Bf 109G-4 (G-2), G-6, G-6 late and G-10 skinpack by Emel, March 2010.

Everybody knows the name of Erich Hartmann and his career as the worlds most successfull fighter pilot in the German Luftwaffe during World War II. So, I will not re-tell the story once again. But I will tell another short story, a familiar one to most of us aviation nuts, but it's the one incident that always intrigued me most about Hartmann. "The black devil of the South". The legend of the Black devil started when the famous tulip flower decoration was applied on Hartmann's 109. With this new decoration it became easy for the Russians to identify whenever Hartmann's 109 joined in combat. The design became so notoriously famous among the Soviet Air Forces that as soon as it was seen in the skies over Southern Russia and identified as the 'Black devil of the South', the Soviet pilots would usually just let it be and flee from the scene instead of engaging it, as it was said the 'Black devil' never missed.   

Obviously this reason severely diminished Hartmann's chances for further victories and he later gave up the tulipped 109's for standard camouflaged 109's in order to appear less conspicuous in the air. This procedure reversed the situation and his score began to mount once more in the familiar rate that eventually with 352 confirmed victories earned him the place in the annals of aviation history as the Ace of all aces.

The way this black tulipped 109 from time and again kept diminishing the strength of the VVS front line units in an alarming rate led to a situation where Russians offered a reward of 10,000 rubles to the one who managed to shoot down the black devil. The one Soviet pilot succeeding to shoot down Hartmann would become famous, rich and respected. None of these features however, could provide the desired results as any soviet pilot recognising Hartmann would not dare to challenge him. 

This skin pack includes several 109 versions posing with the famous, or infamous, decoration of the "black devil". Some are historically correct, some less so. Several different 109 variants are included in this pack so, please pay attention when installing the skins so that all skins are placed to the correct folders.

 
Hartmann's 109s
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1. Bf 109G-6 'Yellow 1' flown by Lt. Erich Hartmann, Staffelkapitn of 9./JG 52, October 1943.

This has got to be the most popular and common Hartmann 109 among all skinners, modellers and colour profile artists. It has been recreated numerous times before and holds several versions with varying differences. My version is no exception. The unusual non-standard camouflage pattern on the wings is based on a compilation of information from a B/W photograph as seen in the Jagwaffe series and a scale model from Hyperscale.com that seems to match fairly close to the pattern seen in the photo. Also note the factory pre-marking for the wing national marks. (my interpretation from the photograph. May not be correct.) On the rudder can be seen the 121 victories achieved sometime between September and October 1943. After achieving his 148th victory, Hartmann was awarded the Ritterkreuz on 29 October 1943.

2. Bf 109G-6 late 'White 1' flown by Hptm. Erich Hartmann, Staffelkapitn of 4./JG 52, Budars/Hungary, November 1944.

In October 1944 after relinquishing his command of the famous 'Karaya Staffel' (9./JG 52) in order to rebuild the 4. Staffel of JG 52, Hptm. Erich Hartmann flew this late model 109G-6 decorated with His famous personal emblem the tulip design made of black triangles around the cowling. It should be mentioned that some sources claim that this late war 109G-6 was in reality a G-14. Also note the absence of any victory markings on the rudder. Had there been any, by October 1944 the running number would have exceeded the 300 mark. This skin is based on a colour profile by Claes Sundin.

3. Bf 109G-6 late 'Double Chevron' flown by Hptm. Erich Hartmann, Gruppenkommandeur of I/JG 53, February 1945.

In February 1945 Hartmann served briefly as Gruppenkommandeur of I/JG 53. During that period he flew a winter camouflaged late war Bf 109G-6 (a G-14?) decorated with the same personal markings that had adorned his 109 while with JG 52. The famous tulip flower decoration is slightly different posing with a shorter and simplified non-outlined version. With this 109 Erich Hartmann achieved his only victory not gained while within JG 52, one of the 20 Yak-9s escorting a force of Soviet Boston bombers on 4 February 1945. It was to be his 337th confirmed aerial victory.   

The last 109.

Not much information can be found of the last Bf 109 flown by Erich Hartmann in April-May 1945. An existing B/W photograph shows Hartmann posing at the side of his last 109 and smiling after achieving his 350th victory on 17 April 1945. Unfortunately the picture reveals very little of the aircraft in the backround. The cowl-panel construct suggests it is an Erla-built 109G-10. You can see slightly of the mottled camouflage below the cockpit and that's about it. 

The two versions I did, and which represent Hartmann's last 109 in this pack, are not historical but based on versions I found from both hyperscale.com and modelling madness.com. I cannot confirm the serial number either but since it existed on the models I have opted to use it. I believe that the famous tulip-flower decoration should not exist on the 'real' last 109 of Erich Hartmann as he gave up its use for the reasons explained above. Some sources however, claim that it did re-exist as a morale booster for the younger and inexperienced pilots facing the imminent defeat in April 1945, but I find this explanation a little bit straining, perhaps to gain an excuse for adding the tulips whenever possible due to their high popularity among modellers etc.. I can't be sure though. I believe the version skinned by capt Farrel is the closest to the truth. His version shows a very plain 109G-10 with a late war Grey-Green camouflage with standard markings and nothing much more. Since it has been succesfully skinned that way, I decided to go the wrong way and keep the tulip decoration on the 109G-10 just as it appears on the scalemodels that I used as a basis for my versions. So, there you have it, my excuse for using the decoration once more all the way.

4. Version a: Bf 109G-10 'Double Chevron' flown by Major Erich Hartmann, Gruppenkommandeur of I/JG 52, April/MAy 1945.   

This version shows Hartmann's last 109 with the typical late war Grey/Green (RLM 75/83/76) camouflage pattern. The pattern is a copy I found from modelling madness.com. With this Bf 109G-10 Hartmann achieved his 352nd and last aerial victory on the last day of the war on 8 May 1945, A Soviet Yak fighter. 

5. Version b (optional): Bf 109G-10 'Double Chevron' flown by Major Erich Hartmann, Gruppenkommandeur of I/JG 52, April/MAy 1945.

B version shows the same aircraft with the other late war style camouflage pattern consisting of the Brown/Green (RLM 81/82/76) finish. The Yellowish colour replacing the RLM 76 (Blue/Grey) on the fuselage may be only a primer finish. The Yellow Eastern Front fuselage band has been retained in this version, but it may well be that it did not exist in reality since logically by April-May 1945 the war was no longer fought in the East but rather on German soil. The accuracy of the serial number cannot be confirmed. The whole paintscheme is based on a version found from hyperscale.com. 

6. Bf 109G-4/R6 'White 2' flown by Lt. Erich Hartmann and Uffz. Herbert Meissler from 7./JG 52, Kuban, May 1943.

In May 1943 Hartmann went home to Germany on convalescent leave. In the meanwhile his 109G-4 "White 2" was flown by Uffz. Herbert Meissler. He was flying this aircraft over the Kuban when it was damaged in combat forcing Meissler to make a wheels up landing in enemy territory. Meissler was subsequently captured. the 15 kill marks seen n the rudder are all Hartmann's victories.
  
Notes on the skin & template:
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This pack includes 18 skins. 6 fully marked, 6 swastika only, and 6 blank skins. Slip the BMP files into their proper folders in your Il-2 Sturmovik/Paintschemes/Skins folder. The skins should work the next time you start the game. Happy flying!

The template was redrawn from the original Bf 109 void files. (Updated March 2010) 

The outstanding mechanical layer by Fly-By-Shooter was obtained from Simmers-Paintshop. Many thanks.

These skins are not to be uploaded further without my permission. You may rework these skins for your personal use, and publish them with your missions & campaigns, but not use them in any commercial way. Please do not remove credits. Thank you for downloading these skins.

Emel

Contact me:  emel@elisanet.fi