Airfix 1/48 Ju87 B-1 Stuka, Condor Legion - Work in progress

[Nikola]

Hi gents,

As there are only few steps left to completing my P-61, I thought I would slowly start a new build.
This time I picked Airfix's 1/48 Ju87 B-1 Stuka from the shelf and will be finishing it in Condor Legion markings.

As usual, I will be building it OOB, although I might add aftermarket seat belts or I will make them from scratch.

Again, I will be using my Complementary Pre-Shading method which I think was a success with my previous two builds.

As a result of Airfix packing all the sprues in one bag, two of the aileron counterweights broke (pics below) so that's a good start.


Thanks for looking!

Best,
Nikola

[digger303]

Bummer

[Nikola]

Hi gents,

I have a question - what was the true material of the munition bin in the gunner's office? Airfix instructions show it as metal, the same color as the rest of the interior, but I've seen some pics with those made from canvas or something similar. Which is correct?

Thanks in advance!

Cheers,
Nikola

[Kevthemodeller]

I've seen both what looks like wood and canvas, think it will depend on when the aircraft was made or there was a war time modification.

[digger303]

Hi gents,

I have a question - what was the true material of the munition bin in the gunner's office? Airfix instructions show it as metal, the same color as the rest of the interior, but I've seen some pics with those made from canvas or something similar. Which is correct?

Thanks in advance!

Cheers,
Nikola

I would have said canvas for the empties and something sturdier for the full ones.

[Nikola]

I've seen both what looks like wood and canvas, think it will depend on when the aircraft was made or there was a war time modification.

Hi Kev,

Thanks for your reply.
From what I've heard in the meantime, it looks like the early ones had metal ones.


Best,
Nikola

[Nikola]

[/quote]

I would have said canvas for the empties and something sturdier for the full ones.
[/quote]

Hi Digger,

Thanks for your reply as well.
As I said to Kev, it looks like the early ones had metal containers.


Best,
Nikola

[Nikola]

I've seen both what looks like wood and canvas, think it will depend on when the aircraft was made or there was a war time modification.

Hi Kev,

Thanks for your reply.
From what I've heard in the meantime, it looks like the early ones had them in metal.


Best,
Nikola

[Nikola]

Hi gents,


A little progress with the Stuka:

Cockpit primed with German Dark Yellow, then "complementary pre-shaded" with German Red-Brown and highlighted with White. Next is base coat of RLM02.

I chose a red based hue for my complementary pre-shading method again since the RLM02 has a greenish tint to it. This time I decided to experiment with red-brown instead of plain red for pre-shading. We will see what it turns out to be.


Thanks for looking!


Best,

Nikola

[Stokesy44]

Interesting pre-shade. Interested to see how it comes out

[digger303]

Just thought you might be interested in a sig done sometime ago and most didn't finish myself included although every now and then it faces me down. I must finish it

[TheNordus]

You chose a cool subject and it's looking cool so far, looking forward to seeing how this goes. I'm hoping to start the Italeri Stuka D-5 sometime soon myself. Already built it once and I think it's a pretty good kit.

[Nikola]

Interesting pre-shade. Interested to see how it comes out

Thanks Stokesy!

If you want to see where it all started here is the link to one of my earlier posts:

viewtopic.php?f=193&t=27827

So far I have done a Zeke (exterior only) and a P-61 (both interior and exterior) with this method.

So far, the toughest thing for me is to control paint coverage and weathering so the effect does not get lost.

Thanks for looking!



Best,

Nikola

[Nikola]

Just thought you might be interested in a sig done sometime ago and most didn't finish myself included although every now and then it faces me down. I must finish it

Hi Digger,

What is a sig?


Best,
Nikola

[Nikola]

Hi guys,

Below are a few photos of the base coat laid over the complementary pre-shading. I tried to represent the true colours as I see them in real life and this is as good as it gets for now with my photographing skills.

The finish itself is not great, as I realized some problems with my compressor and air pressure only after I finished painting (I noticed there was something odd during the process but was stupid and lazy enough not to check immediately).


Anyhow, thanks for looking!


Best,
Nikola

[digger303]

Just thought you might be interested in a sig done sometime ago and most didn't finish myself included although every now and then it faces me down. I must finish it

Hi Digger,

What is a sig?

Best,
Nikola

Special Interest Group Builds (SiGs)

[Nikola]

Just thought you might be interested in a sig done sometime ago and most didn't finish myself included although every now and then it faces me down. I must finish it

Hi Digger,

What is a sig?

Best,
Nikola

Special Interest Group Builds (SiGs)

Ah, ok. Thanks.

I would like to see it for sure. Do you have the link to it?

Best,
Nikola

[digger303]

Hi Digger,

What is a sig?

Best,
Nikola

Special Interest Group Builds (SiGs)

Ah, ok. Thanks.

I would like to see it for sure. Do you have the link to it?

Best,
Nikola

viewforum.php?f=571

[Nikola]

Special Interest Group Builds (SiGs)

Ah, ok. Thanks.

I would like to see it for sure. Do you have the link to it?

Best,
Nikola

viewforum.php?f=571

Thanks a lot Digger! Much appreciated!

Best,
Nikola

[Nikola]

Hi gents,

Almost out of the "office".
Everything is OOB so no seat belts and all that jazz.

You can see the subtle effects of complementary pre-shading method, but I wish it was a bit more pronounced. Next time I will try to go lighter with the base coat. Some of it gets lost in weathering and washes.

Most of this won't be seen anyway so it was more of a practice.

Thanks for looking!


Best,
Nikola

[Kevthemodeller]

Lovely cockpit detailing and weathering

[Nikola]

Lovely cockpit detailing and weathering

Thank you Kev! Appreciated.
Glad you like it so far.

Best,
Nikola

[Nikola]

Hi gents,

Well , this was unexpected from Airfix's new tool kit - a gap, ca. 1mm, between the instrument panel and the fuselage! (Pics below; dry fit only)

Did anybody else have this issue?

Also, no gun sight in the kit!


Best,
Nikola

[Nikola]

Hi gents,

Well , this was unexpected from Airfix's new tool kit - a gap, ca. 1mm, between the instrument panel and the fuselage! (Pics below; dry fit only)

Did anybody else have this issue?

Also, no gun sight in the kit!


Best,
Nikola

Hi gents,

The only hint I found about the "issue" is in the instructions themselves. From what I can see, the image does not show the ip going all the way up to meet the fuselage.

[CygnusX1]

Wow.. what a great build. Looking forward to seeing some paint on it. Great work detailing the cockpit.

[Nikola]

Wow.. what a great build. Looking forward to seeing some paint on it. Great work detailing the cockpit.

Thank you very much Cygnus! Glad you like it so far!

Best,
Nikola

[Nikola]

Hi gents,

With your help and your valuable info, in the end I decided to extend the ip all the way to the fuselage (pics below).

Another strange thing from Airfix which I have found, besides the gun sight not being provided, is that they have provided the gunner's back support strap in the kit, but haven't shown the piece in the instructions at all. I saw this back support in a few photos and recognized the piece only because of them, so I included it in the model as it gives additional interest to the cockpit in my opinion. I hope that it is in the right position because I eyeballed it (pics below).

Before I saw the photos I was wandering what it might have felt like for the gunner without the back support when the Stuka went into a dive!


Thanks for looking guys!


Best,

Nikola

[AirCadet424]

Nice work Nikola, looking good so far, will be watching your build.

Kev.

[Nikola]

Nice work Nikola, looking good so far, will be watching your build.

Kev.

Thank you Kev! Glad you like it so far.

Best,
Nikola

[Donkeywalloper]

Awesome build chap of a cracking looking plane.
Pulling up the and settling down to a great build.
DW

[Nikola]

Awesome build chap of a cracking looking plane.
Pulling up the and settling down to a great build.
DW

Hi DW,

Thank you very much for your kind words! Appreciated! Glad you like it so far.

I will try not to disappoint.

Best,
Nikola

[Nikola]

Hi guys,

A little progress with the Stuka...

The IP decal was very good in terms of fit and the decal softener did it's job OK. All faults are of my own doing.
All tail parts are in place, with elevators in down position for more visual interest. Had slight challenge with aligning the horizontal stabilizers and bracing struts but pulled it off in the end.

Next: Landing gear, ailerons, dive brakes, etc, and on to priming. The engine and the prop will be last.

Thanks for looking!

[Hawkmoon]

Coming together nicely and great work

[Kevthemodeller]

Some lovely attention to detail, all coming together very nicely

[Nikola]

Coming together nicely and great work

Thanks Hawkmoon! Appreciated.

Best,
Nikola

[Nikola]

Some lovely attention to detail, all coming together very nicely

Thanks Kev,

I am trying and learning a lot.

Best,
Nikola

[CygnusX1]

I think this is great. What detail. Amazing build so far.

[Nikola]

Hi gents,

A little progress with the Stuka - I am attempting the multi layer paint chipping technique using Vallejo chipping medium for the first time so we'll see...

Step 1, 2 and 3 are completed and were as follows (pics below): 

1 - Prime the model with Vallejo German Dark Yellow primer.
2 - Apply Vallejo Metal Color Aluminium where I plan to show paint chipped all the way to the bare metal (gloss black primer would be appropriate for this but since only a little will be seen who cares).
3 - Protect the metal layer with Mr. Color GX113 UV cut flat clear coat.

Steps to come:

4 - Apply the Vallejo chipping medium.
5 - Apply the first base coat of tinted Vallejo Dark Green RLM71 since I want to show chipped-faded base coats as well.
6 - Chip this base coat.
7 - Apply another protection coat of Mr. Color GX113.
8 - Apply the chipping medium again. 
9 - Pre-shade with my complementary pre-shading method using Tamiya Red XF-7 ( and shaded version of the same) since it is a complementary hue to the green camo scheme.
10 - Apply the base coat of Vallejo Dark Green RLM71.
11 - Chip.
12 - Protect.
13 - Repeat last few steps with darker camo hue - Vallejo Black Green RLM70.

Earlier I learned not to use Vallejo paints with the hairspray technique as it tends to crack for some reason, probably a chemistry thing. No problem with Tamiya over HS though.

Any advice is more than welcome!

Wish me luck and thanks for looking!


P.S. Apologies for the phone camera image quality.


Best,
Nikola

[BigWall]

Nice! I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

[Nikola]

Nice! I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

Thank you BigWall! Appreciated.

Me too! I hope that it will be at least decent enough.

Best,
Nikola

[Kratilim]

Nice, I like the color choice.

[Hawkmoon]

Coming together nicely and great work

[Nikola]

Nice, I like the color choice.

Thanks Kratilim! Appreciated.

If you want to see where it all started with the colors and my complementary pre-shading method here is the link to one of my earlier posts:

viewtopic.php?f=193&t=27827

So far I have done a Zeke (exterior only) and a P-61 (both interior and exterior) with this method.

So far, the toughest thing for me is to control paint coverage and weathering so the effect does not get lost.

Thanks for looking!



Best,

Nikola

[Nikola]

Coming together nicely and great work

Thank you very much Hawkmoon! Glad you like it so far.

Best,
Nikola

[bradsbunker]

I like the desert JU87s nice choice

[Nikola]

I like the desert JU87s nice choice

Hi Bradsbunker,

Sorry to disappoint you, it's just a dark yellow primer. I am doing a Condor Legion bird so it will be dark green, black green and white on the upper surfaces.

I will be doing a desert Stuka in 1/32 scale though, once it arrives...

Thanks for looking!

Best,
Nikola

[Nikola]

Hi gents,

Steps 4, 5 and 6 are complete. Tinted (lightened with white) base coat applied over bare metal and intentionally over-chipped.

Two things learned here:

1. The base coat should be applied in thin layers over the chipping medium/HS as it tends to crack if too thick a layer has been applied (look at the tail and upper fuselage just behind the canopy), at least with Vallejo paints. Thankfully I have two more coats of camo scheme over this.

2. I shouldn't have waited too long after the base coat was applied, as it is a pain in the a$$ to chip afterwards. I waited almost 24h. Big mistake!


Anyway, the photos:










Thanks for looking!

Best,
Nikola

[CygnusX1]

Looks like it's coming along really well. Nice and worn.... love it.

[Nikola]

Looks like it's coming along really well. Nice and worn.... love it.

Hi Cygnus,

Thank you very much! Appreciated.

It won't stay this worn though, as I am doing multi layer chipping, so there will only be limited amount of bare metal showing through. Much less than this.

Best,
Nikola

[digger303]

Despite your regrets with the chipping you have achieved rather nice irregular chips as is normal in real subjects..