John R Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 The Junkers Ju287 first flew in August 1944. It was built as a ‘Technology demonstrator’ to test the swept forward wing. In order to get a working prototype into the air as quickly as possible the new wing was fitted to the fuselage of a Heinkel 177, the tailplane and rudder came from a Ju188 and 388 and the fixed undercarriage was taken from a captured B24! The basic model went together quite well, aided by Huma’s technique of moulding tongues on to the wing roots which join together to ensure that the dihedral is correct. Problems start when adding the ancillary bits. The fuselage mounted engines have two problems. The a/c engines are ‘toed in’ slightly, presumably to keep the exhaust away from the fuselage side but the model’s engines are not and need correction. There is also a fairing between the engine and fuselage which needs adding to the model. The u/c legs supplied with the model are simple struts but need fitting with fairings. A hole needs to made in the rear end of the fuselage to represent the housing for the tail parachute. About 15gm of nose weight is needed. I added this after assembly by putting it through the access door on the underside followed by a dollop of Milliput to keep it quiet. The legs for the nose gear are very weak. I managed to break them off where they exit the ‘trouser’ fairing and had to rebuild using brass tube. A strut connecting the rear of the fairings needs to be added. This confers some extra stiffness to the assembly. I could not get the RATO units to fit using the parts supplied, nor could I work out just what the supporting structure looked like so something was cooked up using brass tubes. Having fitted the units I then discovered that it was impossible to paint the supporting structure! There is a strange pattern on the side of the a/c which, apparently, uses sensitive paint to detect the temperature increase due to the engine exhaust impinging on the fuselage. I have not been able to determine whether this appeared on both sides, or just one. I went for just one and made a decal to represent it, the colour of which is totally spurious as nobody knows what the real thing looked like. When applying the fuselage decals I decided to try using ‘Kleer’ to hide the carrier film and failed miserably. Any ideas on why it went wrong? One last point. A book on the Ju287 published by Ian Allan contains some very nice looking coloured drawings purporting to represent the a/c at the time of its first flight. Unfortunately the colour scheme is not consistent from view to view and does not seem to match the photos. I discovered that one of the authors runs the ‘Luftwaffe Experten’ website so I attempted to discuss the matter with him via a PM but he refused to answer and ended the conversation. Hmmm! Ju287V1_2014_05_06_28 by johnrieley, on Flickr Ju287V1_2014_05_06_36 by johnrieley, on Flickr Ju287V1_2014_05_06_34 by johnrieley, on Flickr Late addition This what the RATO unit and its support should look like - picture taken at Cosford RATO unit by johnrieley, on Flickr Photo is courtesy of Richard Griffiths at Griffiths Models and Books. His site is worth a look as there are lots of photos https://www.facebook...fithModelsBooks Here are a couple of other pictures that I had forgotten about (on my wife's camera) This shows the adjustment to the engines to get the correct thrustline Engine toe in by johnrieley, on Flickr The second shows the cockpit interior - most of which is invisible when the front section is added. I had thought with all that transparency much more would be visible. Ju287 cockpit by johnrieley, on Flickr John 29 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Hi John Beautiful job of the ultimate "Scrapheap Challenge" aircraft from WW2. I've never seen a built one, but it does have the look of an aircraft where all the people working on it were kept apart and turned up on the day with their own bits before trying to fit them together ! Can you imagine the test pilots thoughts when he first saw it..... Cheers Pat 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonbru1 Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Has to win the prize for 'Best Title to a Post 2014'...great build of an aircraft I've not seen modelled before. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 That looks like something I used to build as a kid with all the left over parts from builds!!!!! Strange beast, but very nicely made 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Great model of a great subject! Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentwaters81tfw Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Looks like you made a better job of it than the Germans did. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HL-10 Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 That is a different looking beast! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeW Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Have always enjoyed these late in the war German creations. Nicely put together. Cheers, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Beautiful and weird all in one! Top work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stannaduk Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 It is so ugly - it is beautiful ! Cracking job my friend, thanks for sharing her with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mekon Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Great build and finish, really nice to see one of these completed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Learstang Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 (edited) Excellent job! Given the lash-up nature of the aeroplane itself, perhaps those weren't meant to be forward-swept wings at all, but were accidentally installed backwards. Regards, Jason Edited May 7, 2014 by Learstang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batcode Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 very nice subject, first time seen a model made of this one, looks great nice work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Very Handsome... Can I say that cuz it's quite LOVELY... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyMover Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 That looks great - l do like builds of aircraft types l know little about. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Fantastic build of a difficult kit.....But one I have lusted after for many years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John R Posted May 8, 2014 Author Share Posted May 8, 2014 Glad you liked it and thank you for the compliments. However it appears that I guessed wrongly regarding the struts supporting the RATO unit. A picture has been added to the main thread John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 at least it's not an 'aluminum tube' * That has come out really well John. Looks like you found a swastika to match at least. Did you put Kleer under the decals? basically it used as a gloss coat from what I understand, though some folks bed decals down on wet kleer. Look forward to seeing it personally. * John has made a lot of Soviet jet prototypes, many of which are 'aluminium tubes' so much so that some wag made a crack to this effect when John made something that wasn't... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byron Boyd Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Really nice job!! How did you do the temperature-measuring checkerboard on the starboard side? I'm curious because it's on my 'short list' of kits to build in the very near future... TIA Byron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John R Posted May 9, 2014 Author Share Posted May 9, 2014 (edited) A rather long a tedious session with Photoshop which involved a fair amount of guesswork. I surrounded it with black so that when printed on white decal paper the edge would match the black of the fuselage. To spare you the agony I would happy to send you the JPG file so you can print your own or modify to suit yourself. John Edited May 9, 2014 by John R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 (edited) Haven't seen one of these before made so found this build very interesting. She looks so odd but because you've done a cracking job building her she looks lovely!! Well done! Edited May 10, 2014 by jer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotorheadtx Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 Green with envy here. Nice work, pity about the decals, but an ace job in any case. Just a little touch-up paint over the silvering, you'll be pleased as punch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byron Boyd Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 A rather long a tedious session with Photoshop which involved a fair amount of guesswork. I surrounded it with black so that when printed on white decal paper the edge would match the black of the fuselage. To spare you the agony I would happy to send you the JPG file so you can print your own or modify to suit yourself. John John, Your guesswork looks pretty good to me, and quite realistic on your 287. Fantastic work! I would be very appreciative if you would be willing to send me the JPG. Please be assured that I am not an aftermarket person, just a fellow builder. If mine turns out well enough to take to contest, I promise that my entry write-up will give you full credit for the work, because 1) it's totally awesome, and 2) it's the right thing to do. My email is [email protected], on the off chance that I did not set the preferences in Britmodeller right... Thanks!!!!!! Byron 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John R Posted May 16, 2014 Author Share Posted May 16, 2014 A couple of construction shots have been added to the original post John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bordfunker Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 Very cool build of a very weird machine. Nice to see this kit being built. Karl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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