Ric's Italeri 1:48 JU-87 B-2 Stuka

RicRodrigues · Post by **RicRodrigues** » Fri Dec 30, 2016 5:09 pm

Brilliant SIG, perfect excuse to "dive" into this kit!!!

Italeri Stuka B-2, 1:48 scale, loads of extras in the box! Seems a very good kit, and according to the reviews I saw, no big issues.

Sprues and box contents photos to be uploaded on the next days!!!

LM951 · Post by **LM951** » Fri Dec 30, 2016 9:32 pm

Nice! I got the same kit, just in a Tamiya box. What scheme will you be doing?

RicRodrigues · Post by **RicRodrigues** » Fri Dec 30, 2016 9:43 pm

LM951 wrote:Nice! I got the same kit, just in a Tamiya box. What scheme will you be doing?

Still to decide, but probably I'll be doing the one in shown in the box...

pourquoi61 · Post by **pourquoi61** » Fri Dec 30, 2016 10:14 pm

Stuka festival.....

RicRodrigues · Post by **RicRodrigues** » Wed Jan 04, 2017 11:15 am

Aircraft History (provided by Italeri instructions)

The Junkers JU87 Stuka was a two-seat dive-bomber/ground attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, the Stuka first flew in 1935 and made its combat debut in 1936 as part of the Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War. The aircraft was easily recognizable by its inverted gull wings, fixed undercarriage and its "wailing" siren. The Stuka's design included several innovative features, including automatic pull-up dive brakes under both wings to ensure that the plane recovered from its attack dive even if pilot blacked out from the accelaration. Although sturdy, accurate and very effective, the JU87 was vulnerable to modern fighter aircraft, like all the other dive bombers of the war. The JU87 was a single-engined cantilever monoplane and its structure was all-metal. The main construction material was duralumin, and the external coverings were made of duralumin sheeting. The wing was the most unusual feature and consisted of a single center section and two outer sections. The center section had a large negative dehidral and the outer surfaces a positive dehidral. This created the gull, or "crancked" wing pattern along the JU87's leading edge. The fixed armament consisted of two 7.92mm MG17 machine guns fitted in each wing. The rear gunner/radio operator operated one 7.92mm MG15 machine gun for defensive purposes. The Stuka automatically dived at a 60-90º angle, holding a constant speed of 500-600km/h due to dive-break deployment, which increased the accuracy of the JU87's aim. When the aircraft was reasonably close to the target, a light on the contact altimeter came on to indicate the bomb-release point, usually at a minimum height of 450m. The JU87B series was to be the first mass produced variant. In total an estimated 700 JU87 B-1 and 230 JU87 B-2 were delivered to the Luftwaffe of which 550 were built at Junkers.

RicRodrigues · Post by **RicRodrigues** » Wed Jan 04, 2017 6:01 pm

Box Contents and Kit Impressions

Three bags inside of the box with two bags with sprues and a small packet with PE and the rubber hose for the engine detail. The clear parts are packed in a separated bag which is inside one of the sprue bags.

First bag with the majority of the parts and the clear parts inside

Second bag with some small parts and landing gear

PE and rubber hose for the engine

While checking the sprue bags, I noticed that some parts have detached from the sprues. After a close inspection, none of these parts were damaged.

Sprue A - Wings and cockpit

Sprue B - Fuselage, engine, propellers and detail parts

Sprue C (2x) - Landing gears, wheels, exhausts and detail parts

Sprue D (2x) - Bombs

Sprue E - Clear Parts

Decals

Instructions

My opinion about this kit, seems to be a solid kit, good level of detail on the fuselage, engine and cockpit. The PE and the hose really add up detail to the kit. The decals seem good and well printed. The instructions are clear and with good call-outs for painting. As a Tamiya Acrylic paints user, the colours are really hard to match and I'll be struggling to get a good match using only Tamiya acrylics. The option of having the bigger sprues all packed up in the same bag proved to be not the best one, as some parts just dettached from the sprues. But, as I said before, the parts were not broken or damaged whatsoever.
Checking the sprues, just found two minor issues that might be easily solved. First, one of the flaps was broken.

It's not the end of the world, some Tamiya Extra Thin might do the trick.
The other situation was on the front part of the canopy, a hole on the clear part.

It looks like a bubble of air was trapped during the molding or something like that. AnywayI believe this specific area is supposed to be painted, which gives me two options to sort out this hole: I can fill it with putty, sand it and hope it's not visible in the end, or I can leave it like that and wheather it in a way it might resemble some damage from a shooting. I'm open to any suggestions!!!

I'll start this kit today and as soon as I have any decent progress, I'll post it here.

As always, opinions and suggestions are welcome, feel free to comment!!!

Cheers!!!

Ricardo

RicRodrigues · Post by **RicRodrigues** » Mon Jan 09, 2017 11:56 pm

Update #1

So, let's start this!!!

As usual, cockpit first. Assembled some parts before priming, as it would be everything painted in the same colours. Everything primed with Ultimate black primer. Left it to cure overnight and painted the cockpit interior with Tamiya XF22 RLM Grey Flat. Interior details handbrushed with Tamiya XF1 Flat Black. The seat was painted with Tamiya XF52 Earth. Machinegun ammunitions painted in Tamiya X10 Gun Metal. Dials for the radio operator detailed in XF1 Flat White and XF16 Flat Aluminum.

To save some time, started the engine aswell. Primed also with Ultimate Black Primer. Metalic details painted with X10 Gun Metal and XF16 Flat Aluminum. Engine suports painted in the same colour as the interior (XF22 RLM Grey).

After this, some more details added to the interior. PE seatbelts added and painted with XF13 JA Green. Some more details painted on the levers and an overall drybrush with XF16 Flat Aluminum.

The instrument panel is almost done, by tomorrow, I should have it done and ready. As soon as I have all the interior complete, I will apply a light clear coat to seal everything and maybe a subtle wash with Ultimate Dark Dirt. More to be done tomorrow aswell on the Jumo engine.

Now, this is my first Italeri Kit and I'm really struggling with the colours here. The colours call-out are not the best and it's not easy to find a good match between Italeri colours and Tamiya paints. I'm going through this almost blind. But I think so far the result it's not that far.

As always, opinions and suggestions are welcome, feel free to comment!!!
Cheers!!!

Ricardo

kiwigav · Post by **kiwigav** » Tue Jan 10, 2017 3:33 am

You have made a great start on whats looks to be a great kit. Don't seem to have the patience myself for building aircraft these days but still like to follow interesting build like yours

LM951 · Post by **LM951** » Thu Jan 12, 2017 3:41 am

Looks great! - much better cockpit than mine. I have the Tamiya Rebox of this kit and my canopy also has that same blemish. I wonder if something goes there on an earlier or different model?

RicRodrigues · Post by **RicRodrigues** » Thu Jan 12, 2017 3:28 pm

kiwigav wrote:You have made a great start on whats looks to be a great kit. Don't seem to have the patience myself for building aircraft these days but still like to follow interesting build like yours

Cheers, mate!!! I'm not that optimistic, unfortunately... Some dry-fitting brought up some fitting issues in some critical areas... Or maybe I'm too used to build Tamiya kits!!! Anyway, I'll keep the building and maybe it will turn out good in the end. Let's see..

LM951 · Post by **LM951** » Thu Jan 12, 2017 3:36 pm

RicRodrigues wrote:
kiwigav wrote:You have made a great start on whats looks to be a great kit. Don't seem to have the patience myself for building aircraft these days but still like to follow interesting build like yours

Cheers, mate!!! I'm not that optimistic, unfortunately... Some dry-fitting brought up some fitting issues in some critical areas... Or maybe I'm too used to build Tamiya kits!!! Anyway, I'll keep the building and maybe it will turn out good in the end. Let's see..

Where did you fit issues? I dry fitted everything except the canopies and found the fit to be quite well. Not tamiya quality but still much better than anticipated!

RicRodrigues · Post by **RicRodrigues** » Thu Jan 12, 2017 3:49 pm

LM951 wrote:Looks great! - much better cockpit than mine. I have the Tamiya Rebox of this kit and my canopy also has that same blemish. I wonder if something goes there on an earlier or different model?

I was wondering exactly the same. To clarify that, I asked the precious help of Google and found out these images.

In all these photos it's visible a kind of hole in that area of the fuselage, that in this kit is a clear part that will be painted in the same colour as the fuselage. What I couldn't find was the purpose of this "hole". Maintenance? Easy access to the back of the instruments panel (as this hole is just above it)? One thing is for sure, this "hole" is not exclusive to a real life specific version, but for other photos I've seen, it's not present or visible in all the versions. If anyone has an idea of what this hole is, or what's its purpose, please feel free to bring some light over this. Anyway, after this photos, I don't think this is a molding fail or anything like that. But if it is, is a very fortunate one!!!

RicRodrigues · Post by **RicRodrigues** » Thu Jan 12, 2017 4:01 pm

LM951 wrote:Where did you fit issues? I dry fitted everything except the canopies and found the fit to be quite well. Not tamiya quality but still much better than anticipated!

Not really happy about the wings roots and the top part of the fuselage just in front of the canopy. And I suspect the engine cowlings will be a pain as well. But this is just the dry-fitting. It might happen that after everything is in place, everything will fit perfectly. Let's see what's the story...

AdamLuscombe · Post by **AdamLuscombe** » Thu Jan 12, 2017 4:55 pm

Great work so far

RicRodrigues · Post by **RicRodrigues** » Thu Jan 12, 2017 7:55 pm

AdamLuscombe wrote:Great work so far

Cheers, mate!!!

RicRodrigues · Post by **RicRodrigues** » Thu Jan 12, 2017 8:10 pm

Update #2

So, the cockpit is finished. Forgot to take some photos of the instrument panel, but it's still visible. It's now time to close the fuselage halves.

For the instrument panel, I used the PE and decals supplied with the kit. The first decal was slighty misplaced and some of the dials are not aligned with the PE...

The portside of the cockpit was placed aswell...

And finally, the cockpit was squeezed inside the two fuselage halves.

I'll just leave it overnight and tomorrow will start assemble the wings and see if the solution I came out with for the wings roots was enough or if I still need the dinamic duo putty and sanders to come forward...

As always, opinions and suggestions are welcome, feel free to comment!!!
Cheers!!!!

Ricardo

peppie · Post by **peppie** » Thu Jan 12, 2017 8:48 pm

Nice start

I have the same hole in my kit (Hasegawa). I believe I read somewhere it's a flare gun hole.... if that makes any sense...

RicRodrigues · Post by **RicRodrigues** » Thu Jan 12, 2017 10:50 pm

peppie wrote:Nice start

I have the same hole in my kit (Hasegawa). I believe I read somewhere it's a flare gun hole.... if that makes any sense...

Cheers!!!

Sorry, but I really don't get it... What do you mean with flare gun hole? It was a hole where you could fire a flare gun? or any other sort of device... Definitely, I'm not an expert!!!

RicRodrigues · Post by **RicRodrigues** » Sun Jan 15, 2017 12:04 am

Update #3

Few more bits and bobs done!!!
After closing the fuselage halves, engine firewall was glued.

Painted in the same Tamiya XF22 RLM Grey Flat, I decided to pick up the details, wiring and stuff just with a black marker pen. It's not perfect but that will do. In the end, all of this it will not be that visible...

Wings in place

I was afraid about the fitting on the wings roots area, but it was not that bad.

I had to do some preparation before glueing the wings and I think that preparation really paid off. Explaining all the situation, basically when I dry-fitted the wings with the fuselage just to check for any issues, the wings roots on the fuselage were not aligned with the wings. The problem was that the wings roots were to large (in height) compared with the wings. With the wings dry-fitted, I used an extremely sharp pencil to mark the line of the wings on the fuselage. Removed the wings and sanded the wings roots until the line that was drawn with the wings dry-fitted. As you can see, the result is more than satisfactory to me. It might need some more sanding just to smooth it, but for sure it's better than it was before.

Talking about sanding, this area on the underside it requires some attention. And some putty. And some sanding...

The stabilizers were assembled and the PE was glued in place. Nice and easy.

And finally, the engine is complete.

The instructions called-out to be painted in Flat Black; instead, I decided to go for XF69 NATO Black. I think this would help to create an used look on the engine. The engine supports were painted in XF22 RLM Grey Flat. The exhausts were supposed to be painted in XF9 Hull Red, the real colour of the exhausts should be something more like copper, so I went for XF28 Dark Copper. Still I think this colour is too light and too bright. After clear-coated the engine, I might try to darken it with some Ultimate Dark Dirt wash or some thinned flat black. I'm thinking about a wash on the engine aswell, but I'm not sure if I should. Maybe I'll try the Ultimate Rust wash and see how it looks. If not happy, I'll just wash it away!!!

As always, opinions and suggestions are welcome, feel free to comment!!!
Cheers!!!

Ricardo

peppie · Post by **peppie** » Sun Jan 15, 2017 7:42 pm

RicRodrigues wrote:Sorry, but I really don't get it... What do you mean with flare gun hole? It was a hole where you could fire a flare gun? or any other sort of device... Definitely, I'm not an expert!!!

Me neither..... Tried to find out something more about it, but no luck... sorry..
Maybe somebody else..?

RicRodrigues · Post by **RicRodrigues** » Wed Jan 18, 2017 4:42 pm

Update #4

This build id going really quick!!! I would like to to say is going really well also, but I had some issues. But I'll get there.

The engine is finished.

I've applied a coat of Ultimate Rust wash just to give a dirty and used look to the engine and specially to tone down the exhausts tips. Could have been better, but that will do. I'm still considering if I should leave the engine visible or if I should close everything. The thing is, the fitting of the engine panels and the rest of the fuselage it's not the best: if I'll leave the engine visible, those gaps will be irrelevant, if I decide to close the engine, I need to shorten the engine supports... Decisions, decisions...

On the underside of the wings, all the small bits were glued in place. I think this way is easy to paint everything and probably will prevent me from doing a mess while trying to glue it after the paintjob is done. In the other hand, I might end up knocking down everything while handling it for the painting. Well, the key word is... Achtung!!!!

Canopy in place, without any major problems and ready for priming.

Here is where all the problems started. So, I got this Montex mask, the only one I found for this Italeri kit.

I got it only for the canopy mask, not even considering the versions or markings suggested. The canopy mask was good until I started to realized that the mask wouldn't stick to the clear parts, specially on the curves... I found this before priming, tried to stick them back just before priming session, but after the priming, these mask parts were lifting up again!!!

I don't know if some primer leaked under the masks, I guess I have to wait until the paintjob is done to check it.

Anyway, primed everything with Ultimate Black primer, that went down very smoothly.

Today, I'll start the painting, probably with the underside.

As always, opinions and suggestions are welcome, feel free to comment
Cheers!!!

Ricardo

NorthernModeller · Post by **NorthernModeller** » Wed Jan 18, 2017 5:31 pm

excellent work

coming along really nicely

Avgas · Post by **Avgas** » Wed Jan 18, 2017 6:52 pm

Coming along great. I've had the same problem with Montex masks, I only use them as a last resort.

Cymru · Post by **Cymru** » Wed Jan 18, 2017 7:38 pm

Avgas wrote:Coming along great. I've had the same problem with Montex masks, I only use them as a last resort.

I have found them very poor on very curved surfaces, problem being is that they are too thick

RicRodrigues · Post by **RicRodrigues** » Sat Jan 21, 2017 10:59 pm

NorthernModeller wrote:excellent work coming along really nicely

Cheers, mate!!!

Avgas wrote:Coming along great. I've had the same problem with Montex masks, I only use them as a last resort.

Cymru wrote:I have found them very poor on very curved surfaces, problem being is that they are too thick

Cheers, guys!!! I agree with Cymru, the masks are too thick and therefore very hard to settle on curved surfaces. But anyway, problem solved!!! Just check the next update!!!

RicRodrigues · Post by **RicRodrigues** » Sat Jan 21, 2017 11:13 pm

Update #5

Not really that much done since the last update, but here it goes.

The underside was painted with Tamiya XF23 Light Blue.

As you can see, the front landing gears are painted and dry-fitted, as an attempt to avoid breaking the underside wings small parts.

As I said before, the Montex canopy mask was absolutely rubbish and started to lift off from the canopy. After priming, I removed the masks that were lifting off to check if the pimer went under the masks on the clear parts. Fortunately, it didn't. So, new masks needed for the canopy. New and good ones.

Tamiya masking tape over the old masks sheet and voilá!!! Brand new masks, much better. The fact the masking sheet was in black helped a lot to cut the new masks and these were a treat to apply!!!

On the next days, I might start the rest of the camouflage scheme on the top.

As always, opinions and suggestions are welcome, feel free to comment!!!
Cheers!!!

Ricardo

Cymru · Post by **Cymru** » Sat Jan 21, 2017 11:34 pm

Excellent work-around on the masks

Coming along fine

RicRodrigues · Post by **RicRodrigues** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 5:59 pm

Cymru wrote:Excellent work-around on the masks Coming along fine

Thanks!!! Creativity and the ability to think outside the box definitely helps in this hobby!!!

RicRodrigues · Post by **RicRodrigues** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 6:41 pm

Update #6

So, the painting is done. After a base coat of Tamiya XF26 Deep Green, time for masking to create the camo scheme. Sprayed Tamiya XF27 Black Green. Still, I'm not really sure if these are the correct colours (I'll leave that question for the experts), but if not, it looks to me they are really close!!!

Unmasking the Stuka and suddenly... A strange white spot shows up!!!!

Considered what to do and decided just to spray over and hope not to be that visible...

It's not perfect, for some reason the paint seems lighter than the previous coat... I'll try to lightly sand it, as I think the handling and the masking tape just remove some of the paint pigments. Hopefully, this will turn that stain uniform with the rest of the paintjob. Or at least, not that visible.

This was not the only damage by the masking. Tamiya tape and these tree trunks I have as fingers took their toll and managed to knock out these tiny parts from the wings underside.

Luckily, the carpet monster was on holidays and manage to recover all of it. To be glued back in place shortly.

Next, I used the Montex masks to paint the swastikas. I might have oversprayed it a little bit. Once again, I hope a little bit of sanding will smooth it.

Finally, the engine cowl. After much consideration, decided to hide the engine. The engine cowl was not the best, but between glueing everything to try a decent fitting or leave loose parts, I went for the first option.

All the parts were glued in place and primed with Ultimate Black Primer, just waiting to be painted. I'm going for the Stab III/StG77 (Bulgaria, April 1941) version, so these parts will be painted with Tamiya XF3 Flat Yellow. Also, I was not happy with the exhaust tips colour (which was painted with Tamiya XF28 Dark Copper), as this colour was too light and bright and shiny. So they were primed as well. I'll do some experiments to see if I can get a mix I will be happy with.

As always, opinions and suggestions are welcome, feel free to comment!!!

Cheers!!!

Ricardo

Cymru · Post by **Cymru** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 11:40 pm

We seem to having similar problems

The Montex masks just don't stick very well, so you get bleed through and I managed to scrape a chunk of paint off

Soldier on, your'e getting there

RicRodrigues · Post by **RicRodrigues** » Tue Mar 07, 2017 7:59 pm

Update #7

This kit is really killing my mojo lately and being busy at work is not helping!!! The canopy insists in not stay in place and already had to re-glue it twice!!! And still, just before taking this photos, part of the canopy fell again!!!

The fitting of the canopy it's far from perfect and honestly, I'm not impressed at all with this kit. Another fitting issue was related with the engine covers. If you want to display the engine without the engine covers, it's fine, but if you want to close the engine, prepare for some fighting and struggle!!!

Anyway, I managed to close the engine panels and these were painted in Tamiya XF3 Flat Yellow; the same for the rudder. The rudder was easily glued in place. For the engine and engine covers, loads of struggling and, as predicted, I had to shorten the engine supports in order to try a decent fitting. In the end, not perfect, but I can live with that.
The propellers and propeller nose colours callouts were not very good: only an indication to paint the propellers in Dark Green, but no information about the propeller nose. The colour scheme image didn't help as well, so in the end I decided to paint the propellers in Dark Green (Tamiya XF27) and the nose cone in Black (Tamiya XF1 Flat Black). Not sure if perfect, but once again, I can live with that!!..
At the moment, the Stuka looks like this...

Next thing (after glueing the canopy for the 3764th time) will be a clear coat as preparation for the decaling.

As always, opinions and suggestions are welcome, feel free to comment!!!

Cheers!!!

Ricardo Rodrigues

RicRodrigues · Post by **RicRodrigues** » Thu Mar 23, 2017 10:09 pm

Update #8

So, the Stuka was gloss-coated a couple of days ago (Alclad Aqua Gloss), so today I decided it was a good day for decaling. I usually hate decals, every time I have to deal with decals it's always a struggle and usually end up with ripped decals.
This time, it was a different story!!! Surprisingly, all the decals went down really smooth, no troubles at all!!!

I'm not sure if these are Cartograph decals, but these are a treat, definitely!!!
And after the fitting issues I had during this build, it really feels good not only see this model come to life but also not having more issues with the decals!!!
Right now, this is how the Stuka looks like.

For some reason, these Balkan Crosses on the underside seem too big... Is it just me???

Anyway, on the weekend I should have some more spare time, I'll give it another clear coat just to seal the decals, and then a little bit of weathering. As always, opinions and suggestions are welcome, feel free to comment!!!

Cheers!!!

Ricardo Rodrigues

LM951 · Post by **LM951** » Fri Mar 24, 2017 2:03 pm

That looks awesome! I bought he Tamiya version of this exact kit and the decals provided were cartograph. Hopefully you had the same. I've only used cartograph a few times but they are awesome. So much better than Tamiya decals...I put my kit on hold as I had way too many fit issues to deal with.

Coops · Post by **Coops** » Sat Mar 25, 2017 9:39 am

Seems like everyone as gettong mojo sapped by the stuka of various scale and builds... the hase kit is the same.. but its looking good and the end is near...

RicRodrigues · Post by **RicRodrigues** » Mon Mar 27, 2017 1:43 pm

LM951 wrote: Fri Mar 24, 2017 2:03 pm That looks awesome! I bought he Tamiya version of this exact kit and the decals provided were cartograph. Hopefully you had the same. I've only used cartograph a few times but they are awesome. So much better than Tamiya decals...I put my kit on hold as I had way too many fit issues to deal with.

I saw your build thread and notice you had some fitting issues as well. Definitely, it's not an easy kit. Even mine it's not perfect and I reckon with a little bit more work and dedication, this kit can be perfect. But it really kills your mojo all the struggle. I hope the airfix one is not giving you any trouble!!!

RicRodrigues · Post by **RicRodrigues** » Mon Mar 27, 2017 1:49 pm

Coops wrote: Sat Mar 25, 2017 9:39 am Seems like everyone as gettong mojo sapped by the stuka of various scale and builds... the hase kit is the same.. but its looking good and the end is near...

Agree!!! So far for what I've seen, apparently only the 1/32 Academy is the only one that is not giving any major trouble. And maybe the 1/48 Airfix. But well, what it would be of us without a little bit of kit bashing??!!

Anyway,it's almost finished!!!

RicRodrigues · Post by **RicRodrigues** » Tue Mar 28, 2017 4:33 pm

(Final) Update #9

So, I'm calling the Stuka done!!! Just some quick shots and the Final Reveal will be posted shortly!!!

As always, opinions and suggestions are welcome, feel free to comment!!!

Cheers!!!

Ricardo Rodrigues

1975GinjaNinja · Post by **1975GinjaNinja** » Tue Mar 28, 2017 7:08 pm

Looks great and has given me a bit of a kick to try and progress my Airfix one a bit more.

What did you use for weathering I really like the look of it.

Cheers
Nige

RicRodrigues · Post by **RicRodrigues** » Wed Mar 29, 2017 4:13 am

1975GinjaNinja wrote: Tue Mar 28, 2017 7:08 pm Looks great and has given me a bit of a kick to try and progress my Airfix one a bit more.

What did you use for weathering I really like the look of it.

Cheers
Nige

Thanks, Nige!!!
For the weathering, nothing special or fancy. Just some very diluted xf1 flat black airbrushed for the exhaust stains and Ultimate Dark Dirt wash all over the kit, roughly removed with some dry cotton buds... ah, and some chipping with a piece of sponge with xf16 flat aluminium... and that's it, all sealed with a coat of Alclad Flat Kote!!! Good luck for your build and I hope the Airfix kit wont give you an hard time like this Italeri kit gave me!!!
Cheers!!!

LM951 · Post by **LM951** » Wed Mar 29, 2017 7:29 pm

RicRodrigues wrote: Mon Mar 27, 2017 1:43 pm
LM951 wrote: Fri Mar 24, 2017 2:03 pm That looks awesome! I bought he Tamiya version of this exact kit and the decals provided were cartograph. Hopefully you had the same. I've only used cartograph a few times but they are awesome. So much better than Tamiya decals...I put my kit on hold as I had way too many fit issues to deal with.
I saw your build thread and notice you had some fitting issues as well. Definitely, it's not an easy kit. Even mine it's not perfect and I reckon with a little bit more work and dedication, this kit can be perfect. But it really kills your mojo all the struggle. I hope the airfix one is not giving you any trouble!!!

The Airfix kit is SO much better...almost zero fitment issues. I know some people aren't fond of Airfix, but their Stuka kit went together like a dream!

RicRodrigues · Post by **RicRodrigues** » Thu Mar 30, 2017 2:48 pm

LM951 wrote: Wed Mar 29, 2017 7:29 pm
RicRodrigues wrote: Mon Mar 27, 2017 1:43 pm
LM951 wrote: Fri Mar 24, 2017 2:03 pm That looks awesome! I bought he Tamiya version of this exact kit and the decals provided were cartograph. Hopefully you had the same. I've only used cartograph a few times but they are awesome. So much better than Tamiya decals...I put my kit on hold as I had way too many fit issues to deal with.
I saw your build thread and notice you had some fitting issues as well. Definitely, it's not an easy kit. Even mine it's not perfect and I reckon with a little bit more work and dedication, this kit can be perfect. But it really kills your mojo all the struggle. I hope the airfix one is not giving you any trouble!!!
The Airfix kit is SO much better...almost zero fitment issues. I know some people aren't fond of Airfix, but their Stuka kit went together like a dream!

Apparently, Airfix is getting better. At least when they bring new toolings instead of reboxing 300years old kits... I've heard wonders about their new 1:72 B17...