"Czech Out!" ***Figure Toot Pt. III/2nd wing installed***

[tigrazor]

Hello all.

This project is in my head now for years and a very personal thing. Due to the lack of knowledge of some facts, missing links and modelling skills I didnt realize it until now, but now I think I can get this a go. The theme is nothing less than the crash landing of a Ju 52 my grandfather was a passenger of.





Some basic facts beforehand:

My grandfather did service in the 8th army approaching to Stalingrad in 1942, but was severely wounded  - he got a shot right through his right arm - and flown out in August 1942. Lucky him, after coming home after the crash - he walked [!!!] from Prague to the Ore Mountains at home, more than 120 km, he stayed at home, and was thrown three days later at the western front. After the war was over, his mother told him, that he lost his brothers due to war actions. All THREE of them.

He is 86 now and is suffering from dementia, so I wont bother him with questions he doesnt want to remember or isnt able to, of course. This is the Point, where I gonna Need YOUR help!


"Tante Ju" and what I know about her...

If it was engine damage, friendly fire or whatsoever, I couldnt find out until now. According to the Geschwader chronicles, the machine got 15% damage. It was coded


1Z + ?L


1Z stands for the Geschwader itself [KG zbV 1], the last letter was the Staffel letter.

Most probably the Ju 52 was signed I./KG zbV 1. If Im informed right, and thats what he states too, the Ju came down in the nowadays called Czech Republic, to be more correct, in Prague-Ruzeny at 03. August 1942. Thats what I know about it so far, if youre smarter than me and got more informations or even pictures - those are very, verywelcome of course! Everything will help.

Unfortunately, I wasnt able to find pictures of the crash landing in Prague itself, but I got similar ones.













Sources:

www.ww2.dk
www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de
www.bundesarchiv.de


This weekend Im on an expo at Leipzig, and the club CEO will bring me along the long needed Ju 52 from Revell. Oh, and its quarter inch, btw  So far, so good. And with the Project not even started, Ill have to say thank you to the following persons, that encouraged this one and offered their help:


Andreas Reuther
Detlef "Detscher" Fischer
Thomas Mayer [Thomas M. here @ MSC]
Libor Havranek, Eduard support




Cheers and thanks for watching. More coming soon!



Regards,


Lucas.

[wbill76]

A very cool project Lucas given your 'personal' connection to it. Look forward to seeing you bring this one to life!

[DeafStuG]

Hi Lucas,
So interesting...
I tried research with my book very rare hard to one for you.

1Z + ?? = KGzbV1 later TG 1

zbV 1 = special assignment.

TG 1 = Transport Geschwader 1

I. Gruppe staffel = 1 to 3
1 (white number)
2 (red number)
3 (yellow number)

Maybe I'm wrong ?

I still re-searching..
Trying my best for you.

[DeafStuG]

I thought of It was KGr.zbV 500 "Arms of the city of Dortmund"

[tigrazor]

Hi Stug,

thanks for your help. "zbV" means " zur besonderen Verwendung", that is, correct "special assignment" in English. It was reassigned "TG 1" in May 1943, this crash happened in 1942. I really dont have a clue what Staffel it was, but the Gruppe was definetely 1st - according to my sources.

www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/Transportgeschwader/KGzbV1.htm

>> Ist and IInd Gruppe served in November 1942 near Stalingrad [troup support]. That makes sense so far, cause my grandfather never had been to Stalingrad [luckily!!!], but did service near it. As far as I can remember what he told me years ago, he was supposed to go to Rumania, to protect the oil fields, but never arrived there. End of July he was injured, thats for sure. Again, this makes sense - the crash happened 03rd of August, just a few days later!

[tigrazor]

+++++WIP OFFICIALLY STARTED+++++

Man... Received the kit of the Ju yesterday and ist even larger than I thought it'd be! 60 cm total wingspan. SERIOUSLY??? And how beautiful the parts look like, even after 15 years this kit is a very good choice, if ist compared to completely new modeled similar planes/vehicles/... And 15 € paid for it, come on! Almost a free gift! So the extra Money spent on the figures [1€ each!!!] and the masks [4,80 €] didnt really hurt.


A propos "figures":

Those are really good in shape and Id like to begin with them as a "warm up". The ladies are even better "in shape" , but they are thought for another project. Most probably the parachuters included in the kit arent necessary. My grandpa was an infantry man, not an airborne.

See ya later!

[Leon]

Good news on the JU Lucas.Glad to hear you made a start.

[tigrazor]

Yeah, I made a start. Fortunately, I have loads of Eduard/ICM figures over, so I can puzzle individual figures together. More in some hours...

[TRM]

Glad to hear the kit arrived...nice deal there!! Looking forward to seeing those pics!!!

[tigrazor]

There you go... Lets start with a simple thing first: Those are from Revell, wit just some arms changed, cut off Hands [changed position]:




Even more simple and a "rebuild classic" - complete figure fromTamiya, changed head [Revell]:





Left civilian figure is completely original, the other one got another head. This one was supposed to wear an officers/field cap, so I molded some hair with Liquid Green Stuff:




And this one is my absolute favourite: Originally, this maintenance soldier is carrying a tool box [or something similar]. The angles of the shoulders were optimized, the hand as well plus LGS again, a small plastic rod cigarette followed - and the relaxing soldier is almost ready for some paint! Almost because the LGS on his arms Needs some smoothening and fitting, but thats it - the worst part is done.






PS: Are the uniforms correct so far for 1942 Luftwaffe? Dont hesitate to tell me if theres something wrong!

PPS: Whoa, that macro mode is EVIL!!! Ill have an additional look over the remaning flashes.

[tigrazor]

Another "self made man". Again, different parts from the Eduard set were used. The only thing that is in the place it was supposed to, is the right arm, but thats it! Of course the lower part of the belly wont fit to the pants. Finally there was a use for the [imho] useless Tamiya plastic figure bases - I cut them in shape, sanded them, and of course there was the obligatory filling with LGS. Oh and hes got a Tamiya head.




So far, so good... Now some trimming and shaping, and then the primer will follow for the figures. Enough figures? More figures? Any changes necessary?

What do you think?

[wbill76]

Looks like you've got the Frankenstein-figure factory in full production Lucas! nice job reworking the figs to your needs.

[tigrazor]

Thanks Bill.

Figure 1 completed:



The Tamiya face could have been better, so this one looks a bit not-too-perfect maybe. Anyways, Ive seen worse ones.

[tigrazor]

Figure 2 completed:

[destrozas.]

according to the pictures we show in particular that the plane is the 1Z + CP (unknown insignia color)shot down or lost (unspecified) W.Nr 5155 is a ju 52/3mge
This aircraft was part of the condor and was leguion related to the northern front, where a portion of the tube in the bombing of Gernika.



P.D: edited to rectify the fault I committed to put the D instead of C which is the one with the airplane.

[tigrazor]

Uhm... wait. Exactly THIS plane I want to build or the one shown above? Those seem to be different ones. At least I couldnt find something via Google.

If that is the correct code for the Prague bird, that would be perfect, but I dont guess so [L stands for 1st Staffel, what it was,  P for Staffel]

[destrozas.]

go with what you mention it, I for more i searched the net and the library of books that I have with the L staffel I only found one that was shot down on 11-13-1942 in tunisia, but the CP is the one you see in this picture that you have posted:



Sorry before I set place when I put D instead of C, by the emblem of the nose and is known to be the II gruppe, CP is the obvious, P is II gruppe 6 staffel C is 3 plane in de staffel but hey, I have found in the writings of the section shows that the I staffel lost 3 JU52 aircraft:

3 Aug 1942: Ju 52 crashed landed at Fp. Prague-Ruzyne, 15%.

19 Aug 1942: Ju 52 (1Z+FK) reported missing on a flight between Tuapse and Novorossisk in North Caucasia, 100%, 2 KIA and 2 MIA.

29 Aug 1942: based at Taganrog-South/60 km W of Rostov.

if it sounds like you one of the two ( 3 or 29 day )unidentified can keep looking

[tigrazor]

Hehehe. True. 15% and nothing more or less. Well, if I cant get more Information about it, Im gonna work it like on other pictures [the one above is a good example].

Thats the Emblem of 1st Staffel btw:

[wbill76]

Making good progress Lucas, keep the updates coming!

[Leon]

Good to hear your getting a lot of the info you need Lucas .Waiting for more updates.

[destrozas.]

the only profile that I found in the books that I have 1 1Z + .L is 1 gruppe 3 staffel, in LL rlm04, May 1941 in Crete. I've seen pictures of one gruppe in front eln this until the winter of 1942.



I am trying to locate some more appliance for the same. the squadron (staffel) I found quite a few pictures but with winter camouflage and placed'll keep looking and speak with some friends to see if we get something more concrete.

[tigrazor]

That would be great, many thanks. I heard that in some cases the winter camo was still on the planes, partially at least. But it depends, I guess.

Because of a sudden payback I could afford the still pricy, but necessary Tamiya figures ["German Infantry on Manoeuvres". Necessary because I definetely need some German infantry on the dio. Plus this set contains some baggage, seperate helmets and all the stuff that makes a diorama come to life.




And... another figure is completed. Man, theres gonna be loads of people on the diorama. Of course - a plane that crash landed is always attractive  The figure got a spare head [Revell] and the hair was separately molded with sopme Liquid Green Stuff.


WIP:




completed figure:

[destrozas.]

is complicated but because you have not made ​​molds of the figures?, if you have different arms, heads, ect, you could make your own and lose heart expenses.
I usually do are engines and spare interiors that do (the most expensive to make as the fuse panel, gas controls or control panels)

[tigrazor]

All of those figures are a kitbash so to say. The Tamiya figures will be built oob, most probably, plus some lead foil or similar to create some bandages etc. I wont make recasts, cause I dont have the material nor experience at all in recasts. Creating them step by step as a kitbash is - for me and in this case - the easiest way.

Btw I was collecting some roots today while I was wandering around with my girlfriend - the easiest way to recreate some trees, bushes etc. And some wooden boxes were ordered here:

www.battlefield-berlin.de

[wbill76]

Making good progress with the figures Lucas, the civvie make-over in particular looks very convincing.

[tigrazor]

Thanks Bill. I wasnt confident at all with the face of the first figure, this had been changed, btw.

[tigrazor]

More figures completed...









Tamiya infantry figures in progress...

[tigrazor]

First one completed...

[Thomas_M/]

60cm wingspan but the figures still are tiny in this scale...
Lucas in full swing again!

[tigrazor]

Well, its 1/48, right?!

Infantry officer completed... The Devlan Mud washing looks a bit shiny, but isnt.




Some roots for the trees that Im gonna create on my own... Those are quite big. Put them in the oven for 10 minutes @ 60°C, works perfectly...