GB-57 1/48 Fw 190Aa-3, Turkey - WW2 Foreign Service

[Jamoliva]

Username: Jamoliva
First name: Cem
Category: Intermediate
Manufacturer: Eduard
Model: Focke-Wulf Fw-190A-3 #84112
Scale: 1:48
Add-on: Eduard overtrees 82140D for wings & HobbyTime Decals 1:48 Turkish Spitfires and FW-190s Rivals of WW II Fighters under the Turkish Flag - Part 1 48002

I will be building a model of the aircraft coded #41 (W. Nr. 0134 141). See below the photograph of it and another aircraft (#39) which seem to have very similar camouflage.

I will dedicate this build to the victims of the recent earthquake.

 

[Jamoliva]

I have a question which I have researched for a long time but I could not found a definitive answer. So, I really appreciate your opinions and suggestions. Please see the pictures below of the areas marked with the red circles. On both aircraft there is a noticeable line between what should be RLM 76 and what appears to be a lighter base on top of it for the darker mottling. There are different ideas and speculations about this color including claims that it is RLM 02. I am thinking that it is probably the tonal footprint of the mottling colors (RLM 74/75) themselves but the fact that this line is apparent on both of these aircrafts makes me think and wonder. What do you think this color could be? Thanks for your ideas!

 

[Wurger]

I would say .. undoubtedly the trace of masking while applying the mottling. The slightly darker tone of the area above the straight demarcation line was caused by the settling down of the pulverised paint.

 

[le_steph40]

Maybe a freshly painted RLM76 with masks (to hide a former RLM04 color under the engine hood ?)

 

[Wurger]

Maybe a freshly painted RLM76 with masks (to hide a former RLM04 color under the engine hood ?)

Also a good idea. Anyway that straight demarcation line is the result of masking.

 

[Jamoliva]

Thank you for your responses! Would you recommend also using RLM 02 in the mottling mix in addition to RLM 74/75? I know that during this time, in early 1943, RLM 02 was used on fuselage camouflages especially on some Bf 109s but I am not sure if it was the case for Fw 190s.

 

[Wurger]

IMHO no RLM 02. See below.
Despite the new colours on the tail and the engine cowling (probably) from another Fw 190, the fuselage and the wings still remaining the orginal German LF camo done with the RLM 74/75/76.

the source: Hasegawa / Montex 1/32 Fw 190 A-3 by Tolga Ulgur

 

[Crimea_River]

Good choice and great observation about the demarcation - never noticed that before and I have no other suggestions on top of those already presented. I like Steph's idea, though the yellow would normally not have gone up that high so I don't see why they would have had to complicate things by masking around the bulge.

 

[Wurger]

The yellow was applied to the top hinge of the bottom cover usually. So if they wanted to overpaint that, the masking had to be stuck much higher than the hinge line. Anyway Steph's idea seems to be most likely.

However the profile suggests that the yellow marking for the Turkish Fw 190 was a little bit highter then the LW one.

the source: FW 190 A3a

 

[Wurger]

Additionally I have found a shot of the "66". Not of the greatest quality but the same colour demercation line of the camo on the engine cowling can be noticed. So, it seems that the bottom portion of the cowl could have been of the yellow.

the source: the net.

 

[Jamoliva]

Additionally I have found a shot of the "66". Not of the greatest quality but the same colour demercation line of the camo on the engine cowling can be noticed. So, it seems that the bottom portion of the cowl could have been of the yellow.

View attachment 707458
the source: the net.

Thank you for all that research @Wulger! Yes, I have seen all these photos as well. And I read lots of documentation but yellow cowling was never mentioned. It just complicates the depiction of this aircraft. I did see some models like that though. I have read speculations about RLM 02 on the fuselage, 02/71 and even 70/71 color schemes but not seen any info on yellow or any other different color on cowling.

It seems like I just need to make a decision and go with it.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Got so wrapped up in all the detail here I forgot to say what and excellent choice.

 

[Wurger]

Thank you for all that research @Wulger! Yes, I have seen all these photos as well. And I read lots of documentation but yellow cowling was never mentioned. It just complicates the depiction of this aircraft. I did see some models like that though. I have read speculations about RLM 02 on the fuselage, 02/71 and even 70/71 color schemes but not seen any info on yellow or any other different color on cowling.

It seems like I just need to make a decision and go with it.

Yes. I found the same. I have had a look at a couple of the Turkish web sources. Unfortuantely it seems that the Turks are ashamed that they collaborated with the Nazis. For that reason they removed all info on the Fw 190 used by the Türk Hava Kuvvetleri. The available little information is contradictory usually. For instance one source mentions the RLM 70/71/65 with small spots of the RLM 02 while another one says it was the factory set. Because the THK got the planes in 1943 the factory colours couldn't be other than the RLM 74/75/76 that was the standard one at that time. The RLM 70/71/65 was used for a couple of the initial prototypes only. The entire rest of Wurger series got the standard factory grey colours rather. Anyway the yellow bottom cowling hasn't been mentioned there as well.

While looking for any info I found the pic on a site accessible with the link below. I cropped out the intersting three shots form the whole image. Please note the prop blad tips. Additionally, the mid one shows the demarcation line on the cowling too. In all pictures with the prop blade tips seen it can be noticed that the yellow tips have the darker tone than the cowling though. Unfortunately the scanned copies of the original images can be different in quality and tones of colours what makes the matter worse. IMHO the yellow marking on the engine cowling wasn't used for the THK Fw 190s. The colours of the spinners are the different matter. Also I'm not sure if the yellow could be used for them. But I may be wrong.

the source: 50 Focke Wulf Fw-190A-3 in der Türkei entdeckt

 

[fubar57]

Good choice Cem and great info

 

[Jamoliva]

Good choice Cem and great info

Thank you Geo. Hopefully I will start soon.

 

[rochie]

Great choice of subject

 

[T Bolt]

Will be interesting to see