Mid to late war Winter Germans for Blood Red Skies

Typically I got to take the pics on the brightest day of the year so far - apologies for the glare :-)

Having sorted out the Spanish "Blue" Squadron as a winter camo German unit Link if you are interested I thought I may as well do some bombers. I already have He111s and Ju88s for other periods \ campaigns so didn't want to duplicate. That left me with a few choices from the later order of battle, and I ended up going with Ju188s. As the designation suggests this was an improved version of the outstanding Ju88, in the same highly flexible fast bomber role. Historically it was never destined to be "great", possibly because by the time it reached squadron service in 1943 the tide of war was flowing against Germany and what they really needed were more and more fighters, and possibly because although the performance over the "old" Ju88 was better, it wasn't that much better.

The models are 3d prints from the PlanePrinter Patreon. RoCWorks also has a version available, and very nice it is too, however as I already had the PlanePrinter .stl file I went with that. Annoyingly there was a little wing curl at the tips, but I decided it wasn't enough to warrant printing them again. I couldn't find a reference photo of a Ju188 in the all white camo I wanted, but decided to go with it anyway just to match the 109s. Decals are from MiscMinis. I'm ok with the end result. Not totally happy with the cockpit glazing but I think it will do. 

Final member of the team is a Fw189 Uhu (Owl). This is a German battlefield recce machine that shouldered much of the reconnaissance over the Eastern Front. The Luftwaffe was unique in using specially designed recce planes whereas the Allies tended to use other types converted to the role, most notably the RAF use of Spitfires, Mustangs and Mosquitos and the USAAF using converted P38s. This may have been a by-product of the vast distances the frontline stretched in the East. The Owl is good at what it does, but is slow and relies on manoeuvrability and escorts to survive. I don't fancy its chances if it gets caught. 

Recce birds are not really necessary in Blood Red Skies - there are a couple of scenarios that they can be used in, but they're very specialised. Still, it's available from PlanePrinter so I thought, "why not?" Another semi made up camo scheme and decals from MiscMinis.

And here they are in their custom foam storage and transport tray from Just Lasered (thanks Melvin)

So that's my Mid\Late Eastern Front Germans done. Next project is going to be some Ju88s for mid war Desert \ Med theatre. 

Cheers