Eduard Junkers Ju-52 Airliner - Eduard (4423) 1:144 scale

[bootneck]

Junkers Ju 52 Airliner

Eduard 1:144

 

The Junkers Ju 52/3M (3M = three motors) was a German tri-engine monoplane. The prototype and first production aircraft were 1M = single engine and designed as cargo/passenger aircraft for civillian service. The first flights were in 1930 followed by the three-engined version in 1932. The airframe construction was unusual in that the fuselage skin was made up of corrugated aluminium sheeting which caused more airflow drag than a comparable smooth canvas or metal skinned aircraft. The aircraft was quite popular before World War 2 and was bought for passenger and freight use by airlines from all over the world, including Germany; France; Britain; Norway; Belgium and South Africa.

The Kit

 

This is a re-release of Eduard’s kit of c2000 vintage; along with their military version. The differences here being enhanced decals and a set of intricate masks.

There are four sprues in grey plastic which contain the fuselage, wings and all associated peripherals; plus a single clear sprue, containing eleven clear cockpit/window elements, although only eight are required for this kit.

The first sprue comprises three pieces of the fuselage and the wheels. There are two sets of wheels with this sprue, one set has wheel covers whilst the others are uncovered wheels thereby allowing a choice of versions to be depicted.

The three parts of this fuselage, top and two sides, are produced in such a way that there is not the typical join line along the spine, as in other producer’s kits. This removes the problem of trying to retain the very fine corrugated effect on the fuselage top if one had to fill and sand the join line on the spine. The two sides are joined together, as standard for most aircraft kits, however an upper deck/spine piece sits on top of the two joined sides forming the fuselage unit.

Anyone who has Eduard’s military version of this kit will note that there is an additional sprue with this civilian kit. This sprue is actually the same as the military version but only the wheels and struts are required from it (which means you have a full fuselage body left over for the spares box).

The third sprue holds two upper wing sections; tailfin and rudder; engine cowlings, motors and props; exhausts and other minutae. The corrugated representations on the wings is really nice and finely detailed. The tailfin and rudder assembly, although a single unit, is virtually two items held together by two representative rudder struts. The vertical gap, between the tailfin and the rudder, is only 0.25mm and, looking at photos of the real thing, does appear to be accurate. This gap would normally problem when applying decals over that area, as with the centrally positioned swastika for instance, however Eduard has resolved that with a set of split decals.

The fourth sprue has a one-piece lower wing assembly; ailerons; plus the cabin and bulkhead parts. The lower wing piece’s belly section extends back towards the tailwheel. This means that any problem of a join line along the underbelly is eradicated by the fitting of this part along the under-spine join.

 

The clear sprue contains the cockpit canopy; windows for the cabin area, plus a small round window for the port side. All the other clear parts are for the military versions and are not required.

 

Decals

The decals are Eduard’s own and produced in house. The marks do not show any evidence of colour bleed and the register looks spot on. The decals allow for aircraft to be marked up as German owned aircraft, such as Herman Goering’s personal transport or two different aircraft of Luft Hansa. A third choice is an aircraft from Air Transport Regiment of Prague, Czechoslovakia. Each component decal has an identifying reference number which can be cross linked to match their placing as documented in the full colour instructions booklet provided.

 

 

 

The variations in airliner liveries provided with this kit mean that the tail markings could be either on the rudder only or split across the tailfin and rudder. In the latter case, split decals have been provided (see bottom right corner of decal sheet) so that they can be applied to the separate parts of the tail and rudder accordingly.

Masks

The kit is supplied with a set of masks, the sheet they come on measures only 6.3cm x 4.2cm (2 ½ x 1½ ) but it contains 38 individual masks! Sixteen of the masks are for the canopy alone; with fourteen more for the cabin area windows and the remaining four are for the wheel hubs. A comprehensive diagram denotes the placing of the masks in preparation for spraying. The masking instruction page, in the image below, shows the amount of detail the masking set up covers.

 

Instructions and colours booklet

This booklet is a small, A5 format, colour printed set of instructions combined with colour detailing sheets for six different aircraft.

 

The instructions are produced in the standard exploded view of ‘where parts go’ format. The instructions detail is clear and concise with a reference box highlighting which part can be used for either variant of the kit.

Conclusion

Eduard has followed up on their really nice military version of the Ju 52 with this colourful civilian version. The parts are crisp, showing no sign of flash, and should be a pleasure to build. Anyone wishing to enhance the model, with aftermarket parts etc., need look no further than Eduard’s own detailing set which contains PE pieces to populate the cabin area of the model.

I like this kit as it allows for a civilian version, of an otherwise recognised military aircraft, that was in use before and after World War 2.

Highly recommended

Review sample courtesy of

[Test Graham]

The recently released Revell kit uses the same tooling and is slightly cheaper. The boxart is a part-white military aircraft, but does anyone know whether alternatives - hopefully civil - ones are provided with it?

[bootneck]

Hi Graham,

I have the Revell kit. I'll pop up to the loft and have a look at it. Probably take some images for you as well.

Back in a mo'

Mike

[bootneck]

Hi Graham,

The Revell kit is identical to Eduard's military Ju 52, the sprues even have the Eduard brand name stamps!.

The only differences are: different decals, no masks and Revell's black & white instruction sheets.

cheers

Mike

[Test Graham]

Thanks for the help. It's a very tempting kit, having done two 1/72 military Ju52s I think a civil in 1/144 is due.