This latest release
from Lifelike
Decals
features four different Me 109's flown by Luftwaffe Ace Marseille in desert camo schemes. This is Part
7 of a series dealing
with the Me 109 and includes markings for 4 of Marseille's aircraft and his own
Kubelwagen.
Hans-Joachim
Marseille scored his
first victory on Aug 24 1940 during the Battle of Britain.
Marseille did not
take any pleasure in this kill and found it difficult to accept the realities of
aerial combat. In a letter to his mother, dated 24 August, he said:
Today I shot down
my first opponent. It does not sit well with me. I keep thinking how the
mother of this young man must feel when she gets the news of her son's death.
And I am to blame for this death. I am sad, instead of being happy about the
first victory.
Hans-Joachim
Marseille was
nicknamed "Star of Africa" for his success as a fighter pilot in North
Africa and he died bailing out of his aircraft on Sept 30 1942. Oddly on his
last mission he was escorting Ju-87's and encountered no enemy aircraft,
but for an unknown reason the engine on his new Me 109G-2 began to emit a large
amount of smoke into the cockpit requiring his wingman to guide him to friendly
territory. Once safely over friendly territory, he inverted his plane to
bail out, but due to the smoke he was unaware that his plane was in a steep
inverted dive and gaining speed. When he bailed out he was hit by the vertical
stabilizer, which left him unable to activate his parachute. His lifeless
body was found on the desert floor near the remains of his aircraft.
Marseille's 158th and final
victory was Pilot Officer Turvey, who bailed out of his Spitfire VC, BR494 on
September 29 1942.
The
4 aircraft featured on this decal sheet were flown by Hans-Joachim Marseille
during 1942 and markings for his personal Kubelwagen are also included.
This decal sheet includes the following:
-
Me
109F-4/Trop, W. Nr. 8693 flown by Lt. Hans-Joachim Marseille from Feb 8 - 27
1942 when he had his 52nd victory.
-
Me
109F-4/Trop, W. Nr. 10059 flown by Lt. Hans-Joachim Marseille from Tmimi AB
on May 31 1942 when he had his 68th victory.
-
Me
109F-4/Trop, W. Nr. 10137 flown by Oblt. Hans-Joachim Marseille from
Gambut AB on June 17 1942 when he had his 101st victory.
-
Me
109F-4/Trop, W. Nr. 8673 flown by Hpt. Hans-Joachim Marseille from
Quotaifiya AB on September 15 1942 when he had his 151st victory.
-
Kubelwagen
"OTTO" with small animal artwork on the side intertwined with the
black "OTTO text.
Click on
images below to see larger images
The quality of these decals is
excellent. The decals themselves are clearly printed and in
perfect register. Some decals come in 2 layers to ensure perfect
registration and solid colour coverage. I have long admired Hans-Joachim
Marseille, so it is with great pleasure that I saw this decal sheet featuring 4
of his planes that he flew in North Africa in 1942 including his final Me
109F-4. This sheet is suitable for the 1/48
Hasegawa Me 109F or the Svezda Me 109F kits and the 1/48 Tamiya Kubelwagen.
Another interesting feature is an optional set of crosses for the tops of the
wings that replicate some of the black paint peeling away.
You can purchase these decals
either directly from Lifelike
Decals at fax number is
+81-3-5680-6733, and e-mail is lifelike@eos.ocn.ne.jp.
or from HobbyLink Japan.
Other shops that stock Life like
Decals are *Hannants/UK, *Mister Kit/Italy, *Revi (publisher)/Czech Republic, *SkyGrid/Canada,
*Roll Models/USA, *Great Models Webstore/USA, *FlightDecs/Canada,
*Victory Models/USA
*M & Models/USA, *Zed
Hobbies/Australia, *AB
&S Enterprise/Australia, *Desert Miniature/USA
This is a great
decal sheet and just what you want if you are planning on building an Me 109F-4
Trop and you want to add "yellow 14" to your display case.
I would like to
thank Lifelike
Decals for
providing me with this review sample.
Steve
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