Hobby Boss 1/72 Ju 87D-3 "conversion" into G-2

So I decided to start with a cheap kit for my very first attempt at aircraft scale modeling. The Stuka is my favorite WWII subject, so I got this one after consulting some online reviews. This is labeled as an Easy Assembly Kit, so it comes with less detail than your usual 1/72 model kit.

And this kit is not even close to a D-3. The lack of dive brakes and wing-mounted bombs, and the inclusion of the 37mm cannons and the long wings means this is closest to a Ju 87G-2.

So I've decided to do this as a G-2. However, I might be using the kit-included decals unless I can find a good decal set for a G-2 Stuka. I can find some G-1's locally with multiple marking styles, but those are for G-1's. If I'll be having inaccurate decals, might as well use the ones that came with the kit.

Anyway here's my progress for the past several days.

Some test fitting:

Masking that canopy!

The included 37mm cannons don't have their magazines. I was lucky to find some styrene strips from a hobby shop, so I scribed the heck out of those cannons until I could insert them.

And my current progress. I finally applied cement to the fuselage. The unique approach of Hobby Boss to the fuselage gives you a seam running along the side of the fuselage instead of the usual ones on top and bottom. I had a little problem on the seam on the port side, but nothing that a little Tamiya Putty couldn't fix.

Then I applied cement to the ailerons and flaps and then applied Tamiya Putty on the wing root seams, something which I should done in reverse order. The flaps popped of twice and I was relieved that nothing broke. The nice thing about Tamiya Putty is that it can easily be cleaned off with lacquer thinner, so you don't have to sand a lot and risk sanding off the nearby details like the wing walk


I might be applying some primer into this kit soon enough.