The He 177 from KG 40 with RAF markings

[Panzerfaust60]

Probably one of the most widely published He 177's is a A-5 formerly of the KG 40, painted with invasion stripes and British roundels, and interestingly a red rudder. A photshopped photo of this machine is also common (http://avionswwii.free.fr/images/avions ... e177_5.jpg) where a set of German markings has been substituted for the British ones, and a Hs 293 added, this photoshop has fooled not only laymen, but publishers and decal-makers alike, despite the strange size and placement of the swastika.

Anyways, just as i had given up any hope there was any photo of this machine in it's original state, i came across this one below, where it seems to bear the code +KB or +KP, possibly preceded by very small F8. So my question is, it this the genuine article, or another photoshop? And does anyone have any more info on this plane?

Jon

[kstdk]

Hello

A couple more.

Regards
Kurt
kstdk

[Panzerfaust60]

Cheers mate, thanks
That's definitely its appearance before receiving French and then British markings then. The swastika looked a bit too big to me originally, but i found a few photos of 177 from KG 40 with similar swastikas.
This originally sparked my interest for the red rudder, which would be highly unusual for a German aircraft, and why modellers often depict this plane, but it seems the British painted it red to conceal the French flag that was there before.

[Panzerfaust60]

I'll just add one more ,rather grainy, photo, because this plane seems to have had an interesting paint-scheme, where the sides and under-surfaces were painted over with possibly a light grey colour, and then spots of RLM 76 painted on top, or spots of the original RLM 76 left exposed.

Isn't that at any rate more likely that the spots being a colour noticeably lighter than RLM 76?