Ju 87 Stuka GB

First off , is that a 24th scale kit? Secondly are you going to rent a space from your local U-Haul to store it? lol

Looking good so far Scott. Lots of good detail here.

Well spotted Joe, I didn't pick up on that. I assumed it was still a 48th kit.

Well, going to be looking forward even more to this one Scott. I have been thinking about getting one of these myself.

The Airfix Stuka is a pretty good looking kit for it's age, lots of details in the cockpit and engine. Having over the years built about all the Airfix 1/24th birds, this one went together the best. I have a decals from CAM that I will be using and will probably do the N. African scheme.

That's good news. A 24th Stuka is the only kit in that scale I would like to get. I have been in two minds about getting the Airfix B or wait for the Trump D. Of course, there would be an easier solution, get both.

I have looked at those decals, I have a bit of a thing for the yellow nose and tail myself. But that N African scheme looks nice.

Are you using any AM for it.

I've built a 24th scale 109 and that was fairly big , but a Stuka? How big is that thing?

I just compared my A to the 109 I built last year. length wise, the Stuka is a little longer, but its quite a but bigger in the wingspan. But its the height of the Stuka that always amazes me.

be nice to see a comparison when its completed.

Thought I would be painting the cockpit today but was working on many of the sub assemblies to get those out of the way and see if there would be any problems down the road, doesn't look like it.

Some of what I got accomplished today, the Revell 1/48 Stuka is on the side for comparison.

I noticed what would appear to be cannon plugs on the engine firewall, I used a pin vise to drill out holes to add some wiring and plumbing. Oh oh! this is how I usually get behind time wise in completing group builds....

The instructions said for a standing model to cut away a portion of the MLG. There were guides inside the gear well indicating were to cut, with a razor saw it was a piece of cake.

And after surgery..

Some of the details on the fuselage interior walls. Would I be correct in that RLM 66 is the cockpit color?

The wing machine gun bay.

And a comparison pic with the Airfix 1/24th Fw-190 .

So far this is going faster than when I did the FW which is break.

Scott

Nice work, and boy that thing is big.

Officially, for a B-2, the cockpit should be RLM 02. We had a discussion about this early in the thread, and there plenty of evidence to suggest that they were also painted 66.

Scott, thanks for the comparison pic with the 1/48th bird. I was curious too. That is big, and the detail looks very good. Should be fun for you to build, and fun to watch you.

Bish

Officially, for a B-2, the cockpit should be RLM 02. We had a discussion about this early in the thread, and there plenty of evidence to suggest that they were also painted 66.

I had a senior moment about the paint scheme. I do recall that in the early years of the war, RLM 02 was used as the cockpit color before it switched to RLM 66. I went with the 02 and started spray painting the office area, will finish up tomorrow night. I did the 190 using 66 and it was dark, with the 02 being lighter a lot of details jumps out at you. Shoot! the size of this I can mask off the various radio and instrument boxes and spray paint them.

More later....

lawdog114

Hey Bish, since I hit a brick wall with my Dauntless, can I jump in with this guy?  I scored it off E-bay.  If so, pencil me in!

Joe

Checking in from Kette 12.  Well I'm at my wits end with my Dauntless and have shelved it for now.  I figured I'd switching gears for a while and hanging out with youse folks in this fine GB.  It should be theraputic.  Thank you for having me.  I spent the last hour or so catching up in here.   Only thing I can say is Wow!.  I also find the reference photos useful as well.  Here I'll have a crack at the 1/48 Hasegawa Stuka B-2.  So far, I got Quickboost seats and canopy masks from Eduard. I may get wheels, guns and exhausts too...we'll see.  

I intend to do a Battle of Britain Stuka with the "Jericho Trumpet".  I'm curious to why most Stuka decal sheets represent B-2s from the Russian front?  Was the B-2 not used over England in 1940?  I did find a Superscale sheet that has two B-1s and a B-2 from the summer and fall of 1940 (#48-0833). I'm may try to convert the B-2 into a B-1, or "fudge" it.  My research said the main difference is the exhausts and the radiator flaps under the chin.  I also read that "late B-1" Stukas had the exhausts upgraded to the B-2 versions?  Any help here would be great for I am not Stuka expert.  Understand that "close enough" is good enough for me.      

Anyways, on to the build.  I got alot done last nice.... 

I thought the cockpit on the kit was okay...not great, but okay.  I've seen much worse.  Lately I've been on a trend of using out of the box 'pits that are hard to see, perhaps to save time, dough and energy.  The Dauntless, which is similar in design, proved this to me.  Besides,careful painting could go along way right?  I figured with this guy I would just replace the seat and be done with it.  Its the main focal point of the 'pit anyways.  There is a kit supplied decal for the instrument panel.  I decided I would use that too.  Here I laid out all of the cockpit pieces.

I got alot of positive feedback on my step-by-step cockpit detailing on my Dauntless WIP thread.  I figured I would do the same here, except with a German cockpit this time.

I started by spraying everything XF-1 Flat Black.  This allows for shadowing when the interior color is added.  My research showed that German 'pits were RLM 02 during the Battle of Britain then changed to RLM 66 sometime in 1941.  I used Gunze Aqueous RLM 02 thinned with X-20 for this. 

Then its detail painting time.  My method involves Tamiya paints dipped into 91% Isoprophyl.  The alcohol makes it dry very fast and prevents streaking.  Here I painted the boxes and such XF-69 NATO Black. 

Here you can see that the Quickboost seat(s) are very nice.  I painted the seatbelts XF-57 Buff and the hardware with Floquil Bright Silver on a fine brush.  Sometimes I use a silver Sharpie for the silver.

Here's the 'pit is drybrushed with Floquil Bright Silver (Enamel) detail painted, to include some knobs and switches picked out in red,yellow, and blue.   It now gets a coat of Testor's Gloss Coat for a wash barrier. 

Once dry, perhaps an hour or so, it gets a Detailer wash.  I use a brown and black mixed.  I think this stuff is the best thing since sliced bread.  Just slop it on...wait a couple of minutes.....then rinse it off with water to your liking. 

After the wash has been removed.  You can scrub off as much as you want.  To my eye, this is about right.  As a side note, I lost the gun sight and dash handle bar thingy somehow, so the replacement sight is from a Hasegawa Bf 109 and the bar thingy was scratch built from styrene (see lower right below) 

Everything is then sealed with Testor's Dull Coat..

....and after a light post shading, we are finished.  The instrument panel is the kit decal soaked in Micro Sol.  After the dull coat, I added a drop of epoxy to simulate the glass lenses.   

The nice part of out of the box 'pits......the fuselage usually closes without a fuss.  Here's a test fit.

Thats were I left off.  I hope some of youse find these techniques useful. 

Joe   

Scott, I know what you mean. All of my recent German aircraft builds have had 66 cockpits. I think the A-2 is my first one in 02 and I noticed a big difference. Look forward to seeing more of that.

Joe, sometimes that's the best way with kits giving you a headache. I hadn't thought of painting mine black first. Do you do this with a 66 pit as well, I would imagine the effects of the black would be lost of the 66.

You are right on those differences between the B-1 and B-2. And the B-1 did go through several changes in the exhausts so that the B-1 exhausts were those used for the B-2. But there were others. The B-2 had a larger radiator due to a more powerful engine that needed more cooling. The B-2 also had the broad wood propellers as opposed to the thin metal ones of the B-1. And the B-2 had a hinged cover over the cranking port where as on the B-1 this was open.

The B-2 only began entering service during the summer of 1940. But after August 18th 1940, Stuka's only played a small part in the BoB, mainly attacking convoys, this being due to the heavy losses they had suffered over England.

That's a sweet looking pit. I really need to improve on mine and will definably be taking some tips from this.

Must agree, Joe -- though coming out of a different box it's the same kit and that's pretty much where I am -- but your pit is looking better than mine!

M/TB379

Thanks guys.  Bish....darn, sounds like there more to it than a few tweeks here or there.  I figured I would fill in the radiator flaps to make it look like a single piece and be done with it.  Are there any B-1 aftermarket props available?  Perhaps I could modify the kit props, otherwise, looks like I'm stuck with the lone B-2 version on the sheet...............or go with the original plan and "fudge" it.  

Joe

You will be lucky to find any AM for a B-1. The only kits I am aware of is the Fujimi 72nd ones. If you want to put together your own markings, I have some images of B-2's during the BoB and I have found a couple online.

Well Joe that is one good looking pit. What you did in one sitting took me 3 weeks to accomplish! lol

Bish

 If you want to put together your own markings, I have some images of B-2's during the BoB and I have found a couple online.

Thanks Bish... That would be great! 

These two aircraft are both B-2 and are both shown as colour plates in the Osprey Combat aircraft 1. In another book I also have two pics of what is claimed to be the first aircraft. You can't see the callsign, but the caption does say T6 HL. The caption also gives the place as St malo, which matches the Osprey book, and in the pics its clearly a B-2. The badge is carried on both sides. There's also a small H on the front of the spats. The aircraft doesn't carry the propeller to drive the siren's, but I am sure artistic licence could be used if you want to use them.

I couldn't find any confirmed photo's of the second aircraft.

Amazing work on that cockpit Joe!  Sorry to hear about your problems with the Dauntless.  After seeing your thread I was glad I lucked out with all the right parts for my AM SBD-5.  I really appreciate the step-by-step process you show.

Ok guys, I prefer to use Tamiya acrylics, and I dont really care if my colors are just EXACTLY right. That said, I understand XF-22 is a good enough match for RLM 02, does Tamiua make anything close enough to RLM 65, 70, and 71? Thanks !!

XF-22 is a good match for RLM 02. For RLM 65, I think XF 23 will work. I have read that XF 61 is good for RLM 71, but I think it is a lot darker than that, closer to RLM 70. So for 71 I am not to sure.

Just did some digging and came across a painting guide for a Tamiya 87G. The colours they give are XF-23 for RLM 65. XF-27 for RLM 70 and I think its 1 part XF 26 and 2 parts XF 52 for RLM 71.

http://www.model-making.eu/zdjecia/5/9/1/1484_2_tam60735_4.jpg

And just realised your doing a D. Your pit should really be RLM 66. XF-63 should be close enough for that.

Bish, thanks. I was figured xf23 with maybe just alittle white would do rlm 65 justice.. I've also read for rlm 71, that xf 13 (Jap Army green) was a pretty good match. I didn't take much stock in that at first, but the more I look at it, the closer it looks to me.

Ajd -- essentially you need to mix Tamiya Acrylics to get RLM shades. XF-22 is not a good match for 02, it's too dark and too green. They sell XF-27 as a match for 70, but it's not -- I add about 10% black, and though the hue seems to be different it is a very pleasing colour.

Search online for Tamiya Acrylics RLM mixing ratios, you'll find plenty of documents and forum posts as modellers share their formulas. The Tamiya recommendations are sometimes very accurate -- but also often not. Their recommendation for mixing RLM 76 is brilliant and I've used it many times, but for other colours, such as 74, 75, 78 and 79, I varied the mix to match my expectations based on photographs, which also took into account other modellers' results.

Cheers, happy mixing,

M/TB379

Man Bish,  I like that F1+DP scheme. It's out of the ordinary for a Ju-87.

I think that's just the colour of the image. Its still the same 70/71 scheme. I am always wary of those colour plates and try and find a photo of the real thing if possible.

I got the painting finished last night. During my research I came across several photo's on the aircraft I am doing, 52 C24. This showed that the scheme suggested by SH is different to the real aircraft. Upon further searching, I came across another A-2 of the same unit with the code 52 D24. The scheme on this matched that on the SH instructions. So, using the photo's I have of C24, 3 in total, I have tried to replicate the actual scheme. Its been a bit tricky as the top of the wings are not clear to see and its hard to determine the demarcation between the green and brown, so this is a best guess.

The scheme at this period was not as standardised as the later 70/71 scheme. Many aircraft had more of the light grey than this one. I rather like this scheme. I have another A Stuka which will be done in Condor Legion markings which also carries this scheme, but I would also like to do other types in these colours. This period in the lead up to WW2 seems to be often over looked (guilty as charged) so its nice to be able to redress that, if only in a small way.

So here's the pics.

Next up my favourite bit, the decals. 

Wicked!!!!

Isn't it just. I have just been looking at some other kits, namely a couple of Do 17's.

Bish, thanks for the footwork on the colors....helps me out too!  But I have to say....that paint scheme ROCKS!  Awesome job mate!

Eagle90