1:48 Bf109 G-6/G-14 Reichsverteidigung - PLUS

The color bands of the defense of the Reich

From 1944 the German fighter machines defending their own territory carried conspicuous color bands around the rear of the fuselage. This was no decoration: the attacking formations flew in large groups and a band was the only way to tell from a distance which formation a machine belonged to. Every unit had its own combination of colors and their order, so this very detail turns a model into a documented machine of a particular squadron. For a modeler it is at the same time the most difficult part of the painting, because the band wraps right around the fuselage and has to line up.

Box contents

According to the list, inside there is one markings sheet for the defense of the Reich and two sheets of technical stencils for the G to K series. The ratio is not accidental: stencils are used up faster, because many times more of them go on one aircraft than national insignia.

Which machines the set covers

The G-6 version is the most numerous of the whole family and is recognized by the prominent covers over the machine guns on the engine cowling. The G-14 followed it as an attempt to unify production standards. Both types made up the backbone of the day fighter defense in the second half of the war and carried the bands mentioned most often.

Application procedure

The transfers are carried with water onto a smooth glossy surface and have no carrier film, so no edge is left once dry. With a band wrapping around the fuselage it is advisable to start from the spine and work to both sides, so that any deviation is split. The join on the belly is then the least noticeable, because a model is rarely looked at from that side.