Updates from Brian Nicklas, NASM

The NASM Heinkel He 219 was moved to paint booth in March 2003 and given a coat of primer. The grau-violett was shot on the fuselage, then the grau-grun "squiggle" was shot. A pattern of the original camouflage was made as the original paint was removed (it had reacted with the US Army Air Forces overpaint with time and could not be saved, except where it was not overpainted at the wing roots - that was preserved on the airplane) The Garber artists/craftsmen first laid the pattern back on the a/c with plastic, punched holes in the plastic and they shot "dots" thru with an airbrush. Then they removed the plastic and connected the dots with the airbrush.

Then they went back and resprayed with the wider airgun, giving that "German look" to the pattern.

Next the black belly was shot. The mylar pattern sheet was then used to lay out the "high line" for the lower sides and bottom black. This high line was then laid in on 3/12 with the airbrush. The mylar was also used to help provide a soft mask for the top of the aircraft as the black was shot, to help prevent blow-back and overspray in the tight confines of the spray booth from settling on top of the fresh grau-violett and grau-grun.  On 3/13 the black was shot on the lower areas of the fuselage and the lower sides, from nose to tail.  On 3/14 the canopies were put into place. It simply looks great. If all goes well, the rear national insignia cross will be painted on soon.

Of great interest is the discovery that the upper "wellenmuster" scheme was not applied in 76, as might have been expected, but was in the mysterious "Grünblau" or "Graugrün" (sometimes called "84")... a shade approaching British Sky.   The original scheme was left in place at the wingroots, as noted above.  Further color notes on this aircraft; no codes were on the aircraft, only basic national markings.  The vertical tails are overall 22 Black, inboard and outboard, and the horizontal stabs are being refinished shortly in the "wellenmuster" shown above.  

As noted in the last installment, the canopies were installed on 3/14, and the white fuselage cross was painted on Friday, 3/21.  With the canopies mounted, the characteristic appearance of the Heinkel 219 becomes instantly apparent.  In the shot at the left, the original camouflage at the wing roots can clearly be seen; if the photo is examined in detail, it can be seen that the restorers have intersected the new "wellenmuster" with the original finish.  A truly outstanding job!

These closeups give a better look at the canopy area; modelers will note the external 24v power receptacle on the port side of the nose cap, as well as the caps covering the sockets for the radar antennae.  Note also the curvature to the port demarcation line where it meets the windscreen, as opposed to the straight line on the starboard side.

More details on this particular aircraft; one of the "official" total of 294 He 219s built during the war (an additional six were constructed from spare parts, but not carried "on the books", so to speak), W.Nr. 290202 was constructed as an A-2 variant and captured by "Watson's Whizzers" at Jever in Denmark, operational base of NJG1.  The aircraft was assigned the Stammkennzeichen GI+KQ, but these codes were never applied to the airframe itself; rather, they appear in the "Bordlaufig Fluggenehmigung" (roughly translated, "certificate of airworthiness").  The He 219 was virtually new when captured, with only seven total hours on the airframe, and as such wore no operational codes.

There has been speculation concerning the wings, and the method of display at the new Udvar-Hazy center... the ultimate goal is to display the Heinkel in its entirety.

New photos have been taken of 290202 with the white of the crosses applied, and these will be made available soon- I am told they are well worth the wait!   Many thanks go to Brian for his continued efforts to keep us updated on the progress of this beautiful aircraft.