mustang1989 Posted July 13, 2021 Report Share Posted July 13, 2021 I've been wanting to build this aircraft for a very long time and have had two in my stash. I really wished I wouldn't have gotten rid of my Dragon Me-262A-1a Nachtjager version but this Tamiya A-1 kit was a good kit to build. I had set out to build Franz Stigler's plane from JV-44 late in the war. I read Adam Makos' book , A Higher Call several years ago and he was one of the main people that the story centered around. Long story short....he was going to shoot down a severely shot up B-17 and decided to lead them out of Germany instead. Afterwards he was assigned to JV-44 (pretty much Germany's last remaining fully operational air defense unit which was made up of the very best remaining fighter pilots) where he flew this aircraft. If you haven't read this book I won't give anything away but I'll just say that is a very powerful read. The kit is one that has been around for a while from Tamiya: There are a couple of schemes that could've been his bird but this is the one here that I went with as it just looks so dang cool.... I used Vallejo acrylics to replicate the paint and went with Eagle Cals for 95% of the markings and Peddinghaus for the #3 numerals on the side. Note.....never use the Peddinhaus offerings. Other than the #3 the stencils and other markings were just way out of scale. I had some trouble with the windscreen ended up removing it, sanding the fuselage and windscreen joints to get a better fit but that was about the only problem I had out of this awesome kit. Anyhow....after 6+ months...here is the completed build: 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmorrissette Posted July 13, 2021 Report Share Posted July 13, 2021 Nice./ One of my favorite planes! Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stikpusher Posted July 13, 2021 Report Share Posted July 13, 2021 Great looking build Joe! I think that you have just the right amount of weathering, plus wear and tear on the aircraft. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdedig Posted July 13, 2021 Report Share Posted July 13, 2021 Great Build. Agree on the "Higher Call" book..Great Read and Interesting human retrospective. I have also built Stigler's Africa 109, his Late war Bf109G, and the Me 262. Enjoyed your Model. Cheers Bill 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Deliduka Posted July 13, 2021 Report Share Posted July 13, 2021 Beautifully done and a fine tribute to Franz Stigler! I also read the book. Amazing. One thing I really was impressed with was the fact that when Adam Makos approached Charlie Brown about writing his story; Charlie told him he needed to write about Franz Stigler. Adam refused since he only wanted to write about Allied personnel and their experiences. Charlie insisted that his story was just as much about Franz and if Adam didn't want to write about him, Charlie and his crew would not help him with the book. So Adam relented and the story is so much more effective because of it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang1989 Posted July 13, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2021 (edited) 8 hours ago, dmorrissette said: Nice./ One of my favorite planes! Dave Thanks Dave! Mine too....surprised I haven't built any more of these. 7 hours ago, Stikpusher said: Great looking build Joe! I think that you have just the right amount of weathering, plus wear and tear on the aircraft. 'Preciate that Carlos! It was a balancing act for sure. 6 hours ago, wdedig said: Great Build. Agree on the "Higher Call" book..Great Read and Interesting human retrospective. I have also built Stigler's Africa 109, his Late war Bf109G, and the Me 262. Enjoyed your Model. Cheers Bill Thank you Bill. Wow! I may have to check out YOUR builds of all those!! 4 hours ago, Mark Deliduka said: Beautifully done and a fine tribute to Franz Stigler! I also read the book. Amazing. One thing I really was impressed with was the fact that when Adam Makos approached Charlie Brown about writing his story; Charlie told him he needed to write about Franz Stigler. Adam refused since he only wanted to write about Allied personnel and their experiences. Charlie insisted that his story was just as much about Franz and if Adam didn't want to write about him, Charlie and his crew would not help him with the book. So Adam relented and the story is so much more effective because of it. Thanks Mark!! I thought that was interesting about Adam's take at first but I know he's glad he did it Charlie's way. That was for sure an amazing book!!! Edited July 13, 2021 by mustang1989 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PMCulp Posted July 31, 2021 Report Share Posted July 31, 2021 Beautiful job. I also enjoyed the book “A Higher Call“. I have been wanting to build a tribute to Franz Stiegler. Very well done 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted July 31, 2021 Report Share Posted July 31, 2021 Wow...how did I miss this one!? Super looking Swallow and a fine tribute to the compassion warriors can show. Thanks for posting! Gil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang1989 Posted September 24, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2021 Thanks fellas!! I've got another aircraft in the works coming up at the latter part of the year. My biggest build yet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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