Ju 87 Stuka GB

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

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

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

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

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.

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..........

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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

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

Bish,

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

Thanks for all the encouragement guys!

Tom... Love it! Very nicey done!

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

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

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

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.

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.

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!

Your welcome Greg. It just so happened that that one came near the top of a goggle search.

And there's nothing in the way of aftermarket for this kit either. there is plenty for the Hasegawa kit and a few for the Italeri, but zilch for Airfix. If I was building the Airfix kit, I think I would probably add the Aires resin pit designed for the Hase kit. So that would be an option if you wanted to go that route. But if not, I am certain it will look just fine. I don't think Eagle is adding any extras, I am not sure what JW CDN has planned. Maybe you could bulk it out with a few scratchbuilt box's.

Joe (Lawdog): You got some nice pre- and post shading going there! It's always a joy to watch you painting a model!

Joe (Mustang): Nice fix on the bomb racks! She's looking great!

Greg: I can't wait to see you building a Stuka, mate! I really want to start working on mine, but there's quite a ffew projects I have to finish first...

Well I hope you don't leave it to long buddy. That big bird isn't going to be a quick build I should imagine. I am really looking forward to seeing that one.

Greg LOL... Yeah I made sure of that! LOL

Doug

Thanks for the additional info, Bish. I was going to look later for accessories Won't now.

I'll figure out which way I'm going over the weekend. Maybe Clemens and I can start together. Hint, hint.....

Thanks for the comments guys!! Greg I can't wait to see your entry.

I have one more question now. I'm getting to the point to where I'll be installing the siren on the port wheel spat. Anybody got any color references for that bad boy?

mustang1989

Greg I can't wait to see your entry.

Judging by my track record so far in 2014, I wouldn't suggest holding your breath, good buddy.

Did I once read somewhere the reason some Luftwaffe a/c had sirens was to instill fear and panic, or am I dreaming? No idea re the color.

Greg, indeed that was the purpose of those sirens. But not all aircraft had them fitted. Some pilots didn't like them and it was left to personal preference as to whether they were carried.

and they did put up one helluva scream! I don't blame the pilots really. When a guy is tryin' to do concentrate and do his job, he can probably do it better without a naggin , whinin' screamer beside him. lol

Any color pics or references of it?