Ju 87 Stuka GB

Thanks for tracking down that link for me, Bish. As we say over here in the wild west, 'That was mighty neighborly of you, padner" (Translation to proper British English: "That was very kind of you, sir")

That gent did a great job. Thanks for the warning about the cockpit. That's one of my favorite parts of a build, have to do some thinking over the weekend..... That said, nobody looks at them but me (and you guys), you all know what I mean.  

That said, the kit doesn't look lacking in exterior detail, though!

Greg, none of the Airfix kits for this GB have been built yet. But I found a build on here from a couple of years back. He said it has a sparse cockpit, but there was  no issues.

cs.finescale.com/.../148228.aspx

I think the Italeri Stuka's are meant to be nice, but they are a bit more costly than the Airfix, about midway between the Airfix and hasegawa.

I am about ready to procure a Stuka (finally ). Thinking of going with a 1/48 Airfix to keep the cost down. Would anyone care to comment on that? I see at least two of you built them.

That said, being at the finishing end of my first Eduard kit, I'm not looking for a challenge, looking for a relaxing build. If the Airfix doesn't fix that mold (no pun intended), I'd rather spend more on something that falls together by itself this time around.

......But all your acronyms came out spelled just right, Doug.

Guys... sorry for my poor spelling, this GD samsung tablet is a POS.

Tom... Love it! Very nicey done!

Silent Bob...Gotcha!  Glad your hvinga god time, and it I addictive! Ask Greg! LOL

Bish,

No problem with using that pic.  After all, a comparison was my main thought in the build.

Thanks for all the encouragement guys!

Greg, those support arms are the dive brakes. Some kits come with decal parts to fit on those.

I try to look in regularly, there's so much talent here that I'm afraid I'll miss out on some good tips.

Joe, though i don't exactly understand what you did on the bomb rack mods, the results look great. :)

What caught my eye is how you carried the cross colors onto whatever those support arm things are. Cool!

Joe, nice work on adapting those bomb racks. Are they moulded onto the wings. I would guess a tip for anyone else doing this kit is to trim the back off them before painting. You look close to the finish.

Tom, sweet work. You have done a great job with this old kit. And I am glad you have made this your first GB. Hopefully we will see you in plenty more. I think Mustang may soon have a GB a lot of people here will be interested in. I've added a pic to the front page, I hope you don't mind me using the one with both builds in it.

Bob, glad your enjoying it. Its nice when people can stick around after they have finished their builds, but I know myself its not always easy.

Tom, that is one nice looking Stuka! And great to hear that you enjoyed your first GB.

Just sorry I wasn't paying attention here to watch your build progress.

Looks pretty good to me Tom!  This was the first group build I signed up for too, and now I'm hooked.  Like you I enjoyed the techniques, history, and technical information.  I've learned a lot since coming here.

Well, I'm gonna declare it finished.  Not my best build, but it was fun and I'm happy with it.  I learned a few things the plane looks decent.

A few rough spots like some of the decals, the antenna didn't come out well.

Here's a comparison from my build 30 years ago.  Its fun to see how my skills have developed.  Still along way to go.

Another comparison.

This was my first ever group build.  Thanks, gang it was a blast.  As I say a learned things from you all and really enjoyed the great builds going on here.  I also appreciate the historical and technical information discussed.  Makes the builds that much more enjoyable.

Speaking of bombs, I have my wing mounted bombs now mounted. For all you guys out there with Hasegawa kits I found a problem with the fit of the bombs onto the bomb racks. It seems the fin contacts the rack which caused the rear lug of the bomb to not sit down in the mounting hole of the rack. So I grooved the bomb rack to allow proper fit of the bomb onto the rack and while not the clearest picture in the world, it shows what I did to correct the issue................

Here it is with the wing bombs mounted and the centerline bomb test fitted. I elected not to go with the yellow stripe on the bombs with this one..........

I would imagine its either a misprint or they messed up, there were no German forces in N Africa or the Med in 1940 of course. As I say, its fully possible this aircraft was in use in 1940. It would just have needed a stripe and the DAK badge added.

I assume your going for a single SC500 on the fuselage and the SC 50's on the wings. These should all be green. One source I have says SC 500 are indeed blue, but I have never seen a pic of one that colour. And yes, supposable they carried a yellow stripe, but this is not always evident.

Bish

That's looking good. I think we have another case of incorrect info on a decal sheet though. The t6 code and clover both belong to StG 2. I have a photo of this aircraft, complete with fuselage banb. The caption claims its an R-2, which does not really matter, the only difference is the option to carry drop tanks, and that it is operating in N Africa. Does the decal sheet have a DAK palm tree decal, there should be one on the other side of the nose. 

Doh!......back to square one.  It said 1940 so I unwisely assumed it was out of France.  I guess I'm going to have to piece something else together.  At least I can use the insignias and such.  I may try to piece togther S2+UN of 2/St.G 77.  The cover subject is a 77 bird so this my work.  Someone did this subject nicely over at Hyperscale and he claimed that Aeromaster did this sheet, but no sheet number was listed. 

Unless I missed it, any suggestions on how to paint the bombs for a Battle of Britain Stuka?  Everything I read so far said light blue (RLM 65?) with a yellow stripe somewhere.....and where does this strip go?  I plan to use the kit supplied bombs.  Perhaps a picture.   Any help or suggestions would be great. 

Joe

Reasoned, sure like to try that, but......

Greg, I cheat by using a black marker but it only works if you use enamels. 

Hey Doug, never thought about using the old cup and saucer grip with an airbrush. What a cool idea, I shall be trying that. Thanks, mate!

You've made me see an error in my ways. Model in one hand, airbrush in the other, somethings gotta give. Again thanks for enlightening me.

Greg...what I do is get up close and personal with the work piece, and hold the brush with one hand ( the right in my case) then cup my brush hand in the left hand kind of like aiming a gun, and use the right hand and fingers for controling the gun only, the left hand that cups the right is used for guiding the right. Its hard enough trying to work te airbrush alone much less trying to also make a straight line too. Of course get your AB ready and test several times before going live on your work. I only go one handed when I cant prop or position my work any other way but by holding it. Remember to dry run your desired area a time or two to make sure you can do as your wanting, before starting out, decide on  and do small sections one at a time. And most important to me... keep moving, to slow and you will get too heavy and splotchy a line, too fast and you get uneven and various density and width of lines. Also it dosent have to be perfect, thats what pre shading does is varies the look of the finish top coat.

Good luck and dont hesitate to ask if need be.

Doug

Joe, and all you other guys who can spray a straight line (re preshading)....

I don't know how you do it. I did spend some time the other day painting practice straight lines. Progress, maybe.

Quick story if I may. Reminds me of my first day of drafting class in college. First exercise was drawing straight lines without a straightedge. My buddy turned his in and the prof scolded him for using a straightedge. I watched him do it, he didn't.

That exterior is looking great already, Joe.

lawdog114

Mustang, if that was your idea, thanks bro..

 Joe your paint looks absolutely fabulous. Lookin' good!

Thanks Joe, ye, is it a bit 109ish, I had not noticed that.

That's looking good. I think we have another case of incorrect info on a decal sheet though. The t6 code and clover both belong to StG 2. I have a photo of this aircraft, complete with fuselage banb. The caption claims its an R-2, which does not really matter, the only difference is the option to carry drop tanks, and that it is operating in N Africa. Does the decal sheet have a DAK palm tree decal, there should be one on the other side of the nose.

But, there is no reason that this aircraft could not have ben around 6 months earlier and operating from France. Without the Wrks Num I guess there's no way to tell when it was built.

Bish, as said on the other thread. Just gorgeous work.  I too am surprised on the differences between the A and B, including the 109-ish canopies.  The figures look great too.  I do that from time-to-time as well.  I also have a strange affinity for Luftwaffe subjects and I cannot offer an explaination either.  The He 111 is one of the coolest looking airplanes ever to my eye.  No particular reason why. 

Thanks all for the landing light compliments.  As I said, I stole the idea from here so I can't claim it.. Mustang, if that was your idea, thanks bro..

I'm slowly but surely chuggin' along on this turkey.  I pre-shaded the panel lines in XF-1 Flat Black.  The spats are just dryfitted.  I'm going to paint them first and add them later.  I think it will be easier to fit the wheels in.  I still may go with resin wheels.  I'll have to see how the kit wheels look built up and painted first.  Note the Jericho Trumpet.  It was going on there whether my subject had one or not...

I then started on the lower surface RLM 65.  This is half XF-23 Light Blue and half XF-2 Flat White.  The paint was then lightened with more XF-2 and I streaked the lower surfaces.  

It was then grimed it up a bit with a post shade.  Its XF-69 NATO Black and XF-64 Red Brown heavily diluted with 91 % Isoprophl Alcohol.  I keep it pre-mixed in the glass jar pictured.  I'll add more paint or alcohol as needed.  I get all panel lines at the control surfaces, around the engine and aft.   It just adds another dimension to the otherwise boring blue. It will probably get more in the way of exhaust streaking later. 

The middle B-2 (STG 3) is going to be my likely scheme (subject to change of course).  Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't thing Battle of Britain Stukas had fuselage stripes. 

That looks like a hard demarcation line on the fuselage, but maybe a soft one from the wing leading edge forward.  Eventhough its a drawing, I figure Superscale did some research.  Anyways, the rear was taped of and the front got BlueTac.  I then used Gunze Aqueous for the RLM 71 thinned with Tamiya X-20.  I think Gunze has really nailed the RLM colors. 

I then added XF-57 Buff to the paint and make condensation streaks on the wings.  Its seems a bit much here, but this will be toned down considerably after all of the other steps.  This is where I left off. 

I hope to tape off the splinters and paint the RLM 70 soon...

Joe 

Figure painting has been my major issue for years. Over the last 6 years since I got back to the hobby, I have concentrated on getting the construction right then weathering and then finally figures, especially 35th ones. The main issues I had were flesh but especially eyes. My last two armour builds have been a great leap forward in regards of the figures especially, and on the last one, I was able to bring everything together.

Of course I have room to improve, I think we all do. But now I feel confidant to tackle most things that come up, the scratchbuilding a did recently was a real confidence boast.  

I do like doing aircraft, especially German ones, largely because of the wide range of schemes and marking options. But armour dio's give me the chance to do more scenery and more varied terrain. So its nice to be able to flick between the two.

Man that's great that you feel that way about your building Bish. I feel better about my level today than I did two years ago when I joined this forum but feel I've got alot more to learn. Figure painting is in my future for dio's I can tell you that and I would still like to conquer an armor build.

Thanks Greg, and believe me I am. I have been really pleased with my builds over the last few years and am really pleased with the level I am at.

Gary, that some very nice and creative cockpit detail work. As Clemens said, don't sell yourself short. It's looks awesome.

Joe, that landing light looks great! I have filed it away and will be 'borrowing' the idea you "borrowed". I've wanted to spruce up same. Surely looks better than my blob of silver paint on the last two.

Also, thanks very much for the masking tape, top wing root gap elimination method. So simple, so obvious, and I'd never have thought of it. Also duly filed away for reference.

She's looking good!

Bish, outstanding work. You should be proud of that one, mate.

Ok, so there the 2 halves of the bombs body and 4 fins. What the last piece. The SC 500 doesn't have a ring around the back of it so it can't be that.