Article by Ed
On my workbench, a kit of the notorious WWII German Junkers Ju-87 Stuka G-2 tank busting variant from Trumpeter in 1/32 scale. Once completed, final model photos will be on my website's "Gallery" page (TBD).
“Blitzkrieg” is a word that conjures up visions of the powerful WW2 German war machine and the utter domination of Europe by early 1940. In the late 1930s, as Adolf Hitler unleashed his war upon the world, the ground-attack & tank-busting Junkers Ju-87 Stuka (short for Sturzkampfflugzeug, 'dive bomber') would be remembered for decades to come as a significant and terrifying part of Hitler’s offensive juggernaut. Stukas would demoralize and frighten Allied soldiers across the battlefields of Europe, Africa, and Eastern Russia. Stukas rapidly became a foremost symbol of Nazi military power.
Although a formidable dive bomber and ground attack aircraft, the Stuka’s real potency came from its infamous “Jericho Trompeten (Trumpet)” siren. As the Stuka nose-dived upon the enemy, this noise making device would produce a dreadful wailing sound that struck fear and panic in the hearts of countless Allied troops. The Ju-87 made its debut in mid-1937, with the German Condor Legion forces during the Spanish Civil War; little notice was taken, but the plane clearly demonstrated that the designer Hermann Pohlman, was correct about air power’s impact on World War I. During this initial debut, the crews and engineers of the Luftwaffe’s Stukas learned invaluable experience and modifications were made to the plane, yet it remained untested against hostile aircraft.
By early 1939, Hitler had set his sights on defeating all of Europe. The Stuka would successfully play a critical role in the well-coordinated assault—as Germany unleashed the never-before-seen Blitzkrieg upon its neighbors. Ju-87s fiercely attacked fixed targets and mobile forces with devastating results, as the offense was spearheaded by rapidly moving armored Panzer formations racing across Poland, Norway, France, and “Low Countries” (Belgium, Holland, & Luxembourg).
Starting in the early morning hours of 1 September 1939, Stukas launched quickly from eastern Prussia airfields and struck numerous targets across western Poland, officially unleashing Hitler’s shocking all-out war against Europe. The Ju-87 delivered bombs with pinpoint accuracy utilizing its signature almost-vertical, high-speed diving attack maneuver that relied on its innovative automatic under-wing pull-up Dive Brakes to regain control of the aircraft (especially if the pilot blacked out from excessive Gs). The aircraft’s high-speed (reaching speeds of up to 400 mph), steep dive attack triggered its new and terrifying air siren, loudly announcing its deadly and menacing presence to the battlefields of the ETO.
> German Stukas attacking Allied forces trapped on Dunkirk Beach, May 1940
Throughout the first half of World War II, Stukas had a major impact on Allied ground forces during Germany’s swift defeat of mainland Europe. In mid-1940, when Hitler’s Panzer Corps burst through the Ardennes Forest, aimed at the heart of France, the Stuka ensured overwhelming victory. Flying continuous and rolling attacks in front of the fast-moving German armored formations, Stukas effectively broke up Allied defensive formations and ruthlessly cleared out pockets of resistance. To keep pace with their ground brethren who were racing across the terrain, and to sustain sorties ahead of the main advance, the Stukas units had to boldly leap-frog across the European countryside. These units swiftly established temporary airfields upon any flat piece of land they could find and quickly secure.
By the last half of WW2, as the Allies establish their absolute air superiority over the ETO, the Stuka was relegated primarily to the Eastern Front where its domination would eventually begin to fade. The Stuka’s fearsome reputation by this point in the war had diminished slightly as they were withdrawn from the skies over Britain. British Spitfires made Stukas easy prey due to their low overall air speed and awfully slow climb rate. Moreover, when the poor Ju-87 Battle of Britain results were combined with its very limited success for Rommel in North Africa, the final chapter of the Stuka story was at hand during Operation BARBAROSSA, in action over Russia and the Balkans.
In the dark skies above Stalingrad in 1943, Stukas hammered targets endlessly, flying 1,000s of sorties a week, but suffered devastating operational loses. Tank busting became its fulltime mission as Soviet factories rolled out new tanks at a furious rate. Stukas would destroy thousands of Russian vehicles and artillery pieces, reaching the pinnacle of the aircraft’s Eastern Front success in the summer of 1943 during Operation CITADEL—the Battle of Kursk, the largest and bloodiest tank engagement in history. Nevertheless, by late 1943, as the Ju-87 losses steadily mounted—the Focke-Wulf Fw-190, began to take over the crucial ground attack support role. The Soviet Yak-7 fighter and the amazingly fast Yak-9s (the best and most mass-produced Soviet fighter of WW2) shot down Stukas at a furious rate, as Russia began to push the Luftwaffe back and gain control of the air space over the Eastern Front.
Ultimately by the end of 1944, severe fuel shortages had greatly impacted Luftwaffe operations and barely 100 Stukas remained operational (in fact, none were built after mid-1944). Moreover, complete Allied air superiority meant German air operations had extraordinarily little impact on the greater ground war as Allied forces closed the noose around the remaining Nazi forces in Berlin. Very few intact Stukas—of the estimated 6,500 built during the war—would be recovered once Germany finally surrendered on 8 May 1945. Ironically, although never fully accepted by many Luftwaffe staff officers (reminds one of the USAF and the A-10), the Stuka was the only WW2 aircraft that had 5 1/2 years of non-stop combat and delivered immense amounts of damage on the tactical battlefield.
The most famous of all Nazi pilots was Obrest (Col.) Hans-Ulrich Rudel. He was the most decorated Luftwaffe pilot and the most decorated serviceman of all German WW2 forces, being a recipient of both the Iron Cross and Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds (the only one ever awarded). He flew arguably one of the most famous planes of WW2, the Stuka G-2 version—an improved D-5 long-winged variant and easily the leading tank busting aircraft of the entire war.
In late 1942, Rudel developed unique tactics used by the pilots flying Ju-87 G-2s, nicknamed “Kanonenvogel” (‘Cannon Bird’). These methods were effective against Russian tanks and vehicles during Eastern Front operations. Rudel knocked out 12 T-34s in six missions on the first day over Stalingrad, using his new tactics of hitting tanks from the rear, where they were lightly armored and their engine was vulnerable to cannon fire. The tank-busting G-2s were armed with twin 37-mm cannons firing tungsten-cored armor piercing rounds called “Panzerknackers” (‘Tank Busters’) and wing-mounted hollow-charge bombs, making it incredibly effective against the upper plate and rear armor of Allied vehicles. Its centerline mounted, large 500 lbs. or 1,000 lbs. bomb was used against heavy weapon emplacements, fortifications, and troop formations.
Furthermore, Obrest Rudel was credited with destroying 519 tanks, one battleship (the Russian battleship Marat), two naval cruisers, four trains, 70 landing craft, 11 bridges and 150 artillery emplacements. He also claimed 11 aerial victories and the annihilation of more than 800 total vehicles. He had flown over 2,500 ground-attack missions entirely on the Eastern Front—Rudel's unit primarily took part in Operation TYPHOON, which was German Army Group Center's attempt to capture Moscow. He was shot down by ground fire 32 times, several times narrowly evading capture (the Soviets had placed a bounty on his head, and he would’ve been executed); he lost a leg and was wounded several times.
Once hostilities ended in mid-1945, he and several of his pilots flew their Stukas westward, surrendering to Allied forces at the US airbase at Kitzingen, Bavaria, Germany—home of the US 405th Fighter Group (fittingly a ground attack unit flying P-47s Thunderbolts). Revered by Germans long after the war, when Hans-Ulrich Rudel died in Rosenheim, Bavaria, Germany in 1982 (he was 66 years old), he received full (and controversial) military honors at his funeral. It was just a "coincidence" that several modern Luftwaffe fighter jets overflew the service at just the right moment. It is illegal in Germany for a WW2 Nazi veteran to receive burial honors.
KIT BUILD:
> The Trumpeter 1/32 Ju-87 G-2 is somewhat of a frustrating kit, with many flaws in its fit and many problematic large-part assemblies. Gaps due to poor fit required gap-filling rubberized CA glue throughout initial building steps. Cockpit details were also extremely disappointing. Parts left over from the previous aircraft variants of the model kit were present and added some confusion to the whole process. The wing assemblies were aggravating with sizable gaps in the center bend of the inverted Gull Wings, and the wing braces needed sanding to even fit correctly.
I do not recommend this kit at all. The many poor fitting issues require way to many repairs and adjustments. The placement of the cockpit armored bathtub between the two fuselage pieces fit terribly and required lots of sanding and cutting work to make it ready to receive the inverted gull wings, and even still large gaps were present afterwards.
The only good news was the fact there was no flash, and the parts were molded exceptionally crisp and easy to detach from the sprues. Many parts had “extra” pieces left over from the molding process, and in one case I actually cut off needed parts thinking it was extra mold pieces. After attaching the wings, horizontal tail surfaces and engine cowling, I found I needed Mr. Surfaces 500 for the seams on the fuselage and cowling centerline, and on the wheel spats. Some were extremely large gaps and with so many poor fittings overall. Very disappointing model kit.
> In these photos you can see I replaced the kit's lacking pilot instrument panel with an excellent one from Polish Yahu Models (part#: YMA3244). The next 2 picture shows the copious amounts of Gap Filler Rubberized CA I had to use to correct the poor fittings. More filling would come later.
> Painting began once I'd finished assembling all but the complex canopy. I began with a coat of primer using Tamiya's most excellent Fine Surface Primer (Light Gray). This primer works very well and is my go to rattle can spray. Using the above reference image along with the great illustrated Osprey Series book "Junkers Ju-87 Stuka" by Mike Guardia; I decided I wanted my Ju-87 G-2 to have the Nazi Eastern Front theater yellow markings. So to achieve a yellow I think would be more realistic than a pure bright yellow, I mixed 1-part AK Interactive #753 Dunkelgelb, 1-part Vallejo Tan Yellow (RAL 1011), 1-part Privateer Press formula Moldy Ochre, and 1-part Tamiya Acrylic Thinner. Using my airbrush, I applied the yellow to the areas I wanted. I liked the results of the faded tone of the yellow achieved, seems more fitting to me for a military aircraft flying 100s of sorties a day.
Using the Ju-87 G-2 Maxi Mask product (Item # MM32161) by MONTEX of Poland, I applied the "V" for the underwing marking and moved on to the over all base color application. I used Hataka Hobby's #C170 Reed Green (RAL 6013) lacquer paint, diluted with a small amount of Tamiya's Lacquer Thinner; you don't really need to dilute much as their Orange Line of lacquer paints are airbrush ready. I applied this to the entire top half of the aircraft at 18-20psi. I love the fast drying, satin matte finish of the Hataka Hobby lacquer paints.
Once dried (I used a hair-dryer to speed it up), I applied masking tape for the Disruptive Splinter Camouflage Pattern ("Splittertarnmuster"); I sorta made it up as I went along. For the dark areas, I used Hataka Hobby's #A021 Medium Green in their Red Line, which is a water-based airbrush ready paint; I was looking for a Olivegrun RAL 6003 toned color. I diluted it with just a touch of acrylic thinner.
The next step was applying the black color to the appropriate parts (e.g., Props, Gun Barrels, etc.). I didn't want to use a straight out of the "bottle" black; so, instead I mixed 1-part AMMO Mig Ammo #046 Matte Black, 1-part Tamiya XF-85 Rubber Black, 1-part Privateer Press formula Pig Iron, and 1-part Isopropyl Alcohol. Once the areas were masked off, I applied my black with my Iwata airbrush at 18-20 psi. I generally dislike applying water-slide decals on models, so I painted the German Cross on both sides, rear of the fuselage using MIG Ammo #050 Matte White. Once these crosses were dried, I applied Mr. Hobby's Premium Gloss Topcoat (water-based clear coating paint). And I let that dry overnight. To me its hands-down the best gloss varnish out there. Next up is applying the decals on the top half of the aircraft.
> Decals: I like the look of several different Stukas from the Eastern Front, so I'm going to mix-up the decals some. I will apply the ones I find interesting and at the same time keep it realistic. I purchased a 1/32 Decal Set - Junkers Ju-87 Stuka from Print Scale part#32-019 to provide for more options beyond the Trumpeter stock kit decals. Also, most stencils on the kit's decal sheet are spelled wrongly or just missing. And what is interesting about the Print Scale decals is you can model the Condor Legion Stuka that fought in the Spanish Civil War, which served as a testing ground for the aircraft. I used Mr. Hobby's Mark Soft and Mark Setter products on the decals.
The model kit didn't have the Jericho Trumpets dive-activated sirens for the plane; most likely because pilots learned that as they dove during the aircraft's ground attack and wind crossed over the siren's blades, creating the banshee wailing siren sound, the plane slowed down a little. So, by late in the war most of the Ju-87s variants had removed the Jericho Trumpet siren devices. I used spare parts to create the the 1st version, but I didn't look the overall look. So I trimmed some blue plastic sheet styrene to attached more produced blades on the siren. I will paint them later when I tackle the bottom half of the model.
> I started on the Stuka's aircraft belly by prepping the model for the base coat of the undercarriage. I masked off the completed areas and around the tail fin and the 37mm cannons.
Then I mixed 2-parts Hataka Hobby Lacquer #C173 Silk Grey (RAL 7044), 1-part #C171 Grey Blue (RAL 5008) and 1-part Tamiya Lacquer Thinner. I applied with my airbrush at 18-20psi. I used my handy Vortex paint shaker/mixer to get the paints ready to mix. This is great for paints that have sat for awhile.
I removed the Tamiya masking tape and I really liked the final outcome of the belly color.
Next up was the Stuka's bomb armaments. I selected Mr. Hobby's acrylic Green (FS-34102) for the bombs' paint color. I wanted to go with a green not used elsewhere on the plane. The model kit allowed for the creation of "Daisy-Cutters" for the smaller bombs and I decided to go for it on 2. I drilled out the necessary holes in the bombs and inserted the bombs' extended fuses, fixing in place with black CA. The daisy-cutter is a bomb that explodes several feet above the ground rather than penetrating the earth and losing its full power as some of the weapon's energy goes into making a crater. Instead a waist-high blast wreaks terrible damage on soft targets such as personnel. The Germans approached fusing the bomb to go off at this height in the simplest way possible; by attaching a 3-foot-long metal rod to the impact fuse in the bomb’s nose, to set it off when the rod touched the ground. At first, the rods penetrated soft ground without setting off the bomb, so they learned to weld a 3-inch-diameter disk to the tip. The same technique would be used 25 years later by the USAF in Vietnam.
With the underwing stores completed and attached, I completed the painting of the fixed land gearing struts and Jericho Trumpet sirens. I masked of the completed areas around the struts and applied the fuselage's darker color of Hataka Hobby's #A021 Medium Green in their Red Line. Once completed, I painted all of the rubber tires using the same black created for the rudders and 37mm cannon barrels but with a slightly different ratio of mixing using more of the AMMO Mig Matte Black with the Tamiya Rubber Black and P3 Pig Iron.
I applied the final decals for the aircraft consisting of the AA2 aircraft designator and the German Iron Crosses plus a few misc. minor decals. I also applied a yellow line decal to the 500lbs center-line general purpose HE bomb per a WW2 Luftwaffe air ordnance chart:
I then applied an overall gloss varnish coat to the bottom of the aircraft; again using the same excellent Mr. Hobby Gloss Coat rattle-can spray. Next up will be the competition of the canopy, UHF radio antenna and rear-seat gunners weapon. Then I can begin the filters, washes and weathering stages. And also work on the Pilot and Gunner figures.
> Starting with the complex four-piece Canopy for the Stuka, I first removed these from the sprue and sanded the pieces. Next I cleaned each piece with an alcohol wipe to remove finger grease and sanding dust; then I dipped each of the canopy pieces into a Pledge (Future) Floor Gloss product bath. I placed them on a piece of tissue-paper to dry over-night. I was sure to check for any globs or drips of excess Pledge, and I just shook the piece with the tweezers and dipped again if needed.
As I was ready to tackle the complex canopy, I also wanted to take the time to paint the front of both 37mm Cannons the color of Hataka Hobby's Reed Green (RAL6013), because these portions would be visible from above the aircraft in combat. Using the MONTEX Maxi Stuka Ju-87 G model mask for the canopy pieces, I completed the tedious masking process before airbrushing the 4-part canopy with the Reed Green. I also sprayed two internal canopy pieces (still on sprue) and the UHF antenna mast as well with the Reed Green color.
Once I was satisfied with the overall completed paint scheme, I began the Panel Wash work. I used both Tamiya's Panel Line product and odorless enamel thinner-diluted Oils. I also did some paint dot rendering with Oils to add varying tones to the plane's color.
I won't lie this kit has been a pain and in fact, I started a whole new kit because of that. But I am back now, trying to complete the complex canopy assembly that frankly Trumpeter did poorly. In order to get the canopy on the plane, I needed to finish painting the pilot and back-seat gunner. The highly-detailed resin figures are from US Master Details, 1/32 Luftwaffe Fighter Pilot, with various head options. Assembly and painting was straight forward, I primed them with Mr. Color Spray Flesh and painted them with various AK colors. And then washed them in dark toned oils.
TB Continued ++++++++++++++++++
I replaced the kits Gunner position machine guns with the Czech Republic company AIRES Hobby's Resin 1/32 GERMAN 7,92MM GUN MG81 part#2083. These have a lot more detail than the Trumpeter kit ones. I used the kit's PE MG Sights however.
Antenna: Stuka UHF radios were mounted in tanks or other armored vehicles, and were manned by Luftwaffe officers schooled in ground-support tactics. They directed strikes by Stukas overhead against any targets impeding the panzers’ advance.
www.tankandfile.com by Ed
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