Here's my second finished entry for this GB, Werner Schröer's Heinkel He 100D-2 Trop, WNr 4170 'White 11' as it appeared on 21 April, 1941. Notice the Trop filter on the wing that Talos made for this profile. Click on the image to view it at 100%.
Werner Schröer was an excellent fighter leader and one of the few 'Experten' to serve throughout the entire war and survive. Born on 12 December 1918, he joined the Luftwaffe in 1937 as a groundcrew member. By May 1940 he had soloed, and he joined 2./JG 27 in August 1940 but did not see action during the Battle of Britain. Schröer was to find his greatest fame with JG 27 as they moved south to join Rommel's Afrika Korps. He claimed his first victory, an RAF Hurricane, on 19 April 1941 but his own aircraft was heavily damaged in the engagement. Two days later, he again entered combat with Hurricanes and collided with one in the fight which ensued; this necessitated a forced landing at Ain-El-Gazala with his He 100D-2 Trop, WNr 4170 'White 11' incurring 40% damage. By the end of 1941 his score stood at seven. Schröer went on to achieve 114 victories, and finished the war as Kommodore of JG 3 'Udet'. Schröer was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. Werner Schröer was arguably the greatest pilot of the Mediterranean theatre after the inimitable Hans-Joachim Marseille. He passed away in Munich on 10 February 1985.
This profile depicts Schröer's Heinkel He 100D-2 Trop, WNr 4170 'White 11' as it appeared on 21 April, 1941. It is believed that this aircraft was re-camouflaged in Sicily and that for early desert schemes such as this, which first appeared as early as April 1941, stocks of Italian paints were used. Note the weathered, dirty white outline to the fuselage cross compared to the new white of the fuselage band and code number, indicating that the aircraft had seen some service before the desert camouflage and band were applied.
Here's an alternate take on the profile with a tail camouflage that more closely matches the 109 schemes seen at the time. Aesthetically, I don't like it quite as much as the first one that I posted, but what do you guys think?
Cheers,
Logan