A transfuge from the Stuka GB. FINISHED!!!

[jean]

Hi Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

well the Ju 87 B-1 I started last January in the "Stuka GB" is at long last finished.

The Airfix kit is great and the engineering impressive, so the build was never boring. A bit frustrating at times, but what kit is not.

I had not finished a kit for a long time, so this comes as a fantastic breath of fresh air.

 

I did make mistakes that did not facilitate a speedy build. Never too late to learn.

-I tried to mix acrylics and enamel paints with the splinter pattern. I was curious to see what the result would be. Well I tried and won't do it again. The ridges one often gets with brush painting are devilishly hard to remove without damaging the acrylic paint... So in many places I decided it was safer to leave the ridges than ruining the whole paint job. Still, a lot of touch ups were necessary.

-The closed canopy I wanted to use got damage beyond repair... Don't ask. So I had to use the open canopy, which is really un-fun to use...Painting the inner structure became a moment of intense loneliness.

-Because I had masks, I decided to use them, which I seldom do. They worked well but left a sticky residue on the transparencies, that I had a hell of a time to remove! Hand painting them works actually better for me.

-Re the decals, I disagree with the background color of the Gruppe shield. Xtradecal gives it light blue on their BoB sheet and I agree with them. So I used most of their decals. The design is not perfect though and I had to use a couple of Airfix decals. The funny thing is that the Airfix decals bedded themselves better in the panel lines than the Xtradecal decals that I found stiffer, even if they look great once on the model.

 

But the above remarks do not mean that I did not enjoy the build. I did enjoy it tremendously, and I would build another Airfix Stuka without any hesitation!

So I found answers to some of the question marks I had, and I had a great time.

 

Here are a few photos taken outside today in the harsh African sun.

Feel free to comment, as I still have a lot more to learn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for watching these photos and for your support and advice during this long build!

 

Keep having fun.

 

JR

[JOCKNEY]

Wonderful job JR, and delighted to see this one finished, it looks the business congratulations 

 

cheers Pat 

[nimrod54]

Looks even better in the Zim sunlight Jean.

[SAT69]

Certainly nothing to complain about on that one!

[Blackmike]

Cracking job, JR - the main thing is that you enjoyed building it!

 

Mike

[Rabbit Leader]

So glad to hear you’ve got one ready for the cabinet Jean. This Stuka looks really nice, use it as inspiration to get all the others finished. 
Cheers and well modelled.. Dave 

 

[jean]

22 hours ago, JOCKNEY said:

Wonderful job JR, and delighted to see this one finished, it looks the business congratulations 

 

cheers Pat 

Thanks Pat,

believe it or not, I love the look of the Stuka, and I have never built one before! And I am sure happy to have finished it too. Now for the MS 406!

Cheers

JR.

 

22 hours ago, nimrod54 said:

Looks even better in the Zim sunlight Jean.

Hi John,

believe it or not, we have seen very little of the sun these last few months. A bit like being in the UK, but without Hannants... 

Cheers

JR.

 

20 hours ago, SAT69 said:

Certainly nothing to complain about on that one!

Evening SAT,

I am not complaining really, just know that the next one will be better!

Have fun with your models!

JR.

 

9 hours ago, Blackmike said:

Cracking job, JR - the main thing is that you enjoyed building it!

 

Mike

Hi Mike,

I sure did enjoy this build! Put it this way: I never had the urge to make the kit fly through the window, so it can't have been bad.

Cheers.

JR.

 

9 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

So glad to hear you’ve got one ready for the cabinet Jean. This Stuka looks really nice, use it as inspiration to get all the others finished. 
Cheers and well modelled.. Dave 

 

Hi Dave,

 

thanks for the compliment. And yes, it has been a shot in my mojo's arm, so all is good!

Cheers

JR

[Wulfman]

Great looking Stuka, lovely paint job !

 

Wulfman

[jean]

18 hours ago, Wulfman said:

Great looking Stuka, lovely paint job !

 

Wulfman

Hi Wulfman,

 

thanks for the compliment. The paint job has been the part of the build that has given me the most grey hair, so I am not only surprised, but very happy you approve!

Have a great day.

 

JR

[russ c]

Great looking Stuka there Jean, came out really nice despite your battles with it.

[kapam]

I think that looks great!

The photographs certainly don't betray any of the issues you describe.

Well done!

[Jpthedog]

Looking good and well done for completing after the Stuka GB. My own is 90% complete so I need to do likewise and get my Condor Legion version over the line.

[GREG DESTEC]

Great to see your Stuka completed 👍

 

Well worth the wait, and a very good result.

Cheers Greg 

[jean]

Hi @russ c @kapam @Jpthedog @GREG DESTEC

 

Thanks guys for your compliments.

Yes, a finished model seldom betrays the heartaches and cold sweats encountered during the build. This kit had quite  few of them, but mostly (if not entirely) they were due to my stuffing up... No comment!

But this time I decided the Stuka would be finished and that I would not be tempted by anything else during the build (main reason why I have a fair amount of kits on the shelf of doom!). Anyway, I am glad I stuck to the Stuka... It is not perfect, but I like it and I had fun building it.

Thanks again chaps!

 

JR

 

 

 

[replicant]

9 minutes ago, jean said:

Hi @russ c @kapam @Jpthedog @GREG DESTEC

 

Thanks guys for your compliments.

Yes, a finished model seldom betrays the heartaches and cold sweats encountered during the build. This kit had quite  few of them, but mostly (if not entirely) they were due to my stuffing up... No comment!

But this time I decided the Stuka would be finished and that I would not be tempted by anything else during the build (main reason why I have a fair amount of kits on the shelf of doom!). Anyway, I am glad I stuck to the Stuka... It is not perfect, but I like it and I had fun building it.

Thanks again chaps!

 

JR

 

 

 

Hi Jean!

Another one from the shelf of doom gets african vitamine D! I like your x-rayed Stuka!

Cheers,

Tom

[stevej60]

Great looking Stuka Jean!

[Hairtrigger]

Excellent piece of modelling.

[jean]

Good evening guys,

 

@replicant  thanks Sniffing Tom. Glad you like it! And yes, we are ever so grateful for the vitamin D we get 300 days a year. Unfortunately plastic kits do not seem to thrive with it... A crying shame... So when is your next amazing kit appearing in this forum? 

 

 @stevej60 and @Hairtrigger thanks guys. Steve, your last Stukas were pretty yummi, and I know I remember correctly!

 

[replicant]

11 hours ago, jean said:

Good evening guys,

 

@replicant  thanks Sniffing Tom. Glad you like it! And yes, we are ever so grateful for the vitamin D we get 300 days a year. Unfortunately plastic kits do not seem to thrive with it... A crying shame... So when is your next amazing kit appearing in this forum? 

 

 @stevej60 and @Hairtrigger thanks guys. Steve, your last Stukas were pretty yummi, and I know I remember correctly!

 

Hello Jean,

Now! BI-1 Rocket Interceptor 1:72. But its with skis, nothing common in Zimbabwe, i presume, or do you have dunes?

And too small for a honey badger to like to eat it!

I know, they are rather interested in full size 1:1 scale kotelettes!

Cheers,

Tom

[jean]

5 hours ago, replicant said:

Hello Jean,

Now! BI-1 Rocket Interceptor 1:72. But its with skis, nothing common in Zimbabwe, i presume, or do you have dunes?

And too small for a honey badger to like to eat it!

I know, they are rather interested in full size 1:1 scale kotelettes!

Cheers,

Tom

Hi Tom,

 

I checked your BI-1 and it is indeed very small. I dare say I never heard of the type, but then, Soviet aircraft have never been my main interest, far from it.

But you did damn well in finishing it to such a super quality.

Re snow or dunes in our country, the answer to both is no. Although we have had some snow in the weirdest places a few years back. Stranger things have happened in the world!

More importantly, nothing is too small for a honey badger, or too big for that matter! We saw one going to a big metal pot of stew on a fire, lift the red hot lid in his mouth, drop it on the ground, and then stick half his head in the boiling stew to eat it... Don't try.

These critters are indestructible and even lions run away from them. So your Kotelettes had no chance!!!

 

Thanks for the beautiful build. 

JR

[replicant]

8 minutes ago, jean said:

Hi Tom,

 

I checked your BI-1 and it is indeed very small. I dare say I never heard of the type, but then, Soviet aircraft have never been my main interest, far from it.

But you did damn well in finishing it to such a super quality.

Re snow or dunes in our country, the answer to both is no. Although we have had some snow in the weirdest places a few years back. Stranger things have happened in the world!

More importantly, nothing is too small for a honey badger, or too big for that matter! We saw one going to a big metal pot of stew on a fire, lift the red hot lid in his mouth, drop it on the ground, and then stick half his head in the boiling stew to eat it... Don't try.

These critters are indestructible and even lions run away from them. So your Kotelettes had no chance!!!

 

Thanks for the beautiful build. 

JR

....Oh i would love to feed the zimbabwean punks some time hopefully, the marauders from Namibia ´99 were the same stuff, but so polite and tourist friendly to come after dinner...

[Sky Keg]

Well JR, if it helps any, I like the Stuka with the windscreen open as you have depicted.  You hid the blemish superbly.  Great overall finish too!!!!! 

 

Mike

[Greg Law]

I'm really pleased to see you get this one done Jean. Well worth the effort. Looks excellent. 

[jean]

14 hours ago, Sky Keg said:

Well JR, if it helps any, I like the Stuka with the windscreen open as you have depicted.  You hid the blemish superbly.  Great overall finish too!!!!! 

 

Mike

Hi Mike,

 

thanks for your comment. I like the Stuka with open cockpit too, but Airfix couldn't have done a worst feat of engineering to represent this open canopy!

I did not have blemishes per se, but sticky residues due to the vinyl masks I used. Never used them before, and as I had a set, I decided to give them a try. They do work quite well, but because of the glue and as they are so hard to remove, I will not use them again in a hurry.

Kabuki tape masks are far more user friendly IMHO.

Thanks for the compliment!!!

JR

 

 

7 hours ago, Greg Law said:

I'm really pleased to see you get this one done Jean. Well worth the effort. Looks excellent. 

Good evening Greg,

 

yes, finishing the Stuka was all I could think about, and as usual in these circumstances, Life kept throwing me curved balls that kept me away from the bench...

Anyway, good old perseverance always work in the end.

Thanks!

 

JR