Ju 87 Stuka GB

Picked this jewel up last night at an antique shop. It came with 4 or 5 glasss shelves and has a light in the top of it. Finally somewhere to put that 109 that'll be built in the semi near future along with all the other builds I have. That was close as I'll be out of room after this Stuka build! lol

Ooh, that one looks nice! Great find, buddy!

Bish

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.

Ahh, thanks Bish. I find it very interesting that the pilots had a choice regarding the sirens. I just wouldn't have expected that, and it surprises me. Cool!

Joe, great find, indeed re the cabinet. How deep is it? I ask because my 1/48th TBM barely fits in mine. These scale models take up more space than I'd ever imagined. My only surviving 1/32nd from decades ago is on display at my office. Never thought about having one at home. But one day......

Greg, the sirens were fitted in the field, it was just the mounts fitted at the factory.

This is how they arrived at the unit

It looks like this is one that has just been left, the cover looks as though its been painted yellow to match the nose. 

I know what you mean, when you think of the military, and especially Germany in WW2, you imagine everything follows strict guidelines. But the Germans seemed to be very relaxed about many things often leaving it upto the troops on the ground. A good example is German armour camo.

Bish, yes, you read my meaning perfectly regarding the Germans. I would have expected no choices in the field. Or anywhere.

Interesting about the field installation of sirens. Ta for the additional info.

Time for another update.

First, thanks to everyone concerning your kind comments about the scratch-building on the cockpit.  It's not deserved, but thanks all the same! 

Joe (lawdog)> Once again your finish and techniques are second to none.  That's going to be one heck of a Stuka!

Bish> Great work on that A2 and the figures!  You just keep getting better and better at these dioramas.

mustang1989> I think I see you cut the grooves in the bomb attachments so the fins would fit.  Nice work!  And I wish I could find a cabinet like that!  Score!

Tom68>  Nice start on your first GB!  That Monogram Stuka really can be built into a nice kit.  Well done!

As for me, work continues on my Hobby-Gram Stuka.  Yes, just to correct a few of you, this is a Hobby-Craft Stuka, and not a Monogram.  They're the same kit, just a re-box apparently.

First, once the cockpit was complete, I decided to add the "peil direction finder" just behind it.  I used an x-acto knife and some round files to cut and file out a hole.  Then, cutting a round piece from some plastic card, I attached a piece of a round toothpick covered in metallic duct tape and painted it.  Not too bad.

I then glued in the cockpit tub, the IP and the front grill.  Finally got a shot of the rear gunner's station and the radios. 

There were some panels on the outside part of the wings that shouldn't be there so I filed them off, then glued the upper wings to the bottom half.  No problems there.

The propeller hub was a bit "blunt" on this model, so I applied some putty and filed and sanded her into a more correct and pointy shape.  Still working on that.

With everything in place, I tried some test fitting.  Really nice!  This is not glued together, only pressed together.  The fuselage is held together by the front grill, which fits like a glove.  There is a gap at the rear of the fuselage, but it presses together without a seam and once glued it will not need any filler.  The wings and rear horizontal stabilizer fit so well, I won't need putty for the joints, just on the bottom where there are gaps at front and back, but nothing serious.

And that's it for now.  I need to finish up the prop so I can install it and glue the fuselage halves together, then the wings and tail on.  Then I can put a clear plastic cover on the Peil unit and finish it for painting.

On a following note:  When I first started this kit, I had heard it was a poor kit, so bad one modeler threw it away.   I expected a nightmare, but so far I've been pleasantly surprised!  The fit on these parts is excellant, far better than some of the kits I've worked on recently.  I will say, that if I run across another of these Hobby-Craft Stuka G-1s at a flea market someone is selling for $5, I will not hesitate to snap it up.  It's just the old Monogram Stuka, and I don't consider it a bad kit (even though it's not quite to scale and is sparse on detail).  Just MHO.

Thanks for reading!

Gary

Wow! What an update! Looking good there GAF. I like the extra detail in the pit. Did Hobby Craft include all these goodies or did you scrounge them up?  Good work.

Gary, thank you. Its taken me a while, I have had some pretty poor dio's along the way, but I have been really pleased with how my dio's are progressing now, both aircraft and armour.

That pit is filled out really nice, good job on those radio's and nice work on the hub as well.

Nice progress, Gary! I like how you reashped that spinner!

GAF... Very sharp looking! Nicely done.

Doug

Bish... My apologies... I think I missed your usual outstanding finish on the "A". Beutiful work and that includes the dio as well... I've only been able to pop in and out lately, my old nemesis (kidney stones) has reared its ugly head again after a good many years, and I've fallen behind on my posts.  Damed if I'm not getting the itch to do another Stuka though...(LOL) I'll have to check with you a bit later though on that. Again my brother, Great finish!

Doug

Doug, thanks very much, its really appreciate.

That doesn't sound good. I understand its not a pleasant condition to have. You just take it easy and get yourself better. And you know where we are if the urge over takes you. I am going to get some pics of my 144 stuka in a bit, but I am still hoping I can squeeze in another 72nd later on.

Gary, that's some mighty fine work you have going on there. All the pics of what's going on are appreciated.

Doug, man I'm sorry to hear about that. I have a friend / ex-coworker going through that, unpleasant, yes. You take care!

Doug> My sympathies!  Kidney stones are very serious, and very painful.  Hope you get over them soon.

Thanks to all for your comments on the Stuka.  It's a work in progress, and she'll be closer to a G2 model once I'm done.  Well, maybe I over-did the update a bit...

Mustang1989>  Hobby-Craft supplied a couple of seats and a control stick -- that's it.  It's the same interior as in the Monogram Stuka.  All the other stuff in there is scratch-built.  The IP is a printed image I glued on some plastic card.  There were not even any pilot figures.

Gary

Thanks guys, Yeah its unplesant and I thought I had it under control being it had been about 14 or 15 yrs since the last attack, But I kind of drifted away from the therapy that was recommended by the Doc. We here in the South (even tho I'm a transplant) suffer more from them due to the iced tea we drink (by the gallons) and the "greens" we consume, along with the dark cola type drinks according to the doctor. His recommended treatment was to drink a glass of lemonade now and then (a few times a week) which is I'm told a way to keep the crystals (saltz) in the body from being able to form stones while being filtered by the kidneys. It worked , but about a year or so ago I guess I kind of just quit drinking the lemonade. Big mistake, and I'll not make it again once this has passed. Thanks again my friends...Keep up the great work!

Doug

Well, looking at those wingtips gary, it seems to be a G-2 anyway. And if I remember right, the box art has the yellow V on the wing, so calling it a G-2 would seem more accurate. Did you just get the image for the IP off the net and adjust it to size.

Bish,

Yes, the wings make it a G-2, but there were some things on it (I detailed in an earlier post) that did not belong.  Not sure what research they did on this kit back in the 60s, but somehow they got their information mixed up.  Probably not hard to do back then, with no internet and few books on the subject.

Yes, I did resize an image for the IP.  PhotoShop is your friend. 

Gary

Ye, it does seem the further we have got from WW2, the more we know about it. You are doing a great job on it, for a kit from the 60's, its looking better than I do after all those years.

Nice idea on the IP, might have to try that.

Heres a few pics of the painted 144 G-2 just before I started adding the decals.

 As you might notice, I have lost one of the support struts for the tail. These are PE parts and luckily they provide plenty of spares.

Now that's cute!  How about a comparison shot with the A2?  I'm not sure just how big this 144 scale bird is.

Gary

Isn't it just. Its got a 4inch wingspan and is 3 inches long. I'll do a comparison when I take the next pics after the decals are done, but the whole wingspan is only just bigger than one wing of the A-2.

You mean small. These things are half again the size of a 72nd scale bird. Youre a better man than me Bish.............................although I did just get through with a 1/535 scale floatplane from my son's U.S.S. Missouri. Man these planes were BAD too. Ejector pin marks on the rudder and on the float!! I did all I could with them as they were very crude, I don't even know which plane they were trying to represent as normally they were Kingfishers on the back of those ships but I'll be damned if I know what I just built. I think it was just something that Revell/ Monogram made a halfed A attempt on just so they could say they had a couple of planes in the kit. lol

 Sorry for getting off track fellas. I like these little birds and am looking forward to seeing it gunned up.

I have seen some of the work guys like CMK do on 350 ships, now that beggars belief. I would hate to have to sand something that small Joe.

This one is not to bad as there was not much to assemble. each wing was one piece, as are the cannon and wheels.

And feel free to go off track, its nice to have plenty of discussion even in a GB.

I did the best I could with the little thing but was afraid to break anything as I've never worked with anything in this scale. While it wasn't my most dedicated and best work, I know Joseph was shocked to see me assemble and paint it. He saw those two little planes and just kind of tossed them to the side. For all he knew they were still on the sprue. lol

 Well hell. I've talked about it enough. Here's the .....whatever this aircraft is.....

I'll be in Houston tonight for a GM training class tomorrow. I may take my mask set (thank you Greg) and canopy up there and mask it all off tonight just to get something productive done on the Stuka. lol

WOW, not that is diddy, wouldn't want to drop that in the carpet. I don't know much about USN aircraft, but i think your right about it supposing to be a Kingfisher, emphasis on supposedly.

Yeah I don't know how those ship guys do it!!! lol

Holy smokes!  You guys keep getting those planes smaller and smaller!  Stop it!  That seaplane is crazy small!  You did a great job on it I think!  Considering the size, I'm not sure I would even attempt to do one!  You rock!

Bish....come on mate!  1/72 is bad enough, but 1/144!  You must have bionic eyes!    Just for giggles, you should take a pic of it in the palm of your hand!  Great work as usual my friend!

Eagle90

Bish, I didn't catch that your Stuka is 1/144th until my 3rd or 4th read. Wow! I wouldn't have guessed.

Refresh my memory please, I noticed your clear coat all nice and shiny because I just messed mine up again. What clear coat are you using again??

BTW, just saw your explanation to me a few pages back about the dive brakes. Thanks for that, mate. Stuka's are unfamiliar territory for me, except for the u-control one I have such fond memories of from 50 yrs back.

Mustang Joe, nice job on that tiny Kingfisher. I don't understand that single center float, but that is beyond the scope of this GB I suppose.

Applying a mask sounds like a good time killer whilst away from home.

Bish: She really is a little cutie! Looking really nice, especially for that small scale!

Joe: Well now THAT is tiny indeed! It sure looks like a plane (wings, fuselage and prop) but other than that I can't really find any real familiarities with a specific aircraft (although I can imagine Kingfisher sounding about right)...