Junkers Ju 87 D-3 by Ian Robertson (Hasegawa 1/32)

Hasegawa's 1/32 scale
Junkers Ju 87 D-3 Stuka

by Ian Robertson

Junkers Ju 87 D-3 Stuka

Hasegawa's 1/32 scale Ju 87 D Stuka is available online from Squadron.com

Introduction

Although the Junkers Ju.87 Stuka is arguably the quintessential symbol of the Luftwaffe in WWII, a number of German allies employed the aircraft as well, including Romania, Italy, Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Hungary. My model represents B.6+41, a Hungarian Ju.87D-3 from 4./StG 77, piloted by Laszlo Devenyi and manned at the rear gun by Gabor Perjes. This particular aircraft had its wheel covers removed, a common practice when operating from muddy or snowy airfields.

Hungary first requested the Stuka in 1940, but did not receive the aircraft in any numbers until 1943. From 1940-1942 Hungary received a small number of Ju.87A-1s and Bs for training purposes. The first major delivery came in 1943, consisting of 22 B-1s and B-2s. This batch was followed by several deliveries of D-3s and D-5s through 1944.

Combat losses of Stukas to the Soviets were high. For example, of the 21 Doras delivered to 4./StG 77, 15 aircraft and 6 crews were lost between 1 August – 22 October 1943, after which the group was withdrawn from frontline service. While active on the frontline the group flew more than 1,200 sorties, dropped 810,000 kg of bombs, and rear gunners claimed two La-5 and one P-39 shot down.

Construction

Hasegawa’s 1/32 Ju.87D is superb kit, and a real monster, dwarfing their Bf.109s and Fw.190s in the same scale. Current offerings in the Hasegawa series include the Ju.87G-1/2 with underwing cannons and the Ju.87D1/3/5 with 1,000 kg bomb. In early 2007 Hasegawa is releasing a limited edition Ju.87D-8 night Stuka with flame dampers.

Overall, the detail and fit of this kit is excellent. The cockpit lacks detail in some areas, although it looks sufficiently busy once a little wiring is added to the radio equipment and a seat pad and belts are installed. I used Apoxie Sculpt to make the seat pad, and lead foil for the belts. The etched metal buckles were taken from the seatbelts that came with the kit. I added a resin gun sight from Quickboost after I lost the kit part. I also added brass ammunition belts for the rear guns, although this was done after the photographs below were taken.

The canopy is a bit tricky to display in the open position owing to the thickness of the plastic; however, with a little coaxing it is manageable. The interior framing of the canopy is supplied in the form of decals colored RLM 66. However, the carrier film would be a distraction in my opinion so I masked and painted the framing instead. Note that the actual frames were tubular, so an avid detailer may want to try something using styrene tubing – something to consider at least. I used etched metal for the rear gunner’s crosshairs.

I replaced the kit exhausts with resin exhausts from Quickboost. It’s a small detail that adds a lot to the look of the model, although one could always hollow out the kit exhausts.

I had some difficulty with the attachment of the outboard portions of the wings because the seam kept splitting. Be careful to apply sufficient amounts of glue and you should be fine as long as you don’t hold the entire model by a wingtip.

From what I have read online and can glean from photos, the propeller blades in the kit are improperly shaped for a Dora. Replacement paddle-shaped blades can be purchased from Jerry Rutman (http://www.jrutman.com/), which is where I got mine. My replacement blades had minor flash and pits that needed to be filled, but this took only a few minutes.

Jerry Rutman also makes metal landing struts that can be used to build a Stuka with the wheel covers removed. The modification involves cutting off the wheel covers and inserting the metal strut into the remainder of the landing gear fairing. The struts on my model were glued in place with 5-minute epoxy – this allowed repositioning as the glue set. I used Aires resin wheels in place of the kit parts. Below I show how the wheels were attached to the struts.

Painting and Markings

After using Tamiya Fine Gray Surface Primer to expose any unfilled seams on my model, I painted and masked the yellow fuselage band and lower wingtips. I then moved on to the Hungarian national markings. These markings were created by first painting the appropriate positions with Tamiya white primer, masking the crosses, and then masking the square surrounding each cross and painting it scale black. The national markings were then completely masked until the camouflage had been painted. The red/white/green bands on the rudder and spinner were painted and masked in a similar manner.

The camouflage was painted using Polly Scale acrylics. The underside of the model was painted RLM65, whereas the upper camouflage was painted in a standard RLM70/71 splinter pattern using paper masks supplied with the kit. Photos reveal little contrast between the two upper camouflage colors, so I mixed 25% RLM70 to the RLM71, and to both colors I added a touch of brown.

Exhaust stains were painted using highly thinned black paint. The dirt on the wing roots was simulated by spraying highly thinned light brown paint and then stippling it with a brush until dry. Darker washes were also applied.

I made my own decals for the serial numbers on the fuselage. Creating the black codes was easy – I scanned the appropriate symbols from 1/48 decals, resized them in Powerpoint, and then printed them on to Testors decal paper using an HP Deskjet printer. Once the ink dried I applied several thin coats of Testors “decal bonder”, a clear lacquer. Creating thin yellow outlines over the “41” was trickier. Once the black “41” decals had dried on the model, I cut thin strips of yellow decal from spares and then applied and trimmed them individually until the outlines were complete.

I also made a decal for the unit symbol – a monkey throwing a coconut. Mushroom Model Magazine’s “Ju.87 In Foreign Service” was the source for the pattern (pg 85). Note that this book also provides a color profile of B.6+41 (pg 78); however, the position indicated for the “41” on the port side is slightly off when compared to a photo of the actual aircraft (see Squadron’s “Hungarian Air Force”, pg 12).

I used EagleCals decals for the octane symbols and various stencils on the aircraft.

Groundwork

A wooden cutting board was used as the base for the model. Celluclay was used to make the basic ground cover. The celluclay powder was mixed into a paste with water and white glue, tinted with light brown acrylic paint, and then spread thinly over the cutting board. Note that the cutting board had previously been treated with several coats of clear lacquer to prevent warping while the celluclay dried. While the celluclay was still wet I added pieces of Heki grass mat (item # 1574 - Wild Grass Savanna).

Heki products are available for purchase in the United States at “Scenic Express” http://www.scenicexpress.com/ , although you will need to call them directly because the item is not listed in their online catalog. I sprayed the grass light brown to give it a late fall look, consistent with the bare trees in the background.

Photograph

Images were taken with a Nikon Coolpix 5400 digital camera. The “unsharp mask” tool of Adobe Photoshop was used to restore some of the clarity and crispness lost during image compression. The “blur” tool was used to help merge the back edge of the base with the background.

References

Nohara, S., Kunie, T, Shiwaku, T. 1994. Aero Detail 11 – Junker Ju.87D/G Stuka (translated by S. Hards). Dainippon Kaiga Co.\
Filley, B. 1986. Ju.87 Stuka In Action. Squadron/Signal Publications
Punka, G. 1994. Hungarian Air Force. Squadron/Signal Publications
Wawrzynski, M. 2005. Ju.87 In Foreign Service. Mushroom Models Publications