[klemchen]

Hello Veltro,

thank you for your answer. I went through a number of my Me 109 and Luftwaffe color books and found again some examples of underwing crosses with white angles hardly or not at all recognizable although certainly present:
1) Fw 190 A-4 on p. 80 of Luftwaffe Colors vol. 3 by J.R. Smith & J.D. Gallaspy,
2) Me 109 G-6 on p. 121 of the same volume.
These examples are over snow in sunshine.
3) Ju 87 B-1 on p. 122 in vol. 1 of the same book.
Here the sun is shining directly on the lower wing surface bcause the aircraft broke one undercarriage leg and has its nose down.
4) Me 109 C-1 on p. 66 of the same volume.
This time over grass. The crosses are of the old form with narrow white angles, and the photo is of poor quality.
5) Me 109 E on p. 144 of Luftwaffe Camouflage and Markings vol. 1 by Ken Merrick.
Here in one place the border between the white and the underside color seems to be visible, although this might also be the result of a lighter spot in the color. -
Of course I agree with you that for claiming another kind of simplified cross one certainly needs more evidence than just one photo. That is why I asked my question.
Just speculating on the other hand, it would seem quite plausible that the RLM simply allowed to omit the white angles when white paint was not available. Since the most frequent form of underwing cross on Me 109s during the last half of the war consisted of a black cross with white angles without a black rim, this would result in a cross consisting just of black beams, as it was found on many fighter aircraft towards the end of the war. But since also the original form with white and outer black angles remained in use to a much lesser extent on 109s until the end, that permission sometimes would lead to crosses of the form in question. Which form of cross would appear then would depend on the kind of stencil the particular manufacturer was using.

Best wishes,
klemchen