Because why not have more builds on the bench? I scooped this kit up recently out of nostalgia. I had built this kit as a kid with my now not so little brother. I dont even remember what kit I had got to work on, all I recall was how much more fun his kit was!





Im shooting to have this done by months end for the fixed gear campaign and with having 30" of snow dumped on us I really had little excuse not to get alot done. Nothing extravagant at all just some quick touches that should keep the kit less toy like. Its a touch underscale, some claim 1/75 and covered in raised detail so its an underdog in the 1/72 stuka category. The cockpit isnt too bad considering the rest, most basic structures are present but no sidewall or much floor detail. Here I base coated with tamiya black then a tamiya RLM 02 mix was unevenly sprayed over this. When dry I sketched representative wall and floor detail with colored pencils. Not to be considered accurate by any means, very much improvised



On the seats I added thin strips of tamiya tape for some basic belts. Helps cover up the ejector pin mark on the front seat too I painted the instrument faces black then lighly used colored pencils to catch the raised details. I was suprised how well the kit panel turned out! The yellow pencil doesnt seam to work as well though, hmmmm. All together It got me the effect I wanted, a busy looking cockpit that while looking heavy handed hear should be great through the thick framed canopy



Externally all im doing is cleaning off all the raised detail except for the wing walks and oprn up the wing gun ports. Ive got the fuselage closed up, the cowling on, the wings, prop and spats are glued together. I should have major construction done this evening.

As for scheme I have few choices, 2 actually. The box top scheme of StG1 in the balkans 1941 or 208 squadrilia, Italian airforce also in the balkans 1941. Im going with the Italian scheme this time around!

I like what you were able to achieve with colored pencils. i think I might have to folow your example.

Gary

Thanks Gary, so far theyve worked out well, certainly save a bit of time over stiring, painting and cleaning up half a dozen colors.

Here it sits as of sunday night.



Once the wing flaps and brakes are on and the tail planes and braces set It'll be paint time. So far fit isnt too shabby, the upper cowl is a little "gappy" but otherwise the fuselage lined up well and the wing seams dont need much attention and the dihedral looks right. I faired the landing light into the wing with CA and alot of sanding. I screwed up by not painting the light recess a dark color but it shouldnt be too noticeable in the end.

Mike,
A rather unusual choice of kits as there must be a plethora of newer offerings out there. But for the sake of nostalgia, it certainly fits the bill.

The cockpit looks pretty busy to me, enough so to fools the casual viewers eye. Overall shape says Stuka to me.

Here on LI we got dumped on pretty bad with snow. For the 1st time in 7 years I called into work. Just no way to get there in blizzard conditions. I did the driveway 3 times during the storm, and once yesterday. Thank God for my snow blower, or I'm confident that my families next post would have been in the obituary column.

Joel

Joel, indeed it is an unusual choice there are likely a half dozen much more respected 1/72 ju-87bs including the sweet new airfix kit that im dying to get a hold of. This was all about nostalgia initially but is also a nod to the only builder I know locally. He loves older 1/72 kits and hates recessed panel line detail, he'll get a kick out of my building such a kit.

My work area has been a bit chillier than I prefer especially for painting. Over the week I slowly got the flying surfaces, actuators and dive brakes attached followed by the stabilizers, their struts tsil wheel and the crew steps. I also tidied up seams, cleaned up the ejector pin and the sink mark pocked bombs and finished the week fitting and masking the canopy. The canopy parts needed a little sanding here and there to get them lined up.

There was also the antenna to attach. Unfortunately its suppose to be a butt join and its directly to a clear panel. My solution was to cut an thin slit into the back edge off the canopy middle piece with my hobby saw. I then reshaped the bottom bit of the antenna to fit into the slot and drilled the top for the aerial wire.

After this I masked the canopy using BMF, which Im liking less and less on these smaller scales. The glue backing isnt tenacious enough to stay in place when in small pieces, which this canopy has lots of. Needless to say a few have gone missing but I have masking fluid on standby for quick repairs.

The weekend brought much nicer weather so I got started on paint with RLM 02 basecoat on the canopy and some black preshading



This was then followed by spraying the nose area with a yellow mix which was later masked for the nose stripe. So far today Ive got the RLM 65 sprayed on and soon should be ready for masking and some RLM 71



You might notice that those seams I mentioned taking care of earlier apparently didnt include the underside of the wing roots!!!

Mike,
As usual your cockpits are awesome to behold! Can't wait to see how you finish this bird out.

Gary

Thanks Gary! The front office has always been my favorite part even if I intend to go canopy closed. Cockpits are busy places and I like them to look that way if at all possible. Some may think its a waste if the canopy is closed but I know its there and I always enjoy building, detailing and painting them. Not to mention that these days I have pictures to prove they are there! Each one is just practice for the next

With the campaign over and past and time not being a severe issue Im making a slight alteration to my original plan. The kit marking guide and some profiles call for Italian ju-87s to have a solid dark green upper surface, which I initially planned to keep the build moving. Most profiles and pictures show a standard factory RLM70/71 splinter upper surface with german markings over sprayed with italian colors. Being the Italian markings are few and not really eye catching Ive decided to go for the splinter pattern and over sprayed markings to busy things up. Last night I planted myself on the couch and masked off the RLM 65 so I could come home today and spray the RLM 71ish green I hamfistedly concocted a little too soon after happy hour. Im hoping it will darken up nicely with gloss costs and weatering but im happy with the color. Im not happy with the huge amount I ended up mixing but Im sure Ill find use for it, not sure how soon though.

Hopefully Ill get my RLM 70 black green on this weekend, I still want to get this done quickly and not take up any more space on my bench. Should look great on my desk though!

Hi Mike,
Your 71 doesn't look much different than the 71 on my Dornier. I think you've done well. Besides, they had a fair few paint suppliers, each with his own different tint and shade.

Gary

Thanks for the encouragement Gary, it really isn't too bad. I wanted a touch greener but with the amount I had mixed at that point I didnt want to risk ruining it all chasing perfection. Not to mention the amount of new color that needed to be added now to have any effect.

So for all the kids tuning in from home, let this be a lesson. Dont drink and mix paint. Its no joke and could cost you alot of paint

Moving on....So here we are today, taking a break before tackling side two



Exciting stuff!!!

Splinter camo is on! I used tamiya xf27 black green for my RLM70 in this case. After it dried over night I masked off some rough areas where the previous german insignia had been and sprayed it with a 50/50 mix of xf27 black green and I believe xf26 deep green, to give a slighly brighter black green and approximate an Italian dark green. Nothing scientific here just educated guesses. Less reading, more painting!


Next up will be to mask and paint over sprayed insignia beneath the wings then start fiddling with the landing gear and bombs. And I almost forgot, I need to mask and paint the wing walks too!! Alot to do yet but the lights at the end of the tunnel

Here I am as of today, Decals are done and glossed over ready for weathering to begin. The decals almost tripped my build up once again. The kit decals were in rough shape and cracked up but the kits unique size limited my options. I could have masked the tail stripe and cross but the squadron number "208" is beyond me at this time and I wanted the white bits all to match each other. a few more days and this should be a wrap!