Airfix 1/24 JU-87 Stuka

[easyAl]

Very much personal preference in this case! I like Aqua gloss for cockpits but I'll use Alclad for the airframe as I prefer spraying that on large panels. Glossy isn't a bad thing, once you've got all your decals down and the wash finished, seal it all with mattcoat - My personal preference is Alclad for that, not found anything better yet.

Is that all good to use on top of acrylics? I might have to take a trip down to my LMS on Monday. I'd like to be able to spray most things through the airbrush such as primer and the top clear coat. I just never know what to get or how much to thin. Ive just got the hang of thinning the paint to spray, but couldn't find any threads that agreed what was a decent primer.

I guess being pretty new to an airbrush, I like to be walked through what to do first so I don't mess it all up.

Anyway, back to what I managed to get done on Friday. Like I mentioned, the fuselage was all closed up, but seemed to have warped quite a bit so judicial amounts of liquid green stuff and sanding were required. I think I'm about there now with it, but only primer will tell, which I will do when I'm ready to mask off the completed bits.

I think I might also need some filler at the wing roots. There is a reasonable gap I don't think I can get away with.

I also stuck some various bits together too these still need sanding and maybe even a bit of filling here and there, so they'll look a tad rubbish at the moment, but hopefully better once that's done and they're stuck to the plane.

The back rest for the gunner was also made a bit more presentable. The attachment points were one solid block, so I drilled and holed them out to make it look a bit more believable. It was then painted and placed in. I'm still not happy with it as it looks too solid and not realistic enough. I think I might make a new one out of masking tape and fuse wire in my next session at the bench. It might then match the seat.

That brings me on nicely to said seat. I put another wash on to tone it down, but is still a bit on the 'sore thumb' side, so I might have to crack open the paint pots again and make it work.

I was also having an innocent browse round the Hannants website and I may have ordered some Luftwaffe seat belts, so hopefully they'll spruce up the cockpit nicely.

So that's about it until Monday night hopefully.

As always, thanks for looking and any hints, tips or constructive criticism is always greatly appreciated.

Edited January 23, 2016 by easyAl

[chiefwiggum]

Following with interest

[easyAl]

Little bit of work done today. I've sanded down those bits I stuck together on Friday (no pictures of that, just imagine they look better).

I also made a start on a replacement back rest for the gunner. I started by folding over some Tamiya thick tape then folded another layer around that, and another round that.

I then traced the original back rest twice so it could be folded round and cut out. Simple.

Fuse wire was then used to make loops. The tape was doubled up through one loop and folded at the end round the other.

I then applied a wash to make it look more realistic. Turns it needs toning down more like the seat. This has since been done, but I took the photo before I did this so it still looks a bit bright.

For the attachment points, pretty simple, just a block of plasticard with a groove taken out of it using a triangular file. This is yet to be stuck together and painted. Most likely tomorrow's job.

Other than that, the wings were stuck together. I've had a bit of trouble fitting the panel over the top of the gun. It fits perfectly at the back, but won't sit down at the front. For one wing I had to get the dremmel out to whittle away the innards so the panel will sit flush.

I ran out of time for the left wing so I might get some pictures of the hacking required next time at the bench.

I did think about painting up the inside of the wing all nice like, but fugured as I'm battening down the hatches on the wings, it won't even be remotely seen so saved myself the bother.

Here is a picture of the right wing all buttoned up and setting.

Hopefully more tomorrow if I get time to play.

As always, thanks for looking and any hints, tips or constructive criticism is appreciated

[Nigel Heath]

The new seat back is a big improvement on the kit part.

[Brandy]

That seat back is a huge improvement. Nice job!

Ian

[Aerofix]

It's looking really good! It's a funny old world, I posted this very same build earlier in the year and no one looked at it! So I lost interest. It looks as if you are having the same problems with fit that I had. Watch out for the machine gun panels as they won't fit over the guns. I had to trim the tops off the guns as the wings were assembled before the panels were put on. Also, all the hinges broke on the moveable control surfaces, so I would try not to move them too much. I made a gunner's back rest from the foil you get on top of a yoghurt pot as it is textured but I think yours is really good, much better than the original. The decals benefit from a lot of microset/sol and take a fair bit of settling. Best of luck, I'm looking forward to the finished article. Yours David

[easyAl]

It's looking really good! It's a funny old world, I posted this very same build earlier in the year and no one looked at it! So I lost interest. It looks as if you are having the same problems with fit that I had. Watch out for the machine gun panels as they won't fit over the guns. I had to trim the tops off the guns as the wings were assembled before the panels were put on. Also, all the hinges broke on the moveable control surfaces, so I would try not to move them too much. I made a gunner's back rest from the foil you get on top of a yoghurt pot as it is textured but I think yours is really good, much better than the original. The decals benefit from a lot of microset/sol and take a fair bit of settling. Best of luck, I'm looking forward to the finished article. Yours David

Ah yes, I've just found the build. Was coming on nicely and about the same point I'm at now. So far, I've found it to be not too bad a kit in terms of fit. Either that or I'm just used to really poor fitting kits. On my kit, the rudder is rather floppy, but I can't move the elevators, so it's hit and miss really.

Today I finished off the back rest and put it in situ. I also toned down the seat and gave it another wash, which is the sheen you can see in the photo. It has since dried matt again.

The wings are all stuck on now too.

Ooh she's a big beastie.

Other than that, I've just been prepping various bits for when I crack out the airbrush tomorrow. So for now that's it. As always thanks for looking and any hints, tips or constructive criticism is appreciated

[Tony C]

Seat looks better dulled down, not that it was bad in the first place

The seat back looks good as well...

Tony

[easyAl]

Little bit of progress over the past few days. My Eduard seat belts came, which were duly assembled.

They haven't been placed in their rightful place yet. I also feel that the gunner should have some too, so I think from the left over buckles on the fret and some more masking tape I'll fashion some.

Other than that, I've managed to spray up various little bits in the short sessions I've had at the desk.

Here's some pictures to prove it.

And with a bit of colour.

Those canopies were a bugger to mask and I think in future I may have to invest in some pre-made masks for ease. However it was a rather relaxing evening in front of the tv masking inside and out.

I've also done the pre-shading on the main event and shall commence spraying when I get a decent session. I also built a receiver wire for underneath the aerial. Pictures shall follow on my next instalment.

So not much to look at on this update. Hopefully more to see at the start of next week.

As always, thanks for looking and any hints, tips or constructive criticism greatly appreciated.

[Nigel Heath]

Nice work, looks good.

[Bish]

I do really like that gunners seat back, going to have to pinch that idea. She is coming along really well. And she is big. I've got the same spray booth, so that gives me a good idea of size, thank you for posting that.

[easyAl]

I do really like that gunners seat back, going to have to pinch that idea. She is coming along really well. And she is big. I've got the same spray booth, so that gives me a good idea of size, thank you for posting that.

She is a bit big for the booth, so I tend to hold it as much inside as I can get it, and spray into the booth.

Little bit of progress thus far. I made a bit for the aerial and some wire linking it to the cockpit. Not entirely sure what it is, but I saw on another build on here someone made one and I quite liked it. So I copied. Just made from copper wire and some plastikard rod.

The seat belts were completed and placed in the seat. I may have got them backwards as there is a number on the belts I'm not entirely sure exists on the real deal.

Then we were all stuck together and pre-shaded in preparation for some real colour to go on.

The underside was sprayed in XF21- Sky. I have since realised that this isn't quite blue enough. I may have to do a respray when I manage to track down the right colour. Not ideal as I've since added the crosses to the underside and masking them isn't going to go well.

I could always pull them off altogether as they've not stuck very well and paint them on. We'll see when I get to it.

Here's a picture to show you what I mean about the wrong colour.

Aside from that, I mixed up the light green, masked and sprayed that. As it stands now, I've masked off the next area and mixed up the darker colour ready for applying tomorrow.

As always, thanks for looking and any hints, tips or constructive criticism always welcome

[Bish]

I love to see the paint going on. I have read that a good Tamiya mix for RLM 65 is XF-23 + XF-2 in a 1:1 mix.

I had to spray something bigger than the booth a couple of weeks ago and just laid the sides out flat. Mine is out in the shed, so over spray is not an issue, but it seemed to work.

[easyAl]

I love to see the paint going on. I have read that a good Tamiya mix for RLM 65 is XF-23 + XF-2 in a 1:1 mix.

I had to spray something bigger than the booth a couple of weeks ago and just laid the sides out flat. Mine is out in the shed, so over spray is not an issue, but it seemed to work.

Perfect. Thanks! Saves me faffing trying to figure out which colours to use. The darker shade (to be sprayed today) took about 6 different paints as I kept adding different colours to try and get the right shade. In the end, I'm sure I ended up with a stock XF colour.

[easyAl]

Progress made yesterday. I got all the main colour on. Not too sure about the lighter colour, but I think by the time all the decals are on, it'll work well enough. Failing that I could always try to dull it down a bit.

The masking now on is for the underside (again!). Not sure if you can tell from the next photo, but the decal already applied (as mentioned in the instructions) due to parts being placed over the top of it just hasn't stuck well at all. I used plenty of Micro Set to apply and since plenty of Sol, but it's still refusing to stick properly at the edges.

It may be a moot point now as I think I'm going to have to remove these and spray them on instead. That is if I decide to redo the underside which I think I will. As a comparison, I tried on one of the cowlings to see the difference in colour.

There's not a lot in it, but I think it's subtle enough to warrant making right. Especially as it'll sit next to the Spitfire, whose underside is currently the same colour.

That's as it stands now, so next week I'll crack on with trying to get it to a near state of completion.

[Nigel Heath]

Painting on the upper surfaces looks great.