in the Limited Edition line to this anniversary. Some of them will be from our own molds, featuring Mustangs and Spitfires, and one item will be based on someone else’s plastic. It will be a 1:72nd scale B-26B/C Marauder originally from Hasegawa.

   

  B-17F Flying Fortress

   Then in August it will be time for another major release. I mentioned at the beginning that this year, we intend to make it a hot summer for modelers, and the main fuel on this fire will be the B-17F Flying Fortress, in our favorite scale, 1:48th. We are cooperating with HKM on this one, and the basis of our project are the plastic sprues of this company. However, we will also add something of our own, our main contribution to this project centering around alternative noses, which will significantly expand the possibilities of this kit to map out the first two years of the Allied bombing offensive against Nazi Germany. Of course, we will expend considerable effort to chart the fates of the bomber crews that led this offensive, to the men that paid dearly for its success. We want to give this kit our personal touch, and to retell the stories of famous aircraft and famous airmen, and we definitely will not be limiting ourselves to Memphis Belle. Nothing against it, it's a famous bird, but in truth, the B-17F has been pretty much always about Memphis Belle. It's a shame, because the story of the deployment of the B-17F and its technical development is much more colorful than just that name, as you will soon see with the new Masters of the Air series. Cinematic art has its own captivating storytelling devices, and if Misters Hanks and Spielberg make the series, we definitely have something to look forward to. But kits, and especially our kits, also have their own specific means of expression, and I guarantee you that in this case, you have something to look forward to. It will be very different, but it will not be boring!

   

  Subscriptions

   Our program of repackaged Limited Edition kits, those that are formed around other manufacturer’s plastic, is very ambitious for this year. There is one development that puts us down a necessary road. We pay for most of the sprues we buy in advance, several months in advance and sometimes even nine months before the release of the model. This is why there are usually only a few large projects of this magnitude in our release schedule, with lengthy gaps between them, often several months. In order to manage this and to be able to afford to do bigger, more challenging projects and possibly do more of them, we've decided to start a subscription program for some of the Limited Edition kits. We will gradually release information as to which kits they will be and what the specific conditions of the subscription are on our Facebook page and from mailings. Of course, we will offer significant benefits to subscribers, and to boot, if you join our subscription program, you will help us make our offer of interesting kits more attractive and frequent. The goal is a win-win situation that I am confident it can be achieved.

   

  Shows

   In mid-January, we will be at the Hradecky Lev (Hradecky Lion) exhibition in Hradec Králové in the Czech Republic. I cordially invite you to our tables. We'll have our full range there, including the Gunze paint range, although it's getting a little thin again right now.

   January 30th to February 3rd, we are at the Nuremberg Toy Fair, and this time, I think we can go back to calling the visit ‘traditional’. This time we will have a setup to ourselves again, our colleagues from Special Hobby have, like us, reason enough for their own. We will use the space to organize a series of lectures or, perhaps more accurately, press conferences. Instead of one press conference that we held in one of the conference rooms before covid, we will hold three separate conferences right at our booth. The main reason is that in the past, we couldn't find a date that suited all of our partners, so there was always someone missing. I would even venture to say that those who were absent numbered more than those who were in attendance. So we changed the schedule and are offering three dates and times instead of one. In this editorial, I have offered several reasons to visit us and a number of topics for discussion. I look forward to seeing you!

   

  Articles

   In addition to the usual and now mandatory by popular demand Boxart Stories and the continuation of the Air War in Ukraine, today we bring you an article about the usage of our Space items by Jakub Nademlejnský, an interview with Honza Bobek, who describes the origins of the Eduard bunnies and the personality of their creator, and a technical-historical article about the development of the Bf 109 G-6. It was written by yours truly, and took almost the entire autumn to put together, when I wasn't on the road, and you will find interesting information and some lesser-known facts in it, as did I putting it together. The original article has now been split into two parts, because it is simply, but necessarily, that long and publishing it in its entirety would be both difficult to prepare and a long read. And we don't want to put you to sleep, even though several readers have already told me that they take the newsletter to bed as their end-of-the-day ritual. The second part is ready, we will add some pictures to it and post it in the February issue. It will mainly be about the high-altitude Bf 109 G-5, the Bf 109 G-14, as well as the photo-reconnaissance versions of the Bf 109 G-6 and the photo-reconnaissance specific Bf 109 G-8. These are versions that I have long considered marginal and essentially uninteresting, and working on this article made me realize that my impression was incorrect. So now, I wish you all a pleasant read and I hope you glean a lot of new and interesting bits of information!

   

  Happy Modelling!

  Vladimir Sulc