Walk Away Wreck - 1/48 scale bf 109E-3 - December 2021

This may look familiar to those who have seen my previous posts on building old Monogram kits.  But this is an experiment and something I have never before attempted.  I don't have any models I wish to destroy nor do I wish to buy a perfectly good kit and intentionally destroy it.  However; I did have, in my stash, some left over parts from an online purchase that contained "almost" two ME 109s.  I double checked and found fuselage halves, wings, propeller and seat back - that was it.  The key for me was the existence of the intact prop.  There would be considerable DIY to produce what was missing, but I was willing to give it a try and see what I could come up with.  My goal is to create a belly landing of which there appear to be many in photo archives.  For example:

AND

My starting point was building a cockpit - the old Monogram had zilch detail except for a decal instrument panel, which was fortunately in the left over kits parts.  My sole ability to fabricate parts for this experiment is my saving of wine bottle foil.  It is moldable, cuttable and (almost too) easy to mark and scribe.  This is wine foil (WF) cut to be a floor plate.  I like the green!  

I have added a bunch of bits here, both pieces of PE as well as snips off of sprue trees.  The thing is, these were not random choices or placement.  I found photos of an Eduard 1/32 bf 109E-3 kit and I have attempted to emulate what I saw.  I don't know function (other than foot paddles).  I have cut out the instrument decal and glued it in place as well as the seat backplate, or should I say, a portion of it.  More on that later.

Needing a pilot seat I cut up an extra radiator grill from a 1/48 scale 2.5 ton truck recently built for a diorama I am still working on.  Note the cut out for a seat belt harness.  As you will see, this is not the only use of left over parts from the 6x6 truck sprue.

Here is how it will fit.  Note I have cut up some of the truck leaf springs to form the seat rails, along with other internals. levers etc.

 Next I wrap foil around the "radiator" seat back and leave enough length to form the seat itself.  Some cyano glue on the back holds it in place.  After forming the seat I poke a hole in the back where I had cut the grill and insert a "foil" harness easily cut with the xacto.

Here is the result with the seat formed, and glued to the "rails".  Bits of PE are from a left over "Tom's Models" sheet for a 1/350 scale destroyer and are used for everything including foot pedals, seat belt buckles, intake grills etc. and anything else I can think of.  The "Stick" is a hand brake, also from the 2.5 ton truck sprue and is inserted in a "foil" mounting plate.  Obviously I have gone to the fine tip brush and done some painting.  The other half of the fuselage is not as complex, but still follows the Eduard interior photos.

The concentration on the interior is my key to the wreck since the canopy will be at least partially or completely missing with the "crash landing".

Before closing up the fuselage the missing rudder must be fabricated.  First I drew a paper template then scribed the foil accordingly for both surfaces.  Foil bits are also glued for the connections.

Port side scribed for the ribs and glued to the tabs.

I had to add paper and foil in order to give the rudder adequate thickness.  It took three layers of decreasing size to fill in so I could then close up the fuselage.  

As I stated, the fuselage is now closed up using thin cement and then applying the starboard rudder half.  It turned out well.  I now have a sturdy rudder that can also be bent or perforated (with bullet holes) as I see fit.

Recall I mentioned PE for intakes. I was able to saw out and open the underside intake and insert PE.  (A piece of radar array).

Recall that I said I used a portion of the seat back?  I snapped off the top portion that had a pilot head rest for two reasons.  First I wanted to show the hatch behind the pilot that could be opened and pulled down forward to access the fuselage interior.  Second I saw that the seat backplate was attached to the canopy that was jettisoned for bale-out or crash landings.

Some additional detail.  I cut and filed out the little molded humps that represented machine guns, pin drilled the fuselage and inserted styrene rod for the two MG17s.  Fuselage seams needed filling and sanding.  Now it was time for the heat.....

.....applied to the propeller.  I simply held the blades over a tee light (candle) and bent them over - a belly landing under power!  I also heated my xacto blade tip and jabbed the spinner a few times.

The prop is not attached yet, but this shows how it will look. plus I have done a bit of painting to mark up the intake from the belly flop.

To the bottom wing:  I still have my sky mix (had to thin it) and two coats did the trick.  After etching out the recessed panel lines I went over the surface with 1,000 grit to bring out raised lines and rivets.

To the tail:  The same procedure for fabrication used on the rudder so I will let the picture tell the story.

I did need four pieces of foil.

Here is the tail assembled with styrene rod supports.

It can be noted that paint has been applied. More on that in a moment.

See?  I put the gray on first and then stippled in two different greens.  I kept dry stippling until I got what I wanted.  It is a good process for me and faster than air brushing.

THE WINDSCREEN

I was concerned about this since it was a compound form of sheet styrene.  It was hard measuring accurately and I ended up with the slope being two long.  

by the time I realized this I was too far along to want to start over.  I figured with no other parts with which to measure it would be acceptable (for me).

I had to count them up - 12 pieces of PE to form the frame (and I even missed one).

Once the adhesive was dry and everything seemed solid I got out the pin vise drill for the battle damage that brought the ship down.  Machine gun holes stitch up to and through the windscreen.

Decal time.  The 'S' in the shield is from the original decal set.  Though over 60 years old and yellowed, I like the look and decided to try.  Amazingly they did not disintegrate in the water and I was able to place with Solveset.  One looks a bit crackly but they are solid.  the cross is from my stash as is the "Stencil" number 13.

Thanks to Brother Bob for parting with two of the Swastikas' from his stash. Note the rudder got riddled too.

Here is where I was compelled to touch up.  The Stencil 13 did not look right - the allies used Stencil, not the Axis, also  the cross has to have black lines at the edges.

Careful touch up of the numbers and some mask assistance to create the thin black lines.

Similar to a previous view of the bullet hole pattern I had to mix some paint.  Red, Black and Dark Red Metal flake made for a satiny dried blood look.  The trajectory of the bullet damage through the windscreen looked to me like the pilot could be wounded - through the right shoulder - hence the splatter on the starboard side and seat belt harness.  Ok, a bit macabre perhaps but it made sense to me that, wounded, our intrepid pilot was able to still pancake his craft and walk away.

A sprue tree in the stash was the perfect diameter for the propeller shaft - a force fit so I can turn it and no glue!

Now I have to face the wings - yikes!

Earlier I showed  the bottom wing with the "Sky" blue paint, but now I have added insignia and gear to the Starboard side.  Wait, what? Gear?  I almost forgot.  I found the gear in my stash and recalled that when I built a Corsair for my step grandson he wanted a wheels up model.  Ok, so Corsair gear is different, but it is the same scale and I was able to fit it  in the wings and close them up! 

 All was going well applying decals and painting the outside black border until I started to mask the port side decal - it flaked off on me!!!  I am not sure what happened - probably not enough Solveset or I did not wait long enough.  Even at my age I occasionally get too anxious.  Well, I recovered the bits of decal and positioned the pieces as best I could and I painted in the rest.  It is a bit rougher looking but my rationalization is that this is the port side and is the side that I will create the damage (in landing).

The top side of the starboard wing (undamaged) has been glued in place and painted with the same technique as the fuselage.  The insignia has been applied, but I am going to wait sufficiently until I try and add the black boarder. Now I must contemplate to what extent I want to damage the port wing.

I first snipped at the crotch and then bent the wing until it cracked.  I also broke the gear leg and glued it into the opening.

I then scored and broke out the aileron as well as clipped off the edge of both upper and lower wing halves.  You can see here that the top half as been glued in place, the aileron reattached in the down position and pieces of foil cut and glued to the wing.

I'm fairly satisfied with the "torn and shredded" look.  Now when I paint the top of the wing and then sand or file on the top of the wing the edge it will expose the silver side of the foil.

The under side is finished complete with "weathering" as she pancaked along the ground.  I have applied paint to the top of the port wing and will show it as soon as I get the insignia applied.

I almost forgot the wing guns! More bits from the 6x6 sprue.  The 20mm cannon is the correct weapon mount as evidenced by the 60 round ammo drum bulges under the wing.  I was able to pin drill the ends of the "guns".

We are essentially done now as the port wing is painted and insignia applied and black border added (shown to be thicker than the underside insignia border).  I added a broken antenna post and droopy, thread radio wire.  Now I need to set up some diorama photos. 
But first here are a few extras I posted on facebook.

Quick Campaigns: Wings of Glory + Bolt Action - Continued.

 Phase Two - Ground battle using Bolt Action.

The setup followed the description back in Part One found HERE, with one German Unit on board, here seen huddled behind a stone wall outside of a small brown cafe' (below and), top right; 

and the Allies in the near corner. 

The Allied Forces, as selected:

A first LT and assistant;
2 x medium MG team
1 x Medium Mortar
3 x Veteran Glider Infantry squads, one equipped with multiple SMGs and AT grenades.
One bazooka team
1 recon jeep with MMG mounted
One Arty FO team
One 75mm Howitzer.

With the losses experienced in landing, the Allied Commander removed the FO team and pack howitzer. As we'll see later, this was probably not the best choice against the German defending force, consisting of:

3 Waffen SS squads

A sniper team

A flamethrower team

A Leutnant and assistant 

A Sdkfz 251 for transport

A Pzkw IV 

Rolling to enter the  fray on the same side the Germans set up, the Allied Commander chose to huddle in the trees rather than immediately take fire from the enemy, and control the ford over the river, with a mortar team, one squad, and a Medium MG north of the river, the remainder of the force on the south.

Turn 1 saw no additional German units arriving, allowing the Allies to run toward the bridge, leaving the northern MG team and mortar on Ambush, and one squad Running along the river's edge towards the foot of the bridge. 

                Recon jeep races ahead

Turn 2 saw the far German squad run from cover to cover in the north coming under MG fire from the MG team in the woods and taking a pin, while their relief column began to arrive, also on the eastern edge, a Panzer IV and a track full of SS Fanatics. 

German Commander: "...Despite my fear of untrustworthy intelligence, I put my squad on alert and hoped that there were not too many steins of cheer being raised at the small brown cafe'. We heard our A-A and drone of aircraft motors and knew reports of an invasion were true. From the cafe' we sprinted to cover to the west to watch the river both sides of the bridge and called for armor support"...

Having both sides' units arriving from the same edge meant a running race to the bridge while immediately coming under fire. 

The Panzer immediately put the US MG team in the woods under fire, delivering pins from its MGs. The halftrack was hit by the US bazooka team, putting it out of action, but the entire squad it was transporting escaped with only a pin to show for their forced dismount.  (Should have fired at the flank of the Panzer, in retrospect). 

SS squad leader: "...We were advancing toward the bridge when I raised my binoculars in time to spot an enemy panzerfaust in the ruins south of the bridge. As the rocket streaked toward us I ordered a halt and immediate abandonment behind our 251 - and to my horror it destroyed the vehicle we had just left..."

Bazooka-eye-view

The allied squad on the north side of the river reached the foot of the bridge, but at a high cost, losing 4 troops in the process.

The Panzer managed to eliminate both units north of the river (MG and Mortar) and the bazooka team while the Allies sprinted into cover in the ruins surrounding the south end of the bridge. 

Panzer IV commander: "...Call received that airborne troops had landed and were attacking and had two of our squads pinned down and being raked with MG fire.  Moving ahead our gunner was anxious and fired our main gun into the trees. While it stunned the allied gunners we turned to our own forward MG with success eliminating the allied nest. Pivoting north we spotted the panzerfaust that had destroyed the 251 and successfully neutralized him..."

The remaining German relief column entered in Turns 3 and 4, while the recon jeep was able to attrite the initial German SS squad as it approached the bridge from the north, down to 4 of its original 9, but they passed their morale check and continued to advance.

Can the Allies remain in control of, or at least contest the bridge, for two more turns? We will have to gather again to find out. We ran the clock out getting through turn 4. Stay tuned to Part III!

Reactions thus far:

Allied initial advantage evaporates as soon as German armor appears. Restrictions to Allied list based on glider limitations means nothing bigger than 57mm, which at 2500 lbs could be carried by glider. (Unfortunately I don't have that model. I'd bring one if I were you ;-) ).

Quick Campaigns: Wings of Glory + Bolt Action

 "Don't Cross The Streams"

Egon Spengler

Except when you should. As in this case.

Having been playing both Wings of Glory and Bolt Action for some time, I had wanted to set up a scenario in the air, and fight it out on the ground. Having also been a long  time student of American airborne operations in WWII, specifically the Glider Infantry, how many of my interests could I pack into the same sausage, as it were? 

Back in pre-COVID days, I had developed a set of homegrown rules and collaterals to allow the use of transport planes and combat gliders in Wings of Glory (check here for more information - it was in pre-blog days, a situation I may have to correct with a separate update here). The main challenge was in providing maneuver decks for aircraft that were, in WOG terms, so very slow, and reflect their use in battle. I had already found and built a tidy little C-47 kit in 1/200 scale, seen here on a borrowed bomber base and pegs.

As no one makes a WACO CG-4a model in 1/200 (yet), I improvised, scaling down the Fiddler's Green cardstock model to scale. I had made one in BW during a household toner shortage, and two in color, although I clearly didn't print to exactly the same reduction ;-). 

These are mounted on a couple of homemade acrylic bases. 

The scenario I had devised, loosely based on Operation MARKET-GARDEN was as follows:

Phase I: Wings of Glory

The Axis player defends, starting with 4 troop concentrations, 3 anti-aircraft batteries, and a lone FW-190D or ME-109K  for air defense.

The Allied player had 3 C-47 / Glider combinations, and 1 pair of either P-47s or Mustangs for air defense / flak suppression. 

Setup was as follows: Axis places AA cards on the West mat and troop concentrations on the East Mat. Allied player places 3 LZ cards in areas with no buildings, railroads, waterways, or large stands of trees, anywhere on the playing surface but more than a ruler from the West edge.

The Allied player places their transports and escorting fighters anywhere along the west edge,  the Axis places its fighter on the east edge. The game then proceeds as normal for WGS. 

The Allied goal is to safely land their gliders on the LZ (Base of a glider covers the center dot of the LZ). Each glider can deliver a max of 20 Supply Points to an LZ. The more damage they take, the less Supply they deliver; the more inaccurate their landing, the less they deliver, per a table in the above referenced rules. Even an otherwise safe landing requires drawing a "A" damage counter and subtracting that many points from your total, due to the hazardous nature of gliders in combat!

Phase II: The 60 possible supply points would translate into a 1000 point Glider platoon drawn from the Bolt Action Generic reinforced platoon, but restricted to units that could be delivered by glider: no tanks, trucks, half tracks, armored cars; no guns larger than the 37mm AT or 75mm howitzer. The Axis force would be 1000 points drawn from the German generic reinforced platoon, no restrictions.

Any losses taken in terms of supply points would be proportionately removed from the Allied force, rounding down, in whole units wherever possible. The Axis would start with one non-vehicle unit on the table, anywhere. All remaining units would have to enter as detailed below. All Allied units would start along one edge selected at random, with initial positioning of Allied troops limited by the accuracy of the landing in the prior Phase, after the German unit was placed. Their goal - take and hold the bridge at table center as shown on the map:

Each turn the German player can attempt to activate their off-board units via a two-step process. Roll 2D6 and consult the German Entry table. Each turn the likelihood that the relief column will arrive increases. If allowed, they must still pass an order test like a normal reserve unit. The edge of their entry will also be random for the first unit arriving, all subsequent units arriving from the same point. In order to allow use of flanks and not force everything through the center, I include a ford and a ferry on the ends of the bisecting river, to allow infantry units to move across without needing to cross the bridge.

We allotted 6 hours to play this out. With a late start and a lunch break, it was not enough ;-)

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The Game, Phase I: WGS

The table was set with two mats aligned on their long edge as spelled out in the scenario.  My brother Bill, "Big Bro", the German commander, had his AA spaced around the populated area in an Arc that would cover any approach the Allies could make, his troops held back near likely LZ locations. The LZs were placed in clear areas to remove some landing risks, but 2 of three would require a much longer flight in around German AA.

"I had some intel of a possible invading force but since June I considered all reports with skepticism.  The positioning of my forces were to protect as much territory from occupation as possible." 

The Allies split the Glider serials into two groups, planning on a nearly straight in approach, again to simplify accurate landing. The southern pair would fly in nose-to-tail in column. (I was somewhat limited as I had only printed one set of C-47 and CG4a maneuver cards. Don't do this. Print out one each. :-) )  It wasn't too bad until all were on the board; worse as gliders released. NOTE: We were playing without using Altitude rules, again for simplicity. For more experienced players, or those with more time or patience, use altitude.

Initial moves were straightforward, with glider serials plodding straight ahead, and fighters speeding toward each other. The Allies had chosen a pair of P-47s, feeling that they would be a good enough threat for the defenders while making them good ground attack / flak suppression tools. The Luftwaffe responded with a wicked FW-190D with its high speed and big cannon.

"I contacted our aerodrome to see if there was any possibility of support despite allied air superiority.  Only a single FW 190 was airworthy, but I ordered him up much to my later chagrin."

As the Transports moved ahead, the fighters tangled near the center while flak started going off.

The first flak burst underestimated how slowly the glider trains were moving, although the southern serial was so stretched out along their path it was hard to miss, the first volley split between the lead plane and its glider (a draw of 0 points, whew!). The fighters met head on, opening up as they came in range.

Unfortunately for the FW, one of the many B damage tokens was the dreaded BOOM...

It would be up to the FLAK batteries from here on. The P47s, freed of their interceptor role, reversed and went to harass the nearest battery, 

while to the North, the first glider cut loose and began its descent to the LZ, continuing to frustrate the flak by its lack of speed.

Note on the above picture the blue counters. On release, the glider has up to 5 moves to land / reach altitude 0. If you land in fewer than 5 - if you force it down faster to avoid flak or fighters, a "blitz" landing, you will risk doing additional damage and lose yet more supply points. Choose wisely. The same is true if your last move is not a "straight".  The C-47, now faster and free of its cargo, makes a sweeping turn and races (relatively speaking) toward home. The AA gunners found the range and hit it for 10 damage and set it afire before it escaped.

Down south the gunners continued their lackluster performance.

 The P47s went on a strafing run, blasting a flak gun out of the game (8 "B" damage tokens will do that...). The remaining gun was still a risk the Allies didn't want to face, so both gliders in the southern serial headed towards the nearest LZ - however, you lose an additional supply point for each glider landing before you on the same LZ...

Here we see the lead CG4 descending and the second cutting loose, the C47s turning away to escape if they can.

They managed to all land on their LZ without any additional damage. Still, based on the "A" token draws on landing, and the "2 gliders in the same LZ" effect, the Allies were down 6 of a possible 60 supply points, successful in Glider terms, but it would mean they would be removing 10 percent of their Bolt Action list before the first shot was fired...

END PART ONE.

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Click HERE to read Part Two - Bolt Action Glider Infantry Assault

POST-MORTEM

As a Wings of Glory scenario, it will not please players eager for lot of air combat; it is not air-to-air focused, the glider landing mechanics more similar to slow motion bombing. The Axis needs luck, strategy, and a good eye for AA to be successful. And can afford to be reckless, as losses in this phase have no effect on the second. I may consider allowing Allied air to attrit the German forces by strafing the Troop concentrations. The Allies had a near flawless delivery to the LZ yet still landed with a point deficit and a lack of significant anti-armor capability. I may consider starting with a higher Allied point total to help compensate.