"Azul" Squadron for Blood Red Skies - part 2 - Nobody Expects ......................

Making it happen

Err did I mention no one did a G6? PlanePrinter does a G14 as an .stl file, and Warlord do a physical model. To most laymen, like myself, the main visual difference between a G6 and G14 is the revised canopy. PlanePrinter also do a 109F4 with the old style canopy, so I reached out to Roger Gerrish who likes to dabble in this sort of thing, to see if he could graft an old canopy from the F onto the G - and he did (Cheers m8!) and I printed half a dozen. I'm going to paint them as 4th Squadron in winter whitewash colours from the winter of 1943.

The problem is (as explained in part 1) that these basically look like any other Luftwaffe unit. Ah well.

Stage 1 - print the models. Not a problem. I recently purchased a Saturn 2 and it happily chucked out six "Gerrish Special" 109Gs

Stage 2 paint. This is going to be interesting. Spray them white as an undercoat. I wanted to keep them a bit light here as I was hoping to get some way of dealing with the whitewash effect. Underside - blue grey from a Hataka Blue range then paint the yellow spinner and bands - three thin coats of Citadel "Flash Git" yellow to hopefully build up some depth. Canopies - my usual two tone blue, then frames in white. Then whitewash. This is the bothersome bit. I grabbed some Citadel Apothecary White Contrast paint and sort of reverse engineered the whitewash by painting it over all the various panel lines. I was very relaxed about this , allowing the contrast to spill over quite a way from the panel lines. I also used the same Contrast paint on any large areas of white to represent areas where the whitewash was fading and the base colours showing through. After a bit of practice I think this looks ok.

Last painting step will be to tidy up, panel line underneath (I hate that) and add details like exhausts.

Decals. There are no commercially available decals for the Azul (I've petitioned Blue Falcon Hobbies) but as I said by the time 4th Squadron got their Gs they're using standard Luftwaffe markings so I am using decals from the spares box - a mixture of Balkankreuz fron the Warlord generic set and spare numbers from Warlords 190A decal sheet.

White 4

4th Blue Squadron

So there we go. I'm quite interested in getting these on the table as I think the Great Dive \ Great Climb combo is a potent mix. 

Cheers!

 

 

Spanish "Azul" Squadron for Blood Red Skies - part 1 - the Cunning Plan

A little while ago I mentioned I rated the Bf109G quite highly in Blood Red Skies. https://twtrb.blogspot.com/2023/08/blood-red-skies-list-building-what.html .

I already have some 109Es and Fs but as yet no Gs. One of the reasons is nostalgia. In my mind if I recall the "Gustaf" there is only one thing that comes to mind, the old Airfix Series 1 kit, in blue plastic with the totally Kool under wing rockets for shooting down B17s. This is a Bf109G-6 with the traditional square canopy. I loved this as a kid so thats the 109 G I want.

The problem is, the two easily accessible Bf109G models for BRS, from Warlord and PlanePrinter are both later versions with the "Galland" hood, which improved visibility dramatically but don't look right to me, so this project got parked.

I then went to FIASCO in Leeds (a long running Wargames show in the NE England)  I should do a review of that because I think there is a post there but maybe later. Anyway when there I spotted a book on the Spanish Azul (Blue) Squadrons that operated in Russia during WW2. I had heard of the Azul Division - Spanish volunteers fighting for the Germans against the Communists,  but not the Air Force unit, so I picked it up. I was thinking - that's a "Kool" and interesting 109G unit that I could do rather than a more standard Luftwaffe one. 

So I got home and started to read it - and its a really interesting story.

Potted history -back of a postcard stuff - Spanish volunteers fighting as a unit for the Luftwaffe against the threat of world Communism. The author goes quite a way to stress the point that theyre not Fascists just anti Communist - opinions may vary on that, but............ 

Anyway they wanted to be allocated to support their compatriots in the Blue Division, but the Luftwaffe said "no", so the initial draft were allocated to fly Bf109Es as a ground attack unit, 1st Escuadrillas Azules  15 Spanische Staffel 15.(Span)/JG 27 . The pilots were not that impressed as the first draft of volunteers were pretty much all seasoned fighter pilots with experience from the Spanish Civil War.

After a tour the surviving pilots were rotated back home and were replaced with another batch of pilots designated as the 2nd Azul Squadron. These guys got their wish and had the 109Es replaced with 109Fs and they became a standard fighter Squadron, 2nd Escuadrillas Azules 15 Spanische Staffel 15.(Span)/JG 51. The pattern continued, with the 3rd Squadron replacing the 2nd and taking over their planes, remaining as part of JG51. 

Up to this point they carried standard Luftwaffe markings plus their own unit badges, however with the arrival of the 4th rotation this changed. The 4th replaced the Bf109Fs with a mix of Bf109Gs* (at last!) and Fw190A2s .  However the fly in the ointment (for me) is that at this point and going forward to the 5th Squadron, they seem to have dropped their distinctive Squadron markings from their planes so they were just the same visually as a "standard" Luftwaffe unit. 

1st Squadron Badge

2nd \ 3rd Squadron 109F with Spanish "Yolk and Arrows"

After the remnants of the Blue Division was withdrawn it was only a matter of time til the Blue Squadron followed, which happened to the 5th in 1944.

So in Blood Red Skies there are a couple of interesting options here. It's a shame the 4th Squadron dropped their Spanish markings because a mixed Squadron of Bf109Gs and FW190As would be interesting and one of the few legitimate "Mixed Bag" Doctrine card units out there, though how well they would play is open to some debate. The earlier 1st and 2nd\3rd Squadrons have their own markings which set them apart somewhat. On the other hand the I'm supposed to be looking at using the Gs (!) so I better get on.

Anyway that's the background. Actual models etc in part 2. 

* some online sources say the 2\3rd Squadron got Bf109Gs

Double Dutch - project for 2024

I've backed a Kickstarter for the KNIL in 28mm. The company is May 1940 Miniatures who make a nice range of Dutch figures for err.... May 1940. They've decided to expand into the troops defending the Dutch East Indies and as Two Fat Lardies are promising a new book centred on the Far East for Chain of Command it seemed like a good idea. The KS wont deliver until summer 2024 so plenty of time to get the rest sorted out. I already have a Dutch force for Chain of Command from May 1940 Miniatures and theyre good quality so I think the new range will be fine. All good.

Except I also did a matching force for Blood Red Skies when I did my 1940 CoC force, so I suppose that means I should do the same for the KNIL. Problem is that means the Brewster Buffalo will be making an appearance. Sigh. Ok it doesn't "need" to be the Brewster 339. Technically the KNIL flew several interesting fighter types such as the Hawk 75 and the CW21 Demon. The former is probably too good, the latter just downright weird but quite interesting. Planeprinter does both so not actually a chore.

Hawk 75s

CW 21

Bombers are going to be easy - they use an export version of the Martin B10, ok it's not exactly a "Tier One" bomber, and it looks a bit strange, though actually by the standards of the time it's not actually bad. OK it is, but beggars cant be choosers. PlanePrinter does two versions of the B10 so it should just be a case of printing three out. 

And that should be the end of my KNIL problems............. except decals. The ongoing issues with my previous decal supplier Miscellaneous Miniatures cause a certain amount of trepidation as p&p from the States is now something in the region of $20 up from something like $5 . Luckily some generic Dutch orange triangles are available from i-94 and Pendraken stock those, so no great problem.

So there's the project - will update on how I get on as and when

Cheers!