Butchers in North Africa

An FW 190 A4 as flown by Adolf Dickfeld

I have to say that I am feeling particularly, to use an Australian expression and without the merest sniff of irony, 'Crook'. I cannot even blame it on the recent cricket debacle! I have a splitting head, a chesty cough and a sore throat with all the associated 'head-full-of-cotton-wool' feverishness. And I still have to go to work....:-(

On the plus side though, I took delivery of four Axis and Allies Bandits High 15mm scale FW190 fighters in a rather fetching Luftwaffe desert colour scheme - identical to that in the picture above sans the tail markings (not PC apparently....). Despite having an aerial mountain of unpainted aircraft I was really pleased to get these for a number of reasons. Firstly, the FW190 is a very good aircraft and in all the aerial wargames I have played it is, quite rightly, a formidable opponent. Secondly, it just looks menacing, in the same way a Tiger tank does.

With the model in the same paint scheme as the picture above (minus the markings already noted) I figured that some research was in order and I was delighted to find out that the FW190 served very effectively in North Africa - both as a fighter and as a fighter-bomber. The aircraft was deployed from November 42 to May 43 and was in action against American, British and French aircraft over Tunisia.

A result of this research has made a decision for me in that I am going to paint all of my German fighters in a tropical desert scheme - Bf109 Es through to G and also the redoubtable FW 190.

When I get a chance that is....;-)