Airfix 1/24th Stuka

[Davejb]

My youngest son phoned me, "Dad I got you a present because I did,nt get anything for your birthday, Its big and its Airfix. Pop round and have a look". Well I did and I,m now the owner of a Stuka 1/24th model. I had one of these years ago but they have upgraded the detail and included TWO CREWMEN. Thats another one the wife will raise her eyes about, "Where you gonna put that then" thats the usual response and I fully expect to hear it tonight

[Steve T]

I want that next  Maybe. Although I do like the simplicity of the Revell 1/32nd models and, despite a considerable amount of chopping and hacking to get them to fit properly, they do look good when finished

 

[Davejb]

The good thing about this Stuka is that there have been upgrades, a detailed cockpit area which can be enhanced with a bit of clever painting,, a perspex instrument panel with dials that fits throught the main panel so you have ready made dials. Very well fitted pieces, Two extremely detailed  crew, a choice of bombs, well made armaments ie MGs, excellent decals, better perspex canopies, all in all a much better model than the one they used to produce, plus its a BIG bugger, and I think its bigger than the Typhoon, and for under £50 quid its a bargain

[Manu Della Valle]

Great son!Enjoy the build,keep us posted and yes....for half a ton is a real bargain!

[Henri]

Airfix has upgraded their game the last couple of years.

It is an old brand that was almost dead, because they kept on producing the old fashion style.
Now they have upgraded to the required standard of these days and are making a hugh come-back.

I don't own any Airfix kits, but some of my friends do.

What I have seen I like and they produce beautiful set in 1/48 scale.

[Davejb]

It did,nt help Airfix when someone found literally all their casting moulds in a dock warehouse, I think either in France or Holland. They were cleaned, some made again and upgraded so Airfix lives on. There used to be a company called FROG who made models. I knew a guy who,s father had every single one they made, still in unopened boxes never made, I tried to get some of them but he decided to keep them and I think he has been selling them on E-Bay. They were all 1/72nd and pretty detailed and had a very large selection of more obscure planes, Russian, Finnish, French, Japanese

[DAK D]

On 22/05/2016 at 19:22, Davejb said:

It did,nt help Airfix when someone found literally all their casting moulds in a dock warehouse, I think either in France or Holland. They were cleaned, some made again and upgraded so Airfix lives on. There used to be a company called FROG who made models. I knew a guy who,s father had every single one they made, still in unopened boxes never made, I tried to get some of them but he decided to keep them and I think he has been selling them on E-Bay. They were all 1/72nd and pretty detailed and had a very large selection of more obscure planes, Russian, Finnish, French, Japanese

I remember Frog models the ones I had were pretty good

D

[DAK D]

On 20/05/2016 at 04:22, Davejb said:

The good thing about this Stuka is that there have been upgrades, a detailed cockpit area which can be enhanced with a bit of clever painting,, a perspex instrument panel with dials that fits throught the main panel so you have ready made dials. Very well fitted pieces, Two extremely detailed  crew, a choice of bombs, well made armaments ie MGs, excellent decals, better perspex canopies, all in all a much better model than the one they used to produce, plus its a BIG bugger, and I think its bigger than the Typhoon, and for under £50 quid its a bargain

Hi @Davejb

Would it be possible to build this Stuka using that Airfix kit?

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/luftwaffe/aircraft/Ju-87/T6+AN.html

D

 

[Davejb]

D, I reckon thats definately possible, the only small problems that I can see is the Snake decal and the T6 AN decal, mine has two options T6  KN, which is the one I,ve opted for as its from 5 Staffel Stukageschwader 2 "Immelmann", that flew in France August 1940, therefore was a BOB aircraft, the other option was T6 MM that was 4 Staffel Stukageschwader 2 "Immelmann"  Tropical that flew in Tmimi , Libya in 1941. You could always look around the model shops for 1/24th decal sheets that will have various numbers and letters, I have to look for a sheet of Swastikas as they very rarely include them in model kits of this size, The snake could be hand painted or you could make a stencil. Another option would be to use the included T6 KN decal but cut out the K and replace with an A. From the photos you provided its just a matter of a different paint scheme which you could do quite easily, everything else is exactly the same from what I can see.

[DAK D]

Hi @Davejb,

Thanks for the information on the Airfix Stuka kit you have, it should not be that hard to sort the unit markings out, but from what you have said the snake might be hard to replicate. I am going to look into this and see if I can get a decal, since this is a well known "desert Stuka" I am hoping that a company has made the snake decal in the correct scale, but if not spray painting the snake will be the best option and I am not sure if that will be easy or quite hard?

The pictures in the link appear to be more accurate than the images I have attached, but I can work on this kit now with the information I have gathered. 

D.

Edited June 15, 2016 by DAK D

[Davejb]

If you do go for the Airfix kit there are a few things that I have found, that might help you build it. I found that although its a very detailed and well fitting model there are a few things that need attention and a careful construction. There are three "T" parts that hold the rear tailplane on and allow it to turn left to right, be careful when fitting these , they tend to slip out of the sockets unless you use sufficient glue and hold the two pieces together. The bomb frame arm is attached to another part within the underside just rear of the cowling, the holes that you locate the arm in need to be either carefully enlarged, or the arms of the frame filed down slightly to reduce the risk of the holes breaking open ,as did one of mine, you dont glue these unless you want the bomb to move forward., The rear tail wheel should not be fitted until the end as continual handling and putting the kit down will weaken the strut, its not very sturdy, mine broke and I had to drill through the strut and into the remaining piece in the model and fit a very thin metal rod into both breaks. Unless you want to display the engine, dont bother painting the whole thing or add some parts to the top of the engine, except the air intakes as they both show through., everything else is a pretty easy build and ends up a pretty impressive model. One thing I never realised was that there was a glass viewing box under the aircraft that the pilot could look through to see below to the ground, I suspect to help him aim the bomb, it was a clever idea, also the models crew are made to... 1/ the pilots hand grips the control stick, very well...2/ the gunners hand grips the MG very well which proves to be a very exact fitting of the parts. Just a quick note I have started to use Tamiya extra thin glue, its the best I,ve ever used,it works by capillary action and comes with a very precise thin brush and you dont end up with excess glue where you dont want it, its perfect for all model sizes. Good luck with your build.

[DAK D]

Hi @Davejb,

Thank you for all your advise on the Airfix 1/24th scale Stuka kit.

D