IL2

Messerschmitt Bf-109F JG53.6 (Y12+-) Comiso, Sicily 1942 00

Image 01: Messerschmitt Bf-109F-4 Yellow 12 of 6./JG53, Sicily, Spring 1942 This aircraft was finished in the standard colours first introduced for fighters in July 1941 with undersurfaces in Grey 76 and the fuselage mottled predominantly with 74 and 75 with the subtle addition of 02. The uppersurfaces of the wings were finished in a 74/75 splinter pattern and the aircraft showed signs of some wear and tear as a result of operational use. There is also evidence of some repainting as the fuselage shows patches of newly-applied 74, particularly in the area of the fuselage number, possibly where an earlier identity has been changed, and on the engine cowling where the Geschwader badge has perhaps also been changed or repositioned.

Messerschmitt Bf-109F JG53.6 (Y12+-) Comiso, Sicily 1942 01

Photo 01: The Grey 74/75 splinter pattern applied to the wing uppersurfaces of this Bf-109F-4, Yellow 12 of 6./JG53, photographed at Comiso in Sicily in the Spring of 1942, conforms almost exactly to the pattern prescribed for the F and G series.