condor me-109 questions

I often read in this forum about another man’s (or woman’s) problems and I learn from your answers a lot. Now I have a few questions of my own and I hope you can help me with them.

Recently I have bought the Hasegawa Messerschmitt Bf 109 E3 ‘Legion Condor’ (1:48). I want to finish him with the markings of Oblt Hans Schmoller-Haldy of 3/J88 (numbers 6 - 123 on the side of the plane), those markings are in the box so that’s no problem. However I’m in the lucky circumstance that I also have an aftermarked decalset of this plane made by AeroMaster Decals (no 48 - 458). When I compared them, the markings of the aftermarket decalset were approximately 10 percent bigger. The numbers on the aftermarket decalset were 9 mm in height those on the sheet from the box 8 mm, my question: which shout I use?

My other question is about the tail - wheel of the aircraft. In the manuel and on the boxcover the tire is like a tire of a car from the 50’s with white sides. I could not find a picture of a Messerschmitt with such a tire, they are all completely black, how was this on the real one?

Tanks,

Rutger

Hey Rutger,

Unfortunately, I don’t have either that particular kit or that decal sheet. So I can’t compare them myself. You may already have these photos, or you may not. but you can use them to judge for yourself which set of decals is correct. I’ve also provided a color profile as a point of interest. I’m not one to place absolute faith in artist’s renditions, but they’re good for a general reference.

As far as the tailwheel is concerned, I have several shots of Bf 109D’s that have the white-walls. But none of Emils, none that are conclusive, anyway.

Fade to Black…

Blackwolf,

I didn’t have those photo’s so I could use them perfectly. When I scale them out the larger decals seems to be correct so I go with the AeroMaster decals, thank you very much.

After your reaction I have looked through my books ones again and this time I have found a picture of a Me109 E and a G2 with white-walls on the tailwheel so they were mounted on later models too.

Thanks again,

Rutger

Good deal! Glad this stuff helped you out!

Fade to Black…

There is another way to find out which decals work best. Do the scale math. I think the size of the real lettering was a standard of 10 inches.

Wasn’t it more likely in milimeters?

Anywho, I tend to think aftermarket decal makers have done a little more research than the kitmakers. I could be wrong, of course, but that’s my rule of thumb.

I can’t help with the markings, but I can with the tyres. A parked aircraft must be earthed to stop the build up of static electricity.
normally this is done with an earth lead, sometimes called a bonding lead, usually to a specific point on the fuselage or wing, but it can be clipped to the undercarriage, the other end goes to a known earth point in the ground. To get around this problem
in field operations, the Luftwaffe used ‘earthing tyres’, the tyre was grounded (not sure how) to earth. These tyres were marked with a white band which looks like a whitewall. Sometimes a mainwheel was marked like this, you wouldn’t need more than one such tyre per aircraft, so don’t do them all!

Albertsponson,

If the white band was only to mark the tyre, then was this band on one or on both sides of the tyre?

Rutger

Sorry, I don’t know. I only discovered the information a few month’s ago myself. I would imagine it would be on both sides of the tyre though, then it wouldn’t matter which way round it was fitted to the wheel. The white band would be added to the tyre at the factory ( there’s something for the experts, who made tyres for Luftwaffe aircraft?, Continental?)
I was trying to think of a way to make the tyre more conductive than normal too, maybe copper was added to the mix, or steel threads near the surface of the tread. I work on aircraft & still can’t think of a foolproof way to do it!

Here’s the one I did many years ago:
http://www.inpayne.com/models/mebf109e3condor.html

Gotta lighten up those pics.

Looks sharp John. And leave 'em the way they are, too many washed out model pictures out there. Okay, perhaps just a tad lighter, but not much!

That the original Hasegawa mold in 48th?

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Rutger, a Condor legion bf109 was shown in the FSM 2003 great scale modelling magazine.
Try www.109lair.com
you may find your answers there.
All the best
Pete

It’s a beauty John. If my model comes a little close to yours I will be very pleased.

Everyone, thanks for your reactions, more than I expected.

Rutger