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Junkers Ju 87 B-2
After following the other builds of th eJu 87 I have decided to also start posting progress on mine.
The model has been laying on the loft for about 35 years now So it is time to get it built.
What prompted me to start on it was the purchase of the 1/24 Typhoon. I tought if I start that one first I will never get around to finishing the older models in 1/24
When Airfix started with its 1/24 Models they had a cooperation with Patrick Stephens publishers. There was a book for every model. The first part of the book gave information about the aircraft, the second part was about building it. This is always inspiring
About the Stuka it says that it is the most detailed model ever produced. OK, that was 40 years ago, but the world has progressed.
So looking at the hundreds of parts separated from thir sprues I realized that there was a lot of work. Rather over optimistically I thought it would take me one year to complete the model.
Before I started, I had already decided that I wanted to build one of the Snake Stukas that server in North Africa.
So be prepared for a slow build.
Anyway, I hope to be able to match the standards set so far

I thought that attaching the stub-wings to the fuselage would be difficult to do once that is glued together. No way to clammp it, so I decided to use screws to hold the stubs in place on the fuselage until the glue is dry.
You can also see the extra details in the rear fuselage. Unfortunately most can't be seen once it is together.
There is also the box in the rear that holds the first aid kit.

I always like to have something finished quickly to keep me going.
The easiest was the first aid kit that fits in the rear fuselate that you see in the first picture.

Great to have another group Stuka build.

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How come every time my ship comes in, I'm at the airport?

Looking forward to it as well, seeing that one is done and two large JU87s are in progress, what an inspiration for others to go big as well.

Mine also had a bag of many small broken off parts. The one thing Airfix got wrong was numbering the parts on the sprue. It is a hide, seek and find me game the parts are playing with a builder.

The kit has plenty of scope for some personalized mods etc, large enough. One can also use the imagination on how to display it.

Building this kit, and I am sure Theuns will agree, really tests one's patience. Persevere, have another kit on the production line to keep the motivation up there.

One of my most enjoyable builds. My uncle bought the kit when Airfix first released it, and as a youngster I was not allowed to touch it, even after I had left school, so I had to acquire one to build later in life, last year after 30 year of wanting to do it, I ordered my kit. Now she's done.

My next 1/24 build will be a SAAF Spitty, but only in 2017.

It really is not a "bad" kit, it just seems to have some weird things that take allot of extra work. The fit of the parts is one. Eg the one side of say the tailplane would be perfect and on the other side it just does not fit. Same with the wingroot fairings.
Otherwize it is a good base to practice working on large aeries, it might sound odd but they take special care to do.
Fitting the engine into the bearers really made me grey!
ut then I think that these models over the years have distorted a little in the boxes.

T

I agree about the weird things.
Of course there is also some over simplifications and even completely wrong items.
First checks also indicate one tailplane that doesn't fit too well.
As it is such a big bird with rathere few eye catching areas compared with the 1/24 Hurricane I built more than 30 years ago, I decided that I had to show as much as possible of the detail.
Therefore ma next step were the gunbays which are very simplified according to Airfix

It's just the back wall, the amunition box and the gun

In reality there is theAmunition Box that is separate from the empty shell container.



So I separated the two from each other. There is also a gunmount, which includes a container for the links.

I got carried away with building and forgot to take pictures so there is a big jump ahead when I tetfitted all the single parts

I like to use copper wire for cables and small pipes as it is easy to work with
The one thing to note is that the gunbays are handed, but the guns are not.
The one thing still missing is the compressed air bottle for loading the guns.

That is how it looks before the addition of guns and ammunition boxes



The dark grey structure is the gun mount

Nice, I so want to build this as well.

Now the gun bays are completed



The gun barrel will be cut off before joining the wings and be inserted from the front after painting is complete. That will save some masking

Looking good