Fw 190 D-9 'Bodenplatte'

[stona]

After the plains of Africa something a bit cooler. Theo Nibel's Fw 190 D-9, bought down by a bird strike (Partridge) during Operation Bodenplatte on 1st January 1945. Nibel made a good forced landing and in so doing presented the British with their first intact Fw 190 Dora.

I'm starting with this, my last Hasegawa Dora kit.



This aeroplane was much photographed, particularly the fuselage, but this hasn't prevented differing interpretations from the experts.

Crandall:



JaPo:



I don't see the yellow in the known images and am tending towards Crandall's interpretation at the moment.

I only know of one picture showing the wings in Phil Butler's 'War Prizes' and then not very well. Since the British report made a big deal of the 'brighter green' colour on the upper surfaces I will probably go with two greens, RLM 82 and RLM 83. It will make a nice contrast with the fuselage and its my model anyway.....so there

I'm hoping to make a start soon!

Cheers

Steve

 

[flyjoe180]

Nice one Steve, interesting interpretations from those two artists. Even the model box is different.

 

[tr1ckey66]

You gotta love the 190 and the Dora is a cool, sleek looking fighter.

How many 1/32 190s have you completed? How many Doras have you completed????!!!! Must be a few, I remember at least 3!

Doesn't matter anyway because I could never get bored of such a superb looking fighter and I know this model will look the nuts when complete.

How are you building it - wheels up?

Weirdly my house suffered a bird strike today and I had to dispose of a starling which had struck the back window (didn't have to force land the house though).

Cheers

Paul

 

[treyzx10r]

Looking forward to seeing this build Steve,planning to do a RC version of this in the near future so its a bonus build for me,thanks!

 

[Polux]

Interesting subject Steve.

"Good luck" with it

 

[monica]

Looking forward to seeing this one Steve, :D

sure you will do a great job of her, and i like the box art without the yellow,maybe just me, :rolleyes:

 

[stona]

Am I missing something? Time for the photo-interpretation game.

According to the JaPo publication the yellow rudder and under cowling "can be clearly observed on the photographs taken at the RAE".

Here's one of those photos.



"Clearly observed"? Not by me, or Jerry Crandall. Can anyone see a yellow rudder or cowling here? Incidentally the Crashed Enemy Aircraft Report (CEAR), which goes into considerable detail, bearing in mind that this was the first intact D-9 to fall into allied hands, doesn't mention any yellow markings. CEARs usually (though not always) do, if such markings were present.

At least I know that the cockpit is RLM 66

Cheers

Steve

 

[spanner570]

No yellow, but I see the souvenir hunters have had a field day........"Can we have the wings back, please?"

 

[stona]

No yellow, but I see the souvenir hunters have had a field day........"Can we have the wings back, please?"

I'm sure they were undergoing serious analysis by the boffins at the RAE

The airframe was not badly looted before it was shipped to the UK which is lucky, considering the importance of an intact example of a new Luftwaffe fighter to the Allies. First on the scene were some 'armed civilians', presumably from the Belgian resistance, followed by a jeep with some MPs. Nibel did have time to fire a couple of flares into the aircraft before he was arrested, but they failed to set the aircraft alight.

Cheers

Steve

 

[tr1ckey66]

I could possibly believe a yellow under cowl, but I'm not convinced, and the rudder is a definite no. I think you do right in taking Jerry Crandall's aircraft profile.

Cheers

Paul

 

[john i am]

Not Nibels aircraft but no yellow on this either Steve View attachment 82596

 

[john i am]

View attachment 82597

More ref:hope this is helpful cheers JohnView attachment 82598

View attachment 82599

 

[treyzx10r]

Not seeing the 'yellow' either. Nor a shade or variation in the photo to indicate a color difference on the rudder at all. The exhaust staining shows nicely the air flow shapeing it.

 

[stona]

Thanks chaps. I think I'll leave the yellow off. Like Paul I think it might just be on the lower cowling but even that is 50/50 at best. The clincher for me is that there is no mention of it in the CEAR which makes a point of mentioning the unusually bright green colour on the wings.

The yellow would be unusual. Of the dozens of profiles I have in various books, just about every 'Dora' photographed, only a handful have this feature.

Cheers

Steve

 

[stona]

I finally bit the bullet and assembled the RB harness.

It comes with a fret of PE for the various accoutrements and some pre-cut paper for the belts themselves. They have to be threaded to assemble the four harness parts. There's no getting away from the fact that it is an extremely fiddly business. You need good tweezers, a good magnifier and plenty of patience! When complete I think the harness looks a lot better than a pre-painted PE version.



I should be able to pop these into the cockpit tomorrow.

Cheers

Steve

 

[treyzx10r]

Steve that harness looks amazing,my eyes hurt just thinking of the assembly process you went thru!

 

[tr1ckey66]

Hi Steve

Very nice harness - the RB sets are very good and I agree much better than PE belts. I think the HGW harnesses are a little better but it is marginal.

Quick question: When did the Luftwaffe start using the green synthetic belts? I suspect it's another complicated subject and depends on aircraft/place of manufacture/refit etc,etc but thought if there's anyone who can shed a bit more light on the subject...

Cheers

P

 

[stona]

I'll have a look at the HGW harnesses. I do like the RB ones but they are fiddly to make.



I use a PVA type glue (Gator's Grip), despite the advice, and have had no problem with it

I'm not sure that the Luftwaffe ever went over entirely to the green synthetic belts (sometimes wrongly referred to as 'Orlon', a name which didn't exist until 1950!). They appeared late in the war and must have entered the RLM's supply chain at this time. I'm not sure if anyone knows which manufacturers received them, or what aircraft they were fitted to. I've used them in a Ta152 and an Me 262 in the recent past simply because I could

Cheers

Steve

 

[stona]

Here's the harness in the cockpit which is in turn dry fitted in the fuselage (hence the tape).



I don't add a lot of after market stuff to my models these days but I do think a cockpit without a harness, particularly in the larger scales, looks naked. It is an additional expense, somewhere between 5 and 10 quid usually, but for me it's worth it.

Cheers

Steve

 

[flyjoe180]

They look great I think. Nice work Steve.