**** DONE: Unofficial Bf 109-x GB:1/48 Bf 109E-3

[Vic Balshaw]

Username: Vic Balshaw
First name: Vic
Category: Advanced
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Tamiya No 61050

Extras:
Eduard PE Inst panel only.
Laser 148017 Seat Belt.
Master AM-48-009 Armament Set.
Selection of old decals.

My Subject is the Bf 109E-3 as flown by Maj. Harry von Bülow-Bothkamp while with II/JG 77 at Kristiansand, Northern France April 1940.

 

[fubar57]

Good one. Built this one years ago and as I can't remember building it, there must have not been any issues

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Messerschmitt Bf 109E3 Stab II.JG77 Maj Harry von Bulow Bothkamp Kristiansand Apr 1940 0C

Asisbiz article about Messerschmitt Bf 109E3 Stab II.JG77 Maj Harry von Bulow Bothkamp Kristiansand Apr 1940 0C

www.asisbiz.com

Maj. Harry von Bülow-Bothkamp started his military service in 1914 with Saxon Hussar Regiment No.18 when he was 17. In August 1916 he learned to fly and by December had joined the German Air Service initially as a reconnaissance pilot then a fighter pilot with Jasta 36. During this time Harry von Bülow-Bothkamp shot down six enemy fighters. His last victory came on 21 July 1918, when Major R.H. Freeman, CO of 73 Squadron succumbed to his guns, but his most notable win was his fourth over the British ace with 10-kill, Captain Cecil Clark of 1 Squadron, who was wounded and taken prisoner. Harry was discharged by order of the Kaiser in late 1918 as he was the last survivor of four brothers; the oldest, Friedrich, was killed in 1914, Walter died in a dogfight at Ypres in January 1918, and Conrad died in a flying accident on 26 September 1918 while commanding part of the Aviation Battalion of the Finnish Air Force.

Harry von Bülow-Bothkamp earned the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern and Iron Cross for his WWI service.

Rejoining the newly established Luftwaffe in 1935 as a Hauptmann (Captain) Harry. By the time of the invasion of Poland in 1939 Harry was the Gruppenkommandeur (Group Commander) of II/JG 77 and led this group until 31 March 1940 when he was transferred as Geschwaderkommodore (Wing Commander) to JG 2 "Richthofen.". Leading this group in France during March to June and despite being over 40 years old, Harry vanquished at least 12 opponents. Promoted to Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) and awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross) in August 1940, he was reassigned to Nachtjagdschule 1 (Night Fight School 1) where he remained until October 1943. From November 1943 he commanded the 5. Jagd-Division (5th Fighter Division) and then the Jafu 4 (4th Fighter Wing) on the Western Front from March to September 1944.

Harry von Bülow-Bothkamp ended the war with the Nationalsozialitische Fliegerkorps (National Socialist Flyers Corps).

Harry von Bülow-Bothkamp - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Good one. Built this one years ago and as I can't remember building it, there must have not been any issues

Hopefully I'll not have too many either George.

 

[Wurger]

 

[A4K]

Nice one Vic.

 

[Ralph Haus]

Nice choice. If like (mostly) all Tamiya kits it should go together without any issues. Will be studying the seat belts. My kit (Tamiya as well) has a decal set that includes some fairly basic (say crappy) belts. So I have decided to try and create my own. Using an Eduard PE set from another 109 kit as a reference, but not sure if they have them right either?

 

[Airframes]

Nice one Vic, but surely Kristiansand is in Norway, not France ??!!

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Nice one Vic, but surely Kristiansand is in Norway, not France ??!!

By heck Terry, your right, It must be a misprint as he was definitely operating with JG 77 in April although he had been assigned as Geschwaderkommodore of JG 2.

 

[fubar57]

This fills in a gap or two about your boy

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Many thanks George, he was a person who certainly got moved around a lot, but then again Germany was at war.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Let the fun begin. Applied a coat of RLM 02 (SMS PL179) to all the internals today.

Not going into competition with you Ralph but this little baby took me over 2 hrs to put together and it was only 6 pieces.

 

[Wurger]

Here two shots more of the kite.

BTW ... looking at the plane I would say that might be the E-4 variant but not the E-3. If the version number is based on the info found on the Asisbiz site it is not the greatest source. Unfortunately there are many mistakes in the image captions there.

the pic source: the net.

 

[rochie]

looks great Vic.

hope to start mine tomorrow or Friday, Wife willing !

 

[Ralph Haus]

Let the fun begin. Applied a coat of RLM 02 (SMS PL179) to all the internals today.

View attachment 753002

Not going into competition with you Ralph but this little baby took me over 2 hrs to put together and it was only 6 pieces.
View attachment 753003

Sweet! Having all those small latch bits makes for a nice assembly. I'll have to look online for some. Just for using the latches and bits. I still like the idea of creating a more 'flexible' belt though. Unless I'm missing something in your kit?

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Here two shots more of the kite.

BTW ... looking at the plane I would say that might be the E-4 variant but not the E-3. If the version number is based on the info found on the Asisbiz site it is not the greatest source. Unfortunately there are many mistakes in the image captions there.

View attachment 753037
the pic source: the net.

Many thanks Wojtek, I did wonder if it was a different machine but I do like that possible E4 scheme and am still thinking of going with it.

Sweet! Having all those small latch bits makes for a nice assembly. I'll have to look online for some. Just for using the latches and bits. I still like the idea of creating a more 'flexible' belt though. Unless I'm missing something in your kit?

Have no fear with these Ralph there very flexible, quite delicate and so light its hard to keep hold of them. I have to confess that I have never used these belt kits before so it's all new stuff to me so I'm still trying to find the best method of assembling them.

 

[Wayne Little]

The only real issue you may have Vic is the Tail struts are a little short.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Thank Wayne, easy fixed if need be.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

I've been pottering on over the last tree days and managed to get a few bits and bobs done. I'm not going overboard on this build, just keeping it simple.

The cockpit internals done except the seat belts which are proving a pain. I just need to do a spot of weathering then we can close it up.

I've got the shoulder harnesses placed, these are the Laser that I have never used before, they may look good but OH my, what a fiddle.

 

[A4K]

Worth it though Vic, looks great.