Hartmann...but NOT Hartmann...
Since I was a kid and read about Eric Hartmann, I have wanted to do a build of one of his “Black Tulip” Bf 109's. That said, the more I thought about it, it seemed that EVERYONE has built one of his various airplanes and that the subject was overdone. Then, I found “Messerschmitt Me 109 Part 2 (48-016)” by Lifelike Decals which gave me ability to build a Bf 109 that was Hartmann's, but not Hartmann's.
One of the schemes was “White 1” which was originally flown by Hartmann while with 7/JG52. When he left that unit in December 1944 to take command of 1/JG53, the plane stayed and was handed down to Fw. Eduard Pitzel and then Uffz. Anton Kallmayer. These pilots added the 7/JG52 patch to the nose but did not change/delete any of Hartmann's marking's, including the “Usch”/red heart markings below the cockpit. Trevor and Constable in “The Blonde Knight of Germany”, stated Hartmann would give his “hand-me-down” airplanes to his new/inexperienced wingmen because he felt that the Russian pilots would be leery of engaging “the 109 with the Black Tulip” nose and thus allow them to gain experience in combat. While Kallmayer was flying this airplane, 7th Staffel was operating in the Hungarian area and the broad yellow Vee ID marking added on the left wing.
The kit for this build was Eduard's 1/48 Bf 109 G-14 (82118). The box art shows Hartmann's airplane and has decals for those markings. Enough has been said about this great kit, so there is no need for me to recap any of that here. The build was straightforward with no problems. I used some Eduard after market “fiddly bits” but there is no real need to do that, if you don't want to because the kit parts are plenty good enough. I did make the pitot tube out of two different diameters of Hypo needles because I hate having that part break later on. Likewise, I made the antenna wire out of EZ Line because it is forgiving of bumps. I used Vallejo Air paints and a combination of Lifelike and kit decals.
So, I finally built my “Hartmann 109” that wasn't Hartmann's…
Outstanding work, Tom.
Looks great! Nice work!
Very attractive looking 109…great painting work on it.
That is a great finish, excellent work!
Very very nice Schmit Tom - I love it. Well done! The back story is great 😀
Great 109!
Tom, I think there's a rule somewhere that requires anybody that builds 1/48 scale WWII aircraft to build at least one Hartmann 109. (I think I have two!).
This looks really nice, I especially like the paint work and the fact you didn't overkill it with too much weathering.
I know about the “pull” to build a Hartmann. 109. I held off as long as I could, hahahahahahaaa.
G’day Tom (@trod348),
An interesting story and a great build.
Liked!
Really excellent, my friend. I like it a lot.
High praise coming from you. Thanks Tom.
Excellent job and awesome result, Tom! Great chosen scheme!
A real beauty, Tom @trod348
The black tulip scheme turned out very nice.
Great looking model! Very nice paint job and I like that your yellow V is a different shade than the yellow ost front markings.
I worried at first about that different shade of yellow...actually more pronounced in the photos. Then, I remembered/realized that those markings would have been painted on the airframe at different times and with the "V" being painted in the field, the original paint would not have been available and thus the paint shades would most likely be a bit different. Problem solved.
Nicely accomplished, Tom.
Excellent skills on display with this one, nicely done!
Very nice Tom! I like the yellow V on the left wing, adds some unusual asymmetric color.
Thanks, Toby. I had not seen that marking on a 109 before but had on a Ju 87, but like you thought it was a neat touch. I like that the yellow hues are a bit different since they would have been painted at different times with different batches of yellow paint. As we all know, paint color QC was going down hill at the end of the war.
Yep - she is a real beauty!
Nice job, Tom...that is an awesome 109 with excellent paint and weathering work!
Superb 109! Nicely done.
Excellent build Tom, good history too and as you say you got a Hartmann that isn't 😉 nice one