1/32 Battle of Britain build part 2- Stuka! Trumpeter's Ju 87 b-2

[tr1ckey66]

Hi Everyone

First of all I'd like to make an apology.

I'm sorry that the 2 Fokker Dr1s have been put on the back burner and I will get round to finishing them this year. However I can't seem to get my head in the right space for those at the moment,nothing wrong and everything looks good so far, it's just that for some reason I can't seem to crack on.

Secondly for anyone who didn't catch Part 1 - here it is:

http://www.scale-models.co.uk/threads/finished-adolf-gallands-109e-4n-battle-of-britain-build-part-1-finished.19294/

Anyway, I've decided to tackle a kit which has been begging to be built for some time - the Trumpeter Ju87 B-2. Some of you will have read the countless articles regarding this new(ish) kit and it's many flaws. I'm going to try with this build to correct a few errors and highlight some others in an attempt to get an acceptable (by my standards) BoB Stuka.

I am not a Stuka expert.

However I feel that in the research for this project I have brought myself up to speed on a lot of the issues that concern the experts. That's not to say that I will address all these issues but I hope to get closer representation of a BoB Stuka.

Ok, here's the kit(s!!!) The 21st Century and Revell kits are there as possible donor kits and comparisons.



Now for the aftermarket stuff:



Now I'll crack on...

 

[Ian M]

Hmm watching this one.

With your new found knowledge, between the Revell and the trumpy, which is the closest to the mark...

Ian M

 

[papa 695]

I will watch this one also

 

[tr1ckey66]

I'll start by giving some dimensional comparisons...

Here's the Trumpeter kit placed on top of the Kagora drawing printed to exact scale...



Then pink areas show where the kit is undersized.

Now by comparison is the Trumpeter kit with the Brian Fawcett Ju87 B/R2 correction set. This resin nose correction set is much more in line with the scale drawings.





The spinner in this picture is not from Brian Fawcett's set but comes from a supplier in Germany and is of unbelievable quality (more on this later).

The Spinner comparisons: 1.Trumpeter, 2. Brian Fawcett Correction, 3. Henri Dähne



Now for the spats...



The kit spats are definitely the wrong shape and do not come down far enough over the wheel, again the pink line indicates what I mean.

Now on to some build stuff.

I haven't done a great deal, simply cleaned up the resin parts and begun construction of the etch brass for the radiator grill. The brass is the set from Eduard and features the 'louvres' which open and close to control the amount of air entering the rad.



In my view they are an improvement on both the kit and correction parts (pictured to the left)



Finally

The fire wall had the bomb cradle attachments added, some other small detail parts were added also (i have no idea why i did this they will not be seen!!!???) then the bomb cradle was inserted but not glued.



Note: the bomb cradle itself is flawed and will get extensive remodelling but that's for another day...

That's it for now

Hope you'll join me for this ride it could prove a bumpy one.

Cheers

Paul

 

[tr1ckey66]

With your new found knowledge, between the Revell and the trumpy, which is the closest to the mark...

They both have flaws dimensionally. The fuselage on the Revell kit is too short, the Trumpy kit has an undersized nose and weird spats. That said the Trumpy kit is a newish kit and that shows. In my view for detail the Trumpy kit wins hands-down.

Please let me reiterate that this is my personal view only and I respect anyone's view to the contrary.

Cheers

Paul

 

[yak face]

Wow youve certainly got some extras there paul! Its going to end up a real hybrid with all the corrections , should be a fascinating watch , cheers tony

 

[Vaughan]

Watching this with interest Paul.

 

[flyjoe180]

Wow, amazing to watch this project.

 

[stona]

Just caught up with this and you can count me in for a good watch. I've not built the Trumpeter Ju 87 and am quite interested to see how it works out. I have to say that the nose correction just 'looks' right.

Cheers

Steve

 

[tr1ckey66]

Hi guys

Thanks for the support.

I want to explain that the info I have on the Ju87 b-2 wasn't gained in one evening over the internet. I've spent the best part of 2 years (since buying the kit) reading forum debate on the subject, with the likes of Edgar Brookes and Simon (KingK) from LSP providing some informative and lively discussion. I've also studied other builds on the Trumpy kit - John 'Tigger' Wilkes (featured in Model Airplane International) and Tom Cleaver's build (Modelling Madness). Both these builds are excellent but neither seemed to have addressed the undersized nose issue. A little time after 'Tigger's' excellent Russian Front build Brian Fawcett announced the correction set and I promptly bought it. However, this set also created it's own debate and it was at this point I thought ,'it's time to get on with the build'.

I think a lot of the confusion surrounding this kit lies with a general confusing of the Ju87 B1 and B2 types. However they do have a completely different shape and size to the rad. I can kind of illustrate this I think...

Below is the Trumpeter kit on top of a scaled drawing of a B1 (sorry, the quality isn't good). You'll see that the radiator matches pretty well. Unfortunately the rad on the B2 is bigger and that's what they've boxed the kit as. You can see that the nose is still undersized behind the spinner though (pink area).



This confusion between B1 and B2 seems to be common, for instance Tom Cleaver's build (6./II/StG51 6G+AT) is actually a B1. I really wanted this to be a B2 because I was gonna use the decals from the 21st Century kit too. But, as much as I wanted it to, the photographs in front of me defiantly remained of a B1 with stub exhausts and no gills. To frustrate me even more it seems most BoB Stukas are actually B1s.

There's a whole raft of other inaccuracies with the Trumpeter kit, the bomb load is a real doozy, but I want to explain those as I go.

PS. For any real hard core Stuka aficionados reading this please be gentle! I'm not going to address everything and I simply want a BoB Stuka that looks something like!!! I bow to your expert knowledge and I'm just trying the best I can.

PPS. I'm surprised I haven't seen more builds of this kit, but I think that might be because it has had a bit of a mauling in the reviews. I'll leave my conclusions to the end of the build.

Cheers

P

 

[Ian M]

I hope that you don't think I was being spurious when I wrote new found knowledge. I was simply referring to your recent research.

I had heard that the kits had there issues but is great to see the details here. A mean looking aircraft and I have looked at the 1/48 scale one from Italeri more than once.

Ian M

 

[tr1ckey66]

No, Ian, I didn't think that at all! It's all good.

I simply wanted to explain where the info is coming from and give sources their due. I'm still no Stuka expert but I'd like to thank those that have contributed to the info I have, it's this info that makes for better and better kits in the long run.

The Stuka is a favourite of mine and, you're right, it's one mean looking S.O.B.! With the crooked wings and the evil grin (rad) it is the iconic blitzkrieg bird.

BTW, the 1/48 Italeri kit is supposed to be good isn't it? I contemplated buying that as further reference for this build!

Cheers

Paul

 

[Ian M]

I have heard that its pretty good. I cant be all bad if Tamiya have boxed it!

Ian M

 

[stona]

The Ju 87 was a fantastic aeroplane. We tend to forget just how difficult it was to deliver a bomb anywhere near its intended target at this time. The Ju 87 was one of the few aircraft that could do this and was certainly one of, if not the best at it.

It was also good against ships. The Admiralty did an analysis of attacks on British shipping by aircraft in 1941. They were trying to assess the effectiveness of the various methods of this new mode of attack. Someone sat down in an office and with a huge leap of his imagination came up with a nice concise title for the report. "Tactical Summary of Bombing Attacks by German Aircraft on HM Ships and Shipping" is what he came up with.

Here's a chart representing the data compiled in that report. It clearly shows that the Ju 87 was by far the most effective aircraft against ships.



Cheers

Steve

 

[tr1ckey66]

Cheers Steve

I've got a bit more on shipping attacks a bit later on.

Quick question: I've got a cockpit colour call out as predominantly 02 with a floor of 66? That can't be right, can it?!!!

Paul

 

[stona]

Quick question: I've got a cockpit colour call out as predominantly 02 with a floor of 66? That can't be right, can it?!!!

Paul

Surely one or the other. I have good quality images of the inside of a B-2, particularly a series showing the rear gunners position. The interior colour is obviously RLM 02 but the canopy framing, handle to rotate central glazed panel of the gun mount and seat frame are all a much darker colour, presumably RLM 66. We know that Junkers was using RLM 66 before 1940.

All these images also show magazines for the machine gun which are a good reference.

If I was doing a B or R series Ju 87 from the BoB period I would do the interior in RLM 02 without some very good evidence to the contrary.

Cheers

Steve

 

[tr1ckey66]

That's what I thought. I'm going with RLM 02. I'm sure I've seen the internal framing in a lighter colour too. I'll check what photographic reference I have, if nothing conclusive comes up I'll go with the darker (in black and white photography terms) RLM 66. Yes, the dark colour (black) of the mg15 ammo boxes will be a good reference point.

Cheers Steve

 

[tr1ckey66]

Cockpit Progress

Managed to get quite a bit done over the weekend and thought I'd post.

I'm going to try, as far as possible, to show every single step in this build and try and cover any techniques I use.

Anyway, here's the cockpit coming together...

First up the parts ready for priming. I deviated from the instructions by mating the cockpit side wall to the fuselage halves first (the instructions tell you to complete the cockpit as a unit and insert). The reason I did this was to test fit the fuselage fit with the cockpit in place. If you glue the floor to the port side cockpit wall with liquid cement and then glue this to the port side fuselage half, then glue the starboard cockpit wall to the starboard fuselage half you will have time to test fit the 2 halves together, whilst the glue is curing, and ensure the fit is good. I hope that made sense lol!!! Also, if you know all this sorta stuff then just skim this bit



Fit is extremely good...



Once the glue had dried it was time for some paint - halfords primer followed by RLM 02. I use a variety of paint brands but I'm really fond of Lifecolor (other paint brands are available lol!!!)



The shot below shows a few steps ahead

You notice I've added some cabling, using lead wire of various gauges, also most of the Eduard internal Zoom set has been used. I am disappointed that Eduard did not include PE pilots foot rests and I'm off to raid the spares box to find some replacements. There's still a lot to do in this office: more PE, more detail painting (the rear gun spent-cartridge bin is actually a canvas bag and will be painted accordingly), pin washes, scratches and general scuffing up and then the seat belts.



Should be a busy enough place when done.

I have to say that this cockpit is an impression of a Stuka interior and not an exact replica. To replicate the real thing would require far more info than I have and months of scratch building. This is good enough for me at this stage, it is far more important for me that the exterior be right than have every switch and dial in the right place in an internal space that is difficult to see anyway.

That's it for now, but I should have the cockpit complete and the fuselage together next post.

Cheers

P

 

[Andy Mac]

I use a variety of paint brands but I'm really fond of Lifecolor (other paint brands are available lol!!!)

This made me chuckle, lol.

The cockpit is gorgeous, I can't wait to see it weathered up.

 

[Ian M]

Nice office so far.

Ian M