Author Topic: Fw 190A-8 - GruppenStab - I./JG 301 (Read 904 times)

Bruno · « **on:** May 06, 2006, 01:31:44 PM »

This aircraft, 'Black Chevron 4', was photographed by American GIs. The exact location of the photographs is unknown. Some sources list the photos being taken by the 6th Armored division, which would mean some where in central / southern Germany. Others sources list the airfield as Hagenow. The date most associated with the photos is April/May '45.

I./JG301 was stationed at Hagenow 10 - 30 Mai '45.

Some interesting aspects of this scheme is the reversed RV bands. Instead of the standard yellow/red RV bands this aircraft is red/yellow. This seems to be unique to I./JG301.

The aircraft photographed shows just 2 x 2cm cannon. In Squadron Signal Walk Aorund book it lists the aircraft as belonging to Stab I./JG 301 but list the plane type as a Fw 190F-8. JG 301 didn't have any Fw 190F-8s.

Scan from SS Walk-around:

In Jadgwaffe Vol. 5 Sec 3 'Defending the Reich' the same photograph is captioned as Stab I./JG 301 but as a Fw 190A-8. Given the gruppe this aircraft almost certainly as Fw 190A-8.
From 'Defending the Reich':

A few other scans:

and a profile scanned from 'Defending the Reich':

Bruno · « **Reply #1 on:** May 06, 2006, 01:32:35 PM »

Here are some raw images of my version of this plane. I still need to adjust a few things but there's enough there for those interested to offer a critique:

Bruno · « **Reply #2 on:** May 10, 2006, 10:17:32 AM »

Updated screens:

Krusty · « **Reply #3 on:** May 10, 2006, 10:28:03 AM »

It looks technically well made, but for me it's not flashy enough

Guppy35 · « **Reply #4 on:** May 10, 2006, 10:29:35 AM »

Looks great Bruno. I like the more simplfied schemes that the 190s wore towards the end.

Krusty · « **Reply #5 on:** May 10, 2006, 10:33:28 AM »

Can anybody explain the late-era phenomenon with half-unpainted wing undersides? It seems like it would take MORE time and effort to mask off the areas NOT painted, than it would to just paint the entire thing (you know it was painted at least once, so why did they do this?).

I've seen that on Doras and maybe a 152 or so as well. I never knew why.

Bruno · « **Reply #6 on:** May 10, 2006, 10:54:40 AM »

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It looks technically well made, but for me it's not flashy enough

I prefer more representative schemes. For later war planes you will only get 74/75/76 or 81/82/76(84) (or similiar like 82/83/76(84)) from me. So, I don't do 'flash'

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Looks great Bruno. I like the more simplfied schemes that the 190s wore towards the end.

Thanks Dan,

I need to work on fading the transitions between colors. I will probrably dull down the RV band as well.

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Can anybody explain the late-era phenomenon with half-unpainted wing undersides?

See this thread:

Half painted Fw 190 wing undersides - the purpose?

Eric Lager (author of Focke-Wulf Fw 190D Camouflage & Markings) wrote:

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Hello all of you

The purpose of half-painted undersurfaces is twice , save material and save time during the production process . This is clearly explained in our book dedicated to Fw 190Ds camouflages and markings .

On summer 1944 , Focke Wulf did test on 50 production machines (Fw 190A ) to test the efficency of this process at Sorau .

If the purpose is clear the reasons of this process are clear also .

First there was no need at that time to hide aircraft viewed from ground , as for several months the Luftwaffe turned to defensive actions , so underwing painting was not a priority .

Seconds the breakdown of the communications ( this was the major effect of strategic bombing , ie Allied reports in summer 1945 ) make supply in raw material more difficult , so anything that could be save had to be saved . For instance , you can ee several wodden part in the list of pieces of FW 190D-9.

Thirds the lifetime of a fighter at the end of the war was very short , please have a look to J.Y.Lorant & R.Goyat book dedicated to JG300(volume II) , and you will have several examples when pilots bailed out their machines and picked up very soon brand new ones. They were consumables .

I have several pictoral examples of rows of wings of Fw 190D-9 , waiting their assembly at Fiersler Kassel , half painted .

Now the question concerning the leading hedge . It was painted , two purposes , thirst protection of the metal , Seconds(just a guess for Fw 190) is try to limit the reflexion of the light when seen from the air . Do not forget that several Fw 190 at the end of the war had their landing gear covers oversrpayed with camouflage paint (they can be see from the air as they are not hidden with the wing completelly) .

Last point the colour applied on leading hedge , for us it is the colour avaliable , RLm 76 , Blue-Green , RLM 75 . Dont forget that RLM 75 was abandonned early on production batches (Nov 1944) and should be available in quantity .

All the best

Eric Larger

Read the entire thread though, there's good info even if some of it is speculation.

Mustaine · « **Reply #7 on:** May 10, 2006, 10:59:17 AM »

something i notice more on the LW birds skinned more than any allied is the little details... like the fuel triangles and the medical +

i don't remember seeing them on alot of skins as clearly as i did the ones on mine

kind of warm fuzzy feeling to see them more clear. anyone using the ones from the template i put up? if so sweet

skin looks nice bruno. i really like the green ~~good job~~

Bruno · « **Reply #8 on:** May 10, 2006, 11:54:06 AM »

I use the same decal sheets (I scanned them) for my 190s and 109s that I used back in AH1 when they were 512 x 512.

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skin looks nice bruno. i really like the green ~~good job~~

It should be more grey then green (RLM 76), I will take a look at adjusting the tone...

Thanks for the comments...

Mustaine · « **Reply #9 on:** May 10, 2006, 12:16:39 PM »

it looks better green though

Bruno · « **Reply #10 on:** May 10, 2006, 01:54:45 PM »

Ok, I will leave it as is for now. Let's get some more opinions...

Krusty · « **Reply #11 on:** May 10, 2006, 06:40:40 PM »

I see it as the proper shade. I think you got it right.

There are various shades/tints of grey. This particular color has a bit of green in it. No worries.

Bruno · « **Reply #12 on:** May 11, 2006, 08:55:23 AM »

Version 3

Mustaine · « **Reply #13 on:** May 11, 2006, 09:13:47 AM »

all respect bruno seriously...

but that just looks like any other gray 190 out there now. that is only my opinion, but with the color before it looked more "unique" and had flair.

~~and just had to say my opinion. also don't forget i current dont play online, so ym say is moot at best.~~

Bruno · « **Reply #14 on:** May 11, 2006, 10:46:31 AM »

It's nothing to change the undercoat color, it's a separate layer. There are other small changes and adjustments in version 3 that may not be as noticeable.

However, I have up to 7 variations of RLM 76 saved as swatches from various sources. It's more important to me to match the correct tone of the original aircraft rather then to simply do something 'unique'.

Here's an example of the 4 variations of RLM 76 that I experimented with:

From the b/w scans in the original post it appears the tone RLM 76 was much lighter then the 'green' color in version 2. The LW standard grey paint scheme is what it is and as I said to Krusty I don't do flashy. I do representative schemes. I almost decided not to do this scheme do to the reversed RV band colors. It wasn't until I discovered that the reverse colors were used widely in I. Gruppe that I decided to go ahead.

There is variation in 74/75/76 but in general, with the exception of a handful of oddball aircraft, most are quite similar.

If folks overwhelmingly prefer the more green tone then I can easily adjust it. IMHO version 3 better matches the original, more so then version 2.

YMMV