This thread will showcase my skins of both Bf 109G-14's flown by Erich Hartmann that had his iconic black tulip nose art.
The first 109 of Hartmann's to wear the black tulip was this G-14 photographed on October 31, 1944 after Hartmann achieved his 305th victory, a Yak-7 over central Hungary. Hartmann had recently been given command of the newly reformed 4./Jg 52 in Hungary. None of his 109s from his time in 9./Jg 52 had the tulip. He scored 33 kills as commander of 4./Jg 52 by the end of 1944, including 11 on November 22 - His best for a single day.
This G-14 features a 7-pointed black tulip on the nose and a black spinner with a thin white spiral. The camouflage pattern fits the model of a Wiener-Neustadt built G-14, and thus was built with the short tail. Yellow Hungarian theater markings can be seen on the wings and tail, an interesting detail is the placement of the yellow V in the center of the left wing directly over the German cross. It is never depicted in any artwork or model decals of this plane, but a photo of this plane after it was handed over to Anton Kellmeier of 7./Jg 52 clearly shows it, and since the V had been mandated since September 1944, it must have been applied during Hartmann's use. A red heart under the canopy features his wife Ursula's nickname "Usch" in white.
Hartmann's second G-14 as photographed in February 1945, during Hartmann's brief posting of command of I/Jg 53, also in Hungary. Both I/Jg 53 and II/Jg 52 were based at Veszprém, Hungary. His transfer required nothing more than walking to a new part of the base. Hartmann would only claim a single victory during his two weeks in Jg 53, a Yak-9 on Feb 4, his 337th. But it is likely that he has many more than one kill in this plane before the move to Jg 53. I have a photograph of what seems like this very aircraft before the winter whitewash was applied, but the 8-pointed black tulip aft of a solid white nose is clearly shown. It is safe to assume that by the winter of 1944-45 that this tall-tailed G-14 was Hartmann's primary mount.
This skin is an adoption of Fencer's original.
