Tag: Fw 190

Tamiya Focke-Wulf 190A-2 of Oberleutnant Egon Mayer in 1/72 Scale

Egon Mayer fought entirely in the West.  He was credited with his first victory, an MS 406, during the Battle of France.  His JG 2 “Richthofen” fought in the Battle of Britain and remained on the Channel Front.  Mayer scored steadily against the RAF, and was awarded the Knight’s Cross in August 1941 after his 21st victory.

As the American presence grew, Mayer was promoted to Hauptman and commanded III./JG 2 as Gruppenkommandeur.  He identified the nose armament of the American heavies as a defensive weak point, and developed the head-on attack which became the preferred Luftwaffe interception tactic.  On 23NOV42 he was credited with two B-17’s and a B-24 using these tactics.

On 01JUL43 Meyer was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of JG 2.  He continued to lead his pilots on interceptions of American heavy bomber raids and was able to score consistently.  On 02MAR44 he was leading an attack on a B-17 formation when he was shot down and killed by an escorting P-47.  His final tally reached a total of 102, and included 51 Spitfires and 26 heavy bombers.

The model represents the Fw 190A-2 of Oberleutnant Egon Mayer of 7./ JG 2, at  Theville France, June 1942.

Hasegawa Focke-Wulf 190A-5 of Oberleutnant Max Stotz in 1/72 Scale

Max Stotz began his aviation career in 1935 in the Austrian Air Force, and continued on in the Luftwaffe after the Anschluss, Germany’s annexation of Austria.  He scored his first aerial victory, an RAF Blenheim on 05NOV39.   He continued to score against the British and French during the Battle of France.  His unit was transferred to support the invasion of Yugoslavia, but he didn’t add to his tally again until the invasion of Russia.

Stotz continued to add to his score while flying against the Soviets, being awarded the Oak Leaves for his 100th victory on 30OCT42.  One month later he was credited with ten victories in a single day.  His luck ran out on 19AUG43 when he was shot down by a Yak-9.  He successfully took to his parachute but came down in Soviet territory and was not seen again.  He was credited with a total of 189 victories.

The model depicts Stotz’ Fw 190A-5 of 5. / JG54, Russia, Spring 1943 in a field-applied camouflage.  I interpreted the upper surface colors as being 02 / 79 / 70 / 83 based upon what I saw in the photograph, my best guess.

Hasegawa Focke-Wulf 190A-5 of Leutnant Josef Wurmheller in 1/72 Scale

Josef “Sepp” Wurmheller opened his account during the “Phoney War”, a Fairey Battle on 30SEP39.  His fortunes were mixed during the Battle of Britain, where he claimed four further victories but was shot down himself on three occasions.  His most successful day was during the Dieppe Raid on 19AUG42, when he was credited with seven victories over four sorties.

The majority of Wurmheller’s victories were scored in the West, 93 in all including 56 Spitfires and 21 four-motor bombers.  He was briefly deployed to the East where he added 9 Soviet aircraft to his total.  He was dogfighting with Allied fighters on 22JUN44 when he collided with his wingman, both German pilots were killed.  Josef Wurmheller’s final score was 103.

The model represents the Fw 190A-5 of Josef Wurmheller while assigned to  9. / JG2, France, July 1943.

Hasegawa Focke-Wulf 190A-8 of Major Franz Eisenach in 1/72 Scale

Franz Eisenach scored his first victory on 08NOV42, a Russian-flown P-40.  He continued to score steadily, his best day was on 14SEP44, when he claimed five Il-2 Sturmoviks and four Pe-2s.  He was wounded seriously enough to require hospitalization on three occasions – once while crash landing after being shot down by Russian fighters, another bailing out wounded after his aircraft was hit by flak, and lastly after being injured during a bombing raid on his airfield.  Eisenach survived the war, and was credited with a total of 129 victories, all in the East. The model depicts the Fw 190A-8 of Major Franz Eisenach, Gruppenkommandeur of I. / JG54, at Schrunden, Courland, November 1944.

Hasegawa Focke-Wulf 190A-8 of Oberst Walther Dahl in 1/72 Scale

Walther Dahl claimed his first victory on the opening day of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union.  He continued to score against the Soviets, his total reaching 51 victories by July 1943, when he was assigned to the West as Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 3.  He successfully made the transition from East to West, although he was shot down by RAF Spitfires on 17AUG43 had had to make a belly landing in his Bf 109.  The Luftwaffe became more and more desperate to stem the flow of Allied bombers, and Dahl took command of JG 300 in June, 1944.  JG 300 was formed as a special unit whose pilots were to close in on American bomber formations to point-blank range, ramming their targets if necessary.  While these tactics were sometimes successful, they were also costly to the Luftwaffe, especially if Allied escort fighters were present.  Dahl was one of several prominent Jagdflieger who locked horns with Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, being relieved of command on 30NOV44 for refusing Göring’s order to intercept an American raid in poor weather, only the intervention of Adolf Galland preventing his court martial.  Dahl was quickly reinstated and promoted, and continued to fly combat missions until the end of the war.  He was credited with his last victory, a P-51 Mustang on 26APR45, bringing his total to 128.

The model depicts Dahl’s Fw 190A-8 of Stab /JG 300, at Jüterbog, Germany, December 1944.

Hasegawa Focke-Wulf Fw 190D-9 of JG 6 in 1/72 Scale

Focke-Wulf Fw 190D-9 W.Nr. 211934 was assigned to Stab II./ JG 6 and was surrendered to American forces at Fürth, Germany.  It was photographed extensively there and so is one of the better documented Doras.

This model was built from the old 1976 issue Hasegawa kit.  The kit has been superseded by subsequent molds but I had it on hand and decided to update it as best I could just for the fun of it.  Decals are from an Aeromaster sheet and performed flawlessly.

Hasegawa Focke-Wulf Fw 190D-9 “Brown 4” of 7./JG 26 in 1/72 Scale

Focke-Wulf Fw 190D-9 W.Nr. 500647, better known as “Brown 4” is a popular subject with modelers due to its unusual camouflage and being fitted with the tail assembly designed for the Ta 152.  The camouflage has been interpreted in a variety of ways.  The source photographs were taken at Celle in April 1945.  They are in black and white, and show Brown 4 missing her cowling panels and canopy.  My model most closely follows the profile in the JaPo Fw 190D volume, but with RLM 75 under the wings which I feel is a better match for the photograph.  This is the Hasegawa kit with a resin tail and decals from AML.

Tamiya Focke-Wulf Fw 190D-9 of Oberleutnant Hans Dortenmann in 1/72 Scale

Hans Dortenmann received Werk Nummer 210003 in September 1944, one of the first Doras issued.  He flew this aircraft until JG 26 surrendered to the British at Flensburg on 06 May 1945.  Dortenmann destroyed his “trusty crate” by throwing a grenade into the cockpit rather than see it captured.  He was credited with 39 aerial victories, including 18 in Werk Nummer 210003, making him the highest scoring Luftwaffe ace on the Dora.

The model depicts the aircraft as it appeared during February – March 1945.  Dortenmann was issued this Dora while with 12./JG 54, after several reassignments and reorganizations Dortenmann commanded the same men as part of III./JG 26 when the war ended.  The aircraft markings also evolved along with the organizational changes, earlier iterations saw 210003 camouflaged with RLM 75 / 83 uppersurfaces (repainted to RLM 82 / 83 in the field), formation number changed from red to black 1, early style canopy replaced with the blown style, and vertical tail painted yellow to allow easier identification by his Staffel.  This is the Tamiya kit with EagleCals Decals.