Done : Fw190D-9, "Black 12" of Leutnant Teo Nibel of 10/JG54, Gruppe Build

[Airframes]

Thanks guys.

 

[muller]

The base looks great Terry!

 

[Screaming Eagle]

Lovely Terry!

 

[Lucky13]

Is it time to christen the base soon, with a pint or single malt?

 

[Wayne Little]

Must be close?

 

[Airframes]

Getting very close, hope to have the whole lot finished, and posted, tonight.
Mines a pint of Storm please...oh, and a wee MacCallan!

 

[Heinz]

Can't wait Terry

 

[Airframes]

Well, things didn't quite go according to plan. I got held up doing other things, then a friend decided to drop in, and stayed late. But, I've managed to get all of the little fiddly bits done, and the Dora is almost finished. The base is complete, barring a little touching up here and there, and the addition of the title cards. I realised whilst making these that I had given you some duff info. The JG26 airfield that Ltn. Nibel's 10/JG54 aircraft landed at on 31st December, 1944, ready for Bodenplatte the following day, was Furstenau, not Plantleunne.
The pics show the overall model, and there's a couple of shots of some of the additions. The undercarriage indicator pegs are in place, and just need painting, as do the underwing and belly antennas. The cannons have had their muzzles cleaned and painted, where they were drilled, and been given a rub of graphite, to show the metal effect. The main radio antenna cable has been fitted, and the vertical joining cable also, and the pic shows these in place, with the main cable yet to be attched to the fin post, and all yet to be trimmed. Just as I took this shot, the 'cable' decided to part company with the canopy! Not to worry, I think it looks a bit too thick anyway, so I'll start again, and replace the stretched sprue with a thinner piece, or maybe invisible thread.
All being well, I'll have the details finished and painted, and the whole display photographed and posted sometime over the weekend.
Thanks again for your interest and kind comments.

 

[Wayne Little]

Looks great Terry.....agree with you wiring does look a little thick....if it parted company then it must have been telling you something!?

 

[109ROAMING]

Very cool Terry

 

[lesofprimus]

Great lookin stuff Terry, almost as nice as mine....

 

[Njaco]

Looks great, Terry and thanks for the pics on the antenna wire. Now I have an idea how you apply them. (I know that sounds stupid as it is so obvious but when I was 12 I was working on a Lindberg He 100 and when this crucial time came my puppy got the piles something awful and I just never was able to complete it. Scarred for life. That and the smell.... )

 

[rochie]

great job Terry

 

[Catch22]

Looks great Terry!

 

[Airframes]

Thanks very much chaps! Hope to have it all done and sorted later tonight.
Dan, at least mine doesn't take up as much room!

 

[lesofprimus]

Hehe Terry.....

 

[Airframes]

It's Finished!
After faffing about with 'invisible thread' and eventually various thicknesses of stretched sprue, I finally got the antenna wires in place, although at first, nothing seemed to want to stick to the canopy. All the little bits and pieces have been added and painted, and the model is on it's display base at last.
There are a couple of deliberate omissions, which I feel I ought to explain.
For the time period depicted, the aircraft should be carrying a 300 litre drop tank, or at least the rack for it. However, I had intended to add the rack later, but not the tank, after the main painting had been completed. But, lo and behold, when I came to do so, there weren't any locating holes for the part! The instructions don't mention anything about having to drill, or open up holes either. Not wanting to have to start drilling unmarked holes on a nicely painted surface, I decided to leave off the rack.
The other omission is in regards to the paint scheme. There has been a little controversy, over the years, concerning this particular aircraft. One source puts forward a strong case for there being washable yellow paint on the lower cowling panel, and the rudder, and states that this is clearly visible in photographs of the aircraft. Having studied all the photographs I had very carefully, and after a brief discussion with Wayne, I had to disagree with these statements; I couldn't see any hard evidence for the yellow paint. As the Intelligence/crash reports also made no mention of this paint, I decided to go with my gut feelings, and leave it off.
So, now that the model is finished, and the pictures are here for you to see, a little background history is in order.
This FW190D-9, Werke Nummer 210079, 'Black 12', belonged to 10/JG54. Having been on Reich Defence duties, III Gruppe now became attackers.
On 31st December, 1944, Obst. Priller, in command of JG26, received the coded message 'Varus Teutonicus', warning him that Operation Bodenplatte (Baseplate) would take place the following day.
At 16:00 hrs that afternoon, the entire fighting strength of III/JG54, a mere 20 FW190D's, landed at Fuerstenau, the airfiled occupied by Maj. Karl Borris's I/JG26. These aircraft were to come under Borris's command for Bodenplatte, the mass attack on allied airfields in Holland and Belgium.
'Black 12' was the aircraft of Ltn. Theo Nibel, who was to lead the second Schwarm of 10/JG54 on the mission. However, when the time for take off arrived on New Years day, Ltn. Nibel had trouble starting his engine, and was the last to take off, trailing the formation to their target, the airfield at Grimbergen, near Brussels. After catching up, he led his Schwarm in their assigned task of flak suppression, making three passes across the airfield under intense fire from the Bren guns of the R.A.F. Regiment. As he pulled up after the third pass, the engine of his 'Dora' stopped, and Nibel assumed he had been hit by enemy fire. At 100 metres altitude, he was losing height rapidly, and had to act fast. Too low to bail-out, Nibel pulled off a successful belly landing in a ploughed field near Wemmel, Belgium. The canopy of his Focke Wulf had jammed, and he had to be rescued, with his Belgian rescuers breaking the Perspex in order to free him.
However, Ltn. Nibel had not been brought down by Bren gun fire, but by a bird strike; a partridge had struck the annular radiator of his aircraft, punching a large hole, which led to seizure of the engine.
So, here is my little display of Ltn. Nibel's 'Dora', before the Bodenplatte mission, entitled 'Varus Teutonicus'.
Hope you like it. BTW, there are also pictures of Theo Nibel, and his belly landed aircraft.
Thanks for all your support and kind comments.
Terry.

 

[Screaming Eagle]

Frickin awesome Terry! I hope my black 12 turns out as good as yours!

 

[Njaco]

Absolutely, utterly, amazingly,....drool.....ughhh.....words fail me!!!

 

[109ROAMING]

AWESOME work Mate!