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World War II
Discuss WWII and the era directly before and after the war from 1935-1949.
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Italeri 1/72 scale JU-52 Minesweeper
Dirkpitt289
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New Jersey, United States
Joined: May 24, 2008
KitMaker: 346 posts
AeroScale: 307 posts
Posted: Saturday, February 20, 2010 - 03:02 PM UTC
Italeri 1/72 scale JU-52 Minesweeper from Minensuch-Gruppe; France 1943


"Guns before butter. Guns will make us powerful; butter will only make us fat."
Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, Head of the German Luftwaffe



History

Like the USAF C-47, the Junkers Ju 52 tri-motor was first built in the 1930s and remained in service for more than a quarter century. It made its maiden flight in April 1931, and three years later a heavy bomber variant entered service with the German Luftwaffe. The latter version formed the nucleus of the Luftwaffe's early bomber force, which was used with great effect during the Spanish Civil War.

By 1939, the Ju 52 was obsolete as a bomber, but because of its durability, simplicity of design, and handling characteristics, it continued to serve throughout WW II as a versatile workhorse for the German transport fleet. Adolf Hitler even used a Ju 52 as his private transport. Ju 52s delivered the attacking forces and their supplies during the German invasion of Norway, Denmark, France, and the Low Countries in 1940. Later on, approximately 500 Ju 52s participated in the historic airborne assault on the island of Crete in May 1941 and later supplied Rommel's panzerwaffe operating in North Africa.

In addition to the standard, fixed undercarriage version, there was a floatplane version, equipped with two large floats. This model served during the Norwegian Campaign in 1940, and later in the Mediterranean theatre. Some Ju 52 floatplanes were also used as minesweepers, fitted with a large degaussing ring under the airframe.

This particular Junkers Ju-52-3m was used as a minesweeper, and attached to the Minensuch-Gruppe, then based in France during 1943. The large ring was an electrified metal ally affair built in sections that were supported with bracings under the fuselage and wings. Low voltage current was fed through the ring while the aircraft was flying over the water suspected of being mined by the Allies. The electromagnetic field generated by the minesweeping ring would explode any magnetic mines encountered.

Based on the Frence coast, the Mine sweeping squadron remained operational until late 1944.

Technical Data


• Crew: 3 (two pilots, radio operator)
• Capacity: 18 troops or 12 litter patients
• Length: 18.90 m (62 ft 0 in)
• Wingspan: 29.25 m (95 ft 10 in)
• Height: 4.5 m (14 ft 10 in)
• Wing area: 110.5 m² (1,190 ft²)
• Empty weight: 6,510 kg (14,325 lb)
• Loaded weight: 9,200 kg (20,270 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 10,990 kg (24,200 lb)
• Powerplant: 3× BMW 132T radial engines, 533 kW (715 hp) each


• Maximum speed: 265 km/h (165 mph) at sea level
• Cruise speed: 211 km/h (132 mph)
• Range: 870 km (540 mi)
• Service ceiling: 5,490 m (18,000 ft)
• Rate of climb: 17 minutes to 3,050 m (10,000 ft)

Of the 4845 built, 7 are still flyable

The Model







Italeri 1/72 scale JU-52 Minesweeper No 126. I usually like to pick specific aircraft as my subjects such as the “Red 02” Mig 3 or Lt Stanley W Swede Vejtasa and his SBD Dauntless. In this case the image on the box just grabbed my attention. I will be doing this as an OOB. I don’t foresee any need for scratch building anything to drastic. Except for some excessive flash this kit is nicely detailed.

This kit has two build options. Version A, is from Minensuch-Gruppe; France 1943.

Version B, is from Minesuch-Gruppe 1; of the Baltic Sea 1944.

I’ve chosen Version A but I’m arming it to the teeth with options from both versions. Since this isn’t a specific aircraft build but more of a representation of what was I feel I can do this with a clear consciences.
Dirkpitt289
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New Jersey, United States
Joined: May 24, 2008
KitMaker: 346 posts
AeroScale: 307 posts
Posted: Saturday, February 20, 2010 - 03:08 PM UTC
I started by painting some of the part while they are still on the spree. I then moved on to the cockpit. I'm sure I could do more by adding more detail such as harnesses for the pilots but I'm not going to go that far just yet.







Siderius
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Tennessee, United States
Joined: September 20, 2005
KitMaker: 1,747 posts
AeroScale: 1,673 posts
Posted: Saturday, February 20, 2010 - 05:16 PM UTC
I had this kit once, but never finished it Dirk. I'll be interested to see what you do with it. Russell
JPTRR
Staff MemberManaging Editor
RAILROAD MODELING
#051
_VISITCOMMUNITY
Tennessee, United States
Joined: December 21, 2002
KitMaker: 7,772 posts
AeroScale: 3,175 posts
Posted: Saturday, February 20, 2010 - 05:33 PM UTC
Hi Dirk,

It is a good model and you are making a good start. I built the transport long ago and the only problem I recall was the wing-fuselage joint on the bottom.

It was a good model--until Siderius smashed it at the hobbyshop it was hanging at!

Looking forward to your progress.
Dirkpitt289
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New Jersey, United States
Joined: May 24, 2008
KitMaker: 346 posts
AeroScale: 307 posts
Posted: Monday, February 22, 2010 - 04:12 PM UTC
Good morning everyone




This is the funnest part of modeling in my opinion NOT!!!

First I started by attaching the Cockpit and cabin into the fuselage.





I used Squadron Green putty to fill the seams on the fuselage. We will have to wait till the primer is applied to see how well I did but right now it's looking pretty good.




For the most part the filling that needed to be done on the wings and Nacelle were minimal so I used Mr Surface 500.


It seems like no matter how much I fill and sand its never enough. I also need to invest in a small chisel set to do small work on areas like the excess plastic around the light cut out.


Now this was a slick move. I assembled the wing without realizing I had a clear lens that needed to be installed first. Any suggestions how to fix this are welcome. It looks like I need to invest in a small chisel set to do jobs like removing excess plastic as seen around the hole for the light.


Till next time...
Dirkpitt289
_VISITCOMMUNITY
New Jersey, United States
Joined: May 24, 2008
KitMaker: 346 posts
AeroScale: 307 posts
Posted: Monday, March 08, 2010 - 02:01 AM UTC
Someone posted these pictures for me on another site and I thought I'd share them with you guys.

This first photo is of the Minenabzeichen badge usually decorated to Kriegsmarine personell but in this special case also to specific Luftwaffe crews. I would love to get my hands on one of these badges. It would make a great addition to the final display.



This next photo is of a JU 52 Minesweeper crew. You can see three of the four crew members are wearing the Minenabzeichen badge.



I decided that the cargo bay of this JU52 was looking a little scarce and decided to add some detail. So with an old JU52 interior photo in hand its off we go. Now scratch building is relatively new to me so bear with me on this.



I decided to build the frame work that flanked both of the fuselage walls and anchored the beam mounted 7.92mm MG 15 machine guns on this JU52.

It took a bit of trial and error but I'm happy with the final results. I took some rough measurements and drew them out on paper. This would have been easier if I did it BEFORE I attached the fuselage halves but it was just recently I decided to go this extra step.





I used styrene to build the framework and .020 DIA aircraft safety wire for the smaller diameter diagonal bars








Here they are sporting a fresh coat of paint. I also applied a dry brushing of the framework with some aluminium paint.


Next I placed the frames into the aircraft to see how it fit.




Here is the view from one of the open cargo doors


Till next time...

Thanks for looking
PanzerMike
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Hamilton, New Zealand
Joined: May 09, 2007
KitMaker: 298 posts
AeroScale: 120 posts
Posted: Friday, March 12, 2010 - 10:11 PM UTC
Cool choice of subject Wonder how much harder this thing was to fly with the mine exploding do hickey on it ?
Dirkpitt289
_VISITCOMMUNITY
New Jersey, United States
Joined: May 24, 2008
KitMaker: 346 posts
AeroScale: 307 posts
Posted: Monday, March 15, 2010 - 04:45 AM UTC

here we are again with the next installment of the JU52 M build. Tonight we attached the wings which gave it the look of... well of an airplane. :lol:













And lastly we have some bits and pieces.


Till next time. Thanks for looking
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