Sme days ago Iposted something here about some things I found “wrong” in a decal set by Eagle Strike Productions: it was this set of decals containing Hans von Hahn BF109F-2 whihc he flew in the summer of 1941. the decals itselve are absolutly fabulous! BUT and here’s the BUT, I found some MAJOR mistakes in the decals and with the picture with reference to the paintsceme:
here’s the reference that comes with the decals.
I made some photo’s of photo’s in book of I./JG3 by Pren and Stemmer
I circled the things hich i found different than on the decals
I don’t want to comlain too much, but i fond a bit of a waste of my money to find such errors in the decals [:(]
I recently did G14 using Eagle decals, and also found some mistakes between the details they provided, and the referances I had on hand.
This has been the case with quite a few decal manufacturers I have found, but I really can’t blame them, and I personally don’t feel as though I have wasted any money on their products.
To produce decals to suit various a/c and pilots, they must rely on referances on hand, and those available to them, while keeping within a budget.
This is no excuse, but I thank them for doing something I have no time to do myself.
They also note on the instructions to ‘check your own referances’.
Hey, decal manufacturers are people too! And what Tweety said is just about how I feel as well except for the fact that I’m fortunate to have the time to do a bit of research and also have an overwhelming desire to do so.
I do agree, however, with your critique of the illustration on that instruction sheet with one exception: those rings, as is quite clearly evident in the second photo you provided, (and less so in the third) are not all the same size. Many of them are very closely sized, but they are not all the same. The illustration is also not exactly as the real deal was, but that is to be expected.
By the way, I was not able to procure any of those books by Prien and Stemmer. Any chance I can get some clean scans of those images? If not, no biggy…
First off all: I’m really keen on companies that make decals, especially Eagle strike, I bought about 5 sets from them and I like them all, the details are absolutely stunning.
Second: I just want to point out some differences i found between the decals and the reference photo’s I have.
Let me write them down, it’s not too clear in the pictures I posted.
Differences between the paintsceme reference and my references starting from the spinner to the tail:
Spinner is segmented in at least 1/3rd white, this is not told about in the paper that comes with the decals.
Direct area around the Tatzelwurm isn’t mottled like shown in the references that come with the decals.
Whole fuselage, all the rings are equally shaped( not same sized, close though but thanks for noticing that Blackwolf)
Tail: Yellow part is not as heavily mottled as shown in the reference that comes with the decals.
These things can be easily changed, so that’s not a too big problem(those rings will provide troubles though i think [:p] )
Things that are different between the decals and reference photo’s:
The decal set provides decals so you can add Hans von Hahn’s personal emblem on both sides of the cockpit. However my reverence show that there is an other picture on the opposite side of the cockpit( the city sign of the town of Frankfurt am Main) picture 3.
The white lines of the chevron and the triangle have much wider lines than the decals have.( for those who are interested: these broader lines were introduced by major Günther Lützow, the leader of JG3 from the start of the war till he was transferred to the general Luftwaffe command. Hans von Hahn was the next leader of JG3 and he kept these broad lines on his aircraft. It seems that all Stab./JG3 planes kept these wider lines used in their codes. I have some pictures too of the Technical Officer Lt. Detlev Rohwer that have the same thick lines in his radio sign <o)
The Werkenummer provided in the decals is 5458 however Prien and stemmer say it’s 5448. I took a look at the list of planes flown by JG3 during this time and it seems that it can be possible both. You can’t tell from the pictures. What you can tell is that it isn’t on one side of the tail.
I also feel that decal makers should have the series of JG3 Prien in their collection, They seem to make a lot of JG3 skins, god bless them for that, JG3 is my favourite Geschwader.
Blackwolf send an email to thijslepstra at hotmail dot com, I will send you these pictures and some others too, I have a total of 7 pictures of this specific aircraft.
Well Eagle Strike is the same outfit that does Aeromaster, sometimes called Errormaster. They are still better than Superscale for accuracy, but I have seen a few errors on many of their sheets. Always best to check your references if you are a stickler for accuracy. Also, many of the Luftwaffe’s top aces had more than one Aircraft assigned so it’s possible that your references are for a different bird than Eagle Strike used. This is particularly true for Galland, for example.
I’m working on this aircraft right now. “Planes and Pilots Me 109 Vol. 2 1942-1945” by Histoire and Collections has a color profile of this aircraft which contradicts the decal sheet as well as your pictures. It does have the cowl correct but it shows a yellow fuselage band and different size circles.
I painted the circles different sizes and this was quite a chore in 1/72nd scale believe me [:D] so I think I’ll live with that inaccuracy rather than re-doing them. That’s good info though, thanks!
"Also, many of the Luftwaffe’s top aces had more than one Aircraft assigned so it’s possible that your references are for a different bird than Eagle Strike used. "
This was the only aircraft that Von Hahn flew during this time of the war.
The stab flew with BF109F-1’s and F-2’s untill the 20rth of december when they recieved new BF109F-4’s.
