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George R Blair Jr
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Tamiya 1/48 Me-109E-3 in Romanian Colors

August 3, 2020 · in Aviation · · 17 · 2.3K


I found some really interesting decals for a Romanian Me-109E-3 that led to this build. These planes were former Luftwaffe planes that were handed over to the Romanians. They repainted the planes in their own colors and markings. I used a really nice set of decals from RB Productions that included decals for 4 machines. The information that came along with the decals was quite complete, and pointed out that the previous Luftwaffe camouflage and markings sometimes faintly showed through the green paint on the wings. I wanted to try to replicate this. In addition, two of the planes feature markings that had the Romanian roundels placed asymmetrically on the wings. In the name of simplicity, I decided to keep everything symmetric.

I knew from the start that my knowledge and build would never rival the other builders of 109s seen on iModeler, so I wanted this 109 to be a basic out-of-the-box build. The kit is awesome, and included a pilot, which I normally don't use, but I thought might be cool for this build. After I painted my aviator, I decided he looked a little clunky and used a set of Eduard seatbelts instead of a simulated human.

I wanted to depict a 109 that had been fairly recently repainted in Romanian colors, so I kept the fading, weathering, streaks, and so on restrained. I used Tamiya and AK Real Colors throughout the build.

This is the end result of a WIP post I have been doing for the last week. If you are interested in seeing any of the techniques used in this build, please visit the full description in the WIP Group. Thanks to everyone who made comments and offered suggestions during this build. Getting info and tips from other builders is what this is all about. Thanks. Everyone stay safe.

Reader reactions:
10  Awesome

9 additional images. Click to enlarge.


17 responses

  1. Great job George. Nice and oddball, just howse I likes 'em

  2. This is a very nice looking machine, one I have not seen before... I enjoyed watching the progress in your build journal. You hit a home run here my friend. I pressed the "liked" button too.

  3. Hi George.

    This 109 looks really good ! Do you know about which year the transfer went from Germany to Romania ? I am asking because evidently a multitude of Fighter aircraft sent to the East Front had been previously Been painted in Luftwaffe Afrika Colors. Perhaps that may have Been the underlying colour you were referring to ? This Reference from the Paul Allen collection Fw-190 I believe.

    Your other models look beautiful. I am too looking for display areas ! My garage is next ! and I am learning a lot.

    Thank you.

    • If I may, according to the book, "Romanian Fighter Colours 1941-1945", "In December 1939, Aeronautica Regala Romana placed an order for 50 Bf 109E fighters with Bayerische Flugzuewerke. The first eleven aircraft arrived during the spring of 1940 and the remaining 30 came a year later..."

  4. Thanks George (@blackadder57), Louis (@lgardner), and Bernard (@bernardbedeur). I love unusual paint schemes like this, and the info you all provided show these planes had an interesting story also. I got interested in Romanian planes after reading a book on the B-24 raid on the refineries at Ploesti in WW2. According to the info that came with the decals, Bf-109E-3 No. 37 is from Grupul 7 Vanatoare, Pipera-Budapest, Spring 1941. The info on the Bf-109 in Wikipedia agrees with George's reference. The decal instructions also mention that the splinter camouflage from the Luftwaffe showed through the green paint. That doesn't rule out North African colors, but I suspect these 109s were probably painted in the standard Luftwaffe European camouflage. George's (@blackadder57) sources may have better info than I have.

    • Quite right - the first deliveries were direct from Regensburg from the contract No25286 of December 2nd, with the first planes arriving March 17th. It was not until around Operation Barbarossa when the Romanian planes changed roundels for crosses that there may have been some "african" 109's amongst the delivered planes as there were some E-7's in the next batch, but to the best of my knowledge that was not untill the first 109G-2 arrived. So in my humble opinion the Emils were all "european", but the G-2's were Trop versions. I shall be very happy to see information on some of the Emils being Trop versions. - Sorry this reply is getting far too long, so I'll stop here.

      • Thanks, Erik (@airbum). I suspected you might have some info on this. I usually have just enough info to build a specific model, but I figured you would have the indepth info on these 109s. Very interesting, and complicated, period in history.

  5. Very interesting all. I have been working on the chronologies of The nation building Process that emerged on nov. 11 1918. And after that.

    That being the declared Birthday of The many nations that emerged from the Breakup of the former German, Austro-Hungarian and Romanov dynasties.

    Romania is a piece of this puzzle.

    Thanks for this information. A direct order from Germany Of these planes would suggest a close alliance from a certain point in time. The machine artefacts point the way... sometimes.

    Thanks guys.

    • You are right, Bernard (@bernardbedeur). This region and its history is very complex. I taught history for 20 years and the changes in many parts of history, especially as a result of WW1 and the time period between the world wars, is very complicated and difficult to understand. Kudos to you for trying to make sense of it.

  6. Looks great to me!

  7. That's an excellent and out of the ordinary 109 George @gblair!
    A beautiful build I had the joy to follow along.
    Congraulations!

  8. An excellent build with a nice scheme, George.
    Well done.

  9. It was a real joy to follow the "work-in-progress" GB topic on this build George, and it turned out very fine indeed. I will push the LIKE-button in a second 🙂

  10. Nice model, George. I enjoy seeing Axis allied German planes. Always interesting stories to go along with them.

  11. Smashing build ! There are some interesting aftermarket decals available that are of high quality with generous variations.

  12. Turned out great, and made for some nice history conversation! Can't get a better build than that!

  13. Thanks, Greg (@gkittinger). You are right, it's all about the conversation.

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