There is not much to
add to the history of the Stuka being one of the most recognizable aircraft in
history. Famous for the dive attacks using the sirens which provoked terror on
the population and soldiers even before the bombs hit the ground.
The Germans were
very keen to produce specialized variants of their aircraft and this model is
one of those cases. The Ju-87 B2/U4 was a modification of the standard B2
version with the addition of skids for operations on the snow. There is not a
lot of information about this particular variant, but it was used in some
amounts in Norway and on the Eastern front. However, the results were not very
satisfactory making the Stuka, already somehow slow, even slower and less agile.
Very little information can be found about this variant in fact. I could only
locate one picture of the aircraft.
This particular
model is one of the typical variants that Hasegawa makes from their basic
models, in this case the well known Ju-87 B2. The only difference is the skids
which are provided in the form of a few resins pieces. This would be an ideal
project if you want to get a little taste of using resin since the pieces are
very easy to clean and the fit is almost perfect.
The construction
started as usual with the cockpit, which was painted with Gunze RLM 02 and
diverse internal detail with black. Smaller details were picked using different
shades of white, red, etc. Also the cockpit got some drybrushing and a few
washes. The seatbelts come from a Eduard prepainted set. Other modifications in
the cockpit was the use of an Aires MG-15 machine gun instead of the one
provided with the model, and a few small details made with plastic rods.
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images below to see larger images
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The fuselage went together very
easily with just a minimal amount of putty. The wings also presented no
problems. The model uses rather thick supports for the distinctive Stuka flaps
which are not very similar to the real ones. I didn't change them, but I think
they should be replaced for more realistic supports. This should also ease the
masking of the wings.
I also modified a bit the landing
light using a stock lens and I think this looks so much better that way. The
ailerons also fitted very well.
The wing root joint to the
fuselage was almost perfect and I used just a bit of Mr Surfacer to hide the
join. At this stage I started painting the exterior using Gunze RLM 65 for the
bottom and the skids. Then the masking of the camouflage was done using Tamiya
tape. This task wasn't very difficult except for the already mentioned flaps.
The next colors were then Gunze RLM 70 and RLM 71 without any bleedings
producing a nice camo.
I left the canopy till the end
since it was clear that the fit couldn't be more perfect. I got the Eduard
masks, but they didn't really stick very well to curved surfaces so I when I
took them off there was paint bleeding everywhere. I then removed the
paint and used Taimya tape for the masking and I painted it again. I think the
end result was quite satisfactory and the canopy was finally glued using krystal
klear.
The Aeromaster decals went on
easily with little silvering. As a last stage many small details were added
including the aerial, bombs, mass balancers, dive brakes and the nose.
All in all I'm pretty satisfied
with this project especially since it is my second 1/48 model and just the 5th
after I returned to the hobby. It was an easy build and the plane looks
impressive in my shelf.
Hope you enjoy
Carlos
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images below to see larger images
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