It might be slow Joe, but its looking good.

Whats with the 2nd Stuka.

silentbob:I'll have to agree with you there Jim! The second one just looks alot more defined.

Everybody:Well progress is down to a real slow crawl on this RLM 79 application. There's simply too much at stake with the "factory applied" camo to rush through this part. Yesterday was the worst of it so far as I didn't have my paint mixed right and I had to stop every 4-5 airbrush strokes to clean the needle up for the camo band on the fuselage just in front of the tail fin. I seem to only have these problems with the ligher colors of Model Master paints. Hell I had to cut the stuff with 70% ISO just to keep it from throwing paint particles out on the paint (when the mixture is right! LOL ) . Any ways this is where I'm at right now with it just so you all know I'm still in the GB! lol

 As far as the demarcation lines on the field applied camo, every reference I have shows a hard line instead of a soft one that I've seen on what seems like every other kind of Luftwaffe bird I've ever seen with field applied camo. Whether or not it's right  the paints on there now.

I like this one better.  The other airbrake had too much of a difference in width between the two flat parts, and this turned out better.  I'll just put it on the starboard side away from the landing light so I won't see it as much. 

Bish

I was surprised when I first realised just how big the Stuka is. I think the single engine gives a false impression. You imagine its going to be more like a single engine fighter.

Indeed !

And if you would like to read about flying Allied dive bombers.................Captain Eric Brown wrote a book on naval aircraft:

Wings of the Navy 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wings-Navy-Captain-Winkle-Brown/dp/1902109325

also an excellent read 

..and other books on aviation

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Captain-Eric-Brown/s?ie=UTF8&field-author=Captain%20Eric%20Brown&page=1&rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3ACaptain%20Eric%20Brown

I have many of Eric Brown's reminiscences in the old Air Enthusiast mag from the early 70s, they are a fabulous read.

Ye, I can see what he means. I had not come across that book, thanks Spruce.

Bish

I was surprised when I first realised just how big the Stuka is. I think the single engine gives a false impression. You imagine its going to be more like a single engine fighter.

I was surprised when I first realised just how big the Stuka is. I think the single engine gives a false impression. You imagine its going to be more like a single engine fighter.

Coming alot nicely there Jim! Man these 48th scale kits are HUGE in comparison to all the other 48th scale stuff I've built.

 Progress continues to be slow on mine right now just because I do not want to mess this up, particularly at the stage I'm at right now. Will post progress pics closer to the end of the week.

Nice work bob and that's a good job on the dive brake.

That's pretty darn good.

She's starting to look like a Stuka!  I also made my first attempt to scratchbuild something.  My kit was missing one of the airbrakes, so I tried my hand at making one out of sheet styrene.  Not bad for my first attempt, but I think I could do better.  I'll give it another go tomorrow.

Zvezda, thanks for those pics, they bring back some memories.

Bob, your not the first and I am sure you won't be the last.

Interesting looking movie mikey, i'll have to try and find that. I do have a DVD of German combat newsreel's which include Stuka footage amongst lots of other stuff.

No worries panzer, there's plenty who haven't started there builds yet, me included, plenty of time yet.

Some mighty fine work going on in here. I see some guys are already done! I have been AWOL from my bench for a while. Soon to get caught up! Keep up the good work fellas!

Yes silent bob I just ran into a similar problem with the MG being too long thus hitting the bordfunker and preventing the canopy from fitting. This, of course was discovered after everything was pretty much set. I've been making some progress with my build but have had some medical issues this week that have slowed down production. In the meantime I finished watching a WW2 German film called Stuka. It was, not surprisingly pure propaganda but it has some incredible shots of JU87's both static and in flight as well as plenty of close up stuff. The plot is predictable and the acting so so but the ability to see so many stukas is fantastic.

It gets better the more builds you get behind you there Jim. lol

Yeah, happens more than I'd like to admit.  

You know stuff like this still happens to me from time to time. For me it's always the, " What the hek were you thinking???" chimes going off in my head after I've pulled a stunt like that. lol

Silentbob

We've all been there, just be glad you spotted it before it had set. I know in the past I haven't

Phil

Well, I thought I was ready to glue the fuselage halves together...but right after I got the glue put on and the pieces together and clamped I realized I forgot to put in some kind of bulkhead so you wouldn't be able to see into the hollow area behind the gunner.  Oops!  Pried it apart and I'll throw something together this weekend.  I'm not going to be too concerned with detail since it'll be hard to see once the canopy is on and the machine gun is in place.  Live and learn I guess!

Late hours and with some good old Nazareth playing at the background, cockpit and engine pieces were partially sub-assembled and are ready for painting. Photos will be posted next time, along with the painted results.

''But after standing on that hill you can see how vulnerable they were''

Standing there one understands why there are so many memorial plates on the ground and also wonders how did the allies lose the island solely because of the loss of Maleme.

Joe, ye I know what you mean. I do often wonder with the field applied paint, especially white wash, if they re applied the markings or just went around them because they do usually look nice and neat.

And I think the word your looking for is balkenkreuz. Ain't I clever. (actually, I had to check that)

That sound like a nice idea dio Zvezda. I have managed to get hold of one DFS 230 glider with which I want to do an Eben Emael dio and I have a Ju 52 with Crete markings that I plan on showing the para's getting on board before heading out. I just need another DFS 230 now, but they are not easy to get. There are some really good images ot there, the airfield looked a real mess after the battle with wrecked aircraft all over the place. But after standing on that hill you can see how vulnerable they were. Ye, I have Beevers book and a couple of others on the battle, I can't recall which now, I will have to check.

Barrett, my other half lost all her business stuff for the last year and that is bad enough. We live and learn I guess.

Mustang I feel you for that Korean era photo, I have also lost some sentimentally valuable stuff by mother's "Welcome dear, look how neatly I have cleaned up your room"-type of whirlwind

Bish I also had (still have) a very similar ambition on making a large 1/72 diorama with DFS gliders, crashed Ju-52's and Emils, Hurricane carcasses, etc scattered on the airfield next by the shoreline.

I had made a web and literature research and came up with some nice photos before, during and after the Battle, aerial photos of the area from 1941 and nowadays, battle maps, etc.

I will sort out and post any useful material in the evening. I will post it here if it is OK.

I am glad to share the same modelling inspiration from the dramatic historical events of that battle.I suppose you have also read A. Beevor's book, which is great and very accurate.

Sorry to hear you lost that, Bish. That's the problem with digital. It's a lot more accessible, but it's also a lot more fragile. I had an employee lose the entire contents of my office laptop once because he didn't bother to check that the backup actually worked before he wiped my hard drive clean to deal with viruses. Years of accumulated data were lost forever. That was a decade ago and the absence of some of the info still hinders me.

Thanks Bish. No worries on the confusion. I live half of my life these days in that state. lol

The trick for me to remember now is that this is a field applied camo so the 76 will have to be painted on first on the bottom and lower part of the fuselage and the german crosses (I forget the real word that supposed to be used there) will have to not have any 79 underneath them. Meaning the 79 is to be appled AROUND those areas where the crosses are and over the existing 76 thats visible on the sides of the fuselage. There..............I think that makes sense! lol

Looking good joe. I totally misunderstood before. When I said about being brave with RLM 76, I was thinking of a wave pattern scheme, not sure why on an early 87. I think I must be getting my Junkers mixed up. Now I realise what your doing. I have a D-3 I would like to do similar with which I might add to the GB if time allows.

Well the field applied camo has been underway since the weekend. We're getting there one splotch of 79 at a time----one per day at a time.............

Here's what I've got so far:

Well, we live and learn and we have the memories at least, for now.

Zvezda, if you could post those pics when you have a minute that would be great. At some point I was planning on doing a dio with one of the German DFS 230 gliders that came down in that river bed in 1940. It was really something to be able to stand on the new bridge but still see the old one and the place where the battle really started.

And look forward to seeing the Stuka pics.