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Old 03-04-2012, 09:54 AM
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Hudsonduster Hudsonduster is offline
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Yup, both can depict Schöpfel's (I can't make an umlaut on my Yankee keyboard!!) plane, yellow nose or no. Those bright marks became necessary for tactical identification--camo isn't as important when you're airborne in hostile territory, you want to have quick IFF recognition. See my long harangue about nose paint above, and recall that the BoB air support all were painted with tactical blazes.

The two-volume H&C set on Bf109s (not "ME!" grrrr...) borrows heavily on others' work, but is pretty nicely presented as a detailed overview of the aircraft; vol. I's got a great breakdown of codes and markings that you don't see every day.
But, if you're real dedicated about geeky minutiae, you want to cross-confirm what you find in books (particularly when published in different countries, with different copyright sensibilities).
And you want to be very suspicious about anything you turn up on the 'Net, for the same reason. There're a couple of Russian and East European sites that are great quick first references, but the data is often in error, sometimes from gaps in language and understanding and sometimes from that copyright issue.

I can only document the deliberate blanking-out of the swastika in III. JG 53 during the period cited; this black diamond is more likely a product of our modern sensitivity.

Hey, I'm hijacking Gerardo's nice thread here and I should apologize. We can take it to its own topic if anybody wants.

I'm very glad to see Galland's BoB ride in a Halinski kit.

'Duster
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