Sheet:

Aeromaster 72-003: Battle of Britain

Units: See review

Price

$5.00

Reviewer:

Scott Van Aken

One of my favorite periods of time to do modeling is the Battle for Britain. It was in the days when RAF planes were in the 'Big Roundel and Big Code Letter' period of time. Luftwaffe planes were just starting to do mottling and there were also a wider variety of camo schemes to be seen on the 109s. You could find the 70/71/65, 71/02/65 and 74/75/76 planes all being used at the same time.

This sheet covers seven aircraft from that time period.

The two Spitfires are Mk.Is in dark green/dark earth over sky. The first flown by Johnnie Johnson of 616 Sq and the second from 610 Sq.

Similarly painted Hurricane Is are next. The top one from 229 Sq and the other from 504 Sq. Both have either a name or small personal emblem.

Now for the 109 schemes. The first one is from JG 53. This E-4/B is in RLM 70/71/65, though as the instructions say, it may be in 74/75 uppers (a more likely scheme for an E-4). It has a yellow nose and rudder with a red stripe on the nose. The commander of JG 53's wife was Jewish and so as 'punishment' the  Group could not carry the 'Pik As' ace of spades marking normally used by this group. Several pilots in the group protested by over-painting the tail swastika on their planes. When the group changed commanders, the insignia returned. Unfortunately the commander was an excellent leader and his career was basically stalled for the duration of the war.

Next is another E-4 from JG 52. It is listed as being in RLM 71/02/65, also with a yellow nose and rudder.  As with the previous aircraft, it has mottling on the fuselage sides.

Finally, an E-3 variant from JG 53 prior to the red nose band. This one is in RLM 70/71/65 with a broad swath of RLM 71 on the fuselage sides. It also has a yellow nose and tail band with the wing tips and tail planes being in this color as well. The drawing shows the upper fin to be yellow as well, but I'm not sure about that. Any info appreciated.

This beastie comes from my engorged decal collection.

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