Dear Vince, Piero & Chris
Thanks so much for all your comments & links above.
Please forgive me for the delay in reply. I didn't forget about the topic, I was just back to Serbia for few weeks dealing with few things regarding my now aging mother & after that I got the worst flu I remember
Here I am - back to the forum. Just posted about few Fw 190s in the old threads & getting back to our V 083 now.
Vince, I believe that there was an opening on the nose of the airframe but I doubt camera was installed there. On the other hand I question myself how much would an open hole on the tip of very fast airplane cause a problem in real life?
Also Vince, the photo of Ebay which you have posted is really amazing! I've played with it in Photoshop with curves and no contrast, lightness, curves variation shows any precise camouflage patterns either on fuselage or the wings' leading edges just as we have discussed previously with Chris above. This makes me happy
Chris,
Not that we are not far apart with the idea about the bird - but we basically agree fully I think

It reminds me of good old times on those good old boards when we discussed all those Luftwaffe fighter camouflages!

That was nice. I see some of those conclusions and suggestions we came up with being published here and there as "truth" and it makes me feel good to know that among all the experten out there we maybe suggested few little things. Strangely enough - there don't seem to be that many discussions dealing with camouflage as 10 years ago. Everyone talks about tech aspects & losses... Anyhow, no more romantics... back to the subject!
That photo of V 083 in the hands of 54th ADSq - is for me
new!
I wonder why did they paint the tail black? It was not like this elsewhere.
The fuselage on the model you have posted looks very similar to how I imagine it too. No clear pattern but more like two colors tangled together... Possible that they've even extended the camo down over the mottle or it was even applied like that from the start with overly dense mottle in that area.
I strongly believe that wings were painted in same manner too and not with the splinter pattern as everyone shows them.
Piero, I am taking my hat to you for the brush painting you've done there!! Wish I knew how to do things like that since sometimes airbrush is simply not meant to be used for some applications & I simply don't know how to use brush.
I guess your model's fuselage is close to what Chris & me are discussing above but what I've mentioned in comment to model shared by Chris applies to yours when it comes to wings. Unfortunately for all of us - I am still waiting for the image of Unicorn's wings! And until then everything is only assumption - and yours is as good as mine if not better
I am 95% ready to paint my Hobby Boss model... Will need to give it a good wash before I do so and sand 2-3 small details here and there.
Best regards to all,
Milos