Snaps 1/16 Full frame JU87 G Stuka Build

I am in the process of putting up a free website for both this and the zero. Whenever I post a build update I will also update the free website so hopefully everyone will be able to keep following the build and have pictures to look at.

I will have updates up to issue 16 available within the next day or so, and then I will have to wait for the next set of 8 issues to arrive which will be next week.

I do hope that you are all enjoying this build

James

snapdragonxxx

There are 177 pictures of my stuka build to date - To many?

not so many effectively, also photobucket removed the picture number limits problems probably is the too many traffic from your account to view the pictures as Vance says

I have about 2k pictures on my account

snapdragonxxx

Hi chaps

Photobucket has emailed me to tell me that I am close to my 10gb bandwidth usage for this month (whatever that means).

....

If I'm not mistaken, that "bandwidth usage" warning is more to do with traffic rather than storage space. If I understand correctly, anytime one of us looks at one og your pictures, xxkb of traffic is recorded depending on the size of the photo. (I think!!) Multiply that "xx" by the number of pictures you have up there, multiplied by the number of people checking out said pictures.... next thing you know you have the Photobucket Bandwidth Police on your tail!

There are 177 pictures of my stuka build to date - To many?

10gb?? how many pictures you uploaded?

Hi chaps

Photobucket has emailed me to tell me that I am close to my 10gb bandwidth usage for this month (whatever that means).

To avoid pictures not showing up on my posts here I am going to mirror this build on a free website. Don't worry as I will keep my posts up here but also include a link to the free website.

I am, at the moment working on the stuka, and for all those following this and my Zero build, there is a delay on that build while I get some items I need such as paint, polishing paste and 2500 grit wet & dry.

I am looking into the possibility of producing my build(s) as a series of PDF files or something like that on DVDs including all the build photos etc. I don't know if they would be of use to anyone like that but the amount of hits that this has already gave me the idea. There would be a small charge to include postage for this should I do it, and payment would be through paypal.

If you are interested, PM me.

James

This is madness- sheer madness!  Naturally, I want in.   ;D

Cheers1

chuk

Here we go again chaps,

A short update this time - Issue 13 - Gunners area cockpit floor.

Not much really to do this time, but I have to make sure that the parts fit correctly.

The Parts

The Build

A dry fit of the gunners area floor to make sure that it fits correctly and I do not have to change anything. With these builds nothing must be taken for granted. Fortunatly my work so far is accurate and square. The floor fits great with no work needed.

Now it is the case for adding the detail needed before permanently fixing in place.

Here we are, finished and ready to be fixed in place

Fixed in place, ready to paint RLM66 with the gunners seat dry fitted. the lower side will be painted RLM02. There will be other parts to go in here at a later date!

Questions and comments welcome

James

snapdragonxxx

Altaya, is another partwork publisher active in france and spain. It is known to partwork builders to be at the bottom of the pile regarding quality.

I have looked very carefully at this model. It is a wooden frame with metal skin and there are many mistakes with this model. For a start the sliding canopy doesn't have the signature "bulge" and is a flat square one also ther cannon fairings on the wings are wrong and also the shape of the wing seems wrong to me as does the lower engine cowling.

(...)

I have issue 1 of the Altaya spit, it was a present. But the pictures of the completed model looked so bad that I decided not to buy the rest. The wings are indeed not good, they lack the gull wing effect. Even in the introductory booklet there where a lot of mistakes.

I second that!

Eric

This build continues to make me wish there were partworks in the US

On with the build.

This time we build up the gunners seat. There are some small bits and some fiddly bits for this one. I took care to make sure that I had everything the right way round. and did several dry fits before comitting glue. The offcuts of the brass rod I will keep hold of as you never know what use they could be.

The Parts

The Build

I had several dry runs to make sure that I got the supports the right way round. There are two different ones for each side and they both go on a particular way. Get it wrong and the seat base top will not sit flat.

The Finished seat. Just needs painting RLM 66, the seatbelts adding and putting in the cockpit!

Next up - the rear cockpit floor.

Comments and questions welcome

James

Altaya, is another partwork publisher active in france and spain. It is known to partwork builders to be at the bottom of the pile regarding quality.

I have looked very carefully at this model. It is a wooden frame with metal skin and there are many mistakes with this model. For a start the sliding canopy doesn't have the signature "bulge" and is a flat square one also ther cannon fairings on the wings are wrong and also the shape of the wing seems wrong to me as does the lower engine cowling.

It is known amongst partwork modellers that you spend just as much again on corrections as you do on the partwork.

Now the ones that I am building, the Stuka and the Zero (coming very soon) are from Hachette and Deagostini respectivley and are recognised to be at the top of the partworks tree. Me - I can do without the hassle and endless corrections needed of the Altaya Spitfire just to get it looking right. I would rather go for one of the Tamiya Spits and save money and spend my time on adding detail to my stuka and Zero large scale builds!

It is the research and design of the partworks which attract me. Altaya don't have a very large budget for that and run on a string - and it shows! Hachette and Deagostini spend alot of time and effort getting things right and they rarely have a flop. Their R&D budgets for these partwork models are quite big and it does show as you are seeing above.

Coming soon - after I have translated the build instructions

Issue 12 - the gunners seat!

hobbes

I am finding this to be an interesting project.  A Stuka wouldn't be my first choice of plane to do in such a style and scale though.  I think I would much prefer a Hurricane or Spitfire, but I like British aircraft, so I am biased.

I think they also do a Spitfire, I have seen in on sale in France.

Who isnt thinking about "The Indian and the Cupboard" here!

Except a loose Stuka that size could do some damage. More like "Batteries not Included" on a real bad day!.

Looks great so far.  I am looking forward to the next installment.

Eric

Hi chaps.

Another update with issue 11 - the pilots restraint harness.

I will admit to always struggling with the small harness' from eduard that I use to add that bit of extra detail to a cockpit. Most of the stuff is small and fiddly and I have to keep on walking away and thinking on how to proceed or the best way of bending stuff... The sleepless nights just stack up!! Although the restraint harness for the pilots seat is in 1/16 scale this is just the same for me but a bit bigger - and there's another one to do yet!!!!

The Parts.

The buckles can be seen on issue 10 parts.

The build. I had to do lots of translating and head scratching before starting and, despite the instructions jumping around a little bit, to avoid getting muddles up and the wrong stuff on the wrong side I stuck with one harness strap until it was on the pilots seat. Actually, Hachette have you building the pilots seat harness now and then fit it in issue 15 or 16. I don't really see the point in that so I took the plunge and fitted each part of the harness as they were finished.

First of all I applied some paint. I had problems with the harness strap colour but eventually settled for a brown colour. I wasn't sure about the ivory colour that the instructions mentioned.

Once that was dry I started to build

Right side finished and ready to go on the seat

On the seat and waiting to be folded

The left side is the same except with a different lower buckle.

On the seat ready to be folded into place

The shoulder restraint harness is by comparison a simpler thing, but I still had trouble with the upper buckle (it's me, not the parts) and after some head scratching just left it!!!

There is a left and right to the shoulder harness straps and I painted the MDF seat cusions and installed them before adding the shoulder harness straps and folding everything into place. I had considered adding some paper or painting on some white glue to give a crinckled used look, but at the end just one coat of Red Brown with a brush and smeared it round gave it a kind of mottled look as the paint settled more in one place than others. I'm happy with that.

Attach the seat support to the bottom and after a bit of paint patching is ready to go in to the cockpit.

There is some paint to be patched and a couple of colours to be added here, but not a bad effort for me!

Questions and comments welcome.

James

Just a little post to inform you all what is coming up.

I use google translate and this is from there without turning it onto proper English, just to show you what is coming in this section and what I have to work with instruction wise!

Issue 11

Pilot and gunners seatbelts/harness restraints

Issue 12
parts for the construction of the lee-board seat, also the brass pins for the making of the seat and the shock absorbers of twisted metal

Issue 13
Atzplatte with a brass parts for the cockpit floor in the area of ​​the board and the appropriate protections apparell

Issue 14
additional parts for the cockpit and the lining of the ribs

ISSUE 15

more share for the cockpit to two long-exchangers for the hull

Issue 16

housing for the hydraulic drive the flight control

snapdragonxxx

Cool!! the handbrake LOL

Then used even the wood on this kit!! 

Very cool build.  I wish they had something like this in the US.

Eric

Ok chaps, time for another update.

Issue 10 parts

This time we get the parts for the seat base, back and head rest. Some parts are in MDF so care is taken with them as MDF can be easily broken.

The Build

First off we make the base that the pilots seat will sit on. This is out of MDF so I will use wood glue to stick it all together. Once the frame was together and square I put it where it will fit to make sure that it does.

Some slight adjustments were made to the frame so it sat right and then it was removed carefully and put aside to dry.

Next I started on the seat detailing. It would be nice if the seat could be made to go up and down, but that is not possible given the parts. First up, the lever side.

This part needs bending in more than one place so I wqas careful and took my time

Handle detail added

Some more detail is added to the bracing area

Ready to go on the base

Fixed to the base

The same was done with the other side.

then added to the base along with another detailing piece.

I dry fitted the base to the deat to make sure that they do go together.

I then dry fitted both parts to the frame. I am not joining the seat to the seat base just yet as it will make it easier to attach the seat harnesses. First though, the seat and base need painting in RLM 66.

I am not sure what issue they are up to in Germany, but this has being going on for at least a year and you may pick up somewhere between issues 50 to 60.

This is no good because the issues are just under half way through the kit and you will not be able to do anything.

If you really want to do this then you have to get a source that has all the issues up to date and can get you the rest.

As I said in an earlier post your best bet is Ebay.de.

If you have family in the country like you say then the best bet for future builds is to ask them to watch out for you and get them and ship them over to you.

Don't forget that you will have to translate the building instructions too.

If I go to a newstand, I should be able to pick some up? I'll look for them then.

Tracking hours?

It's a hobby! why would I waste my time doing that??? LOL

I never do anything like that. THe important thing is to get it right. Never mind the time!

James

James, now that you're getting into some small detail work, I can see why you've chosen CA over soldering; I can't see a better option for the small stuff. 

Are you tracking the hours on this? 

mikeymize

  Holy cow! way too complex for me. I'll stick with plastic. Good luck with this anyway, you've certainly got more patience and talent than me!

Hi there

If you can build a plastic model then you can build this. You have the necessary basic skills already - you just improve on them!

7474

I'm going over to Belgium in a few weeks to see a girl, and I'm making a stop in Frankfurt for 2 days to visit family. If there's a hobby shop near the train station or somewhere within easy access, I'll be happy to get some and bring back to the states and ship it to whomever. If someone wants to do the research of where to get them in Frankfurt, I'll be happy to do it.

This is not a complete kit in a box.

This is a partwork. you get a part every week from newsagents you WILL NOT find this in a model shop. This particular one is published currently in Germany, Austria and Italy. Hachette Partworks are the publishers and you get a magazine and parts in a bag on a weekly basis.

The complete set is 140 issues at 7.95 Euro an issue.

In other words, 140 weeks (2 years 6 months approx) and will cost a total of 1113 Euro.

Also I think that the minimum weight of the complete thing is over 10kg.

James

  Holy cow! way too complex for me. I'll stick with plastic. Good luck with this anyway, you've certainly got more patience and talent than me!

I'm going over to Belgium in a few weeks to see a girl, and I'm making a stop in Frankfurt for 2 days to visit family. If there's a hobby shop near the train station or somewhere within easy access, I'll be happy to get some and bring back to the states and ship it to whomever. If someone wants to do the research of where to get them in Frankfurt, I'll be happy to do it.

Here are a couple of pics of locating pins and their job.

As every one lnopws in plastic models locating pins are used to align fuselages, wing halves etc. This model is slightly different. The locating pins and holes do the same job but also have the job of prociding strength to the structure too.

Here you see that there are three pins through three holes. The pins are not only guiding the parts together but providing a locking mechanism as well as the glue.

Once ground down so they are flush to the surface the pin spreads out and fills the hole during the process and acts like a flush rivet. When painted over there is nothing to see, but the joint is sturdy and rigid. Just some paint repatching needed here that is all!