ANR Bf-109 G-14 Purple 1 Camo question.

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kippenhan
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ANR Bf-109 G-14 Purple 1 Camo question.

Post by kippenhan » Wed Jan 11, 2023 10:57 pm

Hello all.
I'm almost ready to begin painting my ANR Bf-109 G-14 purple 1 of 1 sq., 1 Groupo Caccia.
This is the often depicted aircraft with the fuselage over spray of the previous German marking.
In Camouflage and Markings of the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (D'Amico and Valentini) it is found on page 75.
In Bf 109 Late Versions Camouflage and Markings (Wolowski) it is on page 52

D'Amico and Valentini state it is RLM 81/82/76
Wolowski states RLM 82/75/76

I'm not sure which way to go. Looking at the plane, the camo along the fuselage spine is very low contrast from one another (red arrow in attached scan) whereas the engine cowling appears lighter (blue arrow). I don't think this can be due to the sun as it doesn't appear too bright and the mottling on the sides is also dark. Also, if you look at the fuselage sides, they appear slightly darker than the engine.

Could this late war aircraft had 82/75/76 cowling and 81/82/84 fuselage?

I'm interested to see read your opinions.
Thanks
Mike
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Re: ANR Bf-109 G-14 Purple 1 Camo question.

Post by Editor » Thu Jan 12, 2023 9:13 am

This is an Erla built aircraft. On these planes the canopy is in 74 (82) but the plate in front of the windscreen is often in 75 leaving a gap of 75 between the 74 (82) on the windscreen and engine cowling - the top of the engine cowling of 1-1 however also appears to be in 75. Also distinct on Erla built planes is the (sharp(er)) mottle along the side fuselage. The crosses on the undersurfaces of the wings had thin black outlines. The top wing camo is the saw-toothed camouflage pattern similar to what Bogdan did below + wavy-leading edge camo:

https://stormomagazine.com/phpbb2/viewt ... =26&t=1587

Ferdinando was pretty good and reliable but he wrote his book quiet a while ago and I don't know if he had an original/clearer photo of this plane W.Nr.785x53 (?). This plane 1-1 was likely built in 11/44 although the W.Nr. lines up with Mtt built aircraft received by the ANR for this Gruppo - the paint scheme is however clearly Erla. The plate between the windscreen and engine cowling appears RLM 75 (as does the cowling itself). German directives stipulated that existing paint stocks were to be used before supplanting with 81/82. There are no chips for 81/82 and it seems each manufacturing plant (Mtt, Erla, WNK) interpreted 81/82 to mean something different or at least their paint suppliers did.

Also note how 82 extends underneath the canopy and forward of the 75 plate. RLM 82/75/76 seems the most obvious color scheme and this combination extended across the whole spine. German fuselage markings are obviously (heavily) over painted with a dark green and I think this makes the rear fuselage look darker. RLM 70 spinner and blades.

The Squadriglia number '1' is a blue color, likely "Azzurro 11".

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