Ju 87 Stuka GB

That replacement nose looks really nice IMO. Seems to go on without any major problems and the amount of surface detail looks good to me as well... The resin wheels are a nice touch as well becuase the Stuka I want didn't have the skis (and Trumpeter removed the wheels from the kit)

I will be watching your build closely, I have been in two minds about getting that kit and correction set or just waiting to see if someone else brought out a B.

I don't know if I have enough time to build both Stuas for this GB, so I won't start that one untill I'm done with the G-2... I'd build her with winter camo so that's going to take quite a bit longer than a normal splinter-scheme... No promises...

O, no worries mate. If you don't do it for this, I did think that might be a bit much. I have enough to do before I worry about buying that kit, so when ever you do it, I will be keeping a close eye on it.

Hi Chaps

Here I go with pictures of my build. First up is the office. During my colours research for Luftwaffe aircraft I came upon painting orders that required bomber and transport aircraft cockpits and work spaces to be either RLM 41 or RLM 42. These orders came into effect in around 1934-35 and were finally changed in 1942.

I have sat and carefully considered what to paint the cockpit, either RLM 02 or the darker grey, of the two from the paint orders, RLM 42. I have decided to go with RLM 42 just to be different.

For this build I am not using any aftermarket parts at all and just building OOB. Normally I would get lots of AM parts but as I am looking at going away for foreign parts this year and also replacing and rebuilding my stash then money has to be hoarded like mad.

Here we go

MG magazines are painted in the colour that was generally used for non-vehicle equipment.

Snap:This looks good so far. The interior color appears a little on the light side but a light wash could tone it down a little. I was going to ask about the color of the ammo drums and you mentioned that in the last statement. The OOB detail looks pretty good in there Snap. I'm not used to seeing a column at the gunners station but that detail adds a little bit more detail to the gunners station and thats always a plus.

Mikey:Progress looks good so far!!!

Everybody:Progress is slowed as of this week to the point of a mere crawl! The dogs the dogs the dogs!!! Its a regular old folks / canine home now around here. This Aires kit just keeps getting more interesting by the minute. The way they have the builder mount the rudder pedals is nothing short of phenomenal! I will post a pic of the procedure later but I countered this and made them somewhat easier (more bearable) to install. The IP is shaping up nicely so far and I still have to install a couple of control levers and turn handles as well as the gunsight but its coming along. The OOB IP was sanded down and painted white for the gauge overlay, then I installed the PE IP facing onto the assy, painted it RLM 66 and then applied a HEAVY wash. Here's where that is now and I'll get back to those rudder pedals in an upcoming post:

A scale reference shot:

..............and a close up shot:

Nice start snap. That RLM 42 is quite light isn't it, I think in B&W pics it would be easy to confuse it with 02. Where did you find out the info.

The IP looks really nice Mustang, more great work.

It is amazing what turns up in archives once you start digging. I have a rudimentary and very basic knowledge of German but when asking what certain words mean people will often help and can become very engrossed in what you are doing.

I have a complete list of Luftwaffe colour references and matches to Vallejo model colour/air. which I will make available to anyone who wants a copy in PDF. Of course I continue to refine and update as new info comes to light.

During research for my Hachette 1/200 Bismarck build, a friend in Hamburg got me a visit to the Blohm and Voss shipyard where I was able to visit the dry-dock where the ship was laid down and also the dock where she was fitted out after launching. I was also able to get close up and personal with the massive model in the company offices and was able to do some colour research in their archives where I came upon complete sets of colour chips for all three services up until end March 1945 along with usage and hand written notes.

I would have loved to get my paws on this on a permanent basis and even offered my soul, but I was only allowed to make notes and spend a few days colour matching chips with paints.

I was surprised to see that the same colours sometimes came up under a different number/refrence more than once and that there are more than one official shade for the 3 tone camouflage of vehicles from 1943. on looking at the chips etc for these colours/shades I got the distinct feeling that the different shades of the official colour were assigned to different factories, but to date I have found no official document stating this.

Getting back to this GB, I found documentary evidence in the Freiburg archive stating that bomber cockpits were to be RLM 42 and the cargo/passenger area of transport aircraft to be RLM 41. Both these orders were cancelled in 1942 in favour of RLM 66.

As the Stuka was a tactical bomber/ground support it seems reasonable that the cockpit of this aircraft would be RLM 42 according to painting orders.

when using black and white photos it is more or less useless to ID a colour shade. Anyone who claims to look at a B&W photo and say that a particular shade of grey is actually whatever green/yellow/brown/blue colour then IMHO they are idiots. You have to go by documentary evidence from archives. Photos do help in defining patterns and the light colour from the dark colour, but to actually ID a colour? Give me a break!!!!!

We do know that fighter cockpits were RLM 02. This is well documented and can be clearly seen on surviving aircraft. We know there was a change in 1941 to RLM 66. This is documented and also can be seen on surviving aircraft,

It would be interesting to see the colour of the cockpit interior of the Flying pencil recovered by the RAF museum as that was shot down in 1940 and I do believe the preservation at the bottom of the channel has been pretty good. This aircraft should be able to answer quite a few questions.

James

Mustang> And just in case you want to know what each of those tiny instruments are... 

http://www.raafsquad.com/cliffs/ju87/ju87.htm

Gary

Snap:Perhaps I'm being read as nit picky. If that's the case then I truly apologize. Apparently my info and yours aint matching and in the big scheme of things it doesn't matter.  We are both going to have good looking builds out of this and thats what does matter. Looking forward to more of your build.

GAF:Thanks for the info. Finding references for the IP even if they are computer models is proving difficult.

Snapdragon -- amazing info, thanks for sharing!

M/TB379

James: Great work on the 'pit! Thanks for posting all that info!

Joe: That IP sure looks exceptionally nice!

Some interesting info there James. Will defiantly be interesting to see what info the Do 17 throws up.

Bish

Some interesting info there James. Will defiantly be interesting to see what info the Do 17 throws up.

Thanks Bish and Clemens for the word on the IP. Should be finishing up with that part tomorrow.  Rudder pedals installed today and will post pics tomorrow. Looks like its about time to seal the fuselage up boys!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a scholarly group of modelers for sure. Great info thus far. My model doesn't have nearly the detail many here do especially in the cockpit but I'm certain to apply what I'm learning on the next Stuka I build.

mikeymize

I'm certain to apply what I'm learning on the next Stuka I build.

Every model deserves to be loved mikey, well detailed or not.

And indeed, the addiction begins, and there is no cure.

Hey guys. This has got to be the wierdest set up for rudder pedals that I've seen yet. I ended up cutting a small section of plastic stryrene and mounted the PE pedal mounts and pedals onto the styrene. I then mounted the whole assy onto the L/H fuselage half as shown. It was just too flimsy of an assy to mount one half onto the L/H fuse and then the other half onto the R/H fuse once both halves were together and it was altogether too complicated to assemble the way the instructions had it!

and now the fuselage halves are sealed up!

Sweet. Always feels good to have the fuselage closed up!

Nice work on those rudder pedals. I know with a lot of aircraft they attach to the floor, I am not sure if this set up is because of the pilots viewing window or some other reason.

Your making great progress on this.

I think its the same set up in 72nd scale too. But smaller. Ahhh my eyes

Looking good, Joe! That pedas assy sure looks complicated...

Thanks Clemens! Yeah thats a first for me on a swing pedal set up like that. I didn't care for the way Aires did it but it wouldn't be modeling if it didn't have the challenges.

Between yesterday and today I've been working on the L/H wing. In addition to the Aires update set , I also have a Verlinden set that I've had for 14 or so years. Since I will not be displaying the engine on this build, I will open up other panels. I started on opening up the wing access panel which initially did not turn out good at all. I ended up cracking the wing during the cutting process after I had carefully drilled the "dot to dot" cut out points with a pin vise. Too much pressure for the wing to handle I guess:

There is a visible crack at the upper L/H corner area of the panel opening. Upon further inspection you will find a hairline crack at the lower R/H corner as well. The hairline crack I could have lived with and would have been alot easier to repair. The other one was just two too many. A little closer look:

 Every time I plan a kit out that I will open up, I always manage to scour up an additional kit just in case. In this instance I have two additional kits, so out comes a replacment wing..........

And here we have a successful cut out:

and here are the guts of whats going in there;

Gotta clean the hole up some and already have done the sanding on the bottom side to give it that scale thickness. I've already test fitted the "guts" assy between the upper wing and lower wing to make sure that its going to close up nicely with no gap between the upper and lower wing. I had hell with this on my Tamiya Fw190 D-9 that had an Aires update with the wing root cannon. Thank God it this one didn't give me any fit issues.

What I failed to remember that this Verlinden update set also had was (another opportunity to open yet another panel) the oil reservoir access panel at the cowl area. A definite plus!!

Nice work Joe... as to the pedals... Again I am confused, In one book I have, it shows the "A" and "early Bs" with the pedals mounted on the floor board, but all later models with them suspended from a swivel and pivot bracket mounted just behind the IP. Some have windows in the floor, some dont. To add to the confusion, I have a skeletonized drawing of a ":D" with the pedals showing to be mounted to the floor board. Oh well, My kit like yours are mounted to the IP bracket and there they will be mounted!

Looking real good though Joe and thats as always with what you do.

Doug

Doug, which book is that in. I have been trying to find out if the window was fitted right from the beginning or if it came later. My A kit has the window cut out, so I was assuming it was from the start. If the pics you saw were from the inside, could the cover have been drawn over the window. I am not sure about the pedal arrangements either.

Some great work there Joe, lucky you had that spare wing.

Thanks Doug! My resources are limited as far as details with the Stuka. I have what I consider some really good resources on it too but the interior detail in all of them is somewhat lacking. That may be in part to the fact that there are only two surviving Stukas left. I'm left with a big question mark as to alot of the details.

As for the cowl piece: Folks I'm about ready to break out some serious scratch building after this build. It seems that is all I do with the resin pieces that I purchase nowadays is modify the modified pieces due to serious fit issues. When I test fitted the resin cowl piece onto the fuselage it was about 1mm too short. 

Here's what I had kit wise when I started and was going to use this until I spotted the resin piece:

This piece fits like its supposed to. Being the kit part I would hope that it would. Here's whats taking place: As stated earlier I have additional kits. With that in mind I started over on the cowling and modified the L/H side that will be open here:

I also cut up the resin piece to leave me with this:

and here is the test fitted part tucked away in the L/H side cowl piece. I still have some thinking and trimming to do and will add further detail here because of all I'm having to do. If I'm going to do this my way I'm going all the way......

Hey Bish... The one book I have is the Combat aircraft Library book "German War Planes of WWII" which is limited to its info, but does have some good general knowledge of subject, I also have Ju87 Stuka in action, also limited in info,while still covering most all variants, Combat Legends Ju87 Stuka, more on the history of the aircraft and units using. I have another ordered but it hasnt arrived yet. There are some very nicely detailed pictures found by typing in Ju87 cockpit and Ju87 details in a "Google search" type site. The best pictures so far were found in these search engine areas. Started my building yesterday, will post pictures later today!

Good luck!

Doug

Bish... PS. My kit is a late model "B" (R-2) and it also has a floor window and it will be retained in the build.

Doug