Ju 87 Stuka GB

Greg, its not a clear coat. I use Xtracolour enamels and they are gloss paints, all ready for decals. In the past I have had mixed results, but lately I have been getting a really shiny finish. I guess I must be spraying it right.

As I am sure you have guessed, I have read a lot about Stuka's and have lots of reference books. I really should get a life.

Eagle, no, not bionic eyes, just a good magnifier. I will try to remember the hand next time I take pics.

Bish

Greg, its not a clear coat. I use Xtracolour enamels and they are gloss paints, all ready for decals. In the past I have had mixed results, but lately I have been getting a really shiny finish. I guess I must be spraying it right.

Ahhh, well that certainly saves a step, and it certainly looks like you've gotten the spaying down pat, Bish. Looks perfect.

Finally procured a Stuka.

Italeri Ju 87 B-2. Thanks for the help in making my decision. Now to see if I can get it started,and finish by deadline!

48th scale I take it.

Bish

48th scale I take it.

Right. Brain fluff whilst posting.

LOL, no problem. I had guess it was 48th, but just wanted to check, you never know.

Look forward to seeing the build. Do you have any idea what scheme your doing, I don't know what options that kit comes with.

Bish

I found this by accident on Facebook and after a tyoe C was mentioned as while back I though you'd be interested

Phil

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ju87-STUKA-Germany/1440418162853048?sk=photos_stream

Bish

Look forward to seeing the build. Do you have any idea what scheme your doing, I don't know what options that kit comes with.

Thanks, Bish. Dunno yet about the scheme yet, but I'll let you know when I know.

P mitch

Bish

I found this by accident on Facebook and after a tyoe C was mentioned as while back I though you'd be interested

Phil

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ju87-STUKA-Germany/1440418162853048?sk=photos_stream

Now that's nice. Some great detail there. Thanks for posting that Phil.

Can't believe there a Facebook Stuka group. I am almost tempted to open a Facebook account.

Almost.

No worries Greg, just curious.

Greg: Way to go on getting a Stuka. Will be watching...........

Phil:Now THAT is way cool!

Thats a nice kit Greg. Cant wait to see it under way.

Thanks for the encouragement, amigos. :) Kinda excited to start it, but am working on the fiddly bits of the 190 still.

I have a question about attaching landing gear after painting everything. I prefer plastic cement whenever I can use it. I find it really difficult and frustrating to try to scrape paint off the attachment points of landing gear, especially inside the gear bay.

So what to y'all do? I am considering CA gel and or epoxy, preferably CA gel? I know this sort of bond is only as strong as the bond of the paint below to the underlying plastic, but I can't seem to be able to scrape well enough to convince myself I have a good plastic to plastic bond.

How 'bout that for a rookie question???

Well, it is a bit of a dilemma Greg, especially with something like the Stuka. On my previous 3, including the 144 kit, I add the undercarriage before painting and then mask off. I mainly do this because I use a plastic weld. If I was doing it the other way, I might well consider masking off the attachment points prior to painting.

Thanks for your input, Bish.

I thought I posted that over in the Butcher Bird GB. I think my mind is going. TGIF.

LOL, no problem Greg, happens to the best of us.

Yeah, I'd mask off the attachment pionts as well (you don't have to mask the entire area, just enough for the glue to take effect). If you have to glue the gear in place afterwards and there's really no way of masking or scraping the paint off, use epoxy. CA dries way too quickly IMO. I tried using CA on my German P-47 (Tamiya kit) because I painted the gear legs with alclad and several thick layers of clear coat to get that "aluminum lacquer"-look. I forgot to mask the contact area on the gear legs and the clear coat was too tough to scrape away without damaging something. Even with the glove-like fit of the legs on that kit I had a lot of trouble getting them in place and properly lined up before the glue set. I almost broke one of them...

I thought about masking off the attachment points to late, so guess I'll resort to epoxy. I'd thought about BSI Gel (really thick, slow-setting CA, but epoxy sounds the better bet. Thanks Clemens!

In the future , I shall try to remember to mask.

Nobody has mentioned liquid masking solution -- I use Humbrol Maskol, it's a latex solution, you paint it on, it dries in moments, and you can remove it with a toothpick or tweezers in one blob. I use it extensively for this kind of job.

M/TB379

Mike, I never thought of that. Excellent idea, thank you!

Sure beats the little balls of blu-tac I tried on the struts.

Tom:  Simply stunning work.  I'd say you've come along way my friend.

Gary:  Thats coming along nicely.  Beautiful job on that pit. 

Bish:  Your a braver man than I.  1/144 scale......ouch!

Greg:  Congrats on finding the Italieri kit.  I look forward to your progress. 

I'm checking in with an update.  I've been in school all week which has cut in to my Stuka time. I get an hour here and an hour there.  I did manage to get my mits on a Three Guys Replicas sheet that has a bonafide Battle of Britain Stuka on it from STG2,  I'm going to build the top subject. (I believe its the top profile you provided Bish TG+HL). 

I left off with the RLM 71 application.  I  taped off the splintering with Tamiya tape then applied the Gunze RLM 70.  I added a smidge of XF-57 Buff and I added condensation streaks in the same manner as with the RLM 71.    The decal sheet appears to show the spinner all RLM 70, but most references I've seen show that the forward portion of the spinner was yellow. I taped it off and painted it accordingly.

The frame then got a post shade of my normal diluted concoction, primarily around the guns and engine area. 

It was then gloss coated in preparaton for decals.  Here I have the spats completed as well.  They will get "Yellow H" decals.

After a few mishaps of my own doing (accidentally wrinkled a wing insignia with my pinky) I had no issues.  TGR decals are very nice.

I decided to paint the insignia markings on the dive brakes in lieu of the provided decals.  I'm happy with the results.

I did procure True Details wheels, Quickboost guns, and Ultracast exhausts for this project.  The TD wheels need something to grab the spat, so I used styrene rod to fit into the holes in the spat. 

Some sources say the centerline SC 500 was light blue.  I used that beautiful Airfix Stuka a few pages back by Hercmech as reference on the color.  What do you guys think? 

I should be done soon. 

Joe 

Joe, T6 HL is one of those in the osprey book and it shows a yellow tipped spinner in there as well.

That's looking sweet. Love the idea of just one siren. And I like the look of the streaking on the wings.

I have been saying that the SC 500's were painted green and there are a lot of pics that show that. But then I remembered the colour pic of a B-1 with the sharks teeth being loaded and the SC 500 in that pic is blue, so I think either colour works for that.

Looking good Joe. You know I had a blast building the whole model until it came to the spats and the bombs and it looks like you tackled that with relative ease. My body work/ putty-sanding skills are still in the learning phases though. Looks like you are coming along nicely here.

Joe... Looks Great... Very nicely weathered and decaled!

Greg, Im a bit late in posts, but lots of good advise on lending gear legs. My 2 cents...With me it depends on the kit I guess, I almost always forget to mask contact areas, but like Mike (TB) I use a liguid mask usually. Thats mainly on the 48/th scales with a straight mounted strut, however , being I like to work more with the 32nd scales, the weight plays into the mounting. After checking one morning after afixing struts to the Bf109 I was working on and seeing it setting like a Sphinx in the Egyptian desert, I began to fortify all with metal pins to strengthen.

Looking fwd to your start!

Doug

Doug, thanks for your input on my Strut masking/gluing question my friend. I liked your allusion to a Sphinx. Got a clear mental image of what the Messie looked like that morning. :)

Lawdog Joe, very cool that you have a WIP going on too. Makes it a lot easier to go back and see what you did to get to where you are now. Thanks for that.

I have questions, lucky you....

1. I see no evidence of that beautiful cockpit being masked off before spraying the glosscoat on the aircraft exterior. I'm baffled, please explain??

2. Why do you use Testors gloss then dull coat on the cockpit, then Alclad gloss klear on the exterior? I am in process of eliminating all water-based clear coats and my curious mind wants to know.

3. You explained the paint colors and stuff for the condensation streaks. Would you be patient with me and tell me one more time how you actually streak it on? Your streaks make mine look like they were done by a kindergartner.

Your Stuka is looking fantastic. Good job on mask and paint the dive breaks.

Greg

Lawdog Joe, very cool that you have a WIP going on too. Makes it a lot easier to go back and see what you did to get to where you are now. Thanks for that.

I have questions, lucky you....

1. I see no evidence of that beautiful cockpit being masked off before spraying the glosscoat on the aircraft exterior. I'm baffled, please explain??

2. Why do you use Testors gloss then dull coat on the cockpit, then Alclad gloss klear on the exterior? I am in process of eliminating all water-based clear coats and my curious mind wants to know.

3. You explained the paint colors and stuff for the condensation streaks. Would you be patient with me and tell me one more time how you actually streak it on? Your streaks make mine look like they were done by a kindergartner.

Your Stuka is looking fantastic. Good job on mask and paint the dive breaks.

Thanks everyone.  Greg, I don't mind questions at all.  I encourage them.  Thats the whole purpose of this fine forum.  I'lI try to answer them in order: 

First, nice observation about the cockpit.  I usually remove the tape for the photography.  It just looks better.  I dont really worry about gloss coat overspay.  It gets hit with Testor's dull again later anyways. 

Second, the Alclad gloss coat I'm using is not water based.  They have two types apparently.  I have no experience with their "Aqua" version.  Mine kind of smells like a cross between lighter fluid and mineral spirits.   

Finally, the streaks take some practice. I've done alot of experimentation with them before I got the technique to where it looks ok to me.  I'm assuming your using a double action airbrush with fine line capabilty and the ability to dial down the air pressure to about 5-10 psi.  Paint your base color, lighten it, then make quick short bursts with the windstream on the top of the wings. The quicker you go, the straighter the line (at least for me).  Go a little overboard on application because the effect will be toned down considerably after all of the following steps (glossing, decals, wash etc.).  I have a step by step in here somewhere. If I find it I'll post the link for you. 

Joe    

Joe, thank you for your comprehensive reply, amigo. Much appreciated!

I understand your thought process re if a bit of gloss over-spray finding it's way to the cockpit now. Makes perfect sense.

And I think I got it now re the clear coats. You use no water based clears at all, right? Not gloss, flat, nothing? But I swear I saw a bottle of testers glosscoat and dullcoat over in your WIP thread? I was wondering why you use testors glosscoat on your cockpit, but Alclad II Gloss Kote on the exterior? Or am I seeing things?

On the streaking, you may have shown me the light. I'm afraid of straight lines and airbrushes. But your method of going fast to keep it straight makes sense even to my feeble mind. I can't wait to try that. Thanks! If you happen to find that thread, it will go into my tips and tricks for sure.

lewbud

Joe, that is actually supposed to be a Curtis's Sea hawk. It followed the Kingfisher in the role of scout aircraft on some battleships and cruisers. The Revell Missouri is supposed to represent her fitting out at the time the Japanese surrendered. Considered a state of the art kit some fifty years ago.

Folks I know I haven't posted a pic in a while but I'm down to the last few pieces which usually takes me alot of time anyways but it just seems like my build speed has been hampered by a number of things.  You know, the stuff like gun barrels, canopy masking, antennas and stuff like that. I'm seeing it through and will try to post another pic soon.

Joe, She's looking fantastic! I really appreciate you sharing your techniques with us!

Joe(Mustang): I can't wait to see some pics, mate!