FW 190 "CaptuRED"

On 1 January 1945, the airfield of the 404th Fighter Group of the 508th Squadron at St-Trond, Belgium, was attacked in Operation Bodenplatte – a full-frontal attack to destroy Allied aircraft on the ground. A Focke–Wulf Fw 190A-8 flown by Gefreiter Walter Wagner of 5. II/JG4 was slightly damaged by Allied anti-aircraft fire and was forced to land at St-Trond airfield. It was captured and painted a bright orange-red overall to distinguish it from enemy Focke–Wulf 190s. The aircraft's code, OO-L, was dramatically described as OH OH 'ELL, however St-Trond was a Belgian base and OO is the Belgian national code for aircraft registration purposes. The L was probably for its intended pilot, Leo Moon, the aircraft's commander. Ultimately, the aircraft never flew and was left behind when 404 Squadron left St-Trond.
USAAF Focke–Wulf 190 OO-L. 404th Regiment Commander Leo Moon wrote of the all-red Focke-Wulf 190: "The aircraft was painted red by the crew who had overheard me say that I had always wanted to own a red aircraft... the code OO*L was placed on it because we had formed an 'imaginary' fourth squadron in the group and, as in the 508th, we used the first initial of the pilot's name as the last of the three code letters. As I agreed that we should try to get the 190 flying, everyone considered it my aircraft and added the 'L' accordingly... when it was ready I taxied it at all speeds up to almost take-off speed, but we had no permission from Anti-Aircraft Command to fly it." After taxiing I found the tyres soaked with hydraulic fluid and so badly damaged that I felt they were unsafe... we spent a lot of time looking for new tyres without success. Then we had to move on and left the Fw 190 in St-Trond. I regret not getting the 190 in the air - I even learned the German for the "off" and "on" switches, but I don't feel too bad about not flying it. I did get to fly the F8F Bearcat, which I believe was more or less a copy of the 190 - although no one will ever admit it." It also seems that the Americans left the JG4 unit 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Completed FW-190 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A bird's eye view of the diorama design printed on paper. The scene includes a FW-190 (captured by the USAAF in January 1945), two Willis jeeps and figures of pilots, a photographer and dog wanderer + of course some barrels and gasoline cans. The idea of ​​the scene is "the last photo with the captured plane before leaving the airport" 

Styrofoam used for the base. Sanded with P180.Next I will apply MiG Acrylic concrete texture for the airfield slabs. Rest of the base will get Noch Spring Meadow grass mat. 

Engine of FW190 

 

 

Engine assembled in fuselage. 

 

 

 

 

Jeeps before decals. 

 

FW190 before decals. 

Decaled FW190. 

 

 

Coat of gloss before wash and others. 

Figures before wash. 

 

 

Almost completed Jeep No.1. 

 

 

 

Almost completed base.