Opinions on the best 1/72nd Ju52 kit

[Heather Kay]

Hello.

 

I have an obsession with 1940, and I’m slowly building a representative collection of 1/72nd models of everything that flew operationally during that year.

 

One gap in the collection is the Ju52. I know there are a couple of kits out there, but I’m after opinions as to which is the best overall representation of the type. What do you recommend?

[elger]

Heller is the least bad I think. It's above the others because it has a better representation of the corrugated surface than the others (Italeri and Airfix), but on the other hand the fuselage windows are slightly the wrong size. Overall shape of Heller is also more accurate I believe.

 

Thorough discussion of the subject here:

 

[Rabbit Leader]

I hear it's a toss up between the Heller & Italeri kits Heather. I have a stashed example of the latter and the sprues do look quite nice. I'm no Auntie Ju expert so hopefully someone with a sharper eye for accuracy will jump on board and advise their opinions. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

[Heather Kay]

2 minutes ago, elger said:

Thorough discussion of the subject here:

You know, I searched before I posted and missed that. Thanks for the link, I’ll go and have a read later.

 

2 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said:

I hear it's a toss up between the Heller & Italeri kits

 Thanks Dave. 👍 

 

With the big IPMS show coming up at Telford, I think I’ll do some research and seek out a box at the show.

 

 

[Capri3]

I built the te-released Airfix kit a couple of years ago purely for nostalgic reasons and was surprised how well it turned out. Even my kids like it ! Plenty of scope for scratch building the interior though you can’t see any of it anyway. The decals were great and settled really well unlike the last one I built in 1977. 😊 

[Charlie Hugo]

IMO the Heller has the slight edge but use the interior bits from the Italeri as Heller did not include anything for the passenger/cargo area.

[Heather Kay]

Careful now. I only really want to buy one box! 

[Charlie Hugo]

2 minutes ago, Heather Kay said:

Careful now. I only really want to buy one box! 

You might find someone who has not used the trooping seats in the Italeri kit.

[Orso]

The Italeri/Revell kit is missing large parts of the corrugation at the bottom of the fuselage. I fixed it on the Swedish alu-coloured plane but not on the green one: https://baecklund.eu/scalemodels/72/ju52.html

I wish that a civilian Ju52 would be released. I filled and rebuilt the corrugation of the cargo door on four kits now and probably need to do it on even more

[Seahawk]

Heller gets my vote.  If you can find one in the old green plastic, the corrugations are exquisitely moulded - and yet it is from the period when our younger members might think dinosaurs ruled the earth.

[Vesa Jussila]

I think Heller is best starting point, but devil is in detail. There are are lot of small differences in windows, engines etc. I try to collect some information during weekend. I was looking this topic some years ago when planned to make civil version of Ju-52.

[Heather Kay]

Thanks everyone. It does seem like the Heller kit, preferably in an older boxing, seems to be what I should be looking for.

 

Having read the comparison thread linked to earlier, I am aware of some of the shortcomings of both the Italeri and Heller kits. I have to say I’m not going to fret over too many details or inaccuracies, as long as the finished model looks like a Tante Ju. There are times when I have to be realistic about how much work I’m prepared to do to make a spot on accurate model these days!

[Denford]

There's always the possibility that Airfix might re-tool it.

[72modeler]

1 hour ago, Denford said:

There's always the possibility that Airfix might re-tool it.

Ha! As we say here in sunny south central Texas- "Cuando los puercos vuelan!" (When pigs fly!) It would be nice though; I can almost see a Ju-52/3m on floats on my shelf!

Mike

[Wm Blecky]

Maybe this thread is worth a read.  HTH.

[dalea]

This is how my stash started. Compared Airfix, Heller and Italeri  after reading the Scale Models article, put them in a box. Swore off corrugated skin aircraft, too. Though I've recently altered this after looking at the Revell Junkers F.13. 

[Orso]

Sadly the F.13 has it's faults to 🙂

[dalea]

True, but it's unlikely to be duplicated.

[Rabbit Leader]

I would think that if Airfix wanted a Ju 52 back in their catalogue, they’re more likely to re-release there Classic kit rather than re-tool it. The Heller kit is available again in a new-ish box however it would be interesting to see how the moulds have held up over the journey. 

Cheers.. Dave 

[Orso]

The Heller kit is also in the KP boxes

[GrzeM]

I still hope that Revell will downscale their 1/48 Tante Ju someday.

[Orso]

It would be nice if they did that with the civilian machine. It is sad that it is only made in 1/144 and 1/48.

[GrzeM]

You are probably right. But I have soooo many kits in my stash that I can live with that...

[cmatthewbacon]

@Heather Kay It may not fit with your 1940 theme, but Roden does a very nice 1/72 German Post Bus if you fancy recreating the finale of Where Eagles Dare  alongside your Ju52....

😜

best,

M.

[Seahawk]

On 11/1/2019 at 12:29 PM, Denford said:

There's always the possibility that Airfix might re-tool it.

If it was produced by the first team who turned up for the Buccaneer, that might be cause for rejoicing.  Generally, though, I don't think Airfix now are capable of doing as good a job on the corrugations as Heller did 30-odd years ago.