The
young Kommodore is smiling while he looks at the bright sky. It was
beautiful weather for the end of November and probably one of the last days of
the year suitable for flying.
He
has all the reasons in the world to smile. Two years ago he was nobody. And now
he finally did it. He won his place in history.
After
months and months of fighting, always shadowed by Molders and Galland he is now
on top of the world - Top ace of Germany - and he shot down 24 Spitfires, a hard
record to beat.
Early
in the morning his technician told him that he must delay his start because the
life saving kit was not installed on board of his airplane. Wick replied
“Lassen wir mal das!” – let’s forget about that. He was eager to
take off and pick a fight with the British RAF, and good he was right – he
shot down two other planes.
In
order to secure his lead he must catch the second mission of the day, a –
“Freiejagd” – free hunt over the Isle of Wright and if the gods will smile
on him he will probably be able to shot down another one or two airplanes.
Wick
takes a last look at his plane. Parked near the trees that surrounded the
airfield, masked with a green net and tree branches his faithful “Emil” was
awaiting another flight over the skies of England.
He
already ordered the repainting of his plane, due to take place on the first day
of bad weather. He was really angry as they hastily applied a set of new
markings and covered by mistake the head of his bird and they also left an ugly
spot on place of the old markings. He also dislikes the visible smoke stains
from the wings of his plane - mute witness of the early fighting of the day.
This
plane was made for him; it was like a giant glove. The beautiful combination
between a pair of 20mm cannons, machineguns and his powerful engine enabled a
skilled pilot to make a vertical dogfight. Spit’s and Hurries were no
match for this new type of war.
Click on
images below to see larger images
|
|
|
|
This
is my second model from a series dedicated to WWII aces and I have chosen Majors
Helmut Wick’s Messerschmit 109, as it was on the moment of his death.
Helmut
Wick
Credited
with 56 victories (all on the western front), I found amazing that on his list
are 24 Spitfire’s.
On
28 November 1940, the day of his death, Wick achieved his 55th victory during an
early sortie and become the leading fighter ace in the world. He died in the
same day.
Being
the youngest Major in the Wehrmacht, Wick was appointed Kommodore of JG-2 on 20
October 1940, a month before his death.
On
a cold November day, during a “free hunt” battle over the Isle of Wright,
Wick’s 109 was hit by machineguns from a 609 Squadron Spitfire. Wick
dived and escaped for a short time being caught and shot down by another
Spitfire from the 609 Squadron, piloted by John Dundas (a British ace).
Dundas was himself shot down a few moments later by Hauptmann ‘Rudi’ Pflanz,
Wick’s colleague.
Wick
was seen by his colleague when he bailed out in the cold water. His body was
never found. After a week of search he was officially declared dead by Wermacht.
He
died during the last big clash of the “Battle for England” campaign.
In the morning of the same day Goering issued an order forbidding Wick to
fly. Sadly, this order arrived too late to save Wick’s life.
Wick’s
Me-109
There
are not too many photos of his last airplane. At the end of October 1940,
only a few days before Wick’s death the plane was partially repainted
according to Wick new grade.
I
have chosen this plane for the particularity of camouflage - a heavy mottling of
fuselage combined with a strange mottling on the rudder.
The
mottling seems to be done with a sponge, leaving spots of light blue paint
between areas of dark green.
I
have chosen a different color for the mottling of the rudder as this seems to be
a strange result of color interaction and not a human hand made mottling.
Studying
the last pictures I have also noticed that Wick’s plane has the bullet proof
glass not installed.
The
Kit:
Parts
used:
- Revell
1/48 Me-109 E 4/7;
- Eduard
photoetched parts:
- Eduard
1/35 camouflage net.
I
used an Eduard photoetched detail set, but my main goal was to obtain a very
good finish of the model.
I
made a lot of corrections in order to obtain the desired result:
- cut
the movable parts of the rudder and reposition them in order to break the
straight lines of the model;
- rescribe
the panel lines as the original seemed to be not deep enough;
- added
details on the surface of wings and fuselage (bolts, aso…)
- guns
and machineguns from syringe tubes (different diameter)
- rudder mast
made from a needle
- hydraulic
lines made from sprue
- pitot
tube made from a syringe needle
I
have painted the cockpit in RLM 66 (a dark grey) as all of the late Me -109 E
were painted from factory – at least so it seem from the pictures.
The
model was primed and preshaded, with different colors, in order to obtain a more
natural result. I started the painting process with
yellow (nose and stabilizer) then the light blue form the bottom side. The
painting continued with the dark green on the side of the fuselage and with the
overspray of mottling.
Painting
was a little bit tricky, especially the heavy mottling from the fuselage. In
order to obtain the desired spots I used a paper mask, with a lot of small
holes. The last corrections were made with a toothpick.
In
order to obtain an uneven result I have shadowed some areas of the mottling with
dark green and light blue, using a diluted paint (80% white spirit).
The
gloss coat was made with Klir / Future (first airbrushed and then brushed) and
the panel wash was made with oil paints. It is the last time that I will apply
Future with airbrush. From now on I will use only a brush.
I
have applied the decals using Solva-Set and Solva-Sol without any
problems. I overpainted some parts of the decals in order to give them a
more natural look.
The
last coat was a 95% diluted yellow color, to simulate the effect of the sun.
Due to the fact
that Wick's plane was in a very good condition I applied only a light
drybrushing.
Due
to the fact that this plane was on the front line, I gave it a final matt coat.
On all the pictures I have seen of this plane, it had a matt finish.
Smoke
stains were airbrushed, using masks and Tamiya Smoke. I do like Tamiya smoke a
lot but I have found that it has an unrealistic shine. I covered the area with
another matt coat to obtain the surface that I wanted.
Click on
images below to see larger images
|
|
|
|
Diorama
I
used a picture frame, glue and pieces of balsa tree. The camouflage net and the
wooden structure were made from an old picture.
Normally
the structure must be higher than that, but I thought that it would crush the
model under its size. Finally I have chosen a smaller size in order to balance
the diorama.
Branches
are made from stretched sprue, painted in brown.
It
took almost 5 months to build this model (mostly a few hours in weekend) and I
enjoyed every moment of it.
Happy
Modelling
Christian
- Romania
Click on
images below to see larger images
|
|
|
|