Focke-Wulf Fw 190 D-9, of Jv 44, "Rot 1" flown by Lt. Heinz "Heino" Sachsenberg, Eduard 1/48 scale.
The Doras of Jagderverband 44 led by Generalleutnant Adolf Galland were arguably the most outrageously painted aircraft of the second world war. A bright red undersurface with prominent white stripes helped to differentiate them from any other piston-engined aircraft in the sky, possibly for self-preservation from poorly trained and trigger-happy antiaircraft gunners more than anything else. At the tail end of the war, the Allies had complete air superiority, and with young, inexperienced gunners shooting at anything that flew, being identified as friendly was crucial. The unit flew Me 262s, with the Doras providing cover during take-off and landing.
I was a bit over building aircraft with all the dangly bits hanging out, and on the ground, rather than in the air where their designers had intended them to be. Remember in the olden days, when kit manufacturers provided a stand, and some even went as far as a clear circular disc to simulate a blurred prop? I know there's some great examples of folks replicating that here on iModeler. I just wanted mine to be "clean", and was inspired by Gary Wickham's method (https://scalespot.com/howto/stands/stands.php).
The Eduard kit did not go together without plenty of fit issues, having been designed to have bits of the innards on display. Retracting the undercarriage was not straightforward at all, but I got there in the end, just don't look too closely! Same for the cannon access hatches on the wing... terrible fit. Decals were also not up to the standard I'd come to expect from Eduard, especially the stencils, many of which had a white "shadow" and were unusable on the dark camouflage areas. Luckily I had some left over wing-walk demarkation decals left over from my Fw 190A build.
Anyway, it turned out OK, and looks good flying over my other aircraft on the ground in my Luftwaffe collection. My intention is for a placard to go on the fairly oversized wooden base.
Thanks for dropping in!
Looks really great, Doug!
Well done!
Hey thanks Spiros!
Great job Doug, it's an eye catching build!
Thanks Bob, appreciate the comment!
Super result, Doug @doug
A good idea to place it on a stand which gives a better view at the underside.
Thanks John!
Great looking Dora. Having it displayed flying over your other Luftwaffe aircraft makes for a pleasing display and shows off its colorful undersides .
Thanks Jay... yeah I didn't want to waste the good looking red & white!
VERY nicely done! I have loved the story of these airplanes and pilots of JV44. You can find my build of Klaus Faber's "Rot 13" here on iModeler. You did a great job of getting the fuselage and wings closed up because that is NO small task to get to look good. I wish Eduard would do a "re-pop" of this airplane like they did with their A models to make it easier to build a model without "all the guts hanging out". Once again, a great job and well done!
Thanks so much Tom, and for pointing me towards your Dora... which is truly amazing!
Beauty
Thanks George!
That's really sharp! I'm still undecided if I want to do one of those red-bottomed birds for my collection - such an unusual scheme!
Do it Greg!