1/48 Bf 109E Gallery

Gallery Article by John Doerr on May 14 2010

 

This collection was never planned, at least not initially.  It just kind of grew on it’s own for a while then blossomed.  I love painting my models…that is one of the most enjoyable aspects of the hobby for me.  

The BF 109E series seems to have carried the widest varieties of paint schemes for its time.  As I collected and studied a great many profiles, I knew I wanted to replicate more of them.  Having a more or less standard airframe to display the variations is what got me started.

I used mostly the Tamiya kits but the last one, Black 3 of JG 27 is a Hasegawa release. The kits were built basically OOB but the kit seats were replaced with the resin True Detail seats.  The idea was to show the variation in camouflage schemes over time.  1/48 scale was chosen because it was big enough for me to paint comfortably, yet small enough to not take over the display shelves.  

I used Model Master enamel RLM 02 and 65.  Tamiya black green acrylic was used for the 70.  Floquil Pullman Green enamel portrayed the 71, having been informed that it was the closest out-of-the-bottle match, with the exception of Black 8 of JG 27.

The gallery photos are in a time sequence, starting out in September 1939 and running through to1941.

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White 15 was assigned to 2.IJG 1 in September 1939.  I have found no information on the pilot.  The 70/71 scheme was carried to the bottom of the fuselage as a ground-based defensive coloration.  Note the oversized crosses and the 65 underside.

White 5 was an E-3, W.Nr 1244 flown by Uffz. Litjens, with III/JG 53 during the winter of 1939-40.  It carries an unusual scheme where patches of 65 are applied to the upper surface of the wings and a mix of 02/70/71 are applied to 65 already painted on the fuselages sides

Chevron triangle was flown by Major Werner Mölders. This E-3 scheme was carried in May of 1940.  There is some uncertainty whether or not it carried the Pik As emblem of III/JG 53.  The 109s of JG 53 had the entire upper surfaces and fuselage sides painted in 02.  RLM 70 was painted on the fuselage spine with patches of 70 on the wings.

White 3 was with JG 55 in Norway in October of 1940.  The pilot and Gruppe were not listed.  It was painted in the standard air superiority scheme of 02/71/65, with the fuselage sides painted in 65.

White 1 is an E-7 based at Calais in the winter of 1940-41.  It was flown by Oblt. Werner Machold of 7.JG2.  It has the standard 02/71 with mottling down the fuselage sides in both colors.

White 12 is a Bf 109E-7 flown by Hauptmann Joachim Müncheberg, 7.JG 26 in Yugoslavia, April, 1941.  The Hauptmann and his staffel went on their own odyssey before returning to north-west France and being reunited with the rest of the Geschwader.  They were sent to Sicily then to the Balkans.  The scheme is the is 74/75/76 pattern, which became the standard scheme for Luftwaffe fighters during and after the battle of Britain.  The first shot in the series of white 12 is the 76 underside.

Black 8 of JG 27 is probably the most widespread, or at least best known, of images of the BF 109E series.  It is a Bf 109E-7 Trop, flown by  Oblt. Werner Schroer  of 1./JG 27, Libya, April 1941.  The scheme is 78/79 with splotches of 80 on the tip surfaces.  Gunze-Sanyo paints were used exclusively on this model.

Certainly the most colorful of the whole bunch is the Black 5 Bf 109E-4, Stab II/JG 54, Romania, 1941.  I used the Aeromaster set which does issue a cautionary disclaimer that there is some controversy about the markings.  It is painted in 02/71 with stripes of 71 on the sides and 02 filling in as splotches between the stripes.  It had a yellow nose, rudder and fuselage stripe.  Yellow was also applied to the top and bottom of the wing trailing edges and underside of the wig tips.

The last of the gallery is Black 3 of JG 27.  I used one of the Hasegawa kit-supplied schemes.  It is an E-4 Trop flown by 2./JG 27.  No other information is known.  I interpreted the kit profiles that the plane had been originally in 02/71/65 but had been repainted several times.  The underside was painted in 76, as per the instructions.  I don’t know if this is accurate or not.  The topside of the stabilizers appear to be in the original hard-edged 02/71 while the top side of the wings appeared to be repainted with a soft-edged 02/71.  The nose looks like it has been repainted with 71, perhaps over-painting a yellow nose from the BoB or the Balkans campaign.  The fuselage sides appeared to have been painted in 02 then 71 to cover over a previous number, then the black 3 applied.  

All in all it was a fun project.  While I do not feel the individual models would be contest material the object was to enjoy the painting and displaying the many schemes worn by the Bf 109.  Next up will be 109Ds and E-1s, not to mention the F, G series and Ks.

John Doerr

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Photos and text © by John Doerr