Reviewed by Steven "Modeldad" Eisenman
 

Eagle Strike Productions' Battle of Britain Luftwaffe Aces Pt.II
is available online from Squadron.com

 

FirstLook

Following up on Rob Baumgartner’s review of Part I, we now have Part II, which covers the time period from approximately August 1940 to November 1940. The set includes two fully camouflaged Emils and two yellow nosed aircraft.  One of the markings is a most interesting variation on a mouth on the cowling. 

But unlike Part I, which appears to have recommended the Hasegawa F-14A/ F-14D Tomcats for modeling, this set correctly recommends the Hasegawa BF-109E 1/32. 

The colors are well printed and, on my sample, the registration was quite good. The carrier film appears to be very thin. Stencil data is included and the printing of the words is crisp and legible. There are also VDM decals for the propeller blades. 

All aircraft represented in these decals were painted in 02/71/65.

Bf 109E-3, “White 2”, 4./JG51 – Ofw. Hans Illner 

This appears to be the be the aircraft Illner used in mid-August, after his third victory.  What is most unique about it, is that Illner had a set of bright red lips holding a cigarette painted on the front of the under-cowl after his first victory.  According to Vol. Two Section 2 of the Jagdwaffe series, the cigarette should have the date of Illner’s first kill, 5 July 1940, printed on it, rather than the brand name.  The Eagle Strike decal does not have this.  Also the Jagdwaffe volume reports the smoke from the cigarette as gray and black. The decal is printed as red and white.  This could come down to photo interpretation. 

As to other markings carried by this aircraft, Illner had the name of his girlfriend, Gretel, painted on the fuselage as well as a pair of dice above the name and a yellow clover below. 

The aircraft also carried the weeping bird emblem of II./JG 51.  At first look, it appears that the legend under the bird is “Gott strafe Bngland”.  But, upon closer examination, England is spelled with an “E” not a “B”.

Bf 109E-1, “Brown 2”, 6./JG54 

This aircraft does not seem to be identified with any particular pilot, and it does not appear to have any Abschuss bars on the rudder, so I’m not sure how this is the aircraft of a “Luftwaffe Ace”. 

The aircraft displays the interesting “cross-hatching” scheme that was used on a number of Emils during the Battle of Britain.  The Eagle Strike sheet does not indicate the color of the cross-hatching, implying that it is RLM 71, filled in with 02.  According to Vol. Two Section 4 of the Jagdwaffe series, the cross-hatching was RLM 70 filled in with 03.  Looking at the photos of the aircraft in question, I would agree that the cross hatching is darker than the upper surface camouflage. 

This aircraft was also quite interesting in that the gun troughs were painted in yellow.  Based on the picture in the Jagdwaffe volume, they appear quite clean.

Bf 109E-7, “White 1”, 7./JG2 – Staffelkapitäin Oblt. Werner Machold 

An interesting marking on this aircraft, the Staffel badge on the yellow cowling, is also the most problematic for those who want it correct.  Which way is the hand oriented with the thumb pressing down on the hat?  At least on the left side of the cowling. 

The decals, and the profile in Combat Colours Number 1, “The Messerschmitt on the Western Front – 1940”, by Peter Scott (given as a reference on the decals’ instruction) show the knuckles facing forward, with the wrist end spanning the 12 to 1 o’clock position. Vol. Two section 4 of the Jagdwaffe series (which is not referenced on the instruction sheet) shows the hand totally reversed, knuckles facing aft with the wrist spanning the 11 to 12 o’clock position.  There is a picture of Machold’s aircraft in the Jagdwaffe volume, and I would say, subject to all the caveats about interpreting photos, that the knuckles do appear to face aft.  The decals themselves, do not give you the option of reversing the emblem; the knuckles only face forward on the left side. 

Another point, which should be noted, is that the Abschuss were painted on the camouflage on the rudder, with the yellow applied around them such that they appear to be boxed in.  The yellow on the rudder appears, in the picture, to be quite rough and weathered, with bits of the camouflage showing through.

Bf 109E-4, “Black Chevron”, 1./JG26 – Hptm. Rolf Pingel  

This aircraft of Gruppenkommandeur Pingel is most well known for the five flags which adorned the side of his aircraft, just below the cockpit canopy.  They represented the five countries in which Pingel saw action. From aft forward they are – Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, France and The United Kingdom. 

Similar to the placement of Machold’s Abschuss markings, Pingel’s were also applied on the camouflage on the rudder and the yellow was applied above and below, giving the impression of a band on the rudder on which the markings were placed. 

The instructions only show the left side of this aircraft and make no mention of any Stammkennzeichen (factory delivery codes).  However, both the Combat Colours book and the Jagdwaffe volume note that on the right side the last two letters, “??+LV”, were visible under the camouflage over-spray. 

One other note is the blue band(s) on the spinner.  The decals and the Jagdwaffe book show only one blue band with the base plate being in green (70?).  The Combat colors show two blue band, one of them being the base plate being as blue.

This set of decals show at least two things. First, having reference books at hand can either be a curse (damn, anal retentive rivet counter) or a blessing (now I can get it correct), depending on your point of view. Second, interpretation of pictures will always be an issue in modeling. 

Having said that, these are a nice set of decals for those into 1/32 scale.  Whether or not there was a date on the cigarette should not prevent a modeler from putting bright red lips on Emil.

Recommended

Thanks to Eagle Strike Productions for the review sample.
 

Review Copyright © 2004 by Steven "Modeldad" Eisenman
Page Created 15 October, 2004
Last updated 15 October, 2004

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