Revell Junkers Ju.52/3mg4e Transport (03918) 1:48

[Mike]

Junkers Ju.52/3mg4e Transport (03918)

1:48 Revell

 

 

Developed in secret by Germany like other aircraft of the late thirties, the Ju.52 was originally portrayed as a passenger aircraft, which is was actually used for and continued to be used for purpose beyond its original projected lifespan.  Once Germany came out of the shadows regarding their rearmament as they geared up for war, its true nature as a troop transport and for hauling military cargo became clear.  Initially intended to be a single-engined aircraft, the designers soon added two additional power-plants in the wings, close to the fuselage.  Its distinctive corrugated duralumin skin (a Junkers development from WWI) and its reliability resulted in the nickname "Tante Ju", which mean Aunt or Aunty Ju, derived of course from its designation.

 

Like castor oil it got everywhere, and saw action in all theatres that the German forces served, and played a huge part in the resupply of the beleaguered Stalingrad, thanks to Göring's boast that he could resupply the 250,000 soldiers stranded there by air.  Hitler often used the Ju.52 as his own personal transport, although it was hardly a speed-demon, with a top speed of around 165mph, so it was significantly slower than the alternative Fw.200, and more importantly, about half the top speed of fighters of the time.  After WWII the remaining airframes found employment around the world, and continued flying into the 1980s commercially, with numerous airframes in museums around the world.

 

 

The Kit

This boxing is a re-release of Revell's original tooling from 1998, but don't let that put you off one bit.  I've had one of these in the stash for years now (I build slowly), and it's an impressive rendition of this wriggly-skinned oddity, with corrugations across the outer skin, an interior and a trio of well-detailed engines.  You even get a quartet of paratroopers to pose in and around your Tante Ju if you so wish.  No pilots though, which is a shame.  If we break down the designation of the aircraft, we find that the /3m simply means that it is a trimotor, while G4e tells us that it is the military transport version with a tail-wheel instead of skid, and three BMW 132A-3 engines, which is a licensed upgrade of a P&W 1690 Hornet.  The interior includes a set of seating for paratroopers or standard soldiers who realise that jumping out of a serviceable aircraft is a bad idea.  The kit arrives in a top-opening box, which is a bit flimsy for the size of it, and inside are four large sprues of a very light grey styrene, one in clear styrene, a large(ish) decal sheet and the instruction booklet printed in colour, with the decal options in the rear.  Time has been kind to the moulds, and they don't seem to have deteriorated at all, which is always nice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with drilling a few holes in the floor panel to accommodate the interior parts, which are all pre-thinned from underneath in anticipation.  The cockpit is added to the front, comprising a large instrument panel with optional decal and centre console, two crew seats with control yokes, cockpit bulkhead with door and additional detail parts.  At the rear of the floor another two bulkheads with doorways and a pair of seats are fitted, and behind that a short assembly with raised floor is added for the dorsal gunner.  After that, the rows of seats running down the side of the cargo area can be installed after the windows and additional framework have been glued in place, taking care to remove all the little over-flow sprue-gates that prevent short-shots in these delicate parts.  The seats have moulded-in belts, and fit into the holes drilled at the beginning along with a side-door support rail that helps stop paratroops or crew from unplanned exits.  You'll probably spend some time painting the interior before closing up the fuselage, and Revell have provided coloured flags with letters to show you which colours to use, but don't forget to install that tail wheel between the fuselage halves before you close them up.

 

 

Fuselage halves is a slight misnomer, as the bottom and top sections have been moulded separately to enable the designers to put the same corrugations in those areas, and it's the bottom fuselage that is first to be installed after a few holes are drilled out from the inside.  I've test-fitted the fuselage parts together before now, and they fit pretty well, so with care the clean-up will be minimal as long as you take your time and do plenty of test-fitting and use lots of tape to hold the glued areas.  The fuselage top is detailed with a couple of clear lights and other parts, then it too is glued in place with the same caveats.  There is a top hatch for loading large cargo, and this is moulded into the roof, with its panel lines visible in case you're feeling adventurous, but now you can at least bore people to death by pointing it out if you didn't already know.  The wings and elevator fins are next to be put together, and both are a simple task.  The wings are made up from top and bottom halves, as are the fins, but with the addition of the elevator surface to the rear that is attached via three pins.  These assemblies are fixed in place with the usual tab and slot method, although the wing is slightly offset for extra strength of the final joint, and now it looks like an aeroplane!

 

 

Support struts are added to the elevators, and more struts hold the two main wheels in place, with weighted flat-spots moulded-in to add a little realism, and then it's time to build-up the engines.  Each one consists of a piston bank, which must be properly aligned to fit correctly, so take note of the location of the round parts.  A set of push-rods are laid on top, then the slotted cover, with different shaped exhausts added at the rear depending on the final location of the motor.  The two wing-mounted engines have a two-part wide cowling added, and are then fitted to their nacelles, while the front engine has a pair of long exhausts fitted and a smaller cowling before it too is attached to the nose.  With the fitting of the trailing edges of the wings together with their actuator arms, and a landing light under the port wing, it's time to add the ancillaries such as the DF loop, APU and side doors (with a choice of open or closed parts) and canopy.  The first canopy option is of the Condor Haube variety, with a machine gun mounted on a rotating ring fitted to the top of the cockpit canopy.  Alternately you can fit a vanilla canopy that has a glazed panel where the gun would be.  The dorsal turret is a similar affair to the Condor Haube, with the addition of a simple seat for the gunner's use, which then fits into the aperture on the upper fuselage with a clear curved wind deflector in front.  The aerial, pitot probes, two-blade props and topside aileron actuators are last to be fitted to the airframe.

 

The four paratroopers look a bit melted on the instructions, but they're much better in the styrene.  They scale out around 5'11" which is a good size for gentlemen of that era, and they have their paratrooper "potty" style helmets and smocks, with harnesses moulded in and parachute packs as separate parts.  Two of the figures are broken down with separate arms and 'chute, while of the other two, one has a separate pair of legs and the other has a leg moulded separately, due to their poses of looking down checking their harness and climbing aboard respectively.  Under a coat of sympathetic painting they should look great, but for the absence of the pilots to fly them away.  My boxing has a set of aftermarket Luftwaffe pilots stashed away to remedy this.

 

 

Markings

There are two quite different markings options in this boxing, one from Africa, the other from Italy, both of which saw many Aunt Jus in their skies.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

• 4U+NH, 1.(F)/123 Derna/Libya, Northern Africa, June 1941
• C3+KH, Transport Staffel/II.Fliegercorps, Reggio/Italy, December 1942

 

 

 

 

Decals are by Cartograf as can be seen from the small "c" at the end of the code, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas.

 

 

Conclusion

It's good to see the Ju.52 back in some interesting markings in the paratroop transport role that it did so well.  The kit still looks good, and is the only one in 1:48, so if you haven't got one already, get one soon.

 

Very highly recommended.

 

 

Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit

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[BerndM]

It is great to see this kit again and it is a good build. The only thing you need beside glue and paints is some space to display it.

I have build one after the kit came out and there is another one with the fuselage snakes on the decal sheet in my stash and it looks i need this one too.

Hmm space….?

 

[Mike]

1 hour ago, BerndM said:

Hmm space….?

Since when has that ever bothered us? 

[vppelt68]

You live and you learn. I never knew that decal option A recce unit had organic transports. Interesting...