Daniel460

Thank you. 
 
I thought it was worth sharing Alan, though I did think about it for quite a while before doing so, but I knew there would be LSP members who would appreciate the story.

Agreed Kent, absolutely fascinating, and of course you're in the right country for some of the wartime Nachtjagd bases!  The Belgian IPMS statement is a very good one indeed Jens, very appropriate. 
 
So the final, dramatic picture, bringing the two main characters together in a moment of time:
 

Camera-gun stills from Plumer's Mosquito NT377 shooting down Barthel's Bf110G4 G9+KC.  Two pictures clearly show that the cannon shells hit the 110's starboard wing not the port as Barthel stated in his interrogation.
 
It's been a wonderful short journey of research, the only outstanding question for me is the full squadron code of NT377.  410 squadron code was RA but there's no clue online that I can find of the individual aircraft letter.  She was transferred to the Belgian Air Force post-war but even that documentation doesn't reveal the info.  Ah well.
 
Hannes words in an email to me, taken slightly out of context but the meaning is clear:
 
"......Shows our younger generation what a waste it was to send these 2 young men against each other into combat, luckily both survived and had children and grandchildren."
 
Closes things off quite nicely.

Less than a week ago I received an email sent via my website:
 

 
I replied to Hannes that I couldn't remember writing about about Lt Barthel, but a little research on Britmodeller came up with:
 





 
This was 10 years ago in a Night fighter GB.  I then remembered my source:
 



 
and I let Hannes know, adding that in the Nachtjagd War Diaries it noted that Barthel had shot down four bombers and himself was shot down on 26 March 1945 whilst in a ground attack role.
 
I was intrigued so decided to do a bit more digging, especially since downloading material from the National Archives is free at the moment.  A friend in New Zealand (Rod Mackenzie, co-author of the Nachtjagd War Diaries) told me the Mosquito that shot down Barthel's Bf110 was from 410 Squadron, a Canadian squadron based initially in Lincolnshire UK but moving to France as the invasion of Europe advanced.  I found the entry in 410 Squadron's Operation Record Book:
 

 

 
and then crucially the Combat Report:
 

 
It didn't take too long to research the Mosquito pilot, Flight Lieutenant Ben Erwin Plumer DFC
 

 

 

 
From this point the story started taking off......more later!!

Glad this is proving of interest to some of you, I'll post some more a little later this evening but the before the final stage I have to get permission to post it......but it's worth waiting for and neatly closes the loop! 
 
So Barthel was shot down but all the crew baled out successfully and were made POWs.  Barthel at least was sent to England to face interrogation, see the ADI(K) report below:
 

 

 
This is the area where G9+KC crashed, stated previously as Orsov but actually Orsoy:
 

 
Pontoon bridges had been constructed to cross the river, these were the target.
 
There's more!
 

So all the while a dialogue, or should that be trialogue, had continued between Hannes, Rod and myself.  Rod of course was interested because of his Nachtjagd Combat Archives book covering 1945 in preparation, so he wondered if a portrait photo of Lt Werner Barthel was available from Hannes.  He, Hannes, knew of something "in Grandma's box" at his parents house, he would see what could be found. And: 
 

 

 
and, when he was promoted to Leutnant in 1943:
 

 
Note the signature at the bottom.
 
Also from the Bundesarchiv was an Abschussmeldung (roughly aerial victory claim report) for an earlier attack by Barthel on 21 February 45, a night when the Allies mounted operations against Duisburg, Worms and the Dortmund-Ems canal at Gravenhorst.  Two Nachtjagd aces, Schnaufer and Rokker, shot down 7 and 6 bombers each that night:
 

 

 

 

 
translated by our very own Lothar:
 

 
 
 

There's more Ade!!   What could possibly be missing? 

That’s a very “hot” point in many countries across the world right now Mike in the context of accusations racism, the slave trade etc. Without getting political, history made us all who we are and its study enables us to look at the mistakes of the past and learn from them. When I wrap this thread up before too long, Hannes will have the last words very much along those lines.  

Really learning a lot watching this build on here and on Peters Patreon site. Lots of great tips and tricks on how to use different materials and how to work them. 
 
 Dan

Really liking the cockpit detail, AIMS conversions are very nice. Very nice work.
 
Dan

I'm going with 82/83/76.  I left the supercharger intake off to make painting easier and the hole has been left empty.  I really don't care if any overspray gets in there because I'm gluing the supercharger intake on top of it after painting.
 
Applying the RLM 76... here we go!  I'm using AK Real Colors for this shade.  I really like how this color goes on. Thinned at 2:1 with Tamiya Lacquer Thinner, it goes on very smoothly with enough transparency to dial in the pre-shading effect.

 
I had the bright idea of using Mr Hobby Aqueous RLM 76 to provide a slight contrast to some panels.

 
To fully utilize the pre-shading, I paint panel by panel, trying to build up the most paint in the middle of the panel and to leave the edges just a little bit darker.  It's ok to be inconsistent and not too uniform so as not create an obvious grid pattern with the panel lines.

 
Panel by panel, I start covering the bottom.  It's also a final check to see if my re-surfacing work turned out ok and the rivet holes register under this coat of paint.  I'm pretty happy with how this troublesome area looks under a coat of paint.

 
Ok... the bottom is done.  The pre-shade effect is very subtle and usually doesn't register visually until you get closer to the model.  There will other layers of weathering that will add some depth to the model later so we don't have to accomplish everything with the pre-shade.  It's also important to go back to an area that you think you've finished as the Tamiya Lacquer Thinner can "bite" into the darker mottle and bring it to the surface as the paint dries.

 
We continue the RLM 76 up the sides of the fuselage.


 
Compared to the pre-shading, the application of the RLM 76, even with the highly-thinned mix, goes pretty quickly.  For whatever reason, I don't like the contrast between the two RLM 76 shades on the topside.  I think it'll get knocked back quite a bit by the application of the topside green colors but it is bugging me.




 
I like how the bottom turned out.  The contrast here seems to work better and adds a bit of visual interest to an otherwise boring landscape.



 
First stage of painting is complete.  I now must gather my references as there are some things I need to note about the topside camo like how high the demarcation line is, the mottle pattern and how to go about doing that sawtooth pattern on the leading wing edge.

I've decided to group the prop into some sub-assemblies.  The prop blades have been glued into the individual blade mounts.  The cannon mounting plate has been glued onto the prop hub, trapping the brass prop axle within.

 
I've scanned the Eagle Cal Ta152H decal sheet and have prepared four spiral masks.  The first two were used just to work out how the mask best fit onto the unpainted spinner.

 
When I thought I had that figured out, I painted the spinner white and applied the mask.  It didn't go on as easily as I expected until I figured out to take advantage of the flex of the Oramask 810 material to pull the mask into the correct position.

 
The black (Tamiya Black thinned with Mr Leveling Thinner) gave me a funky reaction that I had not seen before.  The paint seemed to pool on the areas where the mask had been... some unseen leftover adhesive?

 
So that effort was scrubbed off using iso alcohol.  The second time around worked very nicely and I got a clean spiral right off the bat.

 
In the meantime, the prop blades were being painted.  I used a sandy brown as a base coat since the Ta152H had a wooden prop.  Hairspray was used to do a little bit of chipping on the blades.

 
The painted blades were given a couple of layers of salt fading to roughen them up a little.


 
I still need to weather the spinner but prop painting is essentially finished.

Great work Peter. Loving seeing this come together on the Patreon site too.
 
If anyone has been hesitating following this build on the Airscale Patreon site as well as here I can so recommend the extra insight, thought processes and show and tell videos that have been posted there. Pennies for diamonds 
 
Torben

Thanks Dan and Karl, the party’s over but there’s still a little cake left for you!  (but all the booze has gone! ).

Can you Mods not see what is going on here?  People want something to talk about.  Even though this thread has morphed into a conversation about booze and paint color, people want to connect.  Only half a day old and seven pages!
 
But you have succeeded, two years ago in driving away some very interesting personalities.  Regular contributors.  You have turned what was once a vibrant place into something about as interesting as a wet blanket.  Your heavy handedness has stifled conversation, wiped away opinions, and contributed to an aura of blah.   I can't count the number of times I've come here in the past two years and found almost nothing happening in the three uppermost sections.
 
The stay at home policy has increased the number of builds  in the "in the works" section.  But before Covid-19 it sometimes got pretty slow there, too.
 
Don't be afraid to let people talk just because of where the direction might go.  There are far more level-headed, nice guys here than there are jerks.  Why stifle them all ?
 
 

I bought several sprues (1/24 Tamiya Porsche 956, 1/32 F-16C/J clear sprue, 1/32 F-14A clear sprue, etc). from Time Tunnel Models.
 
Very good prices and excellent service. I think they are the UK importer for Tamiya models.
 
Sincerely
 
Pascal

Different subject, but quite a few folks on feebay also part out tool kits, like DeWalt and such. I've gotten some really great deals on specific 18V DeWalt stuff that way.

x3. And his name is Mark, too! Great guy, though I agree it's not always the best value. But if you need it bad, he's a life saver.
 
Tim

Same here... I agree Mark that 'cpyzz' is very good to deal with - and I have on numerous occasions...
Mike

For me buying directly from Tamiya was cheaper than any eBay offering, provided sprues are from current production kit. 

Might have to have a look at these sellers. I have a non-LSP kit with a whole sprue missing. Dragon wouldn't even bother replying with my request to buy a sprue off them.

I've had to use their services in the past , usually when the carpet monster has been especially ravenous!
 

Bought several sprues from them when constructing my HK B-17G, as I needed some parts from the E/F kit to make things a tad more accurate. Was a huge life saver! Will likely use them again, as I need/want to source some HK B-17 propellers for my HobbyBoss B-24J build.
 
- Dennis S.
  Thornton, CO USA

Yep, saved my butt a few times too.

Yes to both sellers. Have bought Tamiya F-14, F-15 and F-4 parts sprues from both.

Have done the same.  Have bought from 'cpyzz' with confidence.
 
Sincerely,
Mark