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John Clark
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1/48 Hasegawa Bf 109G-4/R6 Trop

January 19, 2014 · in Aviation · · 16 · 2.3K

This project started out as a Bf 109G-2 flown by Theodor Weissenberger of JG 5. The theory was that it was originally a Trop with a 78/79 factory finish that had 70/white applied over it. I applied the 78/79 finish but when I really started looking at the photos I am no longer convinced Weissenberger's yellow 4 was finished in 78/79 but rather was 74/75/76 over which the 70/white was applied. The kannonbootes were already applied as well so I needed a G-2/R6 candidate.

Mr. G.R. Morrison came to my rescue when he suggested a G-4/R6 flown by Franz Schiehs. I had to convert my G-2 to a G-4. Mr Morrison graciously supplied me the wing bulges and the umbrella mounts that I had sanded off.

The markings from come Eaglecals and the paint is Tamiya. There is much conjecture as to what this aircraft really looked like and after looking at many different opinions here is what I decided on. I did the factory 78/79 finish. There is a portion of the fuselage under the black 1 that has been repainted either due to overpainting a previous marking or some damage repair. I went with a slightly different tan color but other opinions include grey, light blue, and even green.

The upper wings and tail had a dark camouflage field applied. I used an olive green color. There is some question about the white wing tips so I compromised and painted them on the bottoms only. The rudder and cowling bottom is yellow.

The figure came from my parts box. It's a resin cast and I have no idea who made it but it's the only Luftwaffe pilot I have seen with the pants legs outside the boots like in Schiehs' photo. I added the arms and head from my parts box as well.

Special thanks to G.R. Morrison for his help on this project.

Reader reactions:
6  Awesome

8 additional images. Click to enlarge.


16 responses

  1. The display/build came out great...nice work.

  2. Nice clean build. Interesting color scheme and paint application, fine job.

  3. Really nice 109. Like the desert schemes on these a lot. Good job John.

  4. Real fine finish. I like the figure as well

  5. Good job on the diligent research-your professional skill set no doubt came in handy. Very well done.

  6. Thank you sir. In this case I pretty much hit a road block until Mr. Morrison came to my rescue. I was having all kinds of difficulty until he made the Schiehs recommendation. It all fell into place after that including the figure that has a good resemblance to Schiehs. I didn't even remember having that one in my stash.

  7. John,
    Tis is excellent and I have to agree that the scheme is very nice. It goes a little different than what is normally seen and I really like it. Your figure painting looks great/

  8. that's a beauty john

  9. Fantastic build, and I'm really impressed with your presentation with original photos. Congratulations!

  10. Thank you, Doug.

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