Skins by Aelius

[Aelius]

It's been ten years since I first skinned T6+DP, the "Snake" Stuka stationed in Libya in the summer of 1941. At the time, it was totally inappropriate for the "broad, sunlit uplands" in Cliffs of Dover Blitz. With the introduction of Tobruk, however, there now is a fitting theater of operations. But, unlike many on this forum, I am more interested in images of the plane than actually flying it in combat--which is impossible in any event, given that my flightstick is not being recognized.

 

The skins originally were posted on the 1C Publishing forum (Skins and Repaints for BOB COD), which sadly now is completely moribund. I've revised the template but also imagined what an advertisement for the plane might have looked like in an issue of Der Adler. 

 

 

Another image as if the plane had been illustrated.

 

 

And thanks to the developers for continuing to make the game available.

 

Edited July 18, 2021 by Aelius
To remove the Hakenkreuz from the tail of the plane.

[Mysticpuma]

Is this skin available? Thanks, Mysticpuma

[Blitzen]

One of my favorite skins from way back when. I believe i still have at least one version sans swastika in my skins folder.Do you have any plans to re-release perhaps with a swastika? I'd be in line for that!?

[Aelius]

It's gratifying, Blitzen, to think that you still might have a template of the "Snake," which went through several incarnations, as you might remember. I thought the last one was good enough but, if I'm going to post a revision a decade later, I would like to think that I've learned something in the interim. And Mysticpuma, I'll soon upload the template. In the meantime, here is T6+DP on the ground, which has provided a perspective in skinning the plane.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 22, 2021 by Aelius
To remove Hakenkreuz in background

[Guest deleted@7076]

-Deleted-

Edited September 12, 2022 by Varrattu
corrections

[Aelius]

Being new to this Forum and not knowing its official policy regarding display of the Hakenkreuz, I deliberately avoided or minimized its representation in my initial posts. I am aware that it is not displayed on German planes being flown in Tobruk. And I have read Rule 7, which governs behavior on this Forum and states that "all manifestations of Nazism and racist statemenets" are not allowed. It is a sentiment with which I completely agree.

 

But I don't see how one can present a German plane flying in World War II without its historical markings. Is shooting down a Spitfire or Hurricane, a Wellington or Blenheim any less offensive because the attacking plane doesn't have a Hakenkreuz on its tail? The suggestion that I delete any pictures with "clearly visible symbols of Nazi Germany" means not to show any pictures at all. The Stuka itself is an iconic image of Nazi brutality and Cliffs of Dover Blitz no doubt illicits painful memories for the British.

 

[I do understand the policy of this Forum, even if "all manifestations of Nazism" seems overly comprehensive in a game that involves Nazis--especially in one that simulates aerial combat but limits the national markings that identify the combatants and, even then, the Hakenkreuz on the fin flash but not the Balkenkreuz on the flanks or wings of the aircraft.] 

Edited July 18, 2021 by Aelius
To elaborate on my initial remarks.

[Aelius]

 

 

 

Here is Ju 87B-2 as it flew over Libya in the summer of 1941, with its remarkable snake slithering down the port side. There are two templates, one with the Hakenkreuz and one without.

[ITA-SUP-Bigans]

Thank you for sharing the swastika version too, historical correct, watching my pics.

[Aelius]

And thank you for the kind remark. If you refer back to my first post, you'll see a link to the Italian version of the "Snake" Stuka.

[ITA-SUP-Bigans]

I didn't download these skins, too warm to start PC.

Ciao

Edited November 28, 2021 by ITA-SUP-Bigans

[Aelius]

 

When it gets cooler, here is a revised template for Italy's T6+AN, both with the Hakenkreuz and without.

[imanuthep]

Cool Aelius, you can carry on like that all you want, your skins will be welcome (and yes, with hakenkreuz it is far better : so strange to see a plane of the luftwaffe without it)

[Aelius]

 

This splash screen from Desert Wings: Tobruk shows T6+CP over Libya in 1941--and is interesting for several reasons. The plane itself is ahistorical and did not have this paint scheme, which only was an informed supposition at the time. Too, the gaudy snake likely existed only on the port side.

 

 

The first photograph of the "Snake" Stuka was published in 1976 and showed just the front of the plane, forward of the cockpit. For the next thirty years, its overall appearance would be the speculation of profilers and modelers. It only was in 2005, in an article by Axel Urbanke in Luftwaffe im Focus, Edition No. 7, that the Verbandskennzeichen could be seen along the side of the plane (Blitzen's photograph above). This four-character code identified the unit (T6, designating Stukageschwader, StG. 2, Immelmann), as well as the yellow letter of the individual plane (C) flying within the unit and its squadron or Staffel (P, signifying 6.Staffel II. Gruppe). In fact, the proper coding was discovered to be T6+DP, all of which is discussed in more detail on my Luftwaffe website. 

 

 

What is remarkable, of course, is the extraordinary snake slithering down the entire length of the plane, which is more reminiscent of Richthofen's Flying Circus. It is illustrated in two books:  Leonard and Jouineau's Junker's Ju-87 from 1936 to 1945 (2003) and John Weal's Junkers Ju 97 Stukageschwader of North Africa and the Mediterranean (1998). Both use the same paint scheme in their profile but portray the snake slightly differently. In skinning the plane myself ten years ago, I followed Leonard and Jouineau and omitted the fangs, not realizing that they actually existed.

But the splash screen is intriguing for another reason (at least, to me). The template used by Team Fusion Simulations is a copy of that snake, which first was presented on IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover, Battel of Britain in 2011--as can be seen if one overlays their template with my own, The screenshot above originally was posted there but now is missing, with only the comments it elicited remaining. (The template did not have nearly the detail that now exists, with the result that I did not know then how to camouflage the supercharger air intake, where to place the Balkenkreuz on the dive brakes, or paint the propeller hub at rest.) 

 

I can't begrudge the developers for appropriating my image, as I had taken it (with modifications) from Leonard and Jouineau, who presumably had adapted their own profile from Weal. But a brief acknowledgement of my own work would have been appreciated.  

[Blitzen]

• Author

Posted 16 hours ago

 

This splash screen from Desert Wings: Tobruk shows T6+CP over Libya in 1941--and is interesting for several reasons. The plane itself is ahistorical and did not have this paint scheme, which only was an informed supposition at the time. Too, the gaudy snake likely existed only on the port side.

 

 

{QUOTE}The first photograph of the "Snake" Stuka was published in 1976 and showed just the front of the plane, forward of the cockpit. For the next thirty years, its overall appearance would be the speculation of profilers and modelers. It only was in 2005, in an article by Axel Urbanke in Luftwaffe im Focus, Edition No. 7, that the Verbandskennzeichen could be seen along the side of the plane (Blitzen's photograph above). This four-character code identified the unit (T6, designating Stukageschwader, StG. 2, Immelmann), as well as the yellow letter of the individual plane (C) flying within the unit and its squadron or Staffel (P, signifying 6.Staffel II. Gruppe). In fact, the proper coding was discovered to be T6+DP, all of which is discussed in more detail on my Luftwaffe website. {QUOTE}

 

Forgive me but I beg to differ.

This Ju-87 color scheme has fascinated me since I first saw it in 1962. I picked up an old ( published first in 1942,and later in 1945,)copy of World War Two in Pictures Volume One I was very much into plastic modeling ( primarily Airfix 1/72nd,) and Luftwaffe schemes as well. I was somewhat of an amateur artist as well and remember doing a colored pencil profile as well for the only regularily published circular about aircraft markings  and decal producer at the time HisAirDec which some old timers may remember. I don't think I tackled this on Airfix's 1/72 kit as it would have involved precise work that i was capable of.

Proof? You want proof?

See scanned pictures below that including the snake marked "Messershmitt (sic) Dive bomber":

( the crop in the aircraft picture is of some interest.I have a feeling the original was "crabbed " from another source ( perhaps Der Adler or Signal,)and in that magazine it was made to appear in a dive or climb.the original crop & description was probably different than what appeared in the book.BTW  the book had an interesting bent and was very pro Russian reflecting perhaps the mood of the American people at the time but also the American Communist Party.I never found Volume Two so I still don't know how it all came out...?

 

Edited September 14, 2021 by Blitzen

[Aelius]

Touché, Blitzen! I knew that the picture was one of several grainy stills taken from an Italian newsreel of September 1941 showing T6+AN in flight.  But I didn’t appreciate that it appeared in print the very next year.

 

In speaking of the 1976 photograph, I was referring to T6+DP as it was represented by modelers and profilers. Why they didn’t simply follow the example of the Italian plane in portraying the German one, I do not know.

[Aelius]

Ah, the penny drops--and your mention of World War II in Pictures. We've had this discussion, my friend, when you posted on the now moribund Cliffs of Dover: Battle of Britain forum a decade ago. Even then, we were hoping for a Mediterranean theater. And it only took twice as long as you predicted!

[Blitzen]

Yes and a few new aircraft to boot!

[Aelius]

For those looking at the picture, they should appreciate that it is by your own hand. And very impressive it is! 

[Blitzen]

1 hour ago, Aelius said:

For those looking at the picture, they should appreciate that it is by your own hand. And very impressive it is! 

I wish I could just figure out an involving painting including die Schlange!!!!

[Aelius]

 

On May 11, 1941, German Bf 110s, including a Staffel of twelve from 4.ZG 76 (4 Staffel, Zerstörergeschwader 76 ) then fighting in Crete and two from ZG 26, arrived in Mosul, Iraq to support a coup d'etat that had ousted the country's pro-British prime minister. Commanded by Oberst Werner Junck, the force was known as Sonderkommando Junck (Special Force Junck) or Fliegerführer Irak (Flyer Command Iraq). By May 18, only eight planes remained and, by the 26th, none were serviceable. Later that month, Luftwaffe personnel withdrew.

 

Part of Gruppe II/ZG 76 (Haifischgruppe), the Zerstörer were characterized by their distinctive shark's mouth. The white machine gun cowling and spinner tips are in the colors of 4.Staffel. Otherwise, German markings were replaced by those of the Iraqi air force.

 

Given the very basic template, skinning the plane (which properly should be a Bf 110D-3 with underwing fuel tanks) was a bit of a challenge.

 

 

The template can be found here.

Edited September 20, 2021 by Aelius

[Aelius]

 

Looking at templates for the Bf 110, one might be curious about the large blank patch adjacent to the left wing. There are no panel outlines and, aside from the propellers, no indication of what is hidden there. But after a considerable amount of trial and error, this is where one discovers the air intakes. I've revised the template so that the engine exhaust now flows over them.

 

The new template can be found here, although the original one has been changed as well.

 

Edited October 31, 2021 by Aelius

[Aelius]

 

This colorized version of the black-and-white photo in the previous post shows more clearly the yellow overspray on the engine cowlings, which I've reflected in a new template. The mottle of RLM 78 Himmelblau (sky blue) also has been extended up the sides of the fuselage, where it obscured the original German national markings. The template, which can be found here, provided a maddening exercise in discovering where all the yellow bits and pieces were located—in retrospect, perhaps too much work for a plane that was in the air for only two weeks!

 

 

Edited November 23, 2021 by Aelius

[Aelius]

A dozen Bf 110s sent to Iraq in support of a pro-German coup d'etat in May 1941 were diverted from II./ZG 76 (Haifischgruppe) that had participated in the Balkans campaign just the month before. One plane, coded M8+AP, is particularly intriguing as to whether it was a C or D variant, as usually described--or an E.

 

There is no profile because this is a forum on the North African campaign. And there are no photographs or screen shots because it simply is too much trouble to mask the Hakenkreuze in each of them. But if anyone is interested in learning more about the plane, a link is here.

[Aelius]

For the past several months, I've been working on two variants of the Bf 110, coded 3U+GS and M8+AP, trying to determine whether they were a D or E type. The Bf 110 also flew in Ukraine and, given ongoing events there, it no longer seems appropriate to continue modeling planes of the Luftwaffe on this forum.

[Mysticpuma]

I don't understand that decision but thanks for taking the time to post it, 

[343KKT_Kintaro]

On 2/28/2022 at 5:46 PM, Aelius said:

The Bf 110 also flew in Ukraine and, given ongoing events there, it no longer seems appropriate to continue modeling planes of the Luftwaffe on this forum.

 

 

You should have stopped modelling them in March 2014 because the war has been going on since then, and still coninues. 4,000 civilians dead in the Donbas since 2014 (killed by Ukrainian artilelry mainly). 300  civilian dead in the rest of Ukraine since the Russian invasion started last Friday.

 

I hope the war will soon come to an end in Ukraine. This would mean our video game skinners are back to work.

 

 

[ITA-SUP-Bigans]

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