-
{"cz":"Info EDUARD"}
{"cz":"Měsíčník o historii a plastikovém modelářství.","en":"Monthly magazine about history and scale plastic modeling."}
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.
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INFO Eduard# 167e-magazine FREE Vol 23 January 2024Page 2
INFO Eduard# 167e-magazine FREE Vol 23 January 2024© Eduard - Model Accessories, 2024FREE FOR DOWNLOAD, FREE FOR DISTRIBUTION!This material may only be used for personal use. No part of the textor graphic presentations can be used in another publication in any other mediaform or otherwise distributed without the prior writtenpermission of Eduard - Model Accessories and authors involved.Editorial and Graphics - Marketing department, Eduard - Model Accessories, Ltd.Page 3
eduardeduardJANUARY 2024CONTENTSEDITORIALKITSBRASSINPHOTO-ETCHED SETSSPACEEXPLORING SPACEBUILTON APPROACH–February 2024TAIL END CHARLIEHISTORYBOXART STORYGUSTAV pt.1 Limited 1/72Bf 109K-4 Weekend 1/48Albatros D.III ProfiPACK 1/48MiG-15bis ProfiPACK 1/72 Re-releaseP-51D-5 Mustang Weekend 1/48 Re-releaseGustav 1/72The Zipper 1/48Kurfürst 1/48Bf 109K-4 1/48A6M2 Zero Type 21 1/48GUSTAV VI. -Messerschimt Bf 109G-6Interview with Jan BobekAir War in Ukraine-Strengtheningof Anti-Aircraft Defense before WinterThe Red HuntersUnsuspecting victimThe long waitUntil the last bullet410364066808892102110128Published by Eduard-Model Accessories, spol. s.r.o.Mírová 170, Obrnice 435 21support@eduard.com www.eduard.comEditorial
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 salefor almost three weeks now, so I assume thatyou are already thoroughly familiar with themand many of you already have them in yourposession. Nevertheless, I have to mentionthat, from my point of view, we are startingthis year off with a bit of a bang. A firstglance at the 48th scale Albatros D.III maynot indicate this, but it too was once the toppredator in a sky dominated by war clouds,and this kit offers a superb mix of storiesand fates of its pilots and their opponents, asis our custom to uncover over the course ofa kit’s development. We also had more thangood reason to revive this topic, as you areabout to find out.Two Messerschmitt Bf 109s, the 72nd scaleBf 109 G-6 in the form of the Limited EditionGustav Pt.1 kit, together with the Bf 109 K-4Weekend release, are already in a league oftheir own. I dare say that the Bf 109 G-6 isthe pinnacle of our 1:72nd scale work so far,and is at least worth a good look from thepoint of view of its design. But regardlessof the quality of its rendering, I must firstemphasize that the plane itself, in any ofits many versions, is amazing. I noted thisfact years ago, back when I had no ideathat I would be involved in the design andmanufacture of kits of this aircraft, but at thetime it seemed almost like a cliche, the kindof inflated superlative that we are constantlysurrounded by. Then, sometime around fifteenyears ago, when we started our first 109,I didn't see the big whoop around it, and thefirst results looked accordingly. However,we worked on improving ourselves and ourperformance and on elevating our 109s toa decent level, which eventually ensured theirrecord sales. At the end of last summer wewere at 260,000 sold sprue sets of all versionsof the Bf 109 we released in all scales, fromwhich I would venture to assume that youare still enjoying our Bf 109s. But most ofall, I confess to enjoying them too, and thatenjoyment is actually increasing the moreI know about them. So I'll admit that I've beenthinking about what to do about the situationfor a few weeks now, because I really don'twant to end it here and now in terms of thisaircraft. They say it’s best to go out on top, andwe're still not quite there, and with the 109s,we can move even higher. However, we onlyhave a few sub types left and we'll be done inboth main scales. In all honesty, I don’t thinkthat the attempt to keep this family at a peakby making the Buchon is not the way to go. Sonow what? Looks like I might have to changemy mind about 1:32nd….New Items, 2024P-51B MustangNot that we don't have other things todo. Our goal is to release at least four newitems this year. If we manage to do that, restassured that we, and you, are in for one hotsummer regardless of global warming. Firstup is our 48th scale P-51B/C Mustang project.I anticipate that we will have a complete setof molds ready at the end of March or thebeginning of April. If so, we will introduce theP-51B at the Easter show in Prostejov in theform of a special introductory display tailormade for the Prostějov Easter event, whichthis year takes place on March 30, if I'm notmistaken. The launch kit will be a limitedEdition Duo Combo boxing, dedicated to thefirst Mustangs of the 8th Air Force, the nameof which we still have to come up with. Thiswill be in May and we will baptize it in Pilsenat the airport in Line. This will follow in thefootsteps of the Spitfire Mk.I christeningwe put together at the same location inSeptember, 2020. Our friends from ClassicTrainers Association have a new Mustang inLine, so doing some version of a joint ventureseems a bit of a no-brainer, no?One More MustangGiven 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 inthis recipe is that we won't just have one newMustang this year, we'll have two….that’s twoMustangs. With an ‘s’! We also have our P-51Din 72nd up our sleeve. We should have it readyso that it will hit the market in June, allowingus to premiere both Mustangs, a big B andlittle D simultaneously. Mark your calendars,folks! It's going to be big and Pilsen's ‘LittleRebel’ will have a great time!EDITORIALP-51B 1/48 P-51B 1/48The P-51B Mustang is in the tools making phase.We have machined three of the six tools; the othersare in various stages of development, with mostalready in an advanced tooling phase. Only one, thelast mold, is still being programmed. We expect tobe ready for machining by the end of January, andthe tools will be completely finished by Easter.INFO Eduard4January 2024Page 5
P-40E WarhawkThat still leaves us with the fourth premierefor the year. You already know this one, it's theP-40E Warhawk. Currently, we are workingon the design of the kit, on pace for release inOctober. That means it will premiere at E-Day.It's not going to be easy, though. The Warhawkat E-Day is an ambitious goal. But we'rereally trying, and we've changed our workprocess, adjusted our planning, streamlinedour production operation and we're on track.I imagine there will be questions about thesubsequent versions of the Warhawk aswell. The answer is that we are working onall versions from the P-40E onwards, thatis the P-40K, P-40M and N, as well as theP-40F and L. Of course, the British versions,the Kittyhawk Mk.III and the KittyhawkMk.IV, shall not be neglected on our watch.We would like to have the Kittyhawk Mk.IIIready in November so we can bring it toTelford. 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 BritishSome time ago there were many complaintsthat we are neglecting 1:72nd. Things aresettling down a bit at the Bf 109 end of thingsfor us, and I think our 72nd scale fans will besatisfied. I expect that there will be questionsabout future releases and especially whetheror not there will also be a P-51B. The answer isyes, there will be. Everything we've releasedso far and will release in the future in 48th,we'll also release in 72nd. It's always going totake us a little while, but that’ll be the pattern,and it's good to know that you can count onit. Those kits will be at least as good as ourGustavs, and they won't be more expensiveeither. I am betting that you all know how tocount!Albatros D.IIIJust to show that we are not slacking off,we've got one more little thing in store. Thisis a 72nd scale Albatros D.III. We also wantto have this out by the summer. We’ve trainedfor it, we have new knowledge about it, andthat adds up to a result that promises to bethrilling!P-51D1/72P-51D 1/72Albatros D.III1/72Albatros D.III1/72The 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 suchas 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 1/48P-40E1/48For 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 Eduard5January 2024Page 6
Mustang Mk.III, when it will be and whetherthere will be connections to Polish pilots.The answer is yes on all counts, and our planis to have the Mustang Mk.III in Telford as well.And for those of you wondering about a 72ndscale version...again, yes. Just not this year.ReboxingsIn addition to new release kits, we will ofcourse also focus on non-premiere new items,which modelers somewhat unflatteringlyrefer to as ‘repops’. In this assortment, wewill mainly continue to focus on the 72ndBf 109s. In April, we will launch the GustavPt.2, dedicated to the late versions of theBf 109 G-6, Bf 109 G-5 and Bf 109 G-14. If youread my Gustav article today, you will findthat the late Bf 109 G-6s fall under productionvariants 4,5 and 6. These are the Bf 109 G-6swith the Erlahaube canopy, tall tail andcombinations thereof, including the Bf 109G-5. Because yes, even the G-5 sported theErlahaube canopy, and quite often at that, aswill be indicated in the second part of theGustav article, slated to be published in theFebruary newsletter. The third part of theGustavs article will be dedicated to the Bf 109G-6/AS and Bf 109 G-14/AS, and the fourth toall versions of the Bf 109 G-10.We will also be releasing various versionsof the Bf 109 G in 1:72nd scale in the Profipackrange. The same goes for the L-39 Albatros,which will be released in two Profipackversions, the L-39C and L-39ZA. We willthen have additional ‘repops’ in 1:48th scale,in both the Weekend and Profipack lines.In no particular order, this procedure will findits way to the Spitfire Mk.Va, F4F-4 Wildcatand Bf 110 F. Interesting pieces will also seereissues, such as the Bf 108, Fw 190 A-2 andthe MiG-21PF.Limited EditionF-5E Tiger IIThis year again, there will be a focus onrepackaged Limited Edition kits, using plasticfrom other manufacturers cooperating withus. Sprue frames for this year's first suchproject are already on their way from Taiwan,and features the F-5E Tiger II originally fromAFV Club. We plan to release the F-5E TigerII in two versions, early and late, the one inMarch will be the early version, leaving thelate version for next year. It is an interestingproject for us, because last year we had thehonor of participating in the restoration of theF-5E on exhibit at the air museum in Kbely.When you look at the F-5E in Kbely, takea look at the stencil data...they were suppliedby us. We would like to tell you more abouthow they got on this F-5 in a later issue of ournewsletter this year.B-26B/C MarauderIn June, we will celebrate a milestoneanniversary of Operation Overlord, the Alliedinvasion of Normandy. We intend to dedicatea series of kits in the Limited Edition lineto this anniversary. Some of them will befrom our own molds, featuring Mustangsand Spitfires, and one item will be based onsomeone else’s plastic. It will be a 1:72nd scaleB-26B/C Marauder originally from Hasegawa.B-17F Flying FortressThen in August it will be time for anothermajor release. I mentioned at the beginningthat this year, we intend to make it a hotsummer for modelers, and the main fuel onthis fire will be the B-17F Flying Fortress, inour favorite scale, 1:48th. We are cooperatingwith HKM on this one, and the basis of ourproject are the plastic sprues of this company.However, we will also add something of ourown, our main contribution to this projectcentering around alternative noses, whichwill significantly expand the possibilitiesof this kit to map out the first two yearsof the Allied bombing offensive againstNazi Germany. Of course, we will expendconsiderable effort to chart the fates of thebomber crews that led this offensive, to themen that paid dearly for its success. We wantto give this kit our personal touch, and to retellthe stories of famous aircraft and famousairmen, and we definitely will not be limitingourselves to Memphis Belle. Nothing againstit, it's a famous bird, but in truth, the B-17Fhas been pretty much always about MemphisBelle. It's a shame, because the story of thedeployment of the B-17F and its technicaldevelopment is much more colorful than justthat name, as you will soon see with the newMasters of the Air series. Cinematic art hasits own captivating storytelling devices, and ifMisters Hanks and Spielberg make the series,we definitely have something to look forwardto. But kits, and especially our kits, also havetheir own specific means of expression, andI guarantee you that in this case, you havesomething to look forward to. It will be verydifferent, but it will not be boring!F-5E Tiger IIF-5E Tiger IIINFO Eduard6January 2024Page 7
SubscriptionsOur program of repackaged Limited Editionkits, those that are formed around othermanufacturer’s plastic, is very ambitious forthis year. There is one development that putsus down a necessary road. We pay for most ofthe sprues we buy in advance, several monthsin advance and sometimes even nine monthsbefore the release of the model. This is whythere are usually only a few large projects ofthis magnitude in our release schedule, withlengthy gaps between them, often severalmonths. In order to manage this and to beable to afford to do bigger, more challengingprojects and possibly do more of them, we'vedecided to start a subscription programfor some of the Limited Edition kits. We willgradually release information as to which kitsthey will be and what the specific conditionsof the subscription are on our Facebook pageand from mailings. Of course, we will offersignificant benefits to subscribers, and toboot, if you join our subscription program,you will help us make our offer of interestingkits more attractive and frequent. The goal isa win-win situation that I am confident it canbe achieved.ShowsIn mid-January, we will be at the HradeckyLev (Hradecky Lion) exhibition in HradecKrálové in the Czech Republic. I cordiallyinvite you to our tables. We'll have our fullrange there, including the Gunze paint range,although it's getting a little thin again rightnow.January 30th to February 3rd, we are at theNuremberg Toy Fair, and this time, I think wecan go back to calling the visit ‘traditional’.This time we will have a setup to ourselvesagain, our colleagues from Special Hobbyhave, like us, reason enough for their own.We will use the space to organize a series oflectures or, perhaps more accurately, pressconferences. Instead of one press conferencethat we held in one of the conference roomsbefore covid, we will hold three separateconferences right at our booth. The mainreason is that in the past, we couldn't finda date that suited all of our partners, so therewas always someone missing. I would evenventure to say that those who were absentnumbered more than those who were inattendance. So we changed the schedule andare offering three dates and times instead ofone. In this editorial, I have offered severalreasons to visit us and a number of topics fordiscussion. I look forward to seeing you!ArticlesIn addition to the usual and now mandatoryby popular demand Boxart Stories and thecontinuation of the Air War in Ukraine, todaywe bring you an article about the usage ofour Space items by Jakub Nademlejnský, aninterview with Honza Bobek, who describesthe origins of the Eduard bunnies and thepersonality of their creator, and a technical-historical article about the development ofthe Bf 109 G-6. It was written by yours truly,and took almost the entire autumn to puttogether, when I wasn't on the road, and youwill find interesting information and somelesser-known facts in it, as did I putting ittogether. The original article has now beensplit into two parts, because it is simply, butnecessarily, that long and publishing it in itsentirety would be both difficult to prepareand a long read. And we don't want to put youto sleep, even though several readers havealready told me that they take the newsletterto bed as their end-of-the-day ritual. Thesecond part is ready, we will add somepictures to it and post it in the February issue.It will mainly be about the high-altitude Bf 109G-5, the Bf 109 G-14, as well as the photo-reconnaissance versions of the Bf 109 G-6 andthe photo-reconnaissance specific Bf 109 G-8.These are versions that I have long consideredmarginal and essentially uninteresting, andworking on this article made me realize thatmy impression was incorrect. So now, I wishyou all a pleasant read and I hope you gleana lot of new and interesting bits of information!Happy Modelling!Vladimir SulcINFO Eduard7January 2024Page 8
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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 ArmamentThe Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 was powered bythe DB 605 A engine, as were the Bf 109 G-2 andG-4. The airframe was also largely identical tothe 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 151/20remained the same. The fuselage machine gunsdid undergo a change, however. The main differ-ence here between the Bf 109 G-6 and the G-4 wasthe installation of 13 mm MG 131 weapons. Thesewas developed over a relatively long time, thefirst tests having already taken place on the Bf109 F. MG 131 machine guns were experimentallyused, for example, by Adolf Galland on the Bf 109F-2, but in practice, their use was not expanded.The development of the series installation of theMG 131 was quite complex. For example, it tooksome time to deal with the ejection of spent car-tridges, and practical widespread installationwas only undertaken at the beginning of 1943.On the other hand, the rapid transition of theproduction lines from the G-4 version to the G-6made possible, among other things, the redesignof the fuselage gun installation which had al-ready been solved on the Bf 109 G-4.The 13 mm MG 131 machine gun weighed 21.24kg (M.Baumgartl, other sources quoting low-er, usually 16.6 kg). There were several types ofammunition used. Fragmentation, anti-armorrounds, two types of incendiary rounds, onetype of fragmentation-incendiary and one typeof incendiary anti-armor round was used andwas 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 weightof the projectile was 34 grams for fragmentationand incendiary rounds, the muzzle velocity was750 m/s (2,460 ft/s). For anti-armor shells theweight was 38 grams and the muzzle velocitywas 710 m/s (2,330 ft/s). The firing rates were900 rounds per minute for armor piercing roundsand 930 rounds per minute for incendiary andfragmentation rounds The effective range was1,700 meters (5,580 feet), the service life of theDuring 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 Bf109, 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 theMesserschmitt 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 thissubtype was probably the special modifications that these machines had, which at that time had not yet been structurally incorporatedinto the new G-6. It is also possible that the more powerful armament in the form of larger fuselage mounted machine guns, which wasthe main difference between the G-4 and G-6, was not a critical feature of the photo-reconnaissance aircraft tojustify the disruption ofan 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 wasinitiated electrically.The larger elements of the MG 131 machine gunsdid not fit under the original smoothly contouredengine cowl of the Bf 109 G-2/G-4, bringing aboutthe G-6 version’s (as well as the G-5, G-8 andG-14) large oval fairings over the gun breeches,half of which was on the engine cowl and half onthe 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 ofthe hallmarks of this version was a small bulge,covering the cockpit pressurization air compres-sor, emerging from the lower leading edge of thelarge fairing above the right machine gun breech.The Bf 109 G-5s were produced exclusively at theErla works in Leipzig and this is probably whythe same fairing with this small bulge was usedon most Erla-built G-6s. Technically the bulgemade no sense, since there was no air compres-sor under it when mounted on the G-6, but it waspresent presumably to minimize production in-terruptions. This anomaly was previously thoughtto be a characteristic of Erla-built Bf 109 G-6s,but is now known to have also been present onBf 109 G-6s in production block 140 000 from WNFand production blocks 165 000 to 167 000 fromMesserschmittt.Aircraft of the following production blocks hadthe above described bump on the right side of theWhile the troughs for the Bf 109 G-6 supplied byErla 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 GearAnother change came in the landing gear. Afterproblems with the setup and its wheels, mainlywith the tires wearing quickly, the wheels weremodified during G-4 production. The tire size wasincreased to 660 x 160mm and the brake discwas enlarged. This improved the situation, but itwas still not perfect, as the brake discs heatedup during braking and the resulting heat causedrapid degradation of the rubber compound used,which eventually led to the destruction of thetire. As a result, the landing gear was furtherstrengthened, the oleo pistons were modifiedand strengthened, and the brakes and the entirewheel disc were redesigned. A significant changewas the all-new steel brake discs, which was re-flected in the look of the wheel, now having fullouter hubs. These new wheels were later fittedto older Bf 109 G-4s during overhauls, which wasstrongly reflected in the two-seat Bf 109 G-12,built from Bf 109 G-4 airframes, and the originalG-4s that remained in service with training unitsuntil the end of the war. In the picture, the Bf 109G-4 wheel is on the left, the Bf 109 G-6 wheel ison the right.engine cover: 15000 (not all), 26000, 27000, 110000,410000 to 413000 (all Erla), 140000 (WNF), and165000 to 167,000 (Messerschmitt).Conversely, some airframes of the initial pro-duction block of 15000 from Erla did not have thisbump, but featured on the right side the samebump above the gun breech that was on mostMesserschmitt and WNF produced machines.The Bf 109 G-6s produced at the Erla plantalso featured a different cowl incorporating guntroughs that were longer than those of the Mess-erschmitt and WNF-built examples.The gun troughs of the Bf 109 G-6 coming fromMesserschmittt and WNF looked like this:HISTORYINFO Eduard10January 2024Page 11
barrel was 17,000 rounds. Firing of the round wasinitiated electrically.The larger elements of the MG 131 machine gunsdid not fit under the original smoothly contouredengine cowl of the Bf 109 G-2/G-4, bringing aboutthe G-6 version’s (as well as the G-5, G-8 andG-14) large oval fairings over the gun breeches,half of which was on the engine cowl and half onthe 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 ofthe hallmarks of this version was a small bulge,covering the cockpit pressurization air compres-sor, emerging from the lower leading edge of thelarge fairing above the right machine gun breech.The Bf 109 G-5s were produced exclusively at theErla works in Leipzig and this is probably whythe same fairing with this small bulge was usedon most Erla-built G-6s. Technically the bulgemade no sense, since there was no air compres-sor under it when mounted on the G-6, but it waspresent presumably to minimize production in-terruptions. This anomaly was previously thoughtto be a characteristic of Erla-built Bf 109 G-6s,but is now known to have also been present onBf 109 G-6s in production block 140 000 from WNFand production blocks 165 000 to 167 000 fromMesserschmittt.Aircraft of the following production blocks hadthe above described bump on the right side of theWhile the troughs for the Bf 109 G-6 supplied byErla 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 GearAnother change came in the landing gear. Afterproblems with the setup and its wheels, mainlywith the tires wearing quickly, the wheels weremodified during G-4 production. The tire size wasincreased to 660 x 160mm and the brake discwas enlarged. This improved the situation, but itwas still not perfect, as the brake discs heatedup during braking and the resulting heat causedrapid degradation of the rubber compound used,which eventually led to the destruction of thetire. As a result, the landing gear was furtherstrengthened, the oleo pistons were modifiedand strengthened, and the brakes and the entirewheel disc were redesigned. A significant changewas the all-new steel brake discs, which was re-flected in the look of the wheel, now having fullouter hubs. These new wheels were later fittedto older Bf 109 G-4s during overhauls, which wasstrongly reflected in the two-seat Bf 109 G-12,built from Bf 109 G-4 airframes, and the originalG-4s that remained in service with training unitsuntil the end of the war. In the picture, the Bf 109G-4 wheel is on the left, the Bf 109 G-6 wheel ison the right.engine cover: 15000 (not all), 26000, 27000, 110000,410000 to 413000 (all Erla), 140000 (WNF), and165000 to 167,000 (Messerschmitt).Conversely, some airframes of the initial pro-duction block of 15000 from Erla did not have thisbump, but featured on the right side the samebump above the gun breech that was on mostMesserschmitt and WNF produced machines.The Bf 109 G-6s produced at the Erla plantalso featured a different cowl incorporating guntroughs that were longer than those of the Mess-erschmitt and WNF-built examples.The gun troughs of the Bf 109 G-6 coming fromMesserschmittt and WNF looked like this:HISTORYINFO Eduard11January 2024Page 12
Evolution of Bf 109 G-6 Subvari-ants / Production Blocks and theirVariationsBf 109 G-6s were produced in many productionblocks until December 1944. In the context of thisarticle, production blocks refers to a sequentialseries of production numbers, specified by thecustomer (RLM) to the manufacturer in blocks ofone thousand. Each block is a sequence of num-bers, such as 15 000 to 15 999, or 441 000 to 441999.Total production of the Bf 109 G-6, includingthe Bf 109 G-6/AS with the DB 605 AS engine,is estimated at 13,000, but the exact numberis 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 theaircraft. These changes were introduced grad-ually, often mid block. This means that, withina single production block, there were aircraft withdiffering equipment setups or airframe designelements. This evolution of the Bf 109 G-6 stemsfrom the fact that these aircraft were producedin the factories of three different manufacturers,where new equipment or airframe constructionchanges were gradually introduced. The pres-sure of prevailing circumstances, especially theincreasing Allied bombing raids, also directly im-pacted production plants, as well as to the plantsof their subcontractors, not to mention Germaninfrastructure proper, most notably the railwaysystem. For airframes within higher productionnumbers, produced in the second half of 1944,these changes were already deeply embeddedwithin the production blocks, in such a way thateven three different production versions can bedocumented within one production block. Anotherproblem is that the machines were modified andmodernized during repairs and overhauls, so thatlater changes, especially in equipment, could beretroactively reflected in the appearance of theaircraft of earlier production blocks. All this addscomplexity to the discussed theme.Telling ‘em apartIn 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 blocksinto six production variants that show corre-sponding elements of equipment and airframecharacteristics. Since these elements weregradually introduced during running production,they can appear in two or even three differentproduction blocks. This classification of intro-duced changes into production blocks is mainlybased on the work of Harald Helmut Vogt and hisbook Messerschmittt Bf 109 – Einsatzmaschinen –Das Nachslagwerk. H.H. Vogt lists five productionvariations, I decided on six, based on a study ofphotographs of airframes with known produc-tion numbers, and also in some cases adjustedthe assignment of some frames from individualproduction blocks with respect to productionvariants compared to the distribution given byH.H. Vogt.The attempt to clarify a division into produc-tion block variants is also complicated by theexistence of special production versions broughtabout by the installation of Umrüstsätze equip-ment and armament factory level conversionsets. These include the Bf 109 G-6/U2 with theGM 1 boost system, the Bf 109 G-6/U4, armedwith MK 108 engine mounted cannon, severalversions of photo reconnaissance aircraft, trop-ical machines and night fighters. These aircraftwere generally not built as complete productionblocks in and of themselves, but were integrat-ed into running production lines among aircraftwithout such special equipment. The exception isthe Bf 109 G-6/U4, which was produced in com-plete production blocks 440 000 to 442 099 and510 000. Production block 510 000 included boththe Bf 109 G-6/U4 and the Bf 109 G-14/U4. Theseproduction versions, as well as the tropical modi-fication G-6/trop, are described both as divisionsinto production variants, and then in separateparagraphs 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 oftheir division into existing production variants,and are subsequently described in separateparagraphs dedicated to them. Therefore, someinformation will be duplicated in the followingpassages of the article. However, I believe thatthis does not matter due to the complexity of thetopic, and is ultimately the way to go.As with the Bf 109 G-6, I divided production ofthe Bf 109 G-5 and Bf 109 G-14 into productionversions, which will be described in the secondpart of this article.The breakdown of Bf 109 G-6 into productionversions 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-4except for the installation of MG 131 machineguns and modernized landing gear including thenew type of main wheels. They were character-ized thus:• Tall antenna mast (1).• FuG 16Z Radio. Aircraft carrying this unit lacked theMorane whip antenna (Moranmast), which was a FuG16Y specific item.• IFF system FuG 25a with its associated rod antennaunder fuselage bulkhead No.2 (2).• Straight steel armor headrest (3).• Usually, these airframes lacked the ZVG 16 directionfinding equipment with the associated PR 16 loopantenna on the spine.• The above mentioned pieces of equipment, the ZVG16 / PR 16 antenna and the FuG 16ZY with the Moraneantenna under the fuselage do appear on rare occasionin this production block.• REVI C 12 D gunsight.• The right side of the fuselage featured an outlet forthe connection of an external electrical power source(4) and an access hatch to access compressed oxygenbottles (5) between bulkheads 1 and 2.• From production block 19 000 (WNF), Bf 109 G-6s hada small engine-starting fuel tank between fuselagebulkheads 4 and 5, with a filler neck on the right sideof 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 fairingabove 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 ofthe fuselage under the cockpit (7).• Production block in the 20 000 (WNF) range produced35 photo-reconnaissance Bf 109 G-6/R3s and about 20Bf 109 G-6/U3s. Their differences from the standard G-6are described in the paragraphs dedicated to them.• The Bf 109 G-6/U4 of production block 20 000 from WNFhad a cover on the right side of the fuselage betweenthe 4th and 5th fuselage bulkheads to access thecompressed air bottle for the MK 108 cannon (8).The aircraft of this production block also featureda small fuel tank connected to engine starting locatedbetween fuselage bulkheads 4 and 5 on the top of thefuselage, with a filler neck on the right side of thespine (9).• Some of the 15 000 production block (Erla) machinesdid not have a bump on the right breech cover of theMG 131 machine gun, which is an anomaly for Erlaproduction airframes.Example: Bf 109 G-6, W.Nr. 18 107 (produced by Messerschmitt), flown by Uffz. Georg Amon, 7./JG53, Torazzo Airfield, Sicily, June 1943HISTORYINFO Eduard12January 2024Page 13
• From production block 19 000 (WNF), Bf 109 G-6s hada small engine-starting fuel tank between fuselagebulkheads 4 and 5, with a filler neck on the right sideof 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 fairingabove 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 ofthe fuselage under the cockpit (7).• Production block in the 20 000 (WNF) range produced35 photo-reconnaissance Bf 109 G-6/R3s and about 20Bf 109 G-6/U3s. Their differences from the standard G-6are described in the paragraphs dedicated to them.• The Bf 109 G-6/U4 of production block 20 000 from WNFhad a cover on the right side of the fuselage betweenthe 4th and 5th fuselage bulkheads to access thecompressed air bottle for the MK 108 cannon (8).The aircraft of this production block also featureda small fuel tank connected to engine starting locatedbetween fuselage bulkheads 4 and 5 on the top of thefuselage, with a filler neck on the right side of thespine (9).• Some of the 15 000 production block (Erla) machinesdid not have a bump on the right breech cover of theMG 131 machine gun, which is an anomaly for Erlaproduction airframes.Example: Bf 109 G-6, W.Nr. 18 107 (produced by Messerschmitt), flown by Uffz. Georg Amon, 7./JG53, Torazzo Airfield, Sicily, June 1943HISTORYINFO Eduard13January 2024Page 14
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 directionfinder system with a PR 16 loop antenna (Peilrahmen)on the fuselage spine (11), but not all aircraft carriedthis system.• The Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) FuG 25a systemwith a rod antenna on the lower part of the fuselagebehind the 2nd fuselage bulkhead.• Commanders’ machines could be equipped witha FuG 16 ZY radio with an on-board transponder forthe Pegasus Y targeting system with a Morane-typewhip antenna (Moranmast), located under the fuselageon the wing center section.• Straight steel armor plate headrest.• From production block 26 000 (Erla), Bf 109 G-6s hada small fuel tank for used for engine starting betweenfuselage bulkheads 4 and 5 on the fuselage spine, witha 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 theleft 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 16Z lacked the Morane whip aerial (Moranmast), whichwas specific to the FuG 16 ZY.• Five photo-reconnaissance Bf 109 G-6/R3s were builtas part of the 140 000 (WNF) production block. Theirdifferences from the standard G-6 are described in theparagraphs dedicated to them.Example: Bf 109 G-6, W.Nr. 27169 (Erla Production), flown by Fw. HeinrichBartels, 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 rightfairing above the breech of the MG 131 machine gun.• Conversely, the 32 000 and 33 000 (Erla) productionblocks machines did not have the bump on the rightfairing above the breech of the MG 131 fuselage ma-chine gun, which is an anomaly for the Erla-builtBf 109 G-6.Third Production Variation:Production blocks 160 000 to 163 000 (Messer-schmittt), 410 000 to 413 000 (Erla), 440 000 to442 000 (WNF), 510 000 (WNF) and 760 000 (Györ– Hungary).These aircraft were identical to the second pro-duction variation, the only visible change beingthe new Gallandpanzer armor with laminatedarmored glass behind the pilot’s head. The ques-tion is whether or not it is necessary to considerthis incarnation as a separate production variant,or whether it is merely an extension of the sec-ond production variant, which were retroactivelyequipped 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 withits rod antenna on the bottom of the fuselage behindbulkhead No.2.• Commanders’ aircraft could be equipped with a FuG 16ZY radio station with an on-board transponder for thePegasus Y targeting system with a Morane-type whipantenna (Moranmast), located under the fuselage atthe wing center section.• REVI C 12 D gunsight• A small fuel tank used for starting the engine, witha filler cap on the right side of the top of the fuselagebetween fuselage bulkheads 4 and 5.• Bf 109 G-6/U4/trop from production blocks 440 000to 442 000 (up to 442 099) from WNF had two sunshademounts on the left side of the fuselage below thecockpit.• Bf 109 G-6/U4/trop from production blocks 440 000to 442 000 (up to 442 099) and Bf 109 G-6/U4 from510,000 by WNF had a hatch on the right side of thefuselage between the 4th and 5th fuselage bulkheadsproviding access to the compressed air bottles for theMK 108 cannon (15).• Bf 109 G-6/U2s from production blocks 410 000 to412 000 (105 units) and 413 000 (240 units) from Erlahad a GM-1 cylinder access hatch on the right side ofthe fuselage spine in front of the third fuselage bulk-head (16).• From the summer of 1944, Bf 109 G-6s were fitted withthe REVI 16 B gunsight. This applies to production blocks162 000 (Messerschmittt), 413 000 (Erla), 442 000 and510 000 (WNF).• Production blocks 410 000 to 413 000 (Erla) aircraft hada bump on the right fairing covering the breech of theMG 131 machine gun.Example: Bf 109 G-6, W.Nr. 440190 (WNF production), flown by Lt. AlfredHammer, Commanding Officer of 6./JG 53, Vienna - Seyring, February 1944.HISTORYINFO Eduard14January 2024Page 15
• Conversely, the 32 000 and 33 000 (Erla) productionblocks machines did not have the bump on the rightfairing above the breech of the MG 131 fuselage ma-chine gun, which is an anomaly for the Erla-builtBf 109 G-6.Third Production Variation:Production blocks 160 000 to 163 000 (Messer-schmittt), 410 000 to 413 000 (Erla), 440 000 to442 000 (WNF), 510 000 (WNF) and 760 000 (Györ– Hungary).These aircraft were identical to the second pro-duction variation, the only visible change beingthe new Gallandpanzer armor with laminatedarmored glass behind the pilot’s head. The ques-tion is whether or not it is necessary to considerthis incarnation as a separate production variant,or whether it is merely an extension of the sec-ond production variant, which were retroactivelyequipped 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 withits rod antenna on the bottom of the fuselage behindbulkhead No.2.• Commanders’ aircraft could be equipped with a FuG 16ZY radio station with an on-board transponder for thePegasus Y targeting system with a Morane-type whipantenna (Moranmast), located under the fuselage atthe wing center section.• REVI C 12 D gunsight• A small fuel tank used for starting the engine, witha filler cap on the right side of the top of the fuselagebetween fuselage bulkheads 4 and 5.• Bf 109 G-6/U4/trop from production blocks 440 000to 442 000 (up to 442 099) from WNF had two sunshademounts on the left side of the fuselage below thecockpit.• Bf 109 G-6/U4/trop from production blocks 440 000to 442 000 (up to 442 099) and Bf 109 G-6/U4 from510,000 by WNF had a hatch on the right side of thefuselage between the 4th and 5th fuselage bulkheadsproviding access to the compressed air bottles for theMK 108 cannon (15).• Bf 109 G-6/U2s from production blocks 410 000 to412 000 (105 units) and 413 000 (240 units) from Erlahad a GM-1 cylinder access hatch on the right side ofthe fuselage spine in front of the third fuselage bulk-head (16).• From the summer of 1944, Bf 109 G-6s were fitted withthe REVI 16 B gunsight. This applies to production blocks162 000 (Messerschmittt), 413 000 (Erla), 442 000 and510 000 (WNF).• Production blocks 410 000 to 413 000 (Erla) aircraft hada bump on the right fairing covering the breech of theMG 131 machine gun.Example: Bf 109 G-6, W.Nr. 440190 (WNF production), flown by Lt. AlfredHammer, Commanding Officer of 6./JG 53, Vienna - Seyring, February 1944.HISTORYINFO Eduard15January 2024Page 16
Fourth Production Variation:Production blocks 160 000 to 163 000 (Mess-erschmittt), 410 000 to 413 000 (Erla), 440 000to 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 tailwith a straight leading edged rudder. They alsohad the following characteristics:• Aforementioned tall tail (17) and a standard canopy.• Tail surfaces and wing/fuselage interface could bewood.• Short antenna mast• FuG 16 Z radio• Commanders’ airplanes could be equipped with a FuG 16ZY radio with a transponder for the Pegasus Y targetingsystem and its Morane-type whip antenna (Moranmast)located under the fuselage under the wing centersection 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 witha rod antenna under the fuselage behind the2nd fuselage bulkhead.• Small engine starting fuel tank, with filler neck onthe right side of the fuselage spine, between fuselagebulkheads 4 and 5.• Bf 109 G-6/U4/trop from production blocks 440 000 to442 000 (up to 442 099) from WNF had two sunshademounts on the left side of the fuselage below thecockpit.• Bf 109 G-6/U4/trop from production blocks 440 000through 442 000 (up to 442 099) produced by WNF hada cover on the right side of the fuselage betweenthe 4th and 5th fuselage bulkheads to accessthe compressed air cylinder for the MK 108 gun.• Bf 109 G-6/U2s from production blocks 410 000 to 412000 (105 units) and 413 000 (240 units) from Erla hada GM-1 cylinder access cover on the right side of thefuselage spine in front of the third fuselage bulkhead.• A REVI 16 B gunsight from the summer of 1944. Appliesto production blocks 413 000 (Erla) and 440 000 to 442000 (WNF).• Production blocks 410 000 to 413 000 (Erla) machineshad a bump on the right fairing covering the breech ofthe 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 1944Fifth Production Variation:163 000 to 167 000 (Messerschmitt)The equipment of these airframes correspond-ed to those of the fourth production variant. Theyare 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 orFuG 16 ZY radio with an on-board transponder for thePegasus Y targeting system with a Morane-type whipantenna (Moranmast) located under the left wing (19).• Guidance system consisting of a ZVG 16 unit with its PR16 (Peilrahmen) loop antenna on the top of the fuselage.• Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) FuG 25a system witha rod antenna under the fuselage behind the 2ndfuselage bulkhead.• A small fuel tank for starting the engine, with a fillerneck on the right side at the top of the fuselagebetween fuselage bulkheads 4 and 5.• A REVI 16 B gunsight from the summer of 1944. A partof production block 163 000 still had the REVI C 12 Dsight installed.• Production blocks 165 000 to 167 000 (Messerschmittt)airframes had a bump on the right fairing covering thebreech of the MG 131 machine gun.Example: Bf 109G-6, MT-477 (Messerschmitt production), HLeLv 31, Utti, Finland, Summer, 1948Sixth 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 (tailsurfaces and wing/fuselage interface)• Small fuel tank for use in engine starting with a fillerneck on the right side of the fuselage spine betweenbulkheads 4 and 5.• Most were equipped with a FuG 16 ZY radio with an itsassociated transponder for the Pegasus Y goniometrictargeting 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 rodantenna under the fuselage behind the 2nd fuselagebulkhead.• Some of the 167 000 production block airframes hada 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 rightfairing 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 byLt. Anton Hafner, Commanding Officer of 8./JG 51, Tilsit-Ost, August 1944Bf 109 G-6 SubtypesFactory Level Conversion Equipmentand Weapons Sets / Umrüstsätze U2and U4Bf 109 G-6/U2: a total of 345 aircraft, producedby Erla A.G. Leipzig, were equipped with a GM-1(injecting nitrous oxide into the cylinders) systemproviding a short-term increase in engine power.The nitrous oxide pressure bottles were locatedin the fuselage, the access hatch to them was inthe upper part on the right side of the fuselagebetween the second and third fuselage bulk-heads (20). The first 105 aircraft were built in the410 000 to 412 000 production blocks betweenOctober, 1943 and June, 1944. A further 240 unitswere built in the 413 000 (more precisely 413 300A significant number of this production varia-tion were delivered to the Hungarian and Finnishair forces.HISTORYINFO Eduard16January 2024Page 17
a rod antenna under the fuselage behind the 2ndfuselage bulkhead.• A small fuel tank for starting the engine, with a fillerneck on the right side at the top of the fuselagebetween fuselage bulkheads 4 and 5.• A REVI 16 B gunsight from the summer of 1944. A partof production block 163 000 still had the REVI C 12 Dsight installed.• Production blocks 165 000 to 167 000 (Messerschmittt)airframes had a bump on the right fairing covering thebreech of the MG 131 machine gun.Example: Bf 109G-6, MT-477 (Messerschmitt production), HLeLv 31, Utti, Finland, Summer, 1948Sixth 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 (tailsurfaces and wing/fuselage interface)• Small fuel tank for use in engine starting with a fillerneck on the right side of the fuselage spine betweenbulkheads 4 and 5.• Most were equipped with a FuG 16 ZY radio with an itsassociated transponder for the Pegasus Y goniometrictargeting 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 rodantenna under the fuselage behind the 2nd fuselagebulkhead.• Some of the 167 000 production block airframes hada 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 rightfairing 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 byLt. Anton Hafner, Commanding Officer of 8./JG 51, Tilsit-Ost, August 1944Bf 109 G-6 SubtypesFactory Level Conversion Equipmentand Weapons Sets / Umrüstsätze U2and U4Bf 109 G-6/U2: a total of 345 aircraft, producedby Erla A.G. Leipzig, were equipped with a GM-1(injecting nitrous oxide into the cylinders) systemproviding a short-term increase in engine power.The nitrous oxide pressure bottles were locatedin the fuselage, the access hatch to them was inthe upper part on the right side of the fuselagebetween the second and third fuselage bulk-heads (20). The first 105 aircraft were built in the410 000 to 412 000 production blocks betweenOctober, 1943 and June, 1944. A further 240 unitswere built in the 413 000 (more precisely 413 300A significant number of this production varia-tion were delivered to the Hungarian and Finnishair forces.HISTORYINFO Eduard17January 2024Page 18
to 413 800) production block between June andAugust, 1944The 413 000 production block airframes werealready built with the tall rudder and Erlahaubecanopy.Bf 109 G-6/U4: ca total of 1,634 aircraft, pro-duced by WNF as the Bf 109 G-6/U-4, were armedwith the MK 108 30 mm fuselage gun. The first85 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, howeverthey could still have a short antenna mast andcould be fitted with a direction guidance ZVG 16system with its associated PR 16 loop antenna.Between hull bulkheads 4 and 5 (21), they hada compressed air cylinder for charging theMK 108 engine mounted gun and therefore hada pressure bottle access hatch on the right sideof the fuselage bottom between the fourth andfifth fuselage bulkheads (22).A further 1,419 Bf 109 G-6/U4/trop within pro-duction blocks 440 000, 441 000 and 442 000 (lastbeing 442 099) were produced between Septem-ber, 1943 and August, 1944, and the last 130 Bf 109G-6/U4s in production block 510 000 were pro-duced between August and October, 1944. Thesemachines had a short antenna mast (10), couldbe fitted with a ZVG 16 direction finder with a PR16 loop antenna. They also had a compressed airbottle access hatch for the MK 108 weapon onthe lower right side of the fuselage between thefourth and fifth bulkheads (22).Some of the units in production blocks 440 000to 442 000 were produced with a tall rudder (17)and a standard canopy, while some in productionblock 510 000 had an Erlahaube canopy (18), butthe 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 theBf 109 G-4, was exclusively produced with trop-ical equipment. This is most likely a speculativeerror, possibly caused by the fact that all G-6sproduced could be fitted with a dust filter on thesupercharger air intake. But only part of Bf 109G-6 production was produced with full tropicalequipment. There were 277 aircraft with pro-duction numbers 15290 to 15 499 built betweenMarch and May, 1943 at Erla, and 338 machineswith production numbers16 313 and 16 650 built be-tween February and April,1943 at Messerschmittt.Also, 903 aircraft in the18 000 production blockwere produced betweenApril and July, 1943, againby Messerschmittt. At WNF,262 machines in production block 140 000 wereproduced between September and December,1943 with tropical equipment, as well as most ofthe 1,419 Bf 109 G-6/U4s in production blocks 440000 to 442 000, produced from September 1943 toAugust, 1944. Conversely, the Bf 109 G-6/U4 fromproduction block 510 000 apparently did not havethe tropical equipment fitted. Machines built asthe Bf 109 G-6/trop are externally recognizableby the two sunshade mounting brackets on theright 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 notequipped with a dust filter in service!Example: Bf 109G-6/R6/trop, Oblt. Emil Josef Clade,7./ JG 27, Kalamaki, Greece, January 1944Bf 109G-6 Nightfighter:Schlechtwetter-NachtjägerA number of Bf 109 G-6s from various produc-tion blocks and various production variationswere modified for blind and poor weather flying.They were deployed by Wilde Sau units, carryingout target of opportunity night intercepts. Theyfought mainly against squadrons of four-enginebombers and RAF Mosquitoes flying at night.These aircraft received special equipment:• FuG 16 ZY radio equipment, enabling the Pegasus Yguidance system to be used. These machines hada Morane-type whip antenna (Moranmast) either underthe fuselage or under the left wing (25).• Some of the aircraft were equipped with the FuBl 2(Funk Blindanlage 2) system with a dipole antennaunder the rear fuselage (26), commonly associatedfrom twin-engined heavy fighters and bombers.• On the lower surface of the wing, downward aimedlights were placed to help determine the height of theaircraft during landing. Shining at an obtuse angle tothe 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 Ebersprächerwhistles (28), which produced a screeching sound toalert anti-aircraft gun operators around the homeairfield that an approaching aircraft was a friendly.HISTORYINFO Eduard18January 2024Page 19
Bf 109 G-6/trop:Some sources state that the Bf 109 G-6, like theBf 109 G-4, was exclusively produced with trop-ical equipment. This is most likely a speculativeerror, possibly caused by the fact that all G-6sproduced could be fitted with a dust filter on thesupercharger air intake. But only part of Bf 109G-6 production was produced with full tropicalequipment. There were 277 aircraft with pro-duction numbers 15290 to 15 499 built betweenMarch and May, 1943 at Erla, and 338 machineswith production numbers16 313 and 16 650 built be-tween February and April,1943 at Messerschmittt.Also, 903 aircraft in the18 000 production blockwere produced betweenApril and July, 1943, againby Messerschmittt. At WNF,262 machines in production block 140 000 wereproduced between September and December,1943 with tropical equipment, as well as most ofthe 1,419 Bf 109 G-6/U4s in production blocks 440000 to 442 000, produced from September 1943 toAugust, 1944. Conversely, the Bf 109 G-6/U4 fromproduction block 510 000 apparently did not havethe tropical equipment fitted. Machines built asthe Bf 109 G-6/trop are externally recognizableby the two sunshade mounting brackets on theright 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 notequipped with a dust filter in service!Example: Bf 109G-6/R6/trop, Oblt. Emil Josef Clade,7./ JG 27, Kalamaki, Greece, January 1944Bf 109G-6 Nightfighter:Schlechtwetter-NachtjägerA number of Bf 109 G-6s from various produc-tion blocks and various production variationswere modified for blind and poor weather flying.They were deployed by Wilde Sau units, carryingout target of opportunity night intercepts. Theyfought mainly against squadrons of four-enginebombers and RAF Mosquitoes flying at night.These aircraft received special equipment:• FuG 16 ZY radio equipment, enabling the Pegasus Yguidance system to be used. These machines hada Morane-type whip antenna (Moranmast) either underthe fuselage or under the left wing (25).• Some of the aircraft were equipped with the FuBl 2(Funk Blindanlage 2) system with a dipole antennaunder the rear fuselage (26), commonly associatedfrom twin-engined heavy fighters and bombers.• On the lower surface of the wing, downward aimedlights were placed to help determine the height of theaircraft during landing. Shining at an obtuse angle tothe 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 Ebersprächerwhistles (28), which produced a screeching sound toalert anti-aircraft gun operators around the homeairfield that an approaching aircraft was a friendly.HISTORYINFO Eduard19January 2024Page 20
Example: Bf 109G-6, 2./JG 302,Götzendorf, Germany, July, 1944Bf 109 Ga-6An unknown number (probably around 300) li-cense built Bf 109 Ga-6s were produced in Györ,Hungary at the Györ Wagon Fabrik. Between Mayand September 1943, 13 were produced in a pro-duction block serialed 16 000 (16 651 to 16 667),between September 1943 and May 1944 another131 were produced in a production block in the95 000 range, and between September, 1943 andSeptember, 1944, a further 399 Ga -6s in produc-tion block 760 000 were added. In addition, anundetermined number of airframes in the 96 000were 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 onlya socket for an external electrical power source andthe access hatch for the compressed oxygen bottlebetween fuselage bulkheads 1 and 2.• All had the short gun troughs for the fuselage weapons.• The sunshade mounts were lacking on the left side ofthe fuselage below the windscreen..Bf 109 Ga-6s from production blocks 95 000,96 000 and 760 000 were produced over a longtime, corresponding to three different productionvariations over differing production spans:• Early machines corresponded to the first productionvariant, had a long antenna mast, but were mostlyequipped with a ZVG 16 direction finding equipmentwith a PR 16 loop antenna (Peilrahmen) on the top ofthe fuselage.• Other airframes then corresponded to the second andthird production variants.• However, they probably did not have the additionalfuel tank used in starting the engine, with a filler neckon the right side at the top of the fuselage, betweenfuselage bulkheads 4 and 5..Example: Bf 109Ga-6, W.Nr. 95 417, Lt. Pál Bélavári, 101/3. Vadászszázad, Veszprém, Hungary, August 1944As 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 000from Messerschmitt in terms of their productionvariation, armament and equipment. They had anErlahaube-type canopy and a small rudder.In the second part of this article, we will look atthe field modification armament and equipmentsets carrying the ‘R’ designation (Rüstsatz), theBf 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 109G-12 trainers and finally, the Bf 109 G-14.To be continuedSources:VOGT, H. H.: Messerschmittt Bf 109 – Einsatzmaschinen – Das NachslagwerkBAUMGARTL, M: Das Jagdflugzeug Messerschmitt Bf 109PRIEN J., RODEIKE P.: Messerschmitt Bf109 F, G, and K: An Illustrated StudyHALDIMANN, M.-A.: Bf 109 G-6 Mtt Regensburg, Erla and WNF; Flickrhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-Control_for_fightershttps://www.cdvandt.org/fu-bl-fertig-demo.htmhttps://www.palba.cz/viewtopic.php?f=88&t=3027http://www.vrtulnik.cz/ww2/protektorat5.htmhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_injection_(engine)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM-1https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erla_Maschinenwerkhttp://www.luftfahrt-erfurt.de/seite11.htmhttps://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_GmbHhttps://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rootsovo_dmychadlohttps://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiener_Neust%C3%A4dter_FlugzeugwerkeHISTORYINFO Eduard20January 2024Page 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 000from Messerschmitt in terms of their productionvariation, armament and equipment. They had anErlahaube-type canopy and a small rudder.In the second part of this article, we will look atthe field modification armament and equipmentsets carrying the ‘R’ designation (Rüstsatz), theBf 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 109G-12 trainers and finally, the Bf 109 G-14.To be continuedSources:VOGT, H. H.: Messerschmittt Bf 109 – Einsatzmaschinen – Das NachslagwerkBAUMGARTL, M: Das Jagdflugzeug Messerschmitt Bf 109PRIEN J., RODEIKE P.: Messerschmitt Bf109 F, G, and K: An Illustrated StudyHALDIMANN, M.-A.: Bf 109 G-6 Mtt Regensburg, Erla and WNF; Flickrhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-Control_for_fightershttps://www.cdvandt.org/fu-bl-fertig-demo.htmhttps://www.palba.cz/viewtopic.php?f=88&t=3027http://www.vrtulnik.cz/ww2/protektorat5.htmhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_injection_(engine)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM-1https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erla_Maschinenwerkhttp://www.luftfahrt-erfurt.de/seite11.htmhttps://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_GmbHhttps://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rootsovo_dmychadlohttps://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiener_Neust%C3%A4dter_FlugzeugwerkeA 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/U3and 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 nextissue of Info. Photo: BundesarchivHISTORYINFO Eduard21January 2024Interview 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.
INTERVIEWJan Bobek is working at Eduard since 2020 and focuseson sales, marketing and social media. Previously,he worked for twenty years in management positionsat the international consulting and engineering firmTebodin. Before that he worked for five years at MPM(now Special Hobby). His great passion is aviationhistory. He is the author of more than a hundred articlesmainly about German and Japanese airmen and theirunits during World War II. Since 2005 he has beena member of the Gemeinschaft der Flieger deutscherStreitkräfte e.V. and in 2018 he became an honorarymember of L‘Association des Amis du Musée de l‘Ordrede la Libération (AAMOL). Thanks to his knowledgeof history, he also works on the editorial board of the INFOEduard magazine and contributes to the preparationof some of the kits. And he draws rabbits for Eduard.This interview was prepared by Vladimír Šulc on thetopic of Jan‘s cartoons.Jan, where did the rabbit thataccompanies various Eduard events,advertisements and texts come from?It‘s a long story. Anyway, I‘ve the honour ofdrawing the rabbit for the Eduard team since2010, even though I didn‘t become an employeeof the company until ten years later. The clientsthemselves named the cartoon character EduardBunny, E-Bunny for short.It‘s obvious that you have drawingin your hand, so to speak, youare talented. How did you get intodrawing?Parents are to blame for a lot of things in our youth.For me, it includes drawing. I inherited my drawingand painting skills from my mom and her maleancestors. She never pushed me to draw, I createdfrom a very early age, and quite intensively. Duringmy youth, I was very much influenced by comicbooks, which, strangely enough, were publishedin occupied Czechoslovakia. It wasn‘t just thedomestic science fiction comics, which werecreated, for example, by Václav Šorel, the spiritualfather of many Czechoslovak plastic modellers,but also Asterix, which was published in theweekly Sedmička pionýrů (The Pioneers´ Seven),despite communist censorship. I still love Asterixand 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, aviationand mice. Strangely enough, not rabbits, but mice.Until the age of 38, not a single rabbit appearedin my work. But Rabbit was my nickname sincemy 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 thisgreat evening cartoon was my teacher‘s brother.You wouldn‘t believe how encouraged I wasin drawing as a first grader when he gave meoriginal animation sheets of rabbits or other TVcartoons for children. I still have them to this day.So that‘s what got you into art?Did you study drawing at a specializedschool?No, I didn‘t. When my parents were consideringwhat subjects I was going to study, my mothercategorically forbade me to apply to an artschool because she had graduated from oneherself. She was convinced that as an electricalengineer I had a better chance of making a living.I think it was a good move.Who are your aviation artinspirations?After 1989, with no formal art training, I started topaint aviation paintings, either with a brush or anairbrush, or a combination of both. Legends suchas Shigeo Koike, Jaroslav Velc, Robert Taylor, RoyGrinnell and others have been a great inspirationto me. I also started painting colour profiles forCzech HPM and REVI magazines. It was throughone of my paintings (Polikarpov I-153) thatI was introduced to you. It was a stimulatingacquaintance, during which you immediatelysuggested that the painting was not worth muchand that I should rather pursue another field.Despite your advice, I later illustrated severalbooks. My work wasn‘t the best, but it wasn‘t thatbad.Jan Bobek and Vladimír Šulc at a joint photographyfrom Prague Castle. Jan is wearing a T-shirtof the Japanese company Beaver Corporation,whose mascot he designed.INFO Eduard22January 2024Page 23
INTERVIEWThat was insensitive of me. Actually,I was trying to push you away fromdrawing. Fortunately, I didn‘t succeed,you didn‘t give up and you kept ondrawing!At some point, in the days before scanners andemails, I realized I had to think about whetherI would be an illustrator or a writer of historicalarticles in my spare time. I felt that if I did both,I would soon go crazy. I decided to do historicalresearch and publishing, but my experience asa modest artist still makes it easy to communicatewith the fellow artists about their profilesor paintings.Where did you get published?At the end of the 90‘s I first published articlesin Czech HPM magazine, then I became anauthor and later also an external editor ofthe Czech aviation-historical magazine REVI.I published articles in it with my nickname Králík(rabbit) as Jan “Králík” Bobek and I even starteda modelling section in it, which is still publishedtoday. Back then it was called in Czech languageas Bobek Rabbit Modeling Section. REVI is a veryprofessionally produced magazine, aimed moreat those seriously interested in aviation history.Its publisher, and my friend, Petr Stachura is anaviation history buff who didn‘t admit that the1990s were over. Somehow, after a few yearsof cooperation, I couldn‘t come to terms withsome of his views, for example, I was botheredby the absence of external communication onthe Internet at that time. So I decided to starta rebellious editorial blog called Revi Illegal. On itI began to comment humorously on the progressof the preparation of individual issues of REVIand other topics. When Petr came out of hisunconsciousness after seeing the blog, he at firststrongly asked me to cancel it. Gradually, however,he found the whole „online thing“ beneficial andended up publishing an advertisement for myblog in his magazine.So as a member of the editorial board,you led a kind of resistance within thelaw, shall we say. You used Rabbit asyour author‘s pseudonym, so rabbitwas already your alter ego?Yes, that‘s when the rabbit came to the world!For the blog, I developed the rabbit character asthe mascot of the Revi Illegal blog. I‘m a fairlyfriendly non-smoker, so I designed the rebelliousrabbit as my alter ego in the form of a rodentwith a bandit‘s tape who smokes cigarettes at alltimes. The graphics were designed by my friendMichal Skurovec, who worked for HPM. Aftera couple of years, I also started a Facebookgallery with my cartoons under the name UpsetRabbits. The first version of the rabbits didn‘thave toes on their front paws yet, but they hada bit of sharp features, which gradually roundedout. The rabbits gained weight as they got older.I still create bandit rabbits on my Facebook page.So REVI and Petr Stachura helpedthe rabbit to be born.Undoubtedly! One of my very first rabbits wasthe editor-in-chief of REVI Petr Stachura. In thedrawing I pictured his office, his chair and himselfas 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 helpPolikarpov I-153, oil on cardboard, 1993. Thanks to this painting Jan Bobek and Vladimír Šulcmet for the first time. Vladimír advised Jan not to continue painting.Airship by PaulHaenlein, Brno, 1872.Acrylic on cardboard,1994. Painting for theLHS magazine.INFO Eduard23January 2024Page 24
INTERVIEWof fellow editors, friends and authors. Althoughhis wife says the drawing is still very apt nearly20 years laterAnd how and why did the rabbitget to Eduard?In 2010, I stopped posting on my blog because theCzech platform on which the blog was runningwas about to be shut down. However, I haverepublished some posts, especially my storieswritten in Prague Czech, on my new blog CzechFlying Rabbit.2010 also marked a significant milestone in thelives of my rabbits. When you and I were ona cycling holiday together, you told me youwanted a new friendly mascot. Eduard‘s knightin armour seemed a bit inflexible and you werelooking for an alternative. Word got around, andmy rabbit went into Eduard‘s service. It was mid-2010. That‘s also when the INFO Eduard magazinewas modernized and historical articles, some ofthem written by me, started to appear in it.You and Jan Zdiarský started sending merequests for rabbit drawings that appeared invarious parts of INFO for products or articles.Soon they also appeared on Facebook, whichEduard was starting at the time. Gradually, therabbit drawings settled down to one drawing inthe editorial, and occasionally one more wouldappear on another INFO page. The rabbit nolonger had a bandit tape or cigarettes. Only whenit‘s the director‘s rabbit representing You, he hasa 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‘sso time-consuming that I‘ve abandoned furtherattempts at comic stories for now. The comics‘creators have my deepest admiration.It was also the time of the famousMiG-21MF advertisement with theparade of rabbit cars.Yes. The big milestone in the rabbits‘ lives was thelaunch of the 1/48 scale MiG-21MF kit in spring2011 and the promotional video by Miguary Song.The tune was based on Long Way to Tipperary, butI composed new lyrics for it. Eduard colleaguestook care of the rest. You can recall it here.According to my colleagues‘ spec, I drew rabbitsthat mimicked the MiGs from the different AirForces whose machines were depicted in thekit. The Vietnamese lady who was selling in theshop near our house burst out laughing when shesaw the Vietnamese rabbit at the end of the video.She recognized the scooter the rabbit was ridingand remarked that it was a Piaggio and prettyexpensive.Therabbit then made its way intothe name of the Eduard club andonto the club T-shirts.Two years after the rabbits invaded Eduard‘smedia, Eduard decided to start a customer loyaltyclub called the Bunny Fighter Club, or BFC.The name of the club was associated withthe MiG-21 “Bunny Fighter”, whose fictionalmarkings were part of an activation kit that, ifpurchased, allowed one to become a memberof the club. With the activation kit, the customeralso received a BFC T-shirt with a rabbit on it.And I have to admit, it‘s an amazing sight to see themodelers wearing our shirt at shows. To all whowear our t-shirts at shows, I say a hearty hello.I spotted a club member wearing a BFC t-shirt theother day while visiting a Czech castle, but beforeI could say hello, I had to head to the Knights Hallwith my group and the really big modeler headedfor the hunger room.We also made a video in Hungarywith a real MiG-21MF, which wepainted blue and stuck a rabbit stickeron its tail.Not only on the tail! Along with the releaseof the first activation model, you published anarticle in INFO 11/2012 about the fictional Czechrabbit aviator Eduard Kleinkönnig, who foughtwith the “Bunny Fighter” in the Carrot War! Here.A duel between Bohumil Fürst of No. 310 SquadronRAF and Werner Goetting of I.(J)/LG 2. Acrylicon cardboard, 1994. Painting for the publishing houseNaše Vojsko.A duel between the Me 262 of JV 44 and the P-47Dof the 365th FG “Hell Hawks”. Acrylic on cardboard,1994. Painting for Mustang publishing house.Japanese Navy fighter seaplane KawanishiN1K Kyōfū (Rex). Acrylic on cardboard, 1994.INFO Eduard24January 2024Page 25
The design of the MiG with the rabbits wascreated by Jan Zdiarský, and less than a yearlater we painted a real MiG-21 in Hungary inthe Bunny Fighter livery with a lot of help fromEduard associate Karel Pádár and Hungarianresearcher and friend Gábor Szekeres.For me it was an incredible experience, but whata chore it was for all involved over two days. I waseven more than surprised by some all-knowinginternet discussants who were sure that thesewere not real photos, but photoshopped fiction.It wasn‘t! But Photoshop came later.I remember that event, I think weshould do something like that again.But in truth, I‘m convinced thatyou invented the character of pilotKleinkönnig, not me.No no, I didn‘t invent it. You invented the character,and the fact that he‘s from Žatec. You also inventedhis name and you wrote the first story. Storiesabout the rabbit pilot Eduard Kleinkönnig haveaccompanied most of the activation kits. If I putthe stories in chronological order, they were thebattles of Bf 109 G-6 from JG 9‘s against giantcarnivore penguins in the Arctic Circle, the HawkerTempest “Bunny Lady” from battles against Naziflying saucers over Antarctica, the MiG-15 “BunnyRacer” from races around Africa and MiG-21 “BunnyFighter” from Carrot War. While typesetting thesearticles, we occasionally used the aforementionedPhotoshop, for example, the MiG-15 guncamerashots of a dinosaur, the photo of the Tempest“Bunny Lady” from the bergship HMS Habbakuk,or the Tempest guncamera shots of German flyingdiscs.I mustn‘t forget Eduard Kleinkönnig‘s 1/32 scaleCurtiss P-40, for which Libor Špůrek has writtena history in the caption, he also covers the bunnyINTERVIEWGerman fighter pilot Josef Mai. Pencil drawing basedon historical photograph, 2015. Compared to theoriginal photograph, a teddy bear of Ulrich Neckeland a bottle of Chateu Margaux have been addedto 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 photographsand Google Street View.INFO Eduard25January 2024Page 26
INTERVIEWpilot‘s service in the Korean War on the MiG-15and admits the possibility that Kleinkönnig gotinto space a year before Yuri Gagarin. All ofthe stories are written in a somewhat complexCzech humour with many references to historicalevents and characters. Some readers, especiallyforeign ones, may find this a somewhat boringread. I think that in the Czech Republic we doa lot of things in a complicated way because wehave a complicated language and it affects ourthought process.Thought processes are also importantfor the creation of motifs for drawings.How difficult is it for you to findsubjects for your drawings? From theoutside, it seems like they jump outat you without much effort!Often they do. In some cases you and JanZdiarský give me the scenario and texts for thedrawings, but most of the time I just think ofa rabbit in a situation, make a sketch in penciland finish the final drawing with JapaneseSakura pens. With Eduard, we did several eventsthat were very challenging for me as an artist.But I‘m very happy that we prepared them. Thesewere quick drawings of rabbits on demand.I did them at a factory open day we used tohave called Novemberfest. And once, during theE-Day exhibition, we organized a fundraisingevent around my quick drawings with a voluntarycontribution to the fund for veterans underthe patronage of the Czechoslovak LegionaryCommunity. At the end of these drawingmarathons I could hardly see and my handswere shaking, but it was for a good cause. I stilldo quick drawings on War Veterans Day at PeaceSquare in Prague. Proceeds from our kits andveteran memorabilia go to the Military SolidarityFund of the Czech Army. And once again, thankyou to the organizers and especially to everyonewho came both this year and in previous years.INFO Eduard and Eduard social mediais not the only platform where yourrabbit appears. How did he get to theUK?It was a great pleasure to start working withthe UK‘s Scale Aircraft Modelling magazine(Guideline Publications Ltd). In late 2012, JanZdiarsky introduced me to magazine Editor GaryHatcher as a freetime artist. We agreed to publishone rabbit drawing regularly in this Britishmonthly magazine with an international reach,with focus either on Eduard products or on topicsrelevant to SAM readers. Most of the scenariosand text for my drawings have been prepared byGary. I didn‘t realize until now that I have beendrawing rabbits for SAM magazine for ten years.I hereby apologize to Gary for all the delays andother rabbit troubles.Sometimes I really do draw such specific Britishtopics for Gary and the team at SAM that I don‘treally understand what the rabbits are actuallyup to. But Gary has always been pleased and noUK modelling club has yet published a “WantedDead or Alive” for me. No complaints have comein from Commonwealth countries either. I‘m justnot sure whether I didn‘t contribute a little tothe Brexit referendum victory with my cartoonson the EU‘s excesses in the form of the bananashape standard and other nonsense when I wasdrawing jokes about the coming Brexit years ago.So in addition to the resistanceagainst REVI, you also supportedthe resistance against the EU! Goodgrief! Do you still make do with talentand experience alone in this activity,or have you had some professionaltraining in the meantime?A rescue swimmer and a waist gunner aboard a PBY Catalina seaplane under Japanese fire after retrievingan injured pilot from the water. White pastel on black paper, 2016Color profile of the Bf 109 G-2 of commander II./JG 52 Maj. JohannesSteinhoff, Russia, spring 1943. Acrylic and tempera on paper, 1995.INFO Eduard26January 2024Page 27
When I once tried to draw a pencil drawingof Manfred von Richthofen‘s Albatros after theemergency landing in July 1917, I showed it to myfriend, the aviation artist Pavel Rampír. He lookedat the drawing carefully and then said to me: “Youknow, Jan, it is clear in this drawing that you havea gift from God, but it is also clear that you don‘tknow what you are doing with this pencil!”. Thisinspired me and so in 2014 I found an art studio inPrague, not far from my office, where my currentfriend Pavlína Pavliš worked as a lecturer.Under her guidance I started to supplementmy education. Her advice really helped mea lot, as did the advice of my female classmates,who were mostly architects, civil or chemicalengineers. The experience of Pavlína‘s lessonshelped me to take my rabbits a step further, butI also enjoyed creating some classic aviationthemes under her guidance. I will continue to dothis from time to time.It‘s obvious that the rabbit is doinga good job, including socializing itsauthor! How would you yourselfrate the rabbit‘s contribution to themodelling community?We introduced the rabbit to Eduard media14 years ago because we felt the scale modellingcommunity needed some humour, perspective,and relaxation. If that‘s what our rabbits bring,that‘s exactly why I draw them. And maybesometime in the future we‘ll create a 3D printed1/48 scale rabbit, which modelers sometimes askabout. With an aviator helmet, goggles and scarf,he might be nice. Maybe there will be a carrot too.Your - our rabbits have your ownhistorical knowledge and yourlinguistic equipment as background.Your historical knowledge goesthrough World War I to the variousair forces of World War II, and isanything but superficial. Where did allthis come from? You haven‘t studiedhistory, or am I wrong?Unfortunately I haven‘t yet really studied history.I was thoroughly encouraged to take an interest inhistory, in a very broad sense, by my father. WhenI was a kid, he built plastic model airplanes forme, and later I started building them myself andbecame increasingly focused on military aircraftand WWII. From there, it was a fairly quick path toreading publications on the subject and memoirsof famous aviators, although it wasn‘t easy to gethold of them under the pro-Soviet communistgovernment. Russian was compulsory then, butI learned English and Polish voluntarily becauseof the magazines and books on aviation. Whenthe Iron Curtain fell, it was possible to get accessto practically any foreign literature if you knewhow and where to get it in Europe or at home.I searched like a wild man, most interested infighter units and air aces. I became more andmore interested in the air forces of GermanyINTERVIEWJan Bobek creating quick drawings during the Novemberfest event at Eduard in 2015.Jan Bobek with his friend and art lecturer Pavlína Pavliš.INFO Eduard27January 2024Page 28
and Japan, and I was able to find literature fromthose countries, so to understand the subjectbetter, I began to learn German and Japanese.A few years after the Velvet Revolution, variousmagazines on this subject started to be publishedin the Czech Republic. Of course, when I looked atthese articles, I sometimes shook my head andthought that I could have written them better.So I gave it a try, I started writing firstly for HPMand then for REVI.You‘re a member of the GermanAirmen‘s Association. How a guy fromPrague, a Czech as much Czech I canimagine, does become a memberof such a venerable organization?My friend Jarda Hradec brought me tocommunicate with German pilots because ofmy articles, and through him I met HeribertKoller 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 becomea member of the association. Together with Jarda,I also helped Heribert as a driver with severallong trips in Germany and abroad. In the processI managed to introduce Mr. Koller to Mr. Hans E.Bob. They did not know each other, although bothhad served in JG 54 and were long-time membersof the association. I had more such opportunitiesin my life, for example as a driver I had the honourto assist Gen. Šiška of the Czechoslovak 311Squadron of the RAF. I appreciate that immensely.Are you also a member of someJapanese Airmen‘s Association?I think I first became aware of yourhistorical knowledge at your lectureon the air battles over Guadalcanalin Ostrov nad Ohří around the turn ofthe millennium. I was very impressedwith that lecture. How did you get intothe Japanese?I wasn‘t a member of the Zero Fighter PilotsAssociation, and I can‘t become one withoutpersonal, long-term contact with Japaneseveterans. I remember the lecture you‘re talkingabout, I projected slides during it, and I havea feeling you fell asleep for a while. I got interestedin Japanese Naval and Army aviation in highschool when I read Mr. Hubáček‘s books on thefighting in the Pacific, and also when I got a copyof Saburō Sakai‘s memoir, which was publishedin Czech in 1968 and 1969 in L+K magazine. Sincethe end of the 1990s, I have published articles onthis subject in the Czech Republic and a few yearsago I published an article on Sakai in the Frenchmagazine ACES, later also in the magazine INFOEduard.I fell asleep, that‘s true. When I wokeup, I hit my head on a beam. Still, thelecture broadened my horizons, itwas actually a significant event forINTERVIEWThe model for one of the very first rabbits by Jan Bobek in 2005 was his friend and editor-in-chief of REVImagazine Petr Stachura.Jan Bobek during a fundraising event held at the E-Day exhibition in Prague in 2014. The proceedsof 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 featuredin the promo video during filming.INFO Eduard28January 2024Page 29
INTERVIEWme. Since then I have had the ideathat we should hold similar lecturesat Eduard as part of the eventsfor modelers. But let‘s get back toeducation. Are you thinkingof studying history?Our recent joint presentation of the new FM-1 kitin Prostějov was a bit like a history lecture. I havea feeling the audience liked it. So I agree withyou, lectures would probably be an attractivetopic. I would love to study history, but due tothe increased amount of work at Eduard sincethe spring 2022 crisis, and the serious healthsituation of a family member, I can‘t imaginefinding the required time for study right now.Following a college cursus while working is notfun, I‘ve already tried it once.We have a lot of work behind us,and there are other big projectsahead of us. We‘ve kind of made themup together. But when it‘s all over,we can go back to school. Forexample, I have been tempted forsome time by the idea that I couldenter the Faculty of Arts and, witha little effort, I could receivea scholarship and a retirementpension at the same time. What doyou think?There are other colleagues thinking up newprojects with you, not just me. Last year I wasalready interested in where it is possible to studyhistory remotely in the Czech Republic. I wouldprefer to study it in Prague, but the extra-muralstudy programme that would suit me has notbeen open for several years. So we‘ll have to waita bit, maybe when I retire!I‘d go to Pilsen! But we still haveplenty of time to decide, and in themeantime we can write a few morearticles and practice our editorialwork. What are you writing nowand when will it be published?Pilsen would be complicated for me. For theMarch issue of INFO Eduard magazine I ampreparing a boxart story about one of HannesTrautloft‘s fights on the Eastern Front in 1942.For REVI magazine I have an article abouta 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 fighterpilot. For REVI, I would also like to completea book on Heinz Bär, which my colleague MartinŠíla and I have been working on for a long time.So hopefully it will be completed in 2024.Fingers crossed and thank youfor the interview!Thank you too! Bunny Ho!INFO Eduard29January 2024Page 30
ROZHOVORINFO Eduard30January 2024Page 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 BaričAir War in UkraineStrengthening of Anti-Aircraft Defense before WinterIn 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) ofseveral losses from previous months, and especially the reinforcementof Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense – all of this unfolded in connectionwith the air war in Ukraine from November 1 to November 31. On theground, Russian forces attempted massive attacks throughout themonth. However, despite significant losses in armored vehicles andmanpower, they achieved only minimal territorial gains.During the observed period, there were noknown losses of Ukrainian aircraft or helicopters,whether on the ground or in the air. In earlyNovember, a previously unknown photo of twowrecks of Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopters surfaced.They were evidently transported to a dump fromthe crash site, and their loss occurred sometimein the past.Towards the end of the month, the Russiansalso boasted about the destruction of anotherUkrainian Su-25 fighter at the Dolgintsevoairport near the city of Kryvyi Rih. In Septemberand October, both this base and the Kulbakinoairport near Mykolayiv had experienced severaldrone attacks using the new version of the Lancetdrones on parked Ukrainian aircraft, includingMiG-29s and Su-25s. While the initial attacks weresurprising, the repeated ones raised questionsabout why the Ukrainians allowed it. A videoreleased on November 30 may provide an answer,capturing a machine in hiding exploding afterbeing hit by a drone. At first glance, it appears tobe a Su-25 in digital camouflage with Ukrainianmarkings. However, closer inspection revealsinconsistencies, such as a missing antennaand only four underwing hardpoints, whilea Su-25 should have five. The shadow of the frontlanding gear indicates significant simplification.The definitive proof that it is a decoy lies in theengine nacelles, which are entirely suspendedunder the wings, whereas in reality, they smoothlytransition to the upper surface of the wings. Themodel perfectly fulfilled its role as bait, and theRussians needlessly wasted a Lancet drone on it.At the same time, it raises doubts about previousattacks. The first ones probably did target realaircraft, but with the repeated ones, it's notas certain.Older LossesOn the Russian side, there were no lossesduring the observed period, but new informationemerged about some previous losses. In Soledar,north of Bachmut, a new image showed thetail surfaces of a shot-down Su-24M with thedesignation RF-92025 and fuselage number"blue 48." The aircraft belonged to the 37thmixed aviation regiment and was likely shotdown in the vicinity of Soledar in December2022. Some wreckage was then transferredto a residential area directly in the city.HISTORYPhotos: Ukrainianarmed forces,social media andother public sourcesINFO Eduard32January 2024Page 33
The Air Force Command published a photo of the latest80K6KC1 Fenix-1 radar, which was developed in Ukraineand entered service in 2021.Tail of the Russian Su-24M with the designationRF-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 attackof the Lancet drone on a dummy Su-25.Colonel Alexander Gal died in the Ukrainian droneattack on Kursk airport.When Russians are under Ukrainian attacks, theytend to claim that their anti-aircraft defenseworked flawlessly, and all attacking drones(or missiles or projectiles with a flat trajectory)were destroyed. They often forget to mention howmany were destroyed upon hitting the target...A rare confirmation that some losses occurredis the information about the death of ColonelAlexander Gala. He was a Su-30SM fighter pilotand the deputy commander for political affairsin the 14th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment.He died on the ground on September 24, 2023,during a Ukrainian drone attack on the Kurskairport.Footage also emerged of a heavily damagedKamov Ka-52 helicopter, claiming it was a victimof ATACMS missile attack on the Berdyanskairport. With over 50 shrapnel holes in thefuselage and canopy, The Military Watch clarifiedthe situation. The attack on Berdyansk occurredin mid-October, and the first photos of thishelicopter appeared in September. It's a Ka-52with the designation RF-13442 and fuselagenumber "blue 50," which was irreparablydamaged earlier and, after cannibalization ofusable equipment, was sold to a private aviationmuseum at the Oreshkovo airport in the RussianKaluga region. Thus, it ended up in the museumbefore the attack on Berdyansk.Destroyed CorvetteThis does not in any way diminish theeffectiveness of Ukrainian attacks on distanttargets, which occur on the regular basis. Let'smention one in particular, which took place onSaturday, November 4, in the city of Kerch on theeastern part of the occupied Crimea peninsula.In the Zaliv shipyards, the Russian corvette Askoldwas anchored, which had not yet been officiallycompleted and commissioned. According tofootage from the video, it was hit at least twiceby Storm Shadow cruise missiles. The thirdexplosion could have been either a third hit or anexplosion of ammunition on board. Subsequently,a photograph emerged confirming that the shipwas seriously, possibly irreparably damaged.The entire port side, roughly from a third of thevessel backward, is torn and scorched.The Askold corvette belongs to the Project22800 Karakurt class, representing modernships and an example of how sanctions againstRussia work. In this case, sanctions imposedafter the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014have had an impact. Originally, Russia plannedto build 18 of these corvettes and began buildingthe first one in 2015. However, two corvetteswere entirely canceled, and the completion of theremaining ones has been significantly delayed.So far, only four have been commissioned, andthe fifth is undergoing trials. Another eight werelaunched several years ago, but they still lack allthe necessary equipment. This also applied tothe Askold corvette, whose commissioning wasindefinitely postponed after the attack. Shipsof this class have a length of 67 meters anda displacement of 820 tons. They carry a 100mmcaliber gun and eight launchers for Kalibr cruisemissiles.After all the previous Ukrainian attacks, theRussian Black Sea Fleet is left with sevensurface ships and three submarines capableof launching Kalibr missiles. In the past, theyroutinely used them to shell Ukrainian cities.However, since September, they haven't doneso. According to Ukrainian Navy representativeDmytro Pletenchuk, logistics issues are to blame.All infrastructure for storing Kalibr missiles andhandling them was concentrated in the port ofSevastopol. However, after the Ukrainian attacks,the ships withdrew to Novorossiysk or smallerports. These ports are not equipped to load Kalibrmissiles into the warships' launchers. "Until theysolve this problem, they can't attack from thesea. Or move to Sevastopol to load missiles. Andthat's dangerous for them," Pletenchuk told theNexta channel.Shahid Drone OffensiveOf course, the Russian side does not confirmthis claim by the Ukrainian representative.In the case of other types of missiles, however,it was clear that the Russians were savingthem for mass attacks on Ukrainian energyinfrastructure. They did the same last winter.November brought increased intensity ofIranian Shahid 131 and 136 drone attacks. Russialaunched a total of 374 of them onto Ukraine, thethird-highest number for a single month so far.They even set a record – on the night of November25, they launched 75, the highest number ina single attack. However, it didn't help them muchbecause Ukrainian air defense destroyed 74.Russians are not very satisfied with the Shahiddrones. They had high expectations, but thesuccess of Iranian kamikaze drones significantlyHISTORYINFO Eduard33January 2024Page 34
lagged behind. Moreover, according to theObozrevatel server, they still struggle to startmass production of their version called Gerańand continue to depend on supplies from Iran.They are trying to test a new tactic at least. Aftermobile teams with anti-aircraft machine gunsproved effective against Shahids, the Russiansstarted sending them over impassable terrain– such as dense forests or swamps. Cars withmachine guns have a lower chance of catchingthem. However, changing routes only extendedthe lifespan of Shahids in the Ukrainian sky,but it did not affect their success. There wasa case when a Shahid flew over Ukraine fora full nine hours. However, as soon as the dronesapproach heavily defended targets, they are shotdown.Iranian kamikaze drones also do not helpweaken Ukrainian defenses because Ukrainedoes not use its most valuable missiles againstthem. The only benefit Russians get from them isthat they help map the positions of air defenses.They can use this information in planning missileattacks. One unpleasant consequence forUkraine during the observed period occurred inthe Kherson region, where an important radarwas revealed during a drone attack. Since it didnot change its position, it was soon destroyed bythe Russians.FrankenSAM ProgramHowever, Ukraine and its allies are not sittingidle in anticipation of the expected winter wave ofRussian attacks. Germany has been particularlyactive, delivering another IRIS-T system andpromising a Patriot system. Norway has alsopledged additional NASAMS systems. In the caseof IRIS-T, it is the most modern German air defensesystem, which Ukraine received even before theGerman armed forces. The first system arrivedin October of the previous year, and the secondwas delivered in April. In both cases, it wasthe SLM medium-range version with a range of40 km horizontally and 20 km vertically. In August,Ukraine received two systems in the short-rangeSLS version with a range of 12 km horizontallyand vertically. The fifth delivered IRIS-T systemis again in the SLM version.The delivery of the first Patriot battery wasannounced 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 theother is near Odessa. Germany announced in thefall that it would deliver a third Patriot systembattery to Ukraine during the winter.Approximately a year ago, the USA initiateda program unofficially called FrankenSAM.The last three letters stand for Surface-to-airmissile, symbolizing the merging of variouselements of different air defense systemsinto a new, consolidated one. This programThe 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 Shadowmissiles 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 attackby Shahid drones.HISTORYINFO Eduard34January 2024Page 35
also includes the delivery of MIM-23 Hawkmissiles, signifying the revival of an old system.The Hawk system dates back to the 1960s buthas undergone continuous modernization.The United States retired it in 2002, but they stillhave enough missiles stored in warehouses.Currently, around 20 countries still use it andcould supply it to Ukraine. Spain did so alreadyin November of the previous year, providing itsMIM-23 missiles in the Phase III version fromthe late '80s and early '90s. However, it turnedout that the Spanish systems were in very poortechnical condition and needed comprehensiverepair and modernization. Now, the MIM-23 Hawkhas arrived in Ukraine for the second attempt.The system has a range of 40 km horizontally and18 km vertically. Ukrainians used them for thefirst time on the night of October 22-23, shootingdown several Shahid drones and one Ch-59cruise missile.Further projects within the FrankenSAMprogram are more complex. One was initiated byUkrainians who had around 60 Buk launcher unitsbut lacked missiles. They asked foreign partnersif they could modify them for the use of Westernmissiles. American engineers modified them tobe 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 permonth. The range of these missiles is 19 km.Ukraine also received AIM-9M Sidewindermissiles from the USA modified for ground use.Originally, they are short-range air-to-air missileswith infrared guidance. Details about theirlaunching system are not yet known, but thereis speculation that they could be launched fromself-propelled Osa systems (NATO code nameGecko). Soviet radars, of which Ukraine has plenty,are supposed to take care of target acquisition.Even more interesting is the connection betweenold Soviet radars and American missiles in thelatest known project from the FrankenSAMprogram. This time it involves Patriot missilesthat the USA would deliver. Other allies wouldprovide the launching systems. Testing iscurrently underway, and during the winter,Ukraine could receive Patriot missiles connectedto Soviet radars. The first test of this combinationtook place in October at the rocket range in NewMexico, successfully destroying a target drone.Czech TraceFinally, let's mention one curiosity that isonly remotely related to the air war but could beinteresting for Czech and Slovak readers. TheUkrainian 241st Territorial Defense Brigade hasincluded the Oksana self-propelled gun in itsarmament, based on the Tatra 815 chassis. Thistruck was manufactured in Czechoslovakia since1982, and a modified version is still producedin the Czech Republic nowadays. However,Ukrainians used the original vehicles withoriginal cabins. Photos reveal versions AV-15,which was originally a crane vehicle, and version20-VP, a flatbed truck for container transport.On the deck of these 8x8 vehicles, Ukrainiansmounted old Soviet 100 mm caliber anti-aircraftguns KS-19 dating back to 1947. Now, of course,they are not used for fighting aircraft but forshelling ground targets. Their range in this role is21 km. The advantage of the KS-19 cannons is thatno other weapon uses 100mm caliber ammunition,so Ukrainians have plenty. The disadvantage isthat this weapon requires a large crew and isalso very heavy. For comparison, the Americanhowitzer M777 caliber 155mm weighs 4.2 tons,while the KS-19 cannon weighs almost 10 tons.Old Maxim machine guns will alsocome 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 Oksanaon the chassis of Tatra 815 8x8 AV-15.This version of Oksana is on the chassisof Tatra 815 8x8 20-VP.An older photo of the Ukrainian S-300 system in action.HISTORYINFO Eduard35January 2024Page 36
BOXART STORYIn mid-September 1942, Oblt. Hermann Graf,the commander of 9./JG 52, received Diamondsto the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves andSwords for surpassing the 200 air victoriesmark. Propaganda didn't want such a media starto fall in combat or into enemy hands. Therefore,in late January 1943, Graf became commanderof the operational training unit Erg. Gr. Ost inFrance. In this capacity, he finally got aroundto his passion, which was football. It was thenthat the red tulip marking first appeared on hisFw 190.Before the war, Graf was trying to qualify forthe Germany national football team, and in theprocess he met the legendary German playerSepp Heberger for the first time. This footballerlater became famous as coach of the WestGerman national team that won the 1954 WorldCup final, in a match later dubbed the “TheMiracle of Bern”. In the second half, the Germanteam completely outclassed the Hungarians,thanks to Adidas soccer cleats and probablyalso thanks to Pervitin, which was officiallyused by the German armed forces during thewar.Graf and Heberger met again in 1941, whenthey organised the participation of first leaguefootballers in a friendly match between theGerman military mission and the Romanianteam. In early 1943, Graf tried to organizea football team to relax and increase physicalfitness. His men, however, had little affinity forthe sport. Though, he was soon approached bya soldier from a neighbour unit named BrunoKlaffke, a football player, and Graf quicklyarranged for his transfer to his own unit.Heberger took advantage of Graf's contactsand gave him the idea of pulling top Germanfootballers to Graf's unit. They were assigned toground personnel and it saved a large numberof them from death at the front. Heberger alsohelped Graf train them.Thus Graf's football team “Red Hunters” (RoteJäger) was formed. They got the “red” nicknamefrom the colour of the jerseys donated bya prominent German businessman. One of Graf'ssuperiors was suspicious of his communistsympathies. Gradually, 20 first league playersfrom Germany and Austria were concentratedon the Rote Jäger team. From August 1943to November 1943 they played a total of29 matches, 22 of them victorious. A detailedoverview can be found here.When Graf became CO of the high-altitudefighter unit JG 50, he managed to take thefootball team with him. The same was repeatedwhen he was appointed Kommodore of JG 1,later the players followed him to JG 11 and inOctober 1944 moved with him to the EasternFront to JG 52. Graf at that time was unableto perform combat flights due to the effects ofa serious injury and so he gradually recruitedJG 52 aces for his Stab. They were Lt. KarlGratz (138 v., KC), Oblt. Heinrich Füllgrabe(67 v., KC) and Lt. Anton Resch. Gratz became COof 10./JG 52 in January 1945 and Füllgrabe waskilled in late January 1945 after being hit by flakin a “Green 2”.Hermann Graf also provided his Stab withlatest equipment. Although JG 52 is consideredone of the German units that used exclusivelyMesserschmitt Bf 109s, Graf was the exceptionto this rule. In December 1944, in additionto eight Bf 109 G-14/U4s and one Bf 109 G-14,he had three Fw 190 A-9s, which outperformedthe Messerschmitt at low level flights. However,Graf had one Focke-Wulf (unsuccessfully)converted to the DB 605 engine, much to thedispleasure of his mechanics! No furtherrecords of the Fw 190 at Stab JG 52 are yetavailable.Of the approximately thirty victories achievedby the airmen of Stab JG 52 in 1945, mostlyduring the battles in Silesia, Anton Resch scored22. For achieving 88 kills he was awarded theKnight's Cross on 7 April and by the end ofthe war he had gained three more victories.In the last days of the war, Stab, I. andIII./JG 52 moved to Deutschbrod (now HavlíčkůvBrod, Czech Republic). Among the wreckage atthis base probably ended up not only Hartmann'splane from I./JG 52 with a black tulip on thenose, but also several Bf 109 K-4s of the StabJG 52 with red tulips and small fuselage numbersplaced behind the cross. Graf's Stab JG 50aircraft were already similarly marked in 1943.In a private collection in the Czech Republic ispart of the engine cowling of a K-4 which, apartfrom the camouflage in shades of grey, bearspart of the red tulip . For a more detailed studyof the fate of Hermann Graf I recommend theexcellent publication Graf & Grislawski A Pairof Aces by Christer Bergström.Illustration: Piotr ForkasiewiczThe Red HuntersText: Jan Bobek#84197INFO Eduard36January 2024Page 37
#8114BOXART STORYThe red-nosed blue aircraft with a whitestylized winged sword on the sides of thefuselage became the real threat to Allied airmenfrom August 1917. Not only because its pilot, thecommander of Jasta 14, Rudolf Berthold, poseda mortal danger to any adversary, but alsobecause he was an exceptional leader withgreat ability to prepare his unit for combat.Berthold was a gutsy personality and quitean aggressive pilot. He often took his aircraftto their limits , and the vice of the Albatros D.III,the lower wing failures, was an unpleasantcomplication for him. Like other commanders,he had a personal spare aircraft of the sametype. But while his better-known D.III camefrom the Albatros factory, the other one wasthe product of the O.A.W. factory. Little is knownabout this Albatros, only one photograph isknown to us, showing it after an unspecifiedcrash. It was not the lightest one, as the pooraircraft lost its undercarriage, the nose wasbadly damaged, the upper wing broken, andthe lower wing was destroyed by contactwith the ground. However, if Berthold himselfflew the plane and did not lend it to someoneelse, then he probably escaped unharmed.There is no mention of any such crash even inPeter Kilduff's biographical book Iron Man.Berthold was wounded on April 24 while incommand of Jasta 14. He had to take a breakfor treatment and convalescence until June15, when he rejoined the unit. But on August12 he learned that he was to take commandof Jasta 18 and six days later he was clearedto fly again. The whole of Jasta 18, by thena unit with little success, had repainted theiraircraft in Berthold's red and blue scheme, butthe winged sword remained the commander'spersonal symbol.Berthold drilled his new unit from the startand within a short time he was able to increaseboth the combat morale and the tacticalabilities of its pilots, and thus their combatsuccess. Since August 21, he also increased hisown score , which before his injury had stoppedat 12,and during September 14 opponents fellvictim to him! One of them was Lt. BernardAlexander Powers of No. 19 Squadron RFC. The20-year-old young man, admittedly alreadya fairly experienced pilot, volunteered to goon a dangerous reconnaissance flight overenemy territory to find out the current positionof two regiments of the German 30th Division,which were to counter-strike the positions ofthe British 33rd Division. For the Britons thiswas an extremely dangerous opponent, asthe 30th Division was classified as first class,that is in full condition and with a wealth ofcombat experience. This could not be said ofthe British, who had shortly before relievedthe 23rd Division. When a request came fromheadquarters for an aerial reconnaissanceto reveal the German positions on September25, Powers started studying the maps whilehis mechanics prepared his Spad IX (B3520).As soon as he received his final instructions, hetook off. It was 4:30 in the afternoon and theweather was less than ideal. Unfortunatelyfor him, Rudolf Berthold, flying an AlbatrosD.III, was also in the area east of Ypres.We don't know which of his aircraft Bertholdwas flying, but this was the period in which hemight have been using his spare aircraft, theone produced by O.A.W. (number unknown). Nearthe town of Geluveld, close to the road betweenYpres and Menin, the German ace attackedfrom above and fired a precise fatal burston the British pilot and his aircraft. The lonereconnaissance pilot, who quite possibly did noteven realize the attack, crashed and Bertholdscored his victory number 24. This situation iscaptured on the boxart for the Albatros D.III kit(Cat. No. 8114) by Antonis Karydis.Just two weeks later, while leading his pilotsinto one of their many battles, the commanderof Jasta 18 suffered a serious injury to his rightarm, which until that moment he claimed washis only limb still uninjured. A bullet, probablyfired by Capt. Gerald Maxwell of No. 56 SquadronRFC, ricocheted in the cockpit and devastatedhis right humerus. Berthold was flying a PfalzD.III (probably No. 4004/17) on this flight andwhile single-handed, he was able to get hisaircraft back to the airfield and land safely.Only then he collapsed and was transportedunconscious to the hospital in Courtrai, wherehe began his harrowing journey to recovery,which never ended.Berthold's 24th casualty was reported tohave had one kill on July 29, 1917. With hiswingman Lt. Francis Behrens, Powers foughtwith fighters from Jasta 29. It ended in a draw;Powers shot down one of his opponents, whilehis wingman was shot down by Vzfw. Misch.Text: Richard PlosIllustration: Antonis KarydisUnsuspecting victimINFO Eduard37January 2024Page 38
BOXART STORY #7059‘One day you’re up, the next you’re down’ is not onlya rule of thumb description of the job of a pilot, butalso a general rule about the cycle of life's successesand failures…The most successful 216th IAD V-PVO in theKorean War was the 518th ‘Berlin’ IAP. The pilots ofthis regiment shot down 38 enemy aircraft in theskies over Korea and damaged another 26, at thecost fifteen aircraft and five pilots of their own. Onlyone of the regiment's pilots achieved ace statusand was the only one in the division to receive thehighest Soviet honor, the title of Hero of the SovietUnion. It was Mikhail Mikhin, the deputy of eskadrilyacommander for the flight training.Mikhail Ivanovich Mikhin was born on October25th, 1923 in the village of Borovoye in the AltaiRegion. After graduating from the Orenburg AviationSchool and the Stalingrad Higher Military AviationSchool, he joined the 4th ZAB (Reserve AviationBrigade) of the North Caucasus Military District inDecember, 1944 as an instructor. He was transferredto the 518th IAP in January, 1946.It was st. Lt. Mikhin who started the combatsuccess of the 518th IAP in Korea on August 19th,1952 by shooting down an F-86 Sabre. His claim tofame came in September of the same year. Duringthe five days from September 4th to the 9th,he added three more Sabers and one F-84 Thunderjetto earn him ace status. By the end of September,he added another pair of Sabers (September 12thand September 29th) and one Thunderjet (September18th). For these impressive results, IAD Commandrecommended he be awarded the title of Hero ofthe Soviet Union. Unfortunately, the overall pictureof the fighting was not very favorable at that time,so the headquarters of the 64th IAK suspended theaward proposal. As ‘compensation’, Mikhin receivedthe Order of Lenin and was specially promoted to therank of captain, a method not a commonly done.However, after the successes of September, thingsbegan to grind down. Not that Mikhin began to losehis touch - pilots led by him successfully performedall combat tasks assigned to them. But evena Commander at times hits a cold streak – perhaps,in this case, as the result of a psychological blockfrom the disappointment of not being awarded theHSU (although, of course, Soviet propaganda alwaysclaimed that ‘a Soviet soldier does not fight forhonors’).After almost nine months, on May 18th, 1953,he finally regained his touch. That day, the pilots ofthe 518th IAP again faced off against their old friendsfrom the US 39th FIS, 51st FIW. Captain JosephM. McConnell Jr. bagged his 14th and 15th kills thatmorning, making him the most successful Americanace of the Korean War. In the second battle of theday, McConnell scored his 16th and final victory byshooting down the MiG of 2nd eskadrilya Commanderkpt. Stadnik. Stadnik ejected from the burning MiG.The second kill of this battle was scored by thecommander of the 39th FIS, Lt. Col. Radell, makinghim 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 oweanything to the aces of the 39th FIS and also sent twoSabers to the ground. One of them was attributed toMikhail Mikhin, who stated in his report:‘Att.Unit Commander P/P142192. I report that on18/05/1953 at 1355h during air combat in the areaeast of Siodzia, 35-40 km, an enemy aircraft of theF-86 type was shot down by me under the followingcircumstances:Flying on a 300 degree heading at 13,500mI discovered four F-86s on a collision course1000m below. I approached with a right half-turnand attacked the leader of the second pair. Froma distance of 1000m at an angle of 2/4 right, I openedfire. The intended target escaped the attack belowthe leading pair. I repeated the attack from the topleft and from a distance of 700-800m at P = 1/4opened fire again. The enemy aircraft made a sharpturn to the left and went into a descent. I started myattack on the lead of the first pair with a slight climbbut I was attacked and fired upon by the wingman ofthe second pair, and was forced to break off usinga right combat turn. During the shooting, I observedhits to the left wing and to the fuselage. According tothe observation of my wingman the enemy aircraftdid not come out of the dive. I believe the enemy F-86aircraft was shot down. According to the deciphereddata, 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 Districtarea, and the plane exploded midair. I confirmthis. 05/27/1953 Sinchisyu Police Chief Major TsoiChu-Hak.’The armistice, signed on July 27, 1953, came intoeffect with Mikhail Ivanovich Mikhin holding therank of mayór and the title of Hero of the SovietUnion, which was awarded to him by decree of thePresidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on July14th, 1953. In total, during his stay in Korea, he flew140 sorties, participated in 39 air battles, in whichhe personally shot down nine enemy aircraft anddamaged another three.Illustration: Adam ToobyThe Long WaitText: Libor ŠpůrekINFO Eduard38January 2024Page 39
#84172BOXART STORYOn September 11, 1944, one of the wildestdays of the Allied strategic bombing offensiveover Germany, the 352nd Fighter Groupescorted the last combat boxes in the bomberstream of the 3rd Bombardment Division of the8th Air Force.At around 1150h, pilots of the 328th FSspotted a group of around thirty Germanfighters located about halfway between themand an unspecified group of American bombers.The latter were most likely B-17s from the1st Bomb Division headed for Merseburg/Lützkendorf. The squadron leader, Lt. Col. JohnC. Meyer, later reported:‘They were pullingcontrails and appeared to be forming up. Weheaded towards them and as we got closerthey dove out of contrails level in ones andtwos. Contrail level was 28000´plus. At 29000´,I identified them as Me 109s and attacked oneas he headed down in a 60° dive. The wholesquadron then engaged small groups of theE/A after their original gaggle had been split up.At about 17000´ the E/A I was chasing leveledoff and I closed rapidly. He saw me and startedin a steep climbing turn, my first burst wasabout 20° deflection at 300 yards. I observedfew hits. I closed on him in the climbing turnand at 30° deflection and 200 yards I got hits onthe rear portion of his fuselage, pieces comingoff. He split S´d, recovered and turned into me.I had little difficulty in overtaking and in turninginside of him. At 20° and 300 yards I got goodstrikes on wing root and E/A started to smoke.It rolled over and crashed straight into thedeck 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 describedkill while in the cockpit of his iconic Mustangs/n 44-14151 HO-M, named ‘Petie 2nd’, whichremained on the ground. Good fortune on thisday was bestowed on Meyer by a borrowed, anda little orphaned, Mustang named ‘Stardust’,which carried the serial 44-13597 and codeHO-F, who’s pilot, Lt. William E. Fowler, had justcompleted a combat tour.After getting that first kill of the day,Lt. Col. Meyer felt a little abandoned. He spottedanother group of German fighters, made upof around fifteen Bf 109s and Fw 190s, a littlehigher than himself in altitude and furtherto the northwest. He climbed about 2,000feet above the level of his foes and attackeda mixed pair of aircraft, one of each type:‘Theyhad belly tanks and appeared to be formingup. I approached them from out of the sunand attacked the #2 of a pair of E/A that werefarthest from the mass. I fired at 15° deflectionfrom 300 yards to point blank range. The E/Aburst into flames, I broke into the sun, clearedmy tail and attacked the element leader, at300 yards I got few strikes on his right wing tipand he broke. As he broke I got strikes in thevicinity of the cockpit and wing roots. The E/Arolled over and spiraled down, crashing intothe ground.’Shortly afterwards, Meyer spotted hisfinal victim of this fight:‘A lone Me 109 wasemerging from a cloud in the vicinity of thelarge enemy gaggle. And as I was not yet underattack, I attacked the E/A. Only my right wingguns were now firing so I opened at 200 yardsand no deflection closing to point blank rangeand 10° deflection. I saw strikes all over theE/A and pieces flew off the tail and fuselage.He caught fire at his left wing root. I broke offthe attack and headed for the deck and home.’The combat that lasted only a few minutesbrought Lt. Col. Meyer the rare triumph offour kills. The drama, though, was not at itsend. After his last kill, pretty much out ofammunition and his fuel reserves leaving muchto be desired, he turned for home and droppeddown to a lower altitude where he would besafer. At that point, he spotted two Bf 109sbelow him that glued themselves to his tail.For a short period of time, he set his throttle toemergency boost and began climbing again ata rate of 980 ft per minute. The enemy aircraftpursued him at a distance of almost 330 yd,and still 100 to 120 yd from below. Every nowand again, they would be able to lift their nosesup and get off a few rounds, but to Meyer’sluck, without success. This unlikely group flewalmost 100 miles between Kassel and Bonn,and when they reached the Rhine, the Germanpilots turned back.During his WWII combat tour, John C.Meyer achieved 24 confirmed aerial victories.He passed away on December 2, 1975, at theage of 56, holding the rank of General. The fullstory about this combat can be read in Info02/2021, in the article 'Stardust: Four TripsTo Hell On a Borrowed Horse.Text: Jan ZdiarskýIllustration: Piotr ForkasiewiczUntil the last bulletINFO Eduard39January 2024Page 40
#2144GUSTAV pt.11/72The Limited edition of the kit of the famous German WWII fighter aircraft Bf 109G in 1/72 scale. The kitoffers 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 NazionaleRepubblicana and Slovak aircraft from National Urprising.plastic parts: Eduardmarking options: 14decals: EduardPE parts: yes, pre-paintedpainting mask: yesresin parts: noProduct pageKITS 01/2024INFO Eduard40January 2024Page 41
Bf 109G-5, WNr. 27119, Uffz. Gerhard Kroll, Ofw. Friedrich Ungar,Fw. Emil Hecker 9./JG 54, Ludwigslust, Germany, February 1944Bf 109G-5, WNr. 26082, Flg. Victor Widmaier, 7./JG 11, Oldenburg,Germany, October 1943The aircraft WNr. 27119 was flown by threedifferent pilots of the 9./JG 54. These wereUffz. Gerhard Kroll, Ofw. Friedrich Ungar andFw. Emil Hecker. The upper surfaces of thisaircraft were painted with irregular patches oflight color, probably RLM 76. The layout of theoriginal camouflage fields was based on the Erlafactory pattern. The wide blue band was markingof JG 54 machines. The III. Gruppe emblemof this Jagdgeschwader is located on the sidesof the fuselage under the cockpit. The devil'shead, photographically documented only on theleft side of the engine cowling, was used by the9. Staffel. This machine had gun cameras mountedin the leading edge of the wing. She was lost onApril 8, 1944, when Uffz. Gerhard Kroll was shotdown and wounded near Lüneburg. This aviatordid not record any victories during his career butwas shot down several times and suffered burnsthree times.This aircraft belonged to JG 11 but was also flownby 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 thepattern used on the Bf 109G at the Erla factoryin Leipzig. Flg. Victor Widmaier scored his firstvictory with this aircraft when he shot downa B-17 bomber on October 2, 1943. By the endof 1943, he had destroyed three more bombersof this type and in early January he scoreda victory over a P-38. After III./JG 11 was rearmedwith Fw 190s in February, Widmaier scoreda victory over a B-17 and a P-47 on February 10,but suffered injuries after hit from another P-47and bailed out of. He landed about 200 metersfrom the American pilot, who also bailed out byparachute. Widmaier underwent a surgery on thesame evening, but after only two weeks he forcedhis return to the unit. He learned the pilot he hadshot down fallen into captivity. It was probablya 20-year-old 2nd Lt. Merrill W. De Merit, Jr. of the361st FG, 356th FG, who was on his fourth combatflight. Victor Widmaier died in 2011.KITS 01/2024INFO Eduard41January 2024Page 42
Bf 109G-5/U2, WNr. 27112, Maj. Walther Dahl, CO of III./JG 3, Bad Wörishofen,Germany, December 1943Bf 109G-5, WNr. 110047, Ofw. Hanns-Werner Gross, 1./JG 300,Bonn-Hangelar, Germany, March 1944Walther Dahl was born on March 27, 1916, inLug. On May 1, 1939, he joined the Luftwaffeand became a fighter pilot. In May 1941, he wastransferred to JG 3. Dahl achieved his first victoryon June 22, 1941, in the Soviet Union and his laston April 26, 1945. On July 20, 1943, he becamecommander of III./JG 3 on the Eastern Front.In August his unit moved to Western Europe, atthat time armed with Bf 109G-6s. In October hisunit also received three G-5 version aircraft andby the end of the year the number had increased tonine. His rudder shows 52 Eastern Front victoriesinstead of the 51 he was credited with. Imagesof the aircraft were taken sometimes betweenOctober 14 and December 19, 1943, during whichtime it achieved its fourth and fifth victoriesagainst American bombers. His total score was128 kills, and he was awarded the Knight’s Crosswith Oak Leaves. Bf 109G-5 WNr. 27112 has RLM 76paint on all surfaces, only the right, lower half ofthe wing is black. Maj. Walther Dahl survived thewar and died on November 25, 1985.This unusual camouflage scheme was seen onseveral JG 300 aircraft. These were deployedfor night operational flights. The upper surfaceswere painted over with RLM 76 and grey wavylines. The exact shade used for the waves isunknown, but it was probably RLM 75 or RLM 74.The bottom surfaces were black. Hanns-WernerGross was apparently shot down in this aircraft(WNr. 110047) over Pfungstadt near Darmstadton March 18, 1944. His conqueror was probablya Mustang pilot from the 4th FG. Gross landed ina treetop on a parachute and was hanging some15 meters above the ground in a landscape wherethere were hardly any trees. He lost his shoesduring the jump. Soldiers, who at first thoughthim an enemy, helped him down and villagersfound both his shoes. Gross continued to servein I./JG 300 and in the last months of the war heconverted for Me 262 jet.KITS 01/2024INFO Eduard42January 2024Page 43
Bf 109G-6, WNr. 20499, Lt. Erich Hartmann, CO of 9./JG 52,New Zaporozhye, the Soviet Union, October 1943Bf 109G-6, WNr. 20272, Oblt. Heinrich Klöpper, CO of 7./JG 1,Rheine, Germany, November 1943With this aircraft, Erich Hartmann shot down his121th victim on October 2, 1943. The same numberof kills was also painted on the aircraft’s rudder.The red heart with the inscription Karaya was theemblem of the 9. Staffel of JG 52, which Hartmanncommanded at the time. The white inscriptionDicker Max in the heart can be translatedas “Big Show”. The aircraft was built at the WienerNeustadt Werke factory in a tropical finish andhad hatches for the sunshade on the left sideof the fuselage under the cockpit. It has beenused extensively and had its camouflage repairedseveral times. Erich Hartmann became the mostsuccessful fighter ace not only in the Luftwaffe,but also in the history of aviation. He achievedhis first victory on November 5, 1942 and his lastvictim number 352 was a Yak-9 shot down on May8, 1945. Hartmann scored all of his victories onthe Eastern Front. After the surrender he wascaptured by American troops, but they handedhim over to the Soviets who sentenced himto 25 years of forced labor. After ten years hewas repatriated to Germany and participated inthe rebirth of the German Air Force. Hartmannbecame the recipient of the then highest Germanwar decoration when he was awarded theKnight’s Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords andDiamonds on August 25, 1944.A native of Peine in Lower Saxony, born onJanuary 9, 1918 and future Knight’s Cross winnerHeinrich Klöpper took part in the ranks of JG 77in 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 shotdown another 80 enemy fighters between June22, 1941 and November 1943. In early November1943, he took command of the 7. Staffel JG 1,which was assigned to the Reich Defense Force(Reichsverteidigung). In this unit he shot downfive four-engine B-17s, one B-24, and two P-38s.He was killed on November 29, 1943, when hewas hit in the cockpit of his Messerschmittduring a dogfight with two P-38s over Vollenhove,the Netherlands. Some tactical formationcommanders had the vertical tail surfaces spray-painted white for quicker identification of theleader in combat. The rudder bears the symbolsof Klöpper’s victories.KITS 01/2024INFO Eduard43January 2024Page 44
Bf 109G-6, WNr.18502 or 18503, Hptm. Horst Carganico,CO of II./JG 5, Pskov-South, the Soviet Union, early 1944Bf 109G-6 Trop, WNr. 27169, Fw. Heinrich Bartels, 11./JG 27,Kalamaki, Greece, November 1943Horst 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 1at the beginning of the war. This was followed bya return to Norway on January 1, 1941, where heserved as commander of 1./JG 77. On September25, 1941, Carganico was awarded the Knight’sCross after achieving his 27th victory. In March1942 Carganico’s unit was renamed 6./JG 5, butby April 1942 he had already taken commandof the entire II. Gruppe. On March 26, 1944,he was appointed commander of I./JG 5, whichparticipated in the fighting against the Allies aspart of the Defense of the Reich. On May 27 of thatyear Major Carganico flew his last sortie. Duringan attack on a B-17 formation his Bf 109G-5 wasbadly damaged, hitting a high tension power linewhile attempting an emergency landing. He didnot survive the crash near the French town ofChevry. Carganico’s total score stands at sixtykills in 600 missions. The camouflage of hisaircraft was painted over with white and RLM 70on the upper surfaces. Under the cockpit was themarking of II./JG 5 aircraft on both sides. On theleft side of the fuselage behind the cockpit wasCarganico’s personal emblem – Mickey Mousedragging his boots with dates commemoratingthe pilot’s returns to the unit after emergencylandings behind enemy lines. On the right sideof the fuselage, there was probably the markingof the Gruppe commander – a double chevronand a horizontal bar.Austrian Heinrich Bartels was born on July 13,1918, in Linz. He began his career as a fighter pilotover the English Channel, where as a memberof the Erg./JG 26, he shot down two Spitfires inAugust 1941. He then went on to the ranks of JG 5in northern Europe, where he scored 47 victoriesagainst the Soviet air force. The remainder of his99 victories came in the ranks of JG 27. Fateful toBartels was an encounter with American fighterson December 23, 1944. He managed to shoot downone of the Thunderbolts, but he did not return tothe base. The wreckage of his aircraft was notfound until a quarter of a century later in January1968. An unused parachute was found in thecockpit, which is now on display at the DeutschesTechnikmuseum in Berlin. Bartels’ Bf 109G-6is shown as it was captured in photographstaken on the occasion of scoring his 70th kill.The photographs can thus be dated to November15, 1943. A total of 70 Abschussbalken (victorymarks) are painted on the rudder along withthe Knight’s Cross, which Bartels had receiveda year earlier, on November 13, 1942. The sawtoothborder of camouflage paint on the upper surfaceof the wing is typical of some of the aircraftproduced at the Erla factory in 1943.KITS 01/2024INFO Eduard44January 2024Page 45
Bf 109G-6 Trop, Oblt. Alfred Grislawski, CO of 1./JG 50,Wiesbaden-Erbenheim, Germany, September 1943Bf 109G-6, WNr. 18107, Uffz. Georg Amon, 7./JG 53, Torazzo, Sicily, June 1943Alfred Grislawski was born on November 2, 1919,in Wanne-Eickel in the Ruhr. Jagdgeschwader50 was formed on August 15, 1943, by renamingthe Jagdgeschwader Süd, which had alreadybeen engaged in the pursuit of reconnaissanceMosquitos flying at high altitudes since July 21.However, only its I. Gruppe was formed. It was ledby Hermann Graf, who was also the force behindthe creation of the Gruppe emblem painted onthe left side of the fuselage below the cockpit.The figure of the Roten Jäger (the Red Hunter)symbolized the Luftwaffe football team, in whichGraf played together with a number of the Germannational team at the time, and which was knownas die Roten Jäger. Alfred Grislawski commandedthe 1. Staffel of this unit, as evidenced by thewhite-colored tail, reserved for the commandersof the combat formations. JG 50 existed fora relatively short period of time, becoming part ofI./JG 301 in October 1943. Grislawski then servedwith JG 1 and JG 53, increasing his score to 133victories by the end of the war. His achievementsearned him the Knight’s Cross, which he wasawarded 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 fightertraining in January 1942. In September 1942,he was assigned to 7./JG 53, which was thenin the African theater. In the summer of 1943,the Luftwaffe was under great pressure fromAllied air raids, resulting in the withdrawalfrom the African theatre of operations and thesubsequent capture of Sicily as German forcesretreated to Italy. This aircraft was manufacturedin April or early May 1943 at the Messerschmittplant in Regensburg. The camouflage of RLM74, 75 and 76 colors was complemented bysplotches of RLM 02 on the fuselage sides.The color of the limbs of the Spade floating in theboat is not completely confirmed, the blue coloris 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, fallingin captivity. In January 1944, Georg Amon beganworking as a fighter instructor in the south ofFrance. The last day of Georg Amon’s wartimecareer was April 2, 1945. He was shot down byAmerican anti-aircraft half-track fire. He jumpedfrom a low-flying, burning aircraft. With seriousburns, he was captured and survived the war.Georg Amon achieved nine victories.KITS 01/2024INFO Eduard45January 2024Page 46
Bf 109G-6, WNr. 19456, Oberst Hannes Trautloft, Stab General der Jagdflieger,the Soviet Union, August 1943Bf 109G-6, WNr. 163627, ylikersantti Leo Ahokas, 3/HLeLv 24,Lappeenranta, Finland, June 1944This aircraft was originally manufactured as theBf 109G-4 with the factory code CL+OQ and wasassigned to 6./JG 27 in the Mediterranean. Afterbeing severely damaged at Trapani on May 10,1943, it was converted to the G-6 version duringan overhaul and accepted by the Stab of Generalder Jagdflieger Adolf Galland. In the summer andautumn of 1943, the plane was used by OberstTrautloft, the inspector for fighter units on theEastern Front. The aircraft bore a markingsthat tied it to JG 54, the unit he was previouslycommanding. However, Günther Lützow, theninspector for fighter units in the West and MTO,was also photographed in its cockpit. HannesTrautloft began his fighting career in the SpanishCivil War. There he flew the Bf 109 and wasinstrumental in developing the tactics for thedeployment of this type. He also flew in the Polishcampaign and the French campaign. During eachconflict he scored at least one victory. On August25, 1940, he became commander of the newlyformed JG 54. Trautloft’s overall record totals58 victories, and he was able to pin the Knight’sCross on July 27, 1941. The aircraft bears thestandard RLM 74/75/76 camouflage scheme, withsplotches of what was probably RLM 70 greenpaint on the fuselageLeo Ahokas was born on April 25, 1915, in Jaakkima,Karelia, a town annexed by the then Soviet Unionin 1940. He received pilot training from 1936–1937,and after mobilization at the start of the WinterWar was sent to training unit T-LentoR 2, then inFebruary 1940 to LLv 24, armed with Hurricanesand Brewsters. He was demobilized after the endof the Winter War. He joined LLv 32 for furthermilitary service on June 3, 1941, later LLv 24armed with American Brewsters. In 1943, this unitreceived Messerschmitts Bf 109G. YlikersanttiAhokas demobilized on November 10, 1944, andworked as a driver in civilian life. He died onOctober 25, 1988. During the Continuation War heflew a total of 189 combat sorties and shot down12 enemy aircraft. The standard-camouflagedBf 109G-6 from the Messerschmitt factory inRegensburg was supplemented with the yellowrecognition markings of the machines from theEastern Front after being assigned to the FinnishAir Force. On the rudder it bore the new emblemHLeLv 24, the head of a lynx.KITS 01/2024INFO Eduard46January 2024Page 47
Bf 109G-6, WNr. 163162, 2aSquadriglia, 2oGruppo Caccia, Verona-Villafranca,Italy, October 1944Bf 109G-6, WNr. 161742, Rtk. Rudolf Božik, Combined Flight, Slovak National Uprising,Tri Duby airflield, Slovakia, September 1944The Aeronautica Nazionalle Repubblicana (ANR)was the air force possessed by the ItalianSocialist Republic, which was formed in lateSeptember 1943 in the northern part of Italy andwas an ally of the German Third Reich. At firstthe ANR deployed Italian-built fighters, laterreceiving German Bf 109Gs. From October 1944,the 109s bore a combination of German insigniaand the insignia of the Italian Socialist Republic.On the nose was painted a cartoon of a red devil,emblem of 2a Squadriglia, which was calledDiavoli Rossi.Rudolf Božík was born on July 10, 1920,in Hrnčiarovce nad Parnou. In January 1940,he voluntarily enlisted in the Slovak army andcompleted his basic military and pilot training inPiešťany. In June 1943 he was sent to the EasternFront. He flew with the Letka 13 (Squadron13, subordinated to II./JG 52) in Anapa, overKuban and the Black Sea. On July 26, 1943, heachieved his first two kills. He scored six moreby September 26, 1943, on that day he crashedduring takeoff and suffered a severe spinal injury.At the end of October 1943, he was transportedto Slovakia for treatment. From January 31, 1944,he served at Vajnory airfield, again in Letka 13,which was withdrawn from the Eastern Frontto defend Bratislava from American air raids.On June 26, 1944, he damaged one B-17, but indogfights with American escorts, Letka 13 wasdecimated. Only four Bf 109G-6s could be used forthe Slovak National Uprising (SNP). The Bf 109G-6had the standard Mtt Regensburg RLM 74/75/76camouflage. The original Slovakian crosses wereoversprayed with insurgent markings. The redsection was always on the right. The markingson the wing had a red outline, sometimesa blue outline is mentioned, so both variants areoffered in the decal. The insignia on the tail havea blue outline. Božik is credited with three kills ofGerman aircraft during the SNP. After the SNP hewas transported to the USSR and joined the 2ndCzechoslovak Fighter Aviation Regiment.KITS 01/2024INFO Eduard47January 2024Page 48
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BUILTBf 109G-5, WNr. 110047, Ofw. Hanns-Werner Gross, 1./JG 300, Bonn-Hangelar, Germany, March 1944This unusual camouflage scheme was seen onseveral JG 300 aircraft. These were deployedfor night operational flights. The upper surfaceswere painted over with RLM 76 and grey wavylines. The exact shade used for the wavesis unknown, but it was probably RLM 75 orRLM 74. The bottom surfaces were black.Hanns-Werner Gross was apparently shotdown in this aircraft (WNr. 110047) overPfungstadt near Darmstadt on March 18, 1944.His conqueror was probably a Mustang pilotfrom the 4th FG. Gross landed in a treetop ona parachute and was hanging some 15 metersabove the ground in a landscape where therewere hardly any trees. He lost his shoes duringthe jump. Soldiers, who at first thought him anenemy, helped him down and villagers foundboth his shoes. Gross continued to serve inI./JG 300 and in the last months of the warhe converted for Me 262 jet.INFO Eduard49January 2024Page 50
Recommended:for Bf 109G-5 and G-6 1/72672324 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)OVERTREES#70157XBf 109G-5/61/72Product pageOVERLEPT OVERLEPT#2144-LEPT1Bf 109G-5PE-Set 1/72#2144-LEPT2Bf 109G-6PE-Set 1/72Product page Product page#672347#672338#672344#672349#672348#672329INFO Eduard50January 2024Page 51
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WNr. 332529, Stab JG 52, Deutsch Brod, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, May 1945WNr. 330204, Hptm. Franz Mentzel, 9./JG 77, Neuruppin, Germany,November 1944At the end of the war, at least three Bf 109swith a tulip pattern on the nose were found atthe Deutsch Brod base (Havlíčkův Brod today).The surviving engine cowling bears a grey paintand red tulip marking. These were apparentlythe machines of the Stab JG 52, commanded byKommodore Hermann Graf, who had the samemarkings in 1943 with JG 50. When Oberst Grafbecame CO of JG 52 in October 1944, he introducedthe same markings to his Stab planes, includingthe green fuselage numbers. Graf brought twowingmen 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 ofthe victories of Stab JG 52, so it is possible thathe also flew 332529. He was awarded the Knight’sCross in early April 1945 and achieved a total of 91victories during 210 combat sorties. The fuselagenumber was probably green, but the decal alsooffers a black variant. Fuselage was painted inRLM 74 and RLM 75 with yellow-grey versionof RLM 76. Vertical tail was painted in darkerversion of RLM 74 and 75, the RLM 74 had a tingeof green. Wing was painted with lighter shade ofcolors RLM 74, 75 and 76.In October 1944, III./JG 77 became the firstLuftwaffe fighter unit to be completely re-equipped with the Bf 109K-4. They received68 of these aircraft. Its commander was theexperienced JG 77 veteran Major Armin Köhler(40 victories, KC). Its 9. Staffel was newlyestablished in November 1944 and the commanderwas appointed Hptm. Franz Mentzel (also referredto as Menzel). At the beginning of the war, he flewthe Bf 110 in I./ZG 2 and was captured during theFrench campaign. Later he served also in JG 5and in several flight schools. His last (eighth?)aerial victory was an Il-2 shot down in combatover Silesia on February 3, 1945. During OperationBodenplatte, 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 UpperSilesia, based at Beneschau in the Hlučínregion (today Dolní Benešov, Czech Republic).Fuselage was painted in RLM 74 and RLM 75with yellow-grey version of RLM 76. Vertical tailwas painted in darker version of RLM 74 and 75,the RLM 74 had a tinge of green. Wing was paintedwith lighter shade of colors RLM 74, 75 and 76.INFO Eduard52January 2024Page 53
WNr. 330209, 3aSquadriglia, IoGruppo Caccia, Lonate Pozzolo, Italy, March 1945This aircraft, manufactured in February 1945, wasone of six Bf 109K-4s received by the AeronauticaNazionale Repubblicana in Northern Italy. DuringFebruary it was assigned to 3aSquadriglia“Arciere”, which was part of IoGruppo Caccia“Asso di Bastoni” under the command of MaggioreAdriano Visconti (10 victories). Unit’s Bf 109K-4stook part in aerial combat on April 10, 1945.In the early morning hours, three Bf 109s from IoGr. C. were sent against four P-47s from the 65thFS, 57th FG, which were conducting a weatherreconnaissance in the Milan-Lago di Como area.In the aerial combat a Bf 109G-14/AS “1-7“, flownby M.lloVeronesi, and a Bf 109K-4 “3-14”, flownby S. Ten Gallori, were damaged. One P-47 wasreported damaged by M.lloForlani. The Americanpilots did not claim any victories. In late April, theIoGr. C. moved to Malpensa. Fuselage was paintedin RLM 74 and RLM 75 with yellow-grey versionof RLM 76. Vertical tail was painted in darkerversion of RLM 74 and 75, the RLM 74 had a tingeof green. Wing was painted with lighter shade ofcolors RLM 74, 75 and 76.WNr. 330255, Stab III./JG 27, Wunstorf, Germany, May 1945The commander of III./JG 27 from October 1944until the end of the war was Austrian Hptm.Dr. Peter Werfft (26 victories). During the samemonth his unit received Bf 109K-4s. FromFebruary 1945 his deputy was CO of 12./JG 27,Oblt. Emil Clade (27 victories). While servingin Africa with II./JG 27, Clade and his Schwarmattacked a lone low-flying Bristol Bombaytransport from No. 216 Sqn RAF on August 7, 1942in the Allied rear. He managed to shoot it downand on the ground the machine was destroyedby 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 hisplace was appointed Lt. Gen. Montgomery, forwhom Gott’s death became a major milestonein his career. Clade led 12./JG 27 from November1944 during the fighting in western Germanyuntil its disbandment in early April 1945. In thelast month of the war, he commanded I./JG 27.After the war, he worked as an airline pilot, tookup sport flying, and published a memoir in 1996.Fuselage was painted in RLM 74 and RLM 75with yellow-grey version of RLM 76. Vertical tailwas painted in darker version of RLM 74 and 75,the RLM 74 had a tinge of green. Wing was paintedwith lighter shade of colors RLM 74, 75 and 76.KITS 01/2024INFO Eduard53January 2024Page 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#648902INFO Eduard54January 2024Page 55
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Oblt. Rudolf Berthold, Jasta 18, Harelbeke, Belgium, September 1917D.2006/16, Lt. Lothar & Rtm. Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen, Jasta 11, La Brayelle, France, March–May 1917Shortly after taking command of Jasta 18, RudolfBerthold introduced a new livery for the unit’saircraft. It consisted of a red nose and bluefuselage and possibly also of blue on the uppersurfaces of both wings. These were the uniformcolors of the infantry regiment with whichBerthold served before the war. The red and bluelivery was first applied to Berthold’s Albatros D.III,built in Johannisthal, but during the autumn of 1917Berthold flew one more Albatros, this one built inSchneidemühl (O.A.W.). This aircraft carried thesame paint scheme, but it is likely that the uppersurfaces of the lower wing retained the originalcamouflage paint. Berthold crashed this aircraftunder unclear circumstances, probably shortlybefore suffering a devastating gunshot woundto his right arm while flying a second Albatroson October 10, 1917. This injury took him out ofcombat for a long time and left his right armpermanently paralyzed. After the war, Bertholdformed his own Freikorps infantry unit and foughtagainst the Bolsheviks. These battles provedfatal for him, however, when he was attackedand lynched by an angry mob in Hamburg as heretreated from combat on March 15, 1919.What is interesting about this Albatross D.IIImanufactured by the Johannisthal factory isthat both von Richthofen brothers scored aerialvictories when flying it. However, it is not clearexactly how many of them. Lothar himselfstated that after joining the unit commandedby his brother (Jasta 11) in early March 1917, he,as a rookie, was provided with an aircraft onwhich Manfred scored ten victories. However,this is contradicted by a number of facts and thefamous Red Baron probably only scored three orfour kills with this aircraft. Lothar himself flewthis Albatros until May 13, when he was seriouslyinjured. By that time, he had already scored24 kills. It is not known how many of these heachieved flying the D.2006/16, he himself statedthat it was ten of them. The aircraft was scrappedon June 7, 1917, as badly worn and damaged manytimes. Apart from a red band around the fuselagebehind the cockpit, it bore the standard colorscheme with wooden fuselage.INFO Eduard56January 2024Page 57
Lt. Emil Schäfer, CO Jasta 28, Wasquehal, France, May 1917Karl Maria Emil Schäfer achieved thirty confirmedaerial victories and became the nineteenthGerman pilot to be awarded the Pour le Mérite.He was one of the pilots highly respected byManfred von Richthofen himself, and his brotherLothar even owed him his life when, with hiscrippled aircraft he was just waiting for a “coupde grace” from an attacking British pilot. Instead,the enemy aircraft burst into flames just beforefiring the fatal shot, and Schäfer’s Albatros racedpast! It was recognizable by the black tail thatadorned aircraft number D.2062/16, but later itwas given a red fuselage paint job, following vonRichthofen’s coloring. It is not clear whether theblack tail was covered with red paint or whetherthe 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 thered paint was darkened by the overpainted blackcolor. With the aircraft so colored, Schäfer tookcommand of Jasta 28 in late April 1917 and wasshot down by a trio of attacking FE.2d’s fromNo. 20 Squadron RFC on June 5. However, it isnot clear whether this was D.2062/16 or anotheraircraft of the same coloring.D.2049/16, Oblt. Hermann Göring, CO of Jasta 27, Ghistelles, Belgium, May 1917This aircraft was used by Hermann Göring fromFebruary 24, 1917, i.e., already during his servicewith Jasta 26. At that time, its only decorationwas a black band with white bordering aroundthe fuselage behind the cockpit and diagonalstripes of the same color combination on theupper side of the upper wing. When Göring tookcommand of Jasta 27 in May, the aircraft receiveda more distinctive livery, corresponding to theStaffelführer’s position. The entire fuselage waspainted black, the nose and tail were white, aswere all struts and wheel discs. The crosses onthe rudder and vertical stabilizer were given a thinblack line to make their white bordering obviousagainst the white background. The stripes onthe upper wing have been significantly widenedcompared to the previous design. Accordingto some sources, these were just double whitestripes with camouflage paint between them, butin a picture of the Albatross D.V used by Göringa little later, the black paint between the whitestripes is clearly visible. We are inclined to thinkthat the stripes on the wing were black and whiteon this aircraft as well.KITS 01/2024INFO Eduard57January 2024Page 58
D.1996/16, Lt. Hans-Georg Edward Lübbert, Jasta 11, La Brayelle, France, March 1917Lt. Franz Ray, Jasta 28, Varsenare, Belgium, autumn 1917This attractively colored Albatross D.III wasa personal mount of Edward Lübert duringhis service with Jasta 11. According to theinterpretation of the black and white photographs,the aircraft most likely bore a yellow and bluefuselage livery, with the order of colors beingreversed on the left and right sides, as well as onthe rudder and vertical stabilizer. However, theserial number was left unpainted on the woodenbase on both sides. Lübbert was woundedin combat with this aircraft on March 6, 1917(shoulder gunshot wound) but managed to landit and Manfred von Richthofen flew it back tothe unit. The Red Baron also borrowed Lübbert’saircraft on March 17 and scored his 27th killwith it. Less than two weeks later, on March 30,Lübbert was shot down and killed, but he didnot fly this aircraft on that occasion. It remainedwith the unit until May 11, 1917, after which it wasused by Lt. Rudolf Hohberg of FF(A) 263 for photoreconnaissance purposes. Edward Lübbert wasnicknamed Kugelfang (bullet catcher), as therewas perhaps not a single engagement from whichhis 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 piloton 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-January1917. Subsequently, together with Max von Müller,he was tasked to form the new Jasta 28w(w as the Württemberg). Ray did not achieve hissecond kill until September 10, 1917, but thereafterfurther successes began to rapidly accrue andon September 23 he became the fighter ace afterachieving his fifth victory. At the end of 1917, Jasta49, one of the new units formed in response tothe US entry into the war (the so-called “AmerikaProgramm”, i.e., doubling the number of Jastaunits from 40 to 80) was established. Franz Raybecame its commander and achieved eight morekills 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 testnew aircraft and never returned to the front.His Albatros D.III he was flying in autumn 1917had the rear half of the fuselage painted blue-violet, the upper surface of the upper wing havinga reversed order of camouflage colors comparedto the standard.INFO Eduard58January 2024Page 59
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c/n 613234, kpt. Oldřich Paldus, 15th Fighter Regiment, Czechoslovak Air Force,Cottbus Airfield, German Democratic Republic, August 30, 1957No. 20 Squadron, Egypt.,Late 1950s / Early 1960sc/n 1315376, ex 64th IAK, Soviet Union, Mid 1950sA group of three MiGs-15bis of 15 FighterRegiment from Žatec Air Base took part in the2nd Cultural and Sport Celebration organized inCottbus, German Democratic Republic from lateAugust to early September 1957. The distinctiveblue marking was applied on these aircraftespecially for this event. During the display twoaircraft, this No. 3234, and another MiG-15bisNo. 3233 collided. No. 3234 lost the tip of itsleft horizontal stabilizer, but the pilot managedto keep control of the aircraft and was able toland safely. After the 15th FR was disbanded, twopilots of its display team, Oldřich Paldus andVáclav Polášek were transferred to 11 FR in 1958.Capt. Jaromír Palečný joined them in 1959 and asall of them were not tall at all, the display teamwas unofficially dubbed “Trio Prckos” (“The ThreeShorties” in English).Egypt purchased a total of 110 MiG-15bis aircraftfrom Czechoslovakia. This particular oneserved with No. 20 Squadron of the United ArabRepublic Air Force. The United Arab republicwas a federation of Egypt and Syria that lastedfrom 1958 to 1961. Egypt kept this name untill1971. No. 20 Squadron was based at Deversoir,El Qabrit and Inshas air bases.This aircraft took part in the Korean War – thecommunist attempt to occupy the entire Koreanpeninsula. At the time it was marked with rednumber 1976 on its fuselage. Back in the USSR,the number was simply overpainted with theyellow 30, as well as the fading North Koreaninsignia was freshly overpainted. As the NorthKorean national insignia was simply an extensionof the Soviet red star, removing the white outlineand adding the red and blue circles, only thesecircles (rather faded) were visible. The originalstar was simply overpainted with fresh outlinedone. Based on photographic evidence, theinsignia was applied on the fuselage only, but it ispossible these were painted on the lower surfaceof the wings as well.INFO Eduard60January 2024Page 61
This MiG was delivered together with another29 aircraft in April 1962. These originally servedwith the Soviet Air Force and after the overhaulwere supplied in the natural metal finish toHungary. During the overhaul the aircraftc/n 0320138 had the upgraded wing installedfeaturing the landing light located at the leftwheel well. The light was later covered witha sheet aluminum. In August 1968 this particularairplane participated in the Warsaw Pact armedforces invasion (except Romania and Albania) to,at that time, Czechoslovakia. Before the invasionit was marked with the red stripes which werelater deleted. In March 1970 the aircraft wasoverpainted in the camouflage colors includingall stencils. In September 1975 the airframe wasstruck off charge having logged 1535 flight hoursand was abandoned at the Szolnok airbase.Mikhail Mikhin was born on October 25th, 1923and right after the graduation from the highschool he started his pilot training finishing it inthe end of 1944. He did not manage to participatein any combat during the World War Two, howeverhe participated in the air combat over Koreawhere he was deployed in July 1952 with theentire 518th IAP. The unit remained in the combatzone until the end of hostilities, Major Mikhin shotdown 9 enemy aircraft in total (7 x F-86, 2 x F-84)for which accomplishment he was awarded thetitle Hero of the Soviet Union on July 14, 1953.He remained in the active service of the RedArmy Air Force after the Korean War and retiredwith the rank of Major General in 1980. He passedaway on March 25, 2007 in St. Petersburg.c/n 0320138, 1st Squadron, 101st Reconnaissance Regiment,Szolnok, Hungary, 1972Maj. Mikhail Ivanovich Mikhin, 518th IAP, North Korea, May 195372574 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#672020KITS 01/2024INFO Eduard61January 2024Page 62
#84172P-51D-5 Mustang1/48The Weekend edition kit of US WWII fighter P-51D-5in 1/48 scale.The kit contains parts for aircraft withoutthe dorsal fin assembly.plastic parts: Eduardmarking options: 4decals: EduardPE parts: nopainting mask: noresin parts: noProduct pageRe-releaseINFO Eduard62January 2024Page 63
44-13761, Capt. Jack M. Ilfrey, 79th FS, 20th FG, 8th AF, USAAF Station 367 Kings Cliffe,Northamptonshire, Great Britain, autumn 194444-13316, Leonard K. Carson, 362nd FS, 357th FG, 8th AF, USAAF Station 373 Leiston,Suffolk, Great Britain, June 1944Captain Jack Ilfrey became an ace in North Africa,where he claimed 5½ kills (plus two damagedenemy aircraft) while flying P-38F “Texas Terror”.He joined 20th FG, 79th FS at USAAF Station KingsCliffe in England on April 20, 1944 and servedas an Operations Officer from June 14, 1944.He claimed two more Bf 109Gs on May 24, flyingP-38J “Happy Jack’s go Buggy”. He was shot downbehind enemy lines in France on June 12, but hesuccessfully evaded capture walking and cycling150 miles to Allied lines in Normandy with a helpof French civilians. He became 79th FS CO onSeptember 7, leading the unit until December 9,1944. He completed 142 combat missions over ETOand MTO. The 20th FG did not replace their P-38Jswith P-51Cs until July 1944, changing them forP-51Ds shortly afterwards. The early Mustangs ofthe 20th FG are known to have upper surfacesoverpainted with green color, probably with RAFDark Green, with irregular splitting line betweengreen upper surfaces and silver/natural metalbottom surfaces. The 20th FG was nicknamed“Loco Busters” because made significant numberof attacks against railroad network.The second top scoring Fighter Group of the 8thUSAAF and the top scoring FG equipped withP-51D Mustangs was 357nd FG, credited with609 German aircraft destroyed in the air and106 on the ground, with their own losses of 128aircraft. With the unit served 35 aces, led by MajorLeonard “Kit” Carson with 18½ aerial victories.He became 362nd FS CO on April 8, 1945. The keyto the success of the unit was its fighting academy,called Clobber College, where the experiencedpilots taught the newcomers the fightingtactics. The 362nd FS received their P-51Ds justa few days before D-day. Most of the unit’s earlyMustangs had upper surfaces camouflaged DarkGreen with Neutral Grey bottom surfaces, or DarkGreen upper surfaces over the aluminum/naturalmetal bottom surfaces with border betweengreen and NMF surfaces high on fuselage sides.The colors were probably RAF paints overtakenfrom RAF stock. The “Nooky Booky II” wore fullD-day stripes, as the aircraft was delivered to theunit probably around June 6, 1944. The previousname of this plane was “Mildred”.KITS 01/2024INFO Eduard63January 2024Page 64
44-13317, Capt. Donald R. Emerson, 336th FS, 4th FG, 8th AF, USAAF Station 356 Debden,Essex, Great Britain, September 194444-13597, Lt. William E. Fowler, 487th FS, 352nd FG, 8th AF, USAAF Station 141 Bodney,Norfolk, Great Britain, September 1944The 4th FG was nicknamed Debden Eagles thanksto its home base and origins, as it was formedfrom RAF Eagle squadron (71st, 121st and 133rdsquadrons). After the incorporation into 8th AFthe squadrons were re-named to 334th FS, 335thFS and 336th FS. As of April 1, 1943, their Spitfireswere replaced by P-47s and in February 1944these were changed for P-51s. Donald Emersonjoined the ranks of 4th Fighter Group on March 9,1944 and during the following eight months of dutyhe flew 89 sorties during which he was creditedwith 4½ enemy aircraft shot down. On December25, 1944, he perished returning from the bomberescort mission when he spotted six Bf 109s.During the ensuing combat he descended closeto the terrain and was hit by the anti-aircraft fireover the front. Pilot was probably killed, and hisaircraft crashed nearby the town of Sittard in TheNetherlands. However, he had managed to shootdown two of his opponents. Capt. Emerson had theport side of his Mustang decorated with boxingDonald Duck in resemblance to his first name.There were seven kill markings painted underthe windshield. From the beginning of September,the invasion stripes on the upper wings andfuselage sides surfaces of the allied aircraftwere deleted and left on the lower surfaces only.Lt. Col. John C. Meyer, acting CO of the 487th FSand the ace credited with 37½ destroyed enemyaircraft, claimed four of his 24 aerial victoriesin cockpit of this aircraft on September 11, 1944.Stardust was originally a personal aircraft of Lt.William E. Fowler, nicknamed “Flaps”, who endedhis combat tour just three days before Meyer’sfour-victory raid. The Stardust was then assignedto Lt. Jack “Moose” Landrum, who renamedit “Moose”. He was shot down and killed onOctober 24, 1944, while strafing near to Hannover.The 352nd Fighter Group, based at USAAF StationBodney, was fourth most successful FG of the 8thUSAAF with 519 enemy planes destroyed in theair and 287 on the ground with 119 losses of theirown. All three squadrons painted noses of theirMustangs with blue color. In September 1944,the paint of the noses was changed from MediumBlue to the Dark Blue, which remained theGroup’s color until end of the War. Note the lightarea over the fuselage national insignia of theStardust, which is clear natural metal surfaceafter the invasion stripes on the upper surfaceswere washed off.INFO Eduard64January 2024Page 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#644021KITS 01/2024INFO Eduard65January 2024Page 66
BRASSINLööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboards and STEELseatbelts for TBF-1C in 1/48 scale. Easy to assemble,replaces plastic parts. Recommended kit: AcademySet contains:- resin: 5 parts- 3D print: 1 part- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted- painting mask: noLööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboardand STEEL seatbelts for P-39N in 1/48 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- resin: 2 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted- painting mask: no644244TBF-1C LööK1/48 Academy644245P 39N LööK1/48 EduardProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard66January 2024Page 67
644246P-47D-25 LööK1/48 MINIARTLööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboard and STEELseatbelts for P-47D-25 in 1/48 scale. Easy to assemble,replaces plastic parts. Recommended kit: MiniartSet contains:- resin: 2 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted- painting mask: noBRASSINCollection of 3 sets for F-16D Block 40in 1/48 scale. Recommended kit: Kinetic- LööK set (pre-painted Brassin dashboards & Steelbelts)- TFace painting mask- ejection seats644238F-16D Block 40 LööKplus1/48 KineticProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard67January 2024Page 68
BRASSINCollection 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 wheelsBrassin 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: no644242FM-1 LööKplus1/48 Eduard648873Bf 109E rudder pedals early1/48Product pageProduct pageINFO Eduard68January 2024Page 69
BRASSINBrassin set - gun barrels for Bf 109K-4 in 1/48 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts. Made by direct3D printing. Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 2 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: noBrassin 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: no648874Bf 109E rudder pedals late1/48Product pageProduct page648939Bf 109K-4 gun barrels PRINT1/48 EduardINFO Eduard69January 2024Page 70
648951FM-1 cockpit PRINT1/48 Eduard648952FM-1 gun bays PRINT1/48 EduardBRASSINBrassin set - cockpit for FM-1in 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 13 parts- decals: yes- photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted- painting mask: noBrassin 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: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 16 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: noProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard70January 2024Page 71
BRASSINBrassin set - wheels bays for Bf 109K-4in 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 4 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: no648954Bf 109K-4 wheel bays PRINT1/48 EduardBrassin set - cockpit for Bf 109G-6/ASin 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 18 parts- resin: 1 part- decals: yes- photo-etched details:yes, pre-painted- painting mask: no648953Bf 109G-6/AS cockpit PRINT1/48 EduardProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard71January 2024Page 72
BRASSINBrassin set - cockpit for F-16A MLUin 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: KineticSet contains:- 3D print: 15 parts- decals: yes- photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted- painting mask: noBrassin set - wheels bay for FM-2in 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 14 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: no648956FM-2 wheel bay PRINT1/48 Eduard648955F-16A MLU cockpit PRINT1/48 KineticProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard72January 2024Page 73
BRASSINBrassin set - exhaust stacks for P-39 in 1/48 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Made by direct 3D printing. Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 2 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: no648958P-39 exhaust stacks fishtail PRINT1/48 EduardBrassin set - pilot seat for P-39 in 1/48 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts. Made by direct3D printing. Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 1 part- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted- painting mask: no648957P-39 seat PRINT1/48 EduardProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard73January 2024Page 74
BRASSINBrassin set - exhaust stacks for P-39 in 1/48 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Made by direct 3D printing. Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 2 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: noBrassin set - engine for FM-2in 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 17 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: no648960FM-2 engine PRINT1/48 Eduard648959P-39 exhaust stacks rounded PRINT1/48 EduardProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard74January 2024Page 75
BRASSINBrassin set - the undercarriage wheels for P-47Din 1/48 scale. The set consists of the main wheelsand a tail wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plasticparts. Recommended kit: MiniartSet contains:- resin: 3 parts- 3D print: 4 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: yes648962P-47D wheels cross tread1/48 MINIARTBrassin set - radio compartment for Bf 109K-4in 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 7 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: no648961Bf 109K-4 radio compartment PRINT1/48 EduardProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard75January 2024Page 76
BRASSINBrassin set - aibrakes for MiG-29 in 1/72 scale.Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: Great Wall HObbySet contains:- 3D print: 3 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: noBrassin set - cockpit for Bf 109G-5 or Bf 109G-6in 1/72 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 14 parts- decals: yes- photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted- painting mask: no672347Bf 109G-5/G-6 cockpit PRINT1/72 Eduard672337MiG-29 airbrakes PRINT1/72 Great Wall HobbyProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard76January 2024Page 77
BRASSINBrassin set - the undercarriage wheels for Bf 109G-5or Bf 109G-6 in 1/72 scale. The set consists of themain wheels and a tail wheel. Easy to assemble,replaces plastic parts. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 3 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: yes672348Bf 109G-5/G-6 wheels PRINT1/72 EduardProduct pageBrassin set - WGr.21 rocket launchers for Bf 109Gin 1/72 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 4 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: no672349WGr.21 for Bf 109G PRINT1/72 EduardProduct pageINFO Eduard77January 2024Page 78
BRASSINCollection of 3 sets for Bf 109K-4 in 1/48 scale.Recommended kit: Eduard- cockpit- exhausts- undercarriage wheelsAll sets included in this BIG SIN are available separately,but with every BIG SIN set you save up to 30 %.SIN648118Bf 109K-4 ESSENTIAL1/48 Eduardstránka produktuINFO Eduard78January 2024Page 79
BRASSINCollection of 4 sets for F-35A in 1/72 scale.Recommended kit: Tamiya- cockpit- undercarriage wheels- exhaust nozzle- Remove Before Flight tags STEELAll sets included in this BIG SIN are available separately,but with every BIG SIN set you save up to 30 %.SIN67222F-35A1/72 Tamiyastránka produktuINFO Eduard79January 2024Page 80
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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.
SPACEExploring SPACE:A Guide to Using SPACE DecalsJakub NademlejnskýIn this article, I aim to familiarize readers with products from theSPACE range, often recognized as 3D decals among modelers.It's important to clarify that SPACE products are distinct from 3Dprints, which we label as PRINT and manufacture using 3D printersat Eduard. The SPACE decals employ technology akin to color photo-etched sets. Each product includes a sheet of 3D decals and aplanchette featuring photo-etched parts, where designers optfor steel etching, primarily for seatbelts, levers, and grids.Tools and Accessories for constructing theSPACE Instrument Panel for TBD-1 in 1/32scale by Trumpeter (cat.no. 3DL 32020)SPACE 3D DecalSheetGlossy Varnishon InstrumentsNote the glossyvarnish on theinstruments,mimicking theirglazing.INFO Eduard92January 2024Page 93
SPACESPACEEtching Platewith seatbeltsand levers forinstrumentpanel.Follow the instructionsto sand the relief fromthe plastic part ofthe instrument panelwhere the SPACE decalwill be applied.Leaving EnoughSpace for ComfortableTweezer HandlingIt is good to leaveenough spacearound the piece tocomfortably hold itin the tweezers.Applying the SPACE Decal onto a Dampened Kitchen SpongeRemoving SPACE Decal from the PaperSanding the Relief from the Instrument Panel Plastic PartApplying SPACE Decal to its PositionUse tweezers to hold the SPACE decal in place, applying and spreadinga drop of dispersion adhesive underneath, typically requiring only a fewdrops of water. Instant super glue is not recommended for SPACE decals.Gently press the SPACEdecal onto a kitchensponge soaked inslightly detergentedwater to wet only thebacking paper. Avoidsoaking the entire decalto prevent swelling.Pressing SPACE Decalto Remove ExcessWaterAfter applying theSPACE decal, pressit with a finger wrappedin cloth or roll it witha cotton swab to removeexcess water.Carefully Cuttingthe SPACE Decalwith ScissorsDue to its strength,the SPACE decal canbe removed from thebacking paper afterabout one minute, incontrast to classicdecals.INFO Eduard93January 2024Page 94
SPACEGluing Etched Levers with Instant Super GlueFollowing the procedure from the last and previous issues, glue the photo-etched levers withinstant super glue. Cut the lever from the planchette with etch scissors and dip it in a drop ofinstant glue dripped onto the glossy paper (I use the backing paper from a painting mask).New maska by EduardINFO Eduard 07/2023page 94.RIVET THE EDDIE WAYINFO Eduard 08/2023page 87.How to Work with PE-Accessories - Part IINFO Eduard 11/2023page 104.How to Work with PE-Accessories - Part IIINFO Eduard 12/2023page 84.Finished Instrument PanelSeating the Leveronto SPACEDecalUse pointedtweezers to seatthe photo-etcheddetail onto theSPACE decal.Have you read?INFO Eduard94January 2024Page 95
www.eduard.com/bfcBUNNY BUNNY FIGHTERFIGHTERCLUBEduard's special membership club for all modeling enthusiasts!15% Permanent Club discount at Eduard Store – you will receive permanent 15% discount on all Eduardproducts 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 soldproducts, specially made for BFC members.Even better prices at Eduard events stand – do you know that Eduard usually has huge discounts ontheir products at fairs and events all over the world? BFC members will have even higher discount atthese 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 availableto 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 ChampionshipBOX CONTENT:Plastic parts, Marking options 6, Decal Set, PE parts, Maska, Brassinparts (two different types of wheels, landing flaps, dust filter witheyelid, intake ring and RP-3 60lb rockets), 3D decals for main and si-dewalk instrument and control panels with photo-etched details andseat belts.BOX CONTENT:Plastic parts, Marking options 4, Decal Set, PE parts, Maska, Brassinparts (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 Eduardproduct in your shopping cart. To apply this discount, the Activation product has to be in your shoppingcart. Activation product is excluded from this calculation.Activation products:Activation products:Tempest Mk. V + T-shirt 1/48MiG-21MF + T-shirt 1/72Page 96
BIG EDAll 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 HobbyBIG49391Hunter FGA.9 1/48 AirfixBIG49392Hunter FR.10 1/48 AirfixBIG49393Hunter GA.11 1/48 Airfix491382 Hurricane Mk.IIc 1/48FE1383 Hurricane Mk.IIc seatbelts STEEL 1/48EX980 Hurricane Mk.IIc TFace 1/48481122 Hunter FGA.9 landing flaps 1/48491388 Hunter FGA.9 1/48FE1391 Hunter FGA.9/FR.10/GA.11 seatbelts STEEL 1/48EX986 Hunter FGA.9/FR.10/GA.11 1/48481123 Hunter FR.10 landing flaps 1/48491389 Hunter FR.10 1/48FE1391 Hunter FGA.9/FR.10/GA.11 seatbelts STEEL 1/48EX986 Hunter FGA.9/FR.10/GA.11 1/48481124 Hunter GA.11 landing flaps 1/48491390 Hunter GA.11 1/48FE1391 Hunter FGA.9/FR.10/GA.11 seatbelts STEEL 1/48EX986 Hunter FGA.9/FR.10/GA.11 1/48Product pageProduct pageProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard96January 2024Page 97
All sets included in this BIG ED are available separately,but with every BIG ED set you save up to 30 %.BIG EDBIG49394 Vampire FB.5 1/48 AirfixBIG49395Vampire FB.9 1/48 AirfixBIG72177B-29 1/72 Hobby 2000/Academy72731 PBY-5A exterior 1/7273806 PBY-5A 1/72CX115 PBY-5 Catalina 1/72491385 Vampire FB.9 1/48FE1386 Vampire FB.5/9 seatbelts STEEL 1/48EX981 Vampire FB.5/9 1/4872732 B-29 exterior 1/7272733 B-29 bomb bay 1/7273807 B-29 interior 1/72SS809 B-29 seatbelts STEEL 1/72CX018 B-29 1/72Product pageProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard97January 2024Page 98
MASKSIT FITS!JX322 F-35B1/32 TrumpeterJX323 F-35B TFace1/32 TrumpeterEX997 P-47D-251/48 MINIARTEX998 P-47D-25 TFace1/48 MINIARTEX999 Fulmar Mk.I TFace1/48 TrumpeterEX1000 Hurricane Mk.IIc TFace1/48 Hobby BossEX1001 FM-1 TFace1/48 EduardEX1002 Bf 109K-41/48 EduardEX1003 F6F-3 US nationalinsignia w/ red outline1/72 EduardCX657 MiG-29 9-19 SMT1/72 Great Wall HobbyEX997 P-47D-25EX997 P-47D-25EX998 P-47D-25 TFace EX998 P-47D-25 TFaceEX998 P-47D-25 TFaceEX998 P-47D-25 TFaceJX323 F-35B TFaceJX323 F-35B TFaceJX322 F-35BJX322 F-35BJX323 F-35B TFaceJX323 F-35B TFaceINFO Eduard98January 2024Page 99
MASKSEX999 Fulmar Mk.I TFaceEX1000 Hurricane Mk.IIc TFaceEX1001 FM-1 TFaceEX999 Fulmar Mk.I TFaceEX1000 Hurricane Mk.IIc TFaceEX1001 FM-1 TFaceEX999 Fulmar Mk.I TFaceEX1000 Hurricane Mk.IIc TFaceEX1001 FM-1 TFaceEX999 Fulmar Mk.I TFaceEX1000 Hurricane Mk.IIc TFaceEX1001 FM-1 TFaceCX657 MiG-29 9-19 SMT CX657 MiG-29 9-19 SMTINFO Eduard99January 2024Page 100
RELEASESJANUARY 2024KITSPE-SETSZOOMSMASKS2144 GUSTAV pt.1 1/72 Limited84197 Bf 109K-4 1/48 Weekend8114 Albatros D.III 1/48 ProfiPACK7059 MiG-15bis Re-release 1/72 ProfiPACK84172 P-51D-5 Mustang Re-release 1/48 Weekend53302 USS Iowa BB-61 part 1 1/350 Hobby Boss53303 USS Iowa BB-61 part 2 1/350 Hobby Boss36513 Ferret Scout Car Mk.2 1/35 Airfix36514 T-72M 1/35 Trumpeter32489 F-35 external pylons 1/32 Trumpeter321016 F-35B 1/32 Trumpeter481128 Hurricane Mk.IIc landing flaps 1/48 Hobby Boss491407 P-47D-25 1/48 MINIART491409 Fulmar Mk.I 1/48 Trumpeter491411 Hurricane Mk.IIc 1/48 Hobby Boss73816 MiG-29 9-19 SMT 1/72 Great Wall Hobby33363 F-35B 1/32 Trumpeter33364 F-35B seatbelts STEEL 1/32 TrumpeterFE1407 P-47D-25 1/48 MINIARTFE1408 P-47D-25 seatbelts STEEL 1/48 MINIARTFE1409 Fulmar Mk.I 1/48 TrumpeterFE1410 Fulmar Mk.I seatbelts STEEL 1/48 TrumpeterFE1411 Hurricane Mk.IIc 1/48 Hobby BossFE1412 Hurricane Mk.IIc seatbelts STEEL 1/48 Hobby BossFE1413 Bf 109K-4 Weekend 1/48 EduardJX322 F-35B 1/32 TrumpeterJX323 F-35B TFace 1/32 TrumpeterEX997 P-47D-25 1/48 MINIARTEX998 P-47D-25 TFace 1/48 MINIARTEX999 Fulmar Mk.I TFace 1/48 TrumpeterEX1000 Hurricane Mk.IIc TFace 1/48 Hobby BossEX1001 FM-1 TFace 1/48 EduardEX1002 Bf 109K-4 1/48 EduardEX1003 F6F-3 US national insignia w/ red outline 1/48 EduardCX657 MiG-29 9-19 SMT 1/72 Great Wall HobbyBIG EDBIG49390 Hurricane Mk.IIc 1/48 Arma HobbyBIG49391 Hunter FGA.9 1/48 AirfixBIG49392 Hunter FR.10 1/48 AirfixBIG49393 Hunter GA.11 1/48 AirfixBIG49394 Vampire FB.5 1/48 AirfixBIG49395 Vampire FB.9 1/48 AirfixBIG72177 B-29 1/72 Hobby 2000/AcademyINFO Eduard100January 2024Page 101
BIG-EDBIG-EDRELEASESBRASSINLöökPLUSBIG SINSPACE644244 TBF-1C LööK 1/48 Academy644245 P-39N LööK 1/48 Eduard644246 P-47D-25 LööK 1/48 MINIART648873 Bf 109E rudder pedals early 1/48648874 Bf 109E rudder pedals late 1/48648939 Bf 109K-4 gun barrels PRINT 1/48 Eduard648951 FM-1 cockpit PRINT 1/48 Eduard648952 FM-1 gun bays PRINT 1/48 Eduard648953 Bf 109G-6/AS cockpit PRINT 1/48 Eduard648954 Bf 109K-4 wheel bays PRINT 1/48 Eduard648955 F-16A MLU cockpit PRINT 1/48 Kinetic648956 FM-2 wheel bay PRINT 1/48 Eduard648957 P-39 seat PRINT 1/48 Eduard648958 P-39 exhaust stacks fishtail PRINT 1/48 Eduard648959 P-39 exhaust stacks rounded PRINT 1/48 Eduard648960 FM-2 engine PRINT 1/48 Eduard648961 Bf 109K-4 radio compartment PRINT 1/48 Eduard648962 P-47D wheels cross tread 1/48 MINIART672337 MiG-29 airbrakes PRINT 1/72 Great Wall Hobby672347 Bf 109G-5/G-6 cockpit PRINT 1/72 Eduard672348 Bf 109G-5/G-6 wheels PRINT 1/72 Eduard672349 WGr.21 for Bf 109G PRINT 1/72 Eduard644238 F-16D Block 40 LööKplus 1/48 Kinetic644242 FM-1 LööKplus 1/48 EduardSIN648118 Bf 109K-4 ESSENTIAL 1/48 EduardSIN67222 F-35A 1/72 Tamiya3DL32022 F-35B SPACE 1/32 Trumpeter3DL48152 Fulmar Mk.I SPACE 1/48 Trumpeter3DL48153 Hurricane Mk.IIc SPACE 1/48 Hobby Boss3DL48154 P-47D-25 SPACE 1/48 MINIART3DL48155 F-16C Block 25 SPACE 1/48 Tamiya3DL72025 MiG-29 9-19 SMT SPACE 1/72 Great Wall Hobby3DL72026 MiG-15bis SPACE 1/72 EduardJANUARY 2024DECAL SETD32022 F-35A stencils 1/32 ItaleriINFO Eduard101January 2024Page 102
BUILT1/48Built by Jan Novotný#11169MARKING FINFO Eduard102January 2024Page 103
BUILTF-104C-5-LO, 56-0910, Capt. James B. Trice, 435th TFS, 479th TFW, Udorn RTAFB, Thailand, 1967One of the first F-104 delivered to the Udorn AFBon June 6, 1966 was Starfighter serial number56-0910. It was assigned as a personal mount toCapt. James Trice who had his Starfighter nosedecorated with a nose art with the inscriptionPUSSYCAT. Initially the noseart consisted of thecat caricature only, the text was applied later.After the operations in Udorn ceased, in July 1967the aircraft was flown back to the USA to theMuniz AFB in Puerto Rico and starting in August1967 it was assigned to the 198th TFS.INFO Eduard103January 2024Page 104
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Fw. Hans Strebel, 11./JG 3, Franzfelde airfield near Pasewalk, Germany, March 1945Hans Strebel originally served with 9./JG 3 andachieved his second victory during OperationBodenplatte. In early 1945 he was transferredto 11./JG 3, which was also part of III./JG 3 Udet.From the end of January 1945, this unit wasdeployed in combat against the Red Army andby the end of the war had achieved at least80 victories. Its missions included also attackingsupply columns or escorting anti-tank Ju 87s.The last commander of 11./JG 3 was Lt. RudolfEscherich, who originally served on He 177s withKG 1. In mid-April, 14 pilots of III./JG 3 volunteeredfor suicide deployment as part of OperationFreiheit. These were attacks by crashing intobridges over the Oder River. Their suicide actionscheduled on April 16 ended in failure and theformation under Escherich's command lost sixairmen. The C3 label on the fuel tank indicatesengine that required 100-octane fuel. At the endof the war, machine with same design of fuselagenumber was photographed by a Soviet reporterat Finow airfield. Fuselage was probably paintedin RLM 81 (dark brown variant) and RLM 82 withyellow-grey version of RLM 76. Vertical tail waspainted in darker version of RLM 74 and 75,the RLM 74 had a tinge of green. Wing was paintedwith 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)BUILTINFO Eduard105January 2024Page 106
Built by Paolo Portuesi#84197MARKING ABf 109K-41/48Accessories 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)BUILTINFO Eduard106January 2024Page 107
WNr. 332529, Stab JG 52, Deutsch Brod, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, May 1945At the end of the war, at least three Bf 109swith a tulip pattern on the nose were found atthe Deutsch Brod base (Havlíčkův Brod today).The surviving engine cowling bears a grey paintand red tulip marking. These were apparentlythe machines of the Stab JG 52, commanded byKommodore Hermann Graf, who had the samemarkings in 1943 with JG 50. When OberstGraf became CO of JG 52 in October 1944,he introduced the same markings to his Stabplanes, 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 inJanuary 1945 on the “green 2”. By the end of thewar, Resch had scored most of the victoriesof Stab JG 52, so it is possible that he alsoflew 332529. He was awarded the Knight’sCross in early April 1945 and achieved a totalof 91 victories during 210 combat sorties. Thefuselage number was probably green, but thedecal also offers a black variant. Fuselage waspainted in RLM 74 and RLM 75 with yellow-greyversion of RLM 76. Vertical tail was painted indarker version of RLM 74 and 75, the RLM 74had a tinge of green. Wing was painted withlighter shade of colors RLM 74, 75 and 76.Product pageBUILTINFO Eduard107January 2024Page 108
A6M2 ZERO TYPE 211/48Built by Mattia Pancotti#82212MARKING ABUILTINFO Eduard108January 2024Page 109
PO1c Saburō Sakai, Tainan Kōkūtai, Lakunai airfield, Rabaul, New Britain island, August 1942Saburō Sakai is best known Japanese fighterpilot, thanks to his memoirs and meetingswith Allied airmen after World War II. He wasborn in 1916 and served from September 1938with the 12th Kōkūtai in China. In October 1941,he was assigned to the newly organized TainanKōkūtai in Taiwan and took part in campaignheading South until he was wounded on August7, 1942 off Guadalcanal. After recovering,he served as an instructor with Ōmura Kōkūtai,and later, despite bad eyesight, was combatdeployed with Yokosuka Kōkūtai on Iwo Jima.At the end of war he served with Kōkūtai343 (II) and Yokosuka Kōkūtai. He is listed asan ace with 64 victories, but Sakai himselfclaimed the number of his victories was lower.With the first two units he actually achieved12 individual victories, 8 shared and 4 probables.The V-128 was also flown by PO2c Arita andPO1c Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, who is creditedwith 87 victories. The color of the stripes ischosen from Sakai's recollection, but thereare other interpretations, such as a black oryellow stripe on the fuselage. During a fighterescort to Guadalcanal on August 7, Sakai shotdown Wildcat “F12” from VF-5 piloted by "Pug"Southerland in an epic dogfight. Sakai was laterseverely wounded in the face by fire from VB-6Dauntless near Tulagi Island. After nearly fivehours and more than 1,000 km, he managed toland back at Rabaul. Sakai died in 2000 afterformal dinner with members of the US Navy.Product pageBUILTINFO Eduard109January 2024Page 110
ON APPROACHFEBRUARY 2024644247Sea King HAS.1 LööK1/48 Airfix644248Sea King HAS.5 LööK1/48 Airfix644252S.79 LööK1/48 Eduard644250Hurricane Mk.IIc LööK1/48 Hobby BossBIG33157 TBD-1 1/32 TrumpeterBIG33158 MC.202 1/32 ItaleriBIG72178 AC-130J PART I 1/72 ZvezdaBIG72179 AC-130J PART II 1/72 Zvezda644247 Sea King HAS.1 LööK 1/48 Airfix644248 Sea King HAS.5 LööK 1/48 Airfix644250 Hurricane Mk.IIc LööK 1/48 Hobby Boss644252 SM.79 LööK 1/48 Eduard648933 J-35 Draken seat 1/48 Hasegawa648934 J-35 Draken wheels Type 1 1/48 Hasegawa648936 P-38J left engine PRINT 1/48 Tamiya648963 Italian WWII torpedo A.130 1/48648964 TBF/TBM wheels w/smooth tire 1/48 Academy648965 TBF/TBM wheels w/pattern 1/48 Academy648966 TBM seats PRINT 1/48 Academy648967 TBF seats PRINT 1/48 Academy648968 J-35 Draken wheels Type 2 1/48 Hasegawa672319 Bf 109E rudder pedals early PRINT 1/72672320 Bf 109E rudder pedals late PRINT 1/72672350 Bf 109F engine PRINT 1/72 Eduard672351 L-39 wheels PRINT 1/72 Eduard644239 F-16D Block 50 LööKplus 1/48 Kinetic644251 P-47D-25 LööKplus 1/48 MINIARTSIN648119 Bf 109K-4 ADVANCED 1/48 EduardSIN648120 Fw 190A-7 1/48 EduardBIG ED (February)BRASSIN (February)LöökPlus (February)BIGSIN (February)LööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboardsand STEEL seatbelts for Sea King HAS.1 in 1/48 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: AirfixSet contains:- resin: 3 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details:yes, pre-painted- painting mask: noLööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboardsand STEEL seatbelts for Sea King HAS.5 in 1/48 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: AirfixSet contains:- resin: 4 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details:yes, pre-painted- painting mask: noLööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboard and STEELseatbelts for S.79 in 1/48 scale. Easy to assemble,replaces plastic parts. Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- resin: 1 part- decals: no- photo-etched details:yes, pre-painted- painting mask: noLööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboardand STEEL seatbelts for Hurricane Mk.IIc in 1/48 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: Hobby BosssSet contains:- resin: 2 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details:yes, pre-painted- painting mask: noPRELIMINARY IMAGESPRELIMINARY IMAGESPRELIMINARY IMAGESPRELIMINARY IMAGESINFO Eduard110January 2024Page 111
648933J-35 Draken seat1/48 HasegawaON APPROACHBrassin set - ejection seat for J-35 Draken in 1/48scale. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: HasegawaSet contains:- resin: 3 parts- decals: yes- photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted- painting mask: no648934J-35 Draken wheels Type 11/48 Hasegawa648936P-38J left engine PRINT1/48 TamiyaBrassin set - the undercarriage wheels for J-35 Drakenin 1/48 scale. The set consists of the main wheels anda nose wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: HasegawaSet contains:- resin: 5 parts- decals: yes- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: yesBrassin set - left engine for P-38Jin 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: TamiyaSet contains:- 3D print: 48 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: noINFO Eduard111January 2024Page 112
ON APPROACHFEBRUARY 2024648963Italian WWII torpedo A.1301/48648964TBF/TBM wheels w/smooth tire1/48 Academy648965TBF/TBM wheels w/pattern1/48 AcademyBrassin set - a torpedo fo Italian WW2 aircrafin 1/48 scale. The set consists of 2 torpedoes.Set contains:- resin: 10 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: noBrassin set - the undercarriage wheels for TBF/TBMin 1/48 scale. The set consists of the main wheels anda tail wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: Academy / Accurate MiniaturesSet contains:- 3D print: 4 parts- resin: 5 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: yesBrassin set - the undercarriage wheels forTBF/TBM in 1/48 scale. The set consists ofthe main wheels and a tail wheel. Easyto assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: Academy / Accurate MiniaturesSet contains:- 3D print: 4 parts- resin: 5 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: yesINFO Eduard112January 2024Page 113
ON APPROACHFEBRUARY 2024648966TBM seats PRINT1/48 Academy648967TBF seats PRINT1/48 Academy648968J-35 Draken wheels Type 21/48 HasegawaBrassin set - seats for TBM in 1/48 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: Academy / Accurate MiniaturesSet contains:- 3D print: 3 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: noBrassin set - seats for TBF in 1/48 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: Academy / Accurate MiniaturesSet contains:- 3D print: 3 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: noBrassin set - the undercarriage wheels for J-35 Drakenin 1/48 scale. The set consists of the main wheels anda nose wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: HasegawaSet contains:- resin: 5 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: yesINFO Eduard113January 2024Page 114
ON APPROACH672319Bf 109E rudder pedals early PRINT1/72 Eduard672320Bf 109E rudder pedals late PRINT1/72 Eduard672350Bf 109F engine PRINT1/72 EduardBrassin set - rudder pedals for Bf 109E in 1/72 scale.The set consists of 2 pairs of the pedals. Easy toassemble, replaces plastic parts.Set contains:- 3D print: 4 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: noBrassin 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: noBrassin set - engine for Bf 109F in 1/72 scale.Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 21 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: noFEBRUARY 2024INFO Eduard114January 2024Page 115
ON APPROACH672351L-39 wheels PRINT1/72EduardBrassin set - the undercarriage wheels for L-39in 1/72 scale. The set consists of the main wheelsand a nose wheel. Easy to assemble, replacesplastic parts. Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 3 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: yesFEBRUARY 2024INFO Eduard115January 2024Page 116
ON APPROACH644239F-16D Block 50 LööKplus1/48 KineticCollection 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 seatsFEBRUARY 2024INFO Eduard116January 2024Page 117
ON APPROACHCollection 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 wheels644251P-47D-25 LööKplus1/48 MINIARTFEBRUARY 2024INFO Eduard117January 2024Page 118
SIN648119Bf 109K-4 ADVANCED1/48 EduardCollection of 4 sets for Bf 109K-4 in 1/48 scale.Recommended kit: Eduard- enjgine- propeller- undercarriage legs BRONZE- fuel drop tanksAll sets included in this BIG SIN are available separately,but with every BIG SIN set you save up to 30 %.ON APPROACHFEBRUARY 2024INFO Eduard118January 2024Page 119
SIN648120Fw 190A-71/48 EduardCollection of 4 sets for FW 190A-7 in 1/48 scale.Recommended kit: Eduard- cockpit- undercarriage legs