I’m not big on German aircraft, I guess I just don’t have the same bug as some people, but my eye was caught by a picture I once saw. I have the Time-Life series of books on aviation called the Epic of Flight, and in the volume on the RAF at war is a photo of a captured Ju-87 wearing British markings. That picture stayed with me for some reason and it just would not let go until I did something about it. So here is what I built, an 1/72 Italeri Ju-87 B2 Stuka. For those of you who are comparing notes, Scott McTavish also built a 1/72 Stuka using the Academy kit. You can find his review in the January 2003 newsletter.

The kit comes in the standard Italeri envelope type box with the parts not bagged (I wish they would address this). The parts are molded in light grey plastic, they have recessed panel lines, and there is only a small amount of flash. The clear parts are nicely molded with the window frames produced in a frosted finish which I like since it makes them easy to see and gives the frames a contrast from the rest of the glass. The decals provided allow you to make one of 3 different aircraft though they are missing the swastikas for the tail. To jazz up the model a bit, I also used the Eduard photo etched set for this kit (set number SS133). This is a Zoom set and contains details for the interior only, which is where the kit benefits most from some extra detail. Don’t get me wrong, the cockpit is not as sparse as a Hobbycraft kit, but it is somewhat bare.

I built the kit as per the instructions, substituting the appropriate kit parts with PE. I also did a bit of scratchbuilding in the cockpit detailing the side walls some ribs and adding bits and pieces from my spares box to create control levers, boxes, regulators, and generally cluttering up the area somewhat. The down side of this exercise is that because the cockpit is black, it is a small area, and is surrounded by a greenhouse canopy, you can’t see much of my work unless you get right in close. I know it’s there, and trust me, it looks good. The only other areas where I did some scratchbuilding are the addition of a wire antenna, and the tailplane struts which I replaced with some lengths of stretched sprue as I did not like the kit parts.

The rest of the kit went together fairly easily. I found just a couple of fit issues that needed dealing with. There is a bit of step between the underside of the fuselage and the wing which needed the attention of some putty, as did the joint between the engine cowl and the forward fuselage. Some of the locating holes are a bit larger than necessary, like the holes into which you are to place the flight control mass balances.

Since this was a captured aircraft, I did not put any armament on it. I thought it rather unlikely that they would arm a squadron hack, maybe while it was newly captured and undergoing trials, but not later on. If you’re interested, the kit comes with a single machine gun for the rear gunner’s position, a center line bomb and bomb rack, and choice of underwing bombs or fuel tanks.

Once assembled I used a combination of Model Master and Xtra Colour enamels to paint the kit. I based my paint scheme on a drawing I have in another book that shows a plane that flew in the Mediterranean theater from the island of Sicily. Just a note about the Xtra Colour paint to keep in mind if you plan to use this brand. Much to my surprise it went on glossy. Call in naivete, but I figured it would go on flat like other military colours. It does cut out the need to gloss coat it in order to apply the decals, so there is one advantage, though I still think I prefer to have the paint go on flat.

And speaking of decals, I used a combination of kit and spare decals. The kit supplied the individual aircraft numbers and letters, while I raided my spares and came up is some RAF roundels and tail flashes. Before putting on the latter, however, I painted crosses using RAF Midstone Tan on the wings and tail to simulate the painted out German markings. For weathering I used a mix of panel line washes and pastel chalk. I have yet to master the skill of getting my washes to flow nicely in the panel lines so in the end I actually ended up brush painting the panel lines. The end result is the same. I applied the chalk to simulate various stains, such as exhaust, mud, oil, and the general grunge that comes from normal wear.

So now I’ve managed to get that picture of the captured Stuka out my system. The kit is a highly buildable kit though not a shake and bake one. But then again, where would the fun be if it were too easy.