Fujimi 1/72 Junkers Ju87 R-2 Stuka

[flyjoe180]

I started this a few days ago while I am waiting for the other project to dry. The Fujimi 1/72 Stukas were for a long time the go-to kit, but have now largely been superseded by more modern moulds from Airfix and others. This kit comes from 1986.






I will be building it to represent a Ju87 R-2 of the Regia Aeronautica in 1941. I'll be using decals from an Italeri sheet, to build this as the basis of my subject:

[flyjoe180]

Very few parts did not need cleaning up; the age of the kit is showing. I didn't add anything extra to the interior, just a wash, as the canopy is quite thick. Apart from the cleaning up and filling, it went together to this stage pretty quickly:


I had a set of Montex masks, which are vinyl and include wheel/tyre masks.


As you can see I had to replace some of them with tape. The vinyl is good on the flat surfaces, but anything with a curve causes them to lift. Luckily I had bought Peewit and Eduard masks for my other Stukas. The vinyl used does mean, however, that the spaces left on the sheet act as suitable stencils for cutting my own replacements from Tamiya tape.


Maybe a day or two and this will all go under primer and the painting fun can commence.

[HAWKERHUNTER]

Some serious progress there Joe. I do like the Stuka.

[flyjoe180]

Thanks mate

[Airborne01]

Are you going to add the fascines Steve?
Steve

[Jim R]

We don't see many Stukas built considering it was such an iconic aircraft in WW2. Looks a decent kit despite its age. Nice start. Good tip using the mask spaces to make your own masks..

[yak face]

Excellent start joe , nice to see a stuka being done in italian livery . For an old tooling it scrubs up nicely

[flyjoe180]

Are you going to add the fascines Steve?
Steve

White-backed fascine emblems will appear on the wing undersides Steve.

We don't see many Stukas built considering it was such an iconic aircraft in WW2. Looks a decent kit despite its age. Nice start. Good tip using the mask spaces to make your own masks..

Thanks Jim. It's not a bad kit at all, easy to build but with 1980's fit and a lot of parts requiring clean ups. Like many Stuka kits it lacks the underside clear panel, but it will be built as is. And yes, the vinyl masks, while they do have drawbacks with curves, are thick enough that I think I will be able to utilise the used sheet a few times to create my own tape masks for other B-model Stukas.

Excellent start joe , nice to see a stuka being done in italian livery . For an old tooling it scrubs up nicely

Cheers Tony. I think Airfix did an Italian option for their previous mould, but other than that the Italeri kit seems to have been the only one going around. The Fujimi instructions are all in Japanese, so the translate app on my phone has come in handy. The colour call outs are dubious, so I've been referring to Airfix instructions for colours.

[flyjoe180]

No pictures, but primer has been applied to the main airframe and all the extra bits and bobs. The weather hasn't been ideal for spraying, with high humidity and cold temperatures overnight. Next update should include some colour!

[flyjoe180]

I sprayed white for the fuselage band, and then RLM04 yellow for the nose band.


Masked off, about to paint the first of the main colours, I noticed some of the canopy masks weren't sitting flat.


Sure enough the Montex masks had lifted in places, so using the masking sheet, I cut new masks from Tamiya tape and replaced them. I did have to clean up some primer that had got under the vinyl masks.

I will avoid using vinyl masks on any curved surfaces in the future. You can't beat masking tape.