[Eric Larger]

Hello all of you

The purpose of half-painted undersurfaces is twice , save material and save time during the production process . This is clearly explained in our book dedicated to Fw 190Ds camouflages and markings .

On summer 1944 , Focke Wulf did test on 50 production machines (Fw 190A ) to test the efficency of this process at Sorau .

If the purpose is clear the reasons of this process are clear also .

First there was no need at that time to hide aircraft viewed from ground , as for several months the Luftwaffe turned to defensive actions , so underwing painting was not a priority .

Seconds the breakdown of the communications ( this was the major effect of strategic bombing , ie Allied reports in summer 1945 ) make supply in raw material more difficult , so anything that could be save had to be saved . For instance , you can ee several wodden part in the list of pieces of FW 190D-9.

Thirds the lifetime of a fighter at the end of the war was very short , please have a look to J.Y.Lorant & R.Goyat book dedicated to JG300(volume II) , and you will have several examples when pilots bailed out their machines and picked up very soon brand new ones. They were consumables .

I have several pictoral examples of rows of wings of Fw 190D-9 , waiting their assembly at Fiersler Kassel , half painted .

Now the question concerning the leading hedge . It was painted , two purposes , thirst protection of the metal , Seconds(just a guess for Fw 190) is try to limit the reflexion of the light when seen from the air . Do not forget that several Fw 190 at the end of the war had their landing gear covers oversrpayed with camouflage paint (they can be see from the air as they are not hidden with the wing completelly) .

Last point the colour applied on leading hedge , for us it is the colour avaliable , RLm 76 , Blue-Green , RLM 75 . Dont forget that RLM 75 was abandonned early on production batches (Nov 1944) and should be available in quantity .

All the best

Eric Larger