Really. Your article even states that books interpret the photo differently. Interpretation implies that no one knows for sure.
How ever ranger interprets the photo I am sure will be nice.
Well, duh, different books make different interpretations.... You really haven't got out much if you don't know that. There is a very big difference between the good books, that do the right research, and the poor ones, that high any old artist with no historic background to make color template profiles.
As for the supposedly 'bare-metal' finish on Kurt Gabler's 'red 8', let us just say that extensive areas of the airframe have been sanded back either to the natural metal or the primer. However 'bare metal' is probably not the right phrase to describe this finish - this was a standard camouflaged machine with a 'stripped-down' (sanded) finish for an extra turn of speed - there are still large areas of paint over the airframe ! Exactly how much is difficult to say looking at the photos - certainly the wing roots and even the leading edges of the (starboard) wing appear to have paint on them. Gabler never actually stated that his machine had been stripped back to the metal, nor do the authors of the JG300 book - I believe that this was merely an assumption from the publisher/profile artist (Tullis) based on the photos - obviously a great 'subject' for a decal sheet and it certainly makes for a striking looking model! For what its worth, there is another interpretation altogether in the French edition of Lorant's JG 300 book illustrated by Claes Sundin which shows the aircraft in a primer-type finish, far from the shiny, glittering metal that most modellers love to portray this aircraft in. (See link below) Note the close-up of the tail and rudder in the photo above - if that is 'metallic' then it has a rather dull 'alloy' look to it - it doesn't appear to be 'shiny' metal. A handful of machines like this with a 'sanded-down' finish were deployed by JG 300 principally in an effort to try and catch RAF Mosquitoes, a type that the Jagdwaffe found almost impossible to shoot down. Gabler got one in June 1944, a downing he describes in the book...
It's pretty clear that the well researched sources are showing this is NOT a shiny bare metal finish aircraft. However, if Ranger makes it so, it will be a travesty of history. About the same historic accuracy as our "black" P-38 we had for years. Or the "blue" P-51s perpetuated by many poor sources.
There is a right way and a wrong way. It's not just up to interpretation. There is plenty of leeway, yes, but you can still get it wrong.
