Airfix Junkers Ju87B - Part V

At the time of last post not much remained left to do with the Stuka. With paint job done, the entire model was sprayed with gloss varnish in preparation for decals. The decals themselves are of excellent quality and I had no problems with them. However, I was a little disappointed with Airfix not supplying any decals for airbrakes (at least that's what I think they are), which overlap the crosses on lower wing surfaces. This omission had to be remedied with white and black paint and some fiddly paintbrush work - a step that I would have gladly skipped.

Once decals were in place, another coat of gloss coat was airbrushed over entire model with dual purpose of securing/protecting the decals and as preparation for weathering phase. After giving the varnish 24 hours to cure properly, I "went to town" with all new weathering products from AK Interactive that I've gotten at C4 Open. Under assumption that Stukas would be worked hard from field airfields, I wanted its lower surfaces to be rather dirty and abused. AK Interactive's enamel weathering fluids seemed perfect for that - Grime streaks, Fresh mud, Dark mud were all applied randomly and then wiped out with turpentine, leaving smudges in various dark grey and brown shades. Next I gave the pigments a shot - black and dark brown was applied to upper surfaces and then wiped away with a soft brush. I won't claim achieving the most realistic visual effects, but the Stuka now did look like it's been worked hard. Couple of light coats of Testor's Dullcoate sealed my efforts and gave the model a nice, almost flat finish.

After that, the only the cockpit canopy required my attention. This part is absolutely the weakest part of the kit - not only is it thick and lacking detail (circular framing around rear gunner's machine gun is completely missing), it is also blemished by two ejector pin marks on the inside of the canopy. Since we're talking about clear plastic, not much can be done about these. I didn't bother with masking and painted the framing with 000-brush, carefully 'erasing' any mistakes with a toothpick as i went along. A time-consuming process, especially with very thin Lifecolor paints, but the end result is adequate. With paint job in place, the canopy was glued in place, an antenna made of stretched sprue was mounted in place and I was done.

Considering the age of this model, it was a surprisingly smooth and enjojable build. This is third of 'old' Airfix kits that I gave a shot (lumpy Hurricane and very frustrating and aborted Handley Hampden being the other two) and in my humble opinion the only one worth the effort. True, the kit is simple and maybe somewhat crude, but it does make a very pleasing kit when finished.

Airfix Junkers Ju87B - Part IV

In last update for Airfix Stuka project, I reached to masking of the upper surfaces of the model. Since this is supposed to be a Ju-87 from 1940, we are talking about the notorious German splinter cammo in two green tones, which in my opinion was created with one specific purpose - to drive modelers insane. If my theory is correct, then by all means, congratulations to Germany - goal acomplished! Something around three hours were required to apply the mask and the result left a lot to be desired. Luckily, the cammo scheme has hard edges, so any paint bleeding beneath the masking tape was easily fixed with a conventional brush.

Once the cammo was in place, I've decided to put on all the 'extras' - fuel tanks, wheels ,propeller and the rest of the small details that stick out and tend to easily break off during the building/painting phase. There were fitting problems with a couple of these components. Worst of all was the gap between the wings and undercarriage, which required plenty of putty to cover. Propeller assembly had similar issues and I'd recommend careful dry-fitting and suitable corrections of these components (filing and sanding) before starting with the paint job.

Still, even with those minor hiccups, the final building/painting/corrections  step was accomplished without any mahor problems and all of the sudden, there she was - a proper Stuka, minus the cockpit.

Masking applied, ready for final spray of Swarzgrün.

My first attempt at paint job of propeller cover.
Need more practice.

Masks removed and mistakes corrected with a brush.

The belly of the beast, fully equipped.

Airfix Junkers Ju87B - Part III

Well, work on the Stuka continues slowly but surely and by now it's actually possible to see that it'st a Junkers 87. After all, that "broken" wing profile is pretty much instantly identifiable.

As can be seen in the pictures below, by now I'm done with most of the assembly process.I didn't encounter any major issues, with the exception of the slight misalignment between the fuselage halves, which was relatively easily fixed with a file and some putty. I was a bit overeager in this step, which resulted in substantial gap between fuselage and engine cover, but since it was 'self-inflicted' damage, I can't really complain about it. A bit of care and dry-fitting is advised, but any mistakes can be fixed with some putty. Couple of rivets and panel lines were filed off during the cleanup, but I guess that this is unavoidable with these older models with raised details.

Overall, the assembly went without major hiccups. Indeed, I was a bit surprised over how quickly I reached the stage where I could prime the model in preparation for the paint job.

Model primed and ready for paint

Lower surfaces preshaded and painted with RLM65 Helblau from Lifecolor.
The model was then masked in preparation of the paint job of upper surfaces.

Airfix Junkers Ju87B - Part II

As usual, the Stuka project starts with the cockpit. There really isn't much to write about this step, as the cockpit of this kit would make a Spartan proud -  with the exception of a steering stick and a single, rather badly fitting decal for the instrument panel of the pilot, it completely lacks any details whatsoever. Thus, there is nothing to do but to paint the interior with RLM02 (I used Lifecolor UA504), add a bit of weathering according to personal taste (I limited myself to applying a quick GW Devlan Mud wash on all surfaces) and you're done.

After a short deliveration with myself, I decided also to use the crew figures. Hampden showed me that there is a bit of risk involved with this decision when it comes to these ancient Airfix kits, but I don't think that those figures will cause me any problems in this project.

I dedicated a bit more attention to the crew figures this time around.

All cockpits components before assembly of the fuselage.

Cockpit decal is apparently a late addition to the kit -
its fit with the instrument panel plate leaves a lot to be desired.

Airfix Junkers Ju87B - Part I

With the rather anti-climactic and abrupt finale of the Hampden project, it is perhaps a bit foolish of me to pick up Airfix's Stuka as the 'get back in the saddle'-build. After all, it's actually more than a decade older than the Hampden and will therefore be equally frustrating to build and yes, it has a boatload of rivets... and yes, it also has raised panel lines.

I do however have to say that judged on parts alone straight out of the box, for a kit made in 1957 it doesn't look half-bad. The parts look crisp and there is no excessive flash indicative of old and worn moulds. Decals seem to be of equally high quality as those in other Airfix kits I worked with since my return to the hobby. The only thing that worries me is the shape of the propeller, which seems excessively thick and short.