Fw 190A-4 -5 -6 skins by Emel, Feb 2009/Updated September 2011.



Fw 190A's of the Russian Front part I - A skin pack depicting Eastern Front 190A's from the Green Heart Geschwader of the 1943-44 era. (includes 1 new skin)


1. Fw 190A-6 'Double Chevron' Flown by Hptm. Horst Ademeit, Gruppenkommandeur of I/JG 54, Summer 1944.

Horst Ademeit served his entire military career with JG 54 starting as an Uffz. in 3./JG 54 during the Battle of Britain where he claimed his two first aerial victories but was also shot down and rescued from the Channel. 
  Later he participated in Operation Barbarossa, now with 1./JG 54, initially flying low level ground attacks. He claimed his 10th aerial victory on 24 September 1941. The string of victories grew steadily. On 7 March  1943 he had 40 victories to his credit and was appointed as Staffelkapitn of 6./JG 54. On 4 April 1943 he had 53 victories which resulted in the awarding of the Knights Cross on 16 April 1943. On 15 January 1944 Ademeit achieved his 100 victory. Soon after he was appointed Kommandeur of the 1. Gruppe. He was awarded the Oakleaves to his Knights Cross on 2 March 1944 after 120 victories. By mid April his score stood at 150 victories. In early August Horst Ademeit became acting Kommodore of JG 54. On 7 august 1944 Ademeit failed to return from an intercept mission against IL-2s in the Dnaburg area, presumed shot down by either Soviet Ground fire or Sturmoviks. By the time of his disappearance Horst Ademeit had achieved 166 victories all but 2 in the east in 600 combat sorties.     

2. Fw 190A-4 'White 3' flown by Fw. Peter Bremer, 1./JG 54, Orel, July 1943.

At the height of the battle of Kursk on July 13 1943, this 190A-4 crash-landed behind enemy lines resulting in the capture of Peter Bremer at that time an ace with 40 kills in the east.


3. Fw 190A-4 'Black 5' flown by Hptm. Hans Gtz, Staffelkapitn of 2./JG 54, circa July 1943.

Gtz joined 2./JG 54 in January 1940. His success began after he arrived in Russia. There he scored 82 victories before being lost in action on 4 August 1943. The black Gruppe and Geschwader base markings suggest this particular aircraft was still in the process of being decorated, note also the under cowling and rudder are still missing the yellow identification marks.  


4. Fw 190A-5 'Black 7' flown by Lt. Emil 'Bully' Lang, 5./JG 54, Northern/Central sector, Summer 1943.

Lang had a reputation as being an aggressive combat leader. He was a former Lufthansa pilot and a noted athlete and wore the Knights Cross with Oakleaves. A world record tally was achieved In late October 1943 during the bitter battles around Kiev when Lang managed to score 18 (!) victories in one day. His final score stood at 173 of which 25 in the west. Emil Lang fell wictim to P-51s over Belgium on September 3 1944.


5. Fw 190A-6 'White Chevron and Bars' of Obstlt. Anton Mader, Geschwaderkommodore of JG 54, Dorpat/Estonia, July 1944.

Mader gained a total of 86 kills of which 25 during service in the western and Mediterranean theatres. On 28 January 1944 Mader became the fourth and penultimate Kommodore of JG 54.


6. Fw 190A-5 'Black 12' of Fhnrich Norbert Hannig, 5./JG 54, Siverskaya, circa May 1943.

By spring 1943 the use of unit badges and emblems had largely fallen in disuse among the Jagdwaffe as seen on this neatly 'tanned' 190A-5. Norbert Hannig belonged to the generation of pilots who arrived to the Eastern Front when the hey-days of Wehrmacht were long gone and the German warmachine was forced to fight increasingly on the defensive. Unlike many of his young comrades, Hannig was fortunate enough to gain the experience neccessary to survive the hard air battles. Hannig was later promoted to Staffelkapitn and flew more than 200 combat sorties while scoring 42 victories. During the final months he flew the Me-262. Hannig survived the war.


7. Fw 190A-6 W.Nr 410004 'Black Double Chevron' of Hptm. Walter Nowotny, Gruppenkommandeur of I/JG 54, Vitebsk, October 14 1943.

Perhaps the most famous of all the 190 aces Walter Nowotny became the first fighter pilot in the world to achieve 250 victories on 14 October 1943 (Incidentally the same day when the US 8th Bomber command several thousand kilometres away in the west flew the second ill-fated Schweinfurt mission). He was also the highest scoring Austrian pilot of the war with 258 victories, all but three achieved in the east. Nowotny later led a training unit until transfering to Jets. He too fell wictim to American escort fighters and crashed to his death on 8 November 1944 at Achmer. At the time of his death the newly promoted Oberstleutnant and the commander of the premier Jet fighter unit bearing his name, was only 24 years old.


8. Fw 190A-5 W.Nr 1501 'White 4 (10?)', of Walter Nowotny, Northern sector (?), mid 1943 (?).

A less well known Nowotny 190 that I came across during this skinproject. Didn't find much information about this 190 which carries a personal emblem depicting a buck with the inscription Rammbock. presumably painted with standard RLM colors according to a Color profile by Claes Sundin and a skin by the same artist with the code number being different. Any information of this interesting variant is welcome.


9. Fw 190A-5 'Black 5' flown by Olt. Max Stotz, 5./JG 54, Siverskaya, late Spring 1943.

Max Stotz was another JG 54 stalwart with a high victory score. He teamed up with Hans 'Assi' Hahn when the latter was transfered from the Channel Front to take command of II/JG 54 in January 1943. Both pilots gained many successes together until Hahn was shot down and captured in early February. Stotz survived longer but was shot down near Vitebsk on 19 August 1943 while flying Fw 190A-6 W.Nr 550 201 'Black 7' and posted missing. At the time of his disappearance he had scored 189 victories.


10. Fw 190A-5 'Yellow 8' of Lt. Robert Weiss, 3./JG 54, Orel, circa June 1943.

A former member of JG 26 in the west 'Bazi' Weiss spent some two years in Russia. A majority of his 121 kills, around 90, were scored in the east. Weiss then returned to command the western based 3. Gruppe of JG 54 only to be lost in action against Spitfires and Tempest's on 29 December 1944 near German-Dutch border.


11. Fw 190A-4 'White 12' flown by Olt. Helmut Wettstein of Stab II/JG 54, Libau, 1944.

Helmut Wettstein served as Staffelkapitn of the 6. Staffel until the end of the war and gained at least 10 victories in 1944.

12. Fw 190A-6 'White 12' of Lt. Helmut Wettstein, Staffelkapitn of 1./JG 54, Central sector, 1943.

Before transfering back to II/JG 54 Wettstein also succeeded Nowotny as Staffelkapitn of 1./JG 54 after the latter was promoted to command the 1. Gruppe.

13. Fw 190A-4 'Chevron and Bars' of Major Hubertus von Bonin, Geschwaderkommodore of JG 54, Estonia 1943?



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IMPORTANT

These skins include all variants of the A-model 190 from A-4 to A-6. Please ensure all skins are placed correctly to their respective folders in the skins folder to avoid incorrect textures. If You have the earlier versions it may be nessecary to delete them to avoid confusion with double skins existing in your skins folder as some of these new skins have been renamed.

This pack includes 39 skins with full markings, swastikas, and blank skins. Slip the BMP files into their proper folders regarding aircraft type. The skins should work the next time you start the game. Have fun.


Notes on the skin & template:

The outstanding mechanical layer by Fly-By-Shooter & cockpit by Aces was obtained from Simmers-Paintshop.

German emblems were obtained from Jutocsa's excellent 'Luftwaffe JG insignia markings part 1'.  

The rest by me.

These skins are not to be uploaded further without my permission. You are permitted to use and publish the skins in this pack with IL-2 Sturmovik missions & campaigns, also you may rework these skins for your private use. No commercial use in any form is permitted. Please do not remove credits. Thank you for downloading these skins and happy flying.

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Notes

Why the upgrade?

The main emphasis of this upgrade is to correct the overall color setting of the skins. Particular attention was paid to the bright colours such as the RLM 04 'Yellow' and RLM 00 'wasserhell' (White). When these skins were first introduced it was at a time when most people including myself were beginning to adjust their game video settings to the highest. This change however had a strong negative affect to the colors I was at the time using.  This upgrade hopefully has succeeded in correcting these errors. Also some extra details were added to the paintschemes. Lastly the templates have gone through numerous changes and improvements over the years so the overall look of the skins is improved.

Historical accuracy

These skins were born out of several pictorial sources the main inspiration coming from John Weal's 190 aces of the Russian Front, but information and profiles from Kagero/Monograph and the Jagdwaffe series were also included. Additional information from skins released earlier by well known skinners for comparison were also used, Canon UK, Capt Farrel, Claes Sundin, The Fly, RDDR, Samson, Zargos.   

Many of the repaints seen on this skin pack were created from profiles with only one visible side, usually the port fuselage, and no information about the wing upper surfaces or the opposite side of the fuselage was available. On such cases I was simply forced to rely on my imagination and try to emulate the look and feel of the visible areas and then apply the result of this 'emulation' on the invisible areas of the plane. Did I succeed in this? That is for you to decide.  

The mysterious Eastern Front Green shades

The Green colors used by the Jagdfliegeren in the east is more or less under costant debate, and the truth apparently will remain hidden. 
   There are at least two theories. One is that the Germans would not refrain from using captured Russian paints. It is possible that some of the mysterious green colors may have been the VVS (Soviet Air forces) AMT colors, or mixed AMT and RLM colors. Another theory by Michael Ullmann is perhaps closer to the mark. Since it is a well known fact that when retreating the Russians didn't leave anything behind to the Germans, it is likely they either took their paints with them or destroyed them. Therefore it was in fact the highly skilled and resourceful German ground crews who were forced to improvise by mixing existing RLM colours, and thus created variations of the Green tints that were better suited in their environment. 

In conclusion, since information about the colours and camouflage of the Eastern Front 190s has generally remained insufficient and speculative, these skins are bound to fall into the semihistorical category at best. 

Emel

Contact me by PM at A&A Paintworks
or at M4T