Yes, at first glance I can see a 6141 with a slight horizontal gap to the left and eventually to the right - the "holders" of the inner circle presumably. But given the fact, that the stencil holders of any Mtt stencils I´ve checked are set out vertically according to the rules the horizontal gap points to a five, which is more likely. Unfortunately the eye sees what it wants to see and only the original copy of the photo may shed light on this problem.
Here´s the German stencil "Norm" DIN 1451 from 1947 which is identical to the 1943 standard:
http://ospublish.constantvzw.org/wp-...en_sample2.png
But I want to point you to an almost identical BF109K-4 depicted on p. 52-53 of JaPo´s "Messerschmitt Bf109K - camouflage and marking" standard. Unfortunately "snake" pattern and W.Nr. (partially) are obscured by the starboard wing, but the rest is an almost copy of 6(?)141:
- the same hasty spray of RLM 76(?) on the pre-fab rudder
- the usual prefab tailfin with stencilled blotches
- dark fuselage according to the OS-Liste
- rather bright engine cover with a high demarcation line. The caption talks about "mottling" of the cover sides, but a better photo copy depicted on p.194 of Schmoll´s Mtt factory book shows the same sloppy meandering camo sprays without interruption also seen on 6(?)141
- the visible parts of the stencilled W,Nr. (does not exclude 5800) are in the same position and have the same size like our Michelsdorf example
The caption of the original photo is "Me 109 # 5800 on yellow band with narrow red band. Munich May 1945". Indeed, the fuselage section behind ring 6 appears brighter and JaPo claim this parts - including the W.Nr. - as being taken from a G-14 as spare parts; yellow being a primer and red the filler paste covering the joints.
So my hypothesis would be as follows:
- 5800 and 6(?)141 share the same origin: the Bodenwöhr-Cham production line
- the aft part of 5800´s fuselage had been repaired (in Cham, using spares from the Bodenwöhr factory - 35km apart) due to damage of the prefabricated fuselage, but it is an original WNr. from the 335 batch. I´d exclude the G-14 theory because 6(?)141 is painted on the camo of a genuine K-4. The W.Nr. of 5800 was applied directly on a primer (maybe a late-war yellowish RLM 76). The red stripe might have been one of the ubiquitous unpainted tapes to conceal bad craftmanship
- 341 planes would have been produced between 5800 and 6141 - too much for the war´s end imho. (33)5800 is a rather high W.Nr., so (33)5141 is more probable imo.
Of course 336141 would be a sensation - maybe the original shows up...
Btw - I´ve checked the K-4 pics available to me. The medium 4-digit W.Nr. stencilled on the fuselage between bulkhead 7 and 9 is always connected with a small 6-digit W.Nr. at the top of the fin. The large 3-digit W.Nr. handpainted on the fuselage between bulkhead 6 and 8 is connected with a medium W.Nr. at the bottom of the rudder - always a question of available space.
It would be interesting if this would be a feature to distinguish Bf109s of the Bodenwöhr-Cham from those of the Flossenbürg-Vilseck production...
Your opinion?
Regards
Roland