In General, What is Everyone Doing?

[Oberst]

Still enjoying making skins for my favorite flight sim game, IL2. I took some flak on another website when I said I'm researching for game skins..
"this is not a silly game this is a site for serious researchers". Well I have to say some people dedicated to those flight sims, are some of the
most serious reasearchers I've ever had the pleasure of talking with. Mountains of data.. historical facts in regards to campaigns, colours, flight
data.. mind boggling!

[SES]

Hi,
I guess my interest also started with the Luftwaffe fighter aircraft, but since I am also interested in the history of air warfare it snowballed. I slowly discovered, that much of what had been written up till the 1970 - 1980 time-frame was not quite correct (to put it politely). Photos of late Bf109 were incorrectly captioned and nowhere could a correct description of a Bf109K be found.
Also most writers focused on aircraft types and unit histories, which valuable as they are, do not give a consolidated picture at the operational level.
I got fascinated by the control and reporting system developed by the Luftwaffe and the multitude of radar systems (no radar was not invented by Watson-Watt), and realized that there were still lots of unpublished material out there. This lead to an interest in Luftwaffe fighters command facilities, which seems to have been a totally ignored subject - even amongst the bunker freaks, and an interest in the development of the fighter command organization.
This in turn lead to an interest in all types of Luftwaffe infrastructure. The result was three books and my WEB-site www.gyges.dk
But without the Internet and e-mail and a LOT of help from a very large number of helpful and generous friends I would be as ignorant as I were back in the eighties.
Kind regards
SES

[Richard Mills]

For myself, it is gleaning as much information regarding personnel, units and aircraft directly associated with Luftwaffe documents groupings I have purchased for my collection.

I never cease to be amazed at the level of knowledge which is contained within the membership base here, and I have been able to piece together some very detailed research projects against simple award documents as a result.

Regards Richard.

[stevebrauning]

In general, I build 1/48 scale models of WWII Luftwaffe and RAF aircraft and try to make them as accurate and detailed as possible. My Me262 collection is up to 20 examples, and I started a FW190D and Ta152 collection earlier this year. It's been a bit of frenzy with 4 planes already in the hangar and one in the painting booth. In my research, I try to ID the unit and the operational history in addition to finding the precise paint schemes and markings.

[John Beaman]

SES:

Most interesting web site. Thanks for posting. The subject is certainly one that needs exploring.

Since you have done "after" shots, have you ever considered working with Ramsey at "After The Battle" about a series or a composite book? Might give you a wider readership.

[SES]

Hi John,
Sounds like an excellent idea worth considering.
Having said that both my Vol 2 and 3 are actually "battlefield guides":
http://www.gyges.dk/Gyges%20Pub%20Comp.htm

bregds
SES

[Don Caldwell]

Hello all --

I’m a bit slow to respond to this thread, bu it’s proved so popular that it’s almost a poll of the entire active membership. My background is similar to most of the old timers here -- a general interest in WW II and WW II aviation since childhood, focusing in on the Luftwaffe just because so much bad information was being published and republished in the 1960s and 1970s. Much of this, I found out later, was NATO officer’s club bar stories and Cold War propaganda. I decided to look for the “truth” on my own, and long before the internet was able to track down a number of veterans and tap into the network of active enthusiasts, mostly on the continent, but a few in the US (remember the Luftwaffe Circle?) I decided to turn my material into a book, got lucky and got a good contract, and have now published seven books on Luftwaffe topics – I have material for an eighth, but it’s a long time off.

It’s already been pointed out that TOCH is noteworthy for the mutual respect and helpful attitudes shown by its members. The “Flamers” were eliminated almost a decade ago, due the efforts of Ruy, John Beaman, and others. If the questions seem awfully specific -- rivet counts, paint shades, etc. -- it’s because the more general topics have been covered many times over the years, and also because young modelers probably make up the majority of the current membership. But this old timer hopes that this forum will help these youngsters develop an interest in the broader aspects of WW II history. If there’s a battle that interests you, but that you just can’t untangle, a question can easily draw a dozen or more answers – nearly all of them good.

Horrido!

Don Caldwell

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Don Caldwell

If the questions seem awfully specific -- rivet counts, paint shades, etc. -- it’s because the more general topics have been covered many times over the years, and also because young modelers probably make up the majority of the current membership.
Don Caldwell

Actually, those questions are planted so the rest of us can kid ourselves that by comparison we're not really so obsessive after all!

[taitbb]

For me, to date it has been a resource to research information on specific artifacts i have in my collection.
So thank you to everyone in replying to my few questions.

*edit*
I do try and do as much research first as i can myself, my library is slowly growing.

[BGBBGB]

Hello,
Looking at my new Revell 1/32 G-10 Erla and wondering witch individ i will do.

Cheers
Boris