Two new Bf 109 skins available!

1. Bf 109G-10/U4, "White 3" of 1./JG 52, Schweidnitz, May 1945.

2 Bf 109K-4, "White 8" of 1./JG 52, Southern Germany, May 1945.

Hi there folks!

It's been a while, but here at last some new stuff from me. Skins of two late war 109s, based on a short amateur film footage filmed by US troops in May 1945, few days before the end of war in Europe.

I don't have much information of these aircraft, but what little I could find, I'll try to tell you in short... naah, take a good seat, grab a beer, this is going to take a while

"Sad end of two Messerschmitt 109s"

It is known that the first of this pair of 109s, Bf 109G-10 "White 3", made a clean wheels up landing at Schweidnitz (Swidnica) Upper Silesia (Southern Poland) - not far from the borders of modern time Czech Republic. The pilot of this aircraft remains unknown, but the aircraft is believed to have belonged to 1./JG 52. Most likely this is a one of those cases where the pilot was simply retreating from the Soviet Army to surrender to the western Allied forces.

The second part of the film shows a Bf 109K-4 "White 8" facing a similar fate. This incident happened somewhere in Southern Germany. Again the aircraft is bknown to have belonged to 1./JG 52. The identity of the pilot is not known. In these short films can be seen rare color footage of late war Bf 109's. Both aircraft are wearing typical camouflage paintings of the time.

I have to confess I have no idea whether this film footage is the original unedited version. Comparing the photos from my books and this footage the colors don't seem to differ too much, so they must be at least close to the truth. This short film has been uploaded to You Tube 13.1.2011 by 'JG27Rich'.

See here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLVVRAN48Rc

The you tube video was of a very low resolution. This combined with the already low quality of the film itself made interpretation of the camouflage difficult. Thus the skins look the way I saw them in the film. You may see them differently.

The following short analysis is likewise based on my interpretation. Others may agree or disagree. Colors are a difficult thing, especially when seen from nearly 70 year old film.

Quick color analysis Bf 109G-10/U4 "White 3"

In the first part of the film can be seen a Wiener Neustad build Bf 109G-10/U4, "White 3", W.Nr. unknown; most likely from 1./JG 52, and found by US troops in May 1945. A smooth belly landing. This aircraft might be 15 percent damaged at most and would have been repairable, but it was probably scrapped without the blinking of an eye, like all other Luftwaffe planes were after the war.

The colors are somewhat difficult to identify due to the poor quality of the film, but this first Bf 109 seem to wear a standard RLM 74, 75, 76 camouflage pattern with blotches on the fuselage sides painted with either RLM 74, 82, or 83. The variation of the RLM 76 may be closer to cream, or a standard RLM 76 with a slightly greenish hue to it. I think the RLM 75 color on the front cowl could be a different variation than on the rest of the fuselage. Unevenly undulating leading edges on the wings. I have no clear information whether the underside of the wings were painted or left without paint. The port elevator seems to have some sort of 'whitish' color. This could be just gravel or sand from the belly landing, or more likely beaming sun light reflecting from the surface (unpainted area, or plain RLM 76 painted on the top side?). Spinner hub is black or dark Green (RLM 70?) with a white spiral.

Markings are standard of the time. White outline Balkenkreuze on the fuselage sides, the inner parts painted with RLM 74 or 70. Wing markings can only be verified by comparing the norm. White outline Balkenkreuze on the top side, and either Black crosses, or Black crosses with White outlines, or Black outline crosses on the underside are all acceptable possibilities. The swastika is in plain Black with no white outlines. The code number "White 3" suggests a 1st Staffel aircraft. Probably from 1./JG 52. Werke Nummer may be 610 or 611 block. Some claim to see part of it on the rudder, I don't. This information can be found from "MMP books Bf 109 Late versions by Krzystof Wolowski 2010".

Quick color analysis Bf 109K-4 "White 8"

The second Messerschmitt of the film is not quite so easily analyzed. I spent much time just looking at the paused frames from various distances from my monitor and couldn't quite figure out what's really going on with the colors there, or even what colors are included. There are no clear demarcation lines anywhere to be seen apart from the one separating the upper-underside colors. All upper side colors appear very dark. I'm relying on information by other sources and heavily on my general understanding of the late war LW camouflage colors with my own interpretation added based on the still images seen here.

The 109 on the second part of the film is most likely a late Regensburg built Bf 109K-4 (only a handful were built by Erla plant). Once again the landing looks to be smooth and the aircraft, in other occasions, would have been repaired and returned to combat. This Bf 109K-4, "White 8", W.Nr. unknown, was found by the advancing US troops somewhere in Southern Germany in May 1945. The pilot remains unknown.

In Bf 109 Late versions by MMP books, Krzystof Wolowski says the fuselage was painted almost entirely over with RLM 82 with blotches of RLM 83. I used this information as a basis on which to build my own interpretation. If I look at the fuselage and the tail of the Bf 109K-4 I believe I can see Brown hue's (Braunviolet, RLM 81?), lighter olive green hue's (RLM 82?), very dark, almost Black, Green hue's (RLM 83?). I can also see on the cowling something that in my eyes looks like standard RLM 74 and 75 (77?) colors which continue down all the way to the exhaust panel. There's also a small patch of white area above the supercharger intake scoop, paint chipping? The demarcation line on the lower part of the fuselage is familiar following a standard style for the later Bf 109K-4s. It's difficult to define what colors are used on the wing upperside. It may be RLM 75, 83, or RLM 82, 83, or RLM 82, 81. Difficult to see. The color of the aileron area could be interpreted at least RLM 75, or RLM 82. The other color looks a bit brown but could also be a very dark Green, or Grey? The underside color appears to be normal RLM 76. The tail section seem to be painted down all the way with dense Olive Green and Brown mottle's.

Again markings appear standard of the time. White outlined Balkenkreuze on the fuselage this time placed against a large rectangular patch painted in dark color (RLM 70, or 83?). Wing crosses on upper surfaces are White outline versions, and probably Black Crosses with no outlines on the under side. Swastika is a standard mid-war style Black with a White outline. The code mark "White 8" suggests a 1st Staffel aircraft. Like the earlier Bf 109G-10, this Bf 109K-4 is presumed to have belonged to 1./JG 52.

I made two versions of the Bf 109K-4. Main differencies are the different colors on the wings.

Authors note on the still images

As mentioned earlier these skins are based on the short film by US troops in 1945. The film has been uploaded to You Tube 13.1.11 by 'JG27Rich'. The way I worked was by trying to take screen captions from the still images from the most favourable positions and best color/lighting quality. Saving them as image files. The 109G-10 didn't leave much room for options therefore only two images were taken and used as reference. More possibilities were open with the K-4 as there were more shots available. I took four screen shots, 1 from the first take (7 o'clock position), 3 from 3rd take (9 o'clock position). The film itself was of a very low rez. I made some editing with photoshop to eliminate the disturbing 'tiling' and other artifacts caused by the low rez quality.

While doing this I came, just by off chance, to realize it might be possible to "connect" the three side view images of "White 8" (2, 3, and 4) into a one large panoramic image. Miraculously, and with a little bit of fiddling, it worked. So the fifth and last image you see is not exactly true. You don't see it in the film. I had to increase the sky area, about two thirds. I patched the grass in the foreground, adjusted the brightness and contrast to make the images fit together, and finally merged them into one big mama. So, its kind of a tripart panoramic version showing perhaps the first time ever the entire left fuselage side minus rudder of Bf 109K-4 "White 8" of 1./JG 52, which previously you could only see in parts when watching the film. Pretty neat eh?

Bf 109G-10/U4, "White3"




Bf 109K-4, "White 8"












And the skins. The screenshots are from wip versions, the final versions may vary slightly, but you get the general idea.

Bf 109G-10/U4 "White 3"






Download:
http://www.axis-and-allies-paintworks.com/download.php?view.759

Bf 109K-4 "White 8"






Download:
http://www.axis-and-allies-paintworks.com/download.php?view.760

Happy flying,
Emel

Great work Buddy.

Cool stuff there!

Very Nice!

Excellent job!

ATB
Armin

Fantastic job,makes you wonder why all the fuss about these 2048 skins, when this looks so much better.

Thanks guys, greatly appreciated

What I would actually be interested to see is the true color option available for all versions of Sturmovik. Would eliminate the need of Bright... I think