1/32 Hasegawa Ju-87G-2 Stuka Kanonenvogel

Gallery Article by Lorenzo Cassinadri on Nov 26 2009

 

Hi everybody!
This is the Hasegawa Ju87G-2 Stuka in the markings of the famous German ace Hans Ulrich Rudel on the Eastern Front in autumn 1944.  This is a commission build for my friend Luca who wanted the 1/32 scale model of "a relevant airplane in Luftwaffe's history".  The deal was quickly done: the "commissioner" would have provided the kit and I would have taken care of the rest. The price? A heartfelt "Thank you, pal!" and a couple of beers at the local bar.  

I was ready to tackle the obvious '109 or '190 but when one evening Luca showed up with this big box containing a tankbuster Stuka, I was caught somewhat off-balance. 
Though, thinking about it, the Stuka do is one of the most famous planes in aviation history and this particular Stuka was also the personal mount of one of the Luftwaffe's top aces!
So, now that I had the suitable subject, it was up to me to earn myself those two beers...

The kit is well engineered, the surface detail and the cockpit are very good. The only part that is not correct is the propeller: the blades have the wrong shape for a D or G Stuka and should be replaced with aftermarket parts.

Construction proceeded without any big drama. An area that needed attention were the wingtips that had to be carefully sanded down to conform to the wing's profile.  Another tricky part, at least for me, was the canopy. As many of the frames in the real plane were internal (and I suck painting canopy frames from the inside) I had to resort to the kit decals which are very fiddly and tedious to apply. Although I trimmed down the decal film in each and every one, still the result is not completely satisfying.  You're going to hate that canopy! (at least I did).  I built the model without any aftermarket parts, adding only scratchbuilt details to the cockpit and the guns.  I added some wiring in the cockpit along with seatbelts and ammo belts made from lead sheet. I used thin copper sheet for the add-on armor plates, because the kit ones are way too thick and would be good only on a Panzer IV!
The gun pods are already nicely done but they deserve some extra work to really bring them to life.

I carefully hollowed out the muzzles with a Dremel tool and drilled the tiny holes on the flash suppressors.  Also, I added the missing plumbing that complete the cannon mechanism. 
For all this scratchbuilding I used pictures found on the Net as reference, but especially some great articles by other fellow modelers found here on ARC and on other sites like
Largescaleplanes.com and Hyperscale.com.
In particular, Alan Troi's article on Lsp.com has been of great help and inspiration, check it out!

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Time to paint this fat @ss bird.
First, I pre-shaded the panel lines with black on the upper surfaces and red-brown on the lower ones, then I used Gunze acryls (RLM 65 and 71) and Humbrol enamels (Hu 91 for RLM 70) for the camo.  A lighter shade of the base colors was sprayed in the center of the panels and this, together with the pre-shading, created a quite convincing result.  The kit painting instructions call for a RLM 70 prop spinner with white spiral, though I followed Brett Green's route as he explains in his article on Hyperscale.com: some sources suggest a RLM 25 (Bright Green) spinner and I painted it this way to add a little splash of color to this rather dull scheme. The spinner was then masked off and the white spiral was sprayed on.
All of the national markings and tactical symbols have been masked off and painted (only the swastikas are kit decals).  A coat of clear was sprayed before applying the various stencils, then another clear coat followed to seal everything up.

A thin wash of black and dark brown oils was applied along panel lines and with that same mix I simulated leaks of oil and coolant in the engine area and on the plane's belly.  A satin coat followed to prepare the model for the rest of the weathering, obtained by spraying a very thinned down mix of Humbrol Matt Cote and black and raw umber oils along panel lines with the help of Post-it notes.  Exhaust stains look very conspicuous in some Stukas wartime pictures. I painted them with a dark brown/black outline near the exhaust stacks and with a grey/light brown-ish mix streaked back along the fuselage well beyond the wings' trailing edge.

Finally, I simulated caked mud around the landing gear covers applying small lumps of putty diluted with acetone and texturizing them with an old short-bristled brush and then painting the area with different shades of browns.

It's the first time I build a model for someone else and although I had to part with the "fruit of my work", I must say I really enjoyed my friend's genuine appreciation.
But in the end, did I get those two beers? Yes, I did.
Though, Luca has broken our deal as well. 
Infact, he showed up with a big surprise package!  If you'd like to know what it was, please google up "The high battleground"... 8-)
Thanks again, Luca!

Best,

Lorenzo Cassinadri

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Photos and text © by Lorenzo Cassinadri