Post by mustang1989 on Nov 21, 2016 12:37:38 GMT -7
Back in 2006 I had some spare time on my hands while I was in Iraq contracting so I bought myself a 109 kit and started building. It was my first attempt at an all out detailed build at the time and I didn't quite have the weathering skills down yet as I had no forum to go to and no one in the immediate vicinity to refer to for guidance. I bought an Aires engine set for it and a few detail up items from Eduard and went to work. It took me about 6 months to complete and while it's not one of my better builds, I do consider it a "stepping stone" in the way of progress.
The aircraft, Karaya 1, is built to depict Erich Hartmann's 100th victory. He was and still is the worlds leading ace with a final tally of 352 confirmed victories.
Here she is after I transported her back to the states a year later in '07:
Don't get me wrong, I go all the way for the USA but I find some of these figures in history to be intriguing. Of particular interest is that he came to the U.S. in the 60's to participate in the F-104 Starfighter training program. His last victory , against a Russion Yak-9, was made as a one man sortee as the Russians were closing in on the airbase where he was last serving. He landed back at the airbase after shooting the Yak down, burned his aircraft, and surrendered to the Americans who handed him over to the Russians. He would spend 10 years as a POW before being released back to Germany in 1955.
Here's a link to an informational webpage for this guy along with his victory list: Simply Unbelieveable ! :
www.luftwaffe.cz/hartmann.html
