GERMAN AIR FORCE GEMS
The latest edition of Luftwaffe Im Focus offers a wealth of inspiration and
historical content for modellers.
If you’re a fan of German wartime aviation, the periodical Luftwaffe Im Focus from publisher Luftfahrtverlag-START is a reference goldmine. Most of the visual content has not entered the public domain before, so you’re always guaranteed something new to inspire at least one aircraft build, but most likely more. English and German text is provided throughout.
This latest instalment, the 30th in the series, open with a fascinating photo showing the tail, and crew, of a Dornier Do 216 of II./KG 40 – a unit more famous for its operations with the Fw 200 Condor. The image demonstrates the overall black paint, fuselage codes and mission markings. If fighters are your thing, the following double-page spread has two large colour photos of a Bf 109G flown by Hptm Heinz Bär, and many airframe/camouflage nuances can be gleaned from them.
The Heavy Fighters pages provide a study of the Bf 110 at Derna airfield, North Africa, and Me 410s at Augsburg. And there’s a diorama in waiting on the following pages, as they show a recce Ju 88 belly-landed in the snow, with the crew on and around the aircraft. Details of the mission and a useful map are provided.
Colour photos of any Luftwaffe aircraft are always worth seeing, and page 15 has a beauty - the red devil artwork of 1./KG 76 on a Do 17Z. After this there’s an interesting narrative, with six black and white photos, about the Luftwaffe’s Kurierstaffel (trop) Afrika, with images of the He 111 coded VG+ES, and Caudron C.445 (CD+YH). There are also black and white photos and a superb colour profile of the He 111 DH+YA, and several Ju 52s employed by the unit appear in other images.
Yet more diorama inspiration lies in the views of a crashed Bücker 131D-2 with its tail end up in a tree, after a training accident, and then comes an extensive look at the so-called Honour Goblet (Ehrenpokal) awarded to Luftwaffe personnel for distinguished achievement in the air war. Colour photos of such a goblet, photos of crews holding them, and award ceremonies are also present. Rounding off Volume 30 is narrative (with photos) on the unit Seenotstaffel 8 during its operations on the Black Sea, with the Dornier Do 24 flying boat.
Altogether, this is another fine selection of curated content/imagery, which will fire up any Luftwaffe modeller and get them browsing through the stash for potential build projects. It costs just €19.60 for this high-quality, 50-page softback. For further details visit: www.luftfahrtverlag-start.com
