"Battle of Britain Me 109E of JG26" Topic

I've painted up my Raiden 1/285 Me109E as aircraft of 9/JG26 and have enjoyed doing them so much that I want to add further models to the collection. I've found various other schemes for planes from 2/JG26 and a further ones for Galland and Schopfel.

I have the Osprey Bf 109d/E Aces book and Histoire and Collections Me109 Vol 1 for reference. On page 80 of the Osprey is a photo of an aircraft of 4/JG26 shot down over Kent which has a dark coloured nose which I've not seen as a colour plate but that could provide another interesting paint scheme.

Can anybody shed any light on this 4/JG26 scheme or point me towards any other books of on-line info that may reveal more info on JG26 and its Me109s during the July – November 1940 period?

Thanks in advance.

The nose is probobally yellow old BW film often shows yellow as dark, a fault in the devolping process.

I'd agree with Fatman – the photo was probably taken with older orthochromatic film which shows yellow as a dark colour. Yellow noses were pretty much standard on Bf 109s by the end of September 1940.

You may also want to have a look at

wp.scn.ru/en/ww2/f/32/2

Very handy site.

And, as Fatman says, that nose is probably yellow after all – though on some the yellow was oversprayed with the darker camo tones.

As to other books of interest for you: Naval & Military Press have a couple of Schiffer profiles books that might be of use – side views only, but lots of them – on German fighters.

And also, I guess, the Classic Publications "Jagdwaffe" series, available from Ian Allan Books are a handy source too.

Cheers

Also _Luftwaffe Squadrons 1939-1945_, ISBN 1-904687-62-8.

Has markings for all the different types of squadrons
from all theaters. JG 26 in mid-1940 is represented by
only 3 views, though.

Thanks all, plenty for me to check out there. Is the Squadron Signal publication on Me109E any good?

Hi

ortho sees into the infrered and usually shows not just red or yellow as dark or black (check out jasta 10 photos from WW1 where those Pfaltzs are KNOWN to be yellow), but will often show a still hot panel over a motor as black. Or a panel hot from the sun.

Rocky

B/W photos taken with a blue or cyan filter, used (seldom) to lighten the skies in a print and make it appear white, have the effect of conversely darkening all yellows and oranges. It could be that too.

However, if you can clearly distinguish clouds from a grey sky in that same photo, then this is not the case :D

Looking at the photo again, there is no sky visible, and the cowling is unlikely to be hot as the aircraft has crash landed in a field and is being guarded by a couple of infantrymen. The photo looks like a "happy snap" taken for one of those soldiers. No source is quoted for it.

On page 23 of "The American Fighter" by Enzo Angelucci (copyright 1985, translation copyright 1987) there is an introductory note by Peter M. Bowers about Photo Color Tones. It shows two Boeing P-26A fighters in identical livery. One is taken with panchromatic film, the other with orthocromatic film. They could almost be the negatives of each other. Ever since I came across these notes years ago, I've been leery of using B & W photos as color references. It does say that orthochromatic makes red, yellow and orange print quite dark, and panchromatic is almost the reverse.

Hi

Pan "sees" into the ultraviolet!

What I do is start with background objects looking for things that give clues to the colors. Signs of known trademarks, for instance.

Rocky