1/48 Revell Ju-87D...1st build after 30+ years

[fanghawk]

At the urging of my brother...who donated this and a couple other kits...I've gotten back into modeling after more than 30 years away from the hobby. The mold for this particular kit is 20 years old (mold date says 1998) and it's pretty sparse on details, particularly in the cockpit, and it's got all raised panel lines. Since this is my first kit, it'll be nothing fancy, just straight out of the box to get familiar with new glues and tools and get back into airbrushing. So...first the kit...

And breaking it out, trimming things off the sprue and looking through the instructions. The glue is actually my son's that he uses to put Warhammer minis together...I actually used Tamiya Extra Thin Cement to put this together after watching several You Tube videos to get caught up on modern techniques.

 

[fanghawk]

Wouldn't normally put the pilot and crew in a model but since the cockpit detail was virtually non-existent, I went ahead and painted them up and threw them in.

It went together fairly quickly and I got back into the groove with gap filling and sanding. Found a product called Perfect Plastic Putty that was super simple to use and filled gaps quickly and easily on the stabilizer and wing root. Nothing like that old green putty.

Filled in some more gaps on the top and bottom and did my first ever re-scribing job. Could have been a bit better but I'll know for next time. I wasn't sure how to handle this at first since the model has raised panel lines but after some research it seemed that after the model was painted the difference wouldn't be that noticeable if I just scribed and carried on. All sorts of techniques mentioned like stretched sprue, using narrowly spaced tape and putting down a thin layer of filler, and scribing at an angle to push a small lip of plastic up behind the scribing blade. I opted for simple.

And on the bottom...

Several mistakes were made and I had to re-fill and re-scribe several times but finally reached a point I was fairly happy with it.

 

[fanghawk]

Along the way I dipped the canopy in Future, let it cure for a couple weeks and then masked it. Painted the wheels and then cut my own mask for them so I could spray the tires with the airbrush.

The wheels sprayed up nicely...

Finally all the bits, pieces, and parts were mounted on toothpicks and they and the whole model were primed. I'd planned on using my spray can of Tamiya Extra Fine Surface Primer that I bought in 2007 to prime some civil war miniatures but it seems 11 years in a basement is a bit too long to expect decent results. After some research I settled on using Mr. Surfacer 1000 thinned with lacquer thinner. Another experiment that actually turned out well. The only issues were where the air "vortex" caused by blowing against a raised surface beyond the primary area I was painting caused the primer to get powdery and fuzzy looking. It turned out that the "fuzz" was able to be buffed down to a nice smooth surface and the primer stayed in place. Now that they have Mr. Surfacer 1200 and 1500, I might try one of those next time. Two things to note here...one good one bad. First, I was able to fill the spots on the cowling where the fuel caps were represented by irregular indentations on the model and actually re-scribe the circular caps. Turned out well. The other thing of note, during my fiddling I managed to break off both machine guns on the wings (and not visible also broke off the tail wheel...erk!!). Still...so far mostly pleased with how things are shaping up.

 

[Wurger]

Looking very good.Nice work so far.

 

[fubar57]

Welcome back to modelling. I use the Tamiya glue for the most part though I still use tube glue. Regarding the raised panel lines, I have used very thin stretched sprue to replace the raised lines that got sanded off. The wheel hubs on most Luftwaffe aircraft seem to be semi-gloss black, this is a D-5.

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Your model is progressing very nicely. I'm going to have to check that putty out

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[fanghawk]

Welcome back to modelling. I use the Tamiya glue for the most part though I still use tube glue. Regarding the raised panel lines, I have used very thin stretched sprue to replace the raised lines that got sanded off. The wheel hubs on most Luftwaffe aircraft seem to be semi-gloss black, this is a D-5.

Your model is progressing very nicely. I'm going to have to check that putty out.

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I just used dark gray since that's what the instructions said. With the wheel fairings on it's really hard to tell what color it was in actuality. I'd planned to give it a wash which would darken it some. Though since I painted the tires I've obtained some Tamiya rubber so was thinking of redoing the tires...so I could probably redo the wheels at the same time.

As for the putty, I've actually discovered two products. One, which I mentioned, is Deluxe Materials Perfect Plastic Putty. It works just like the old green putty did but it's water-based so it can be cleaned, thinned, molded, etc. using water and something like a damp Q-Tip. I've found it much easier to use than the old Squadron Green which seems to stick everywhere except where you really want it. The other was Vallejo Plastic Putty...which is similar...100% acrylic...but comes with a much smaller applicator tip that you can put in small gaps with very little in the way of excess cleanup.

I think on the next plane I build with raised panel lines, I will try the Mr. Surfacer 500 painted on between two strips of tape and see how that looks. If it doesn't work well, then I'll try the stretched sprue. I wasn't looking to get too fancy here the first time out. Though now that I've gotten through most of the build stage, I want to build another and see if I can take it up a notch. But that's putting the cart before the horse.

 

[fubar57]

I have a hard time getting any hobby supplies, the closest hobby store is a 4hr round trip and they don't stock too much/ I just started using Vallejo Model Air paint so I might check out their putty brand as well. Right now I'm using Bondo Glazing and Spot Putty. Awaiting the camo.........

 

[fanghawk]

I meant to ask...what is this part called, what kind of material is it, and what color should it be? I'd always assumed it was rubber and was there so the fairing could move up and down with the gear shock absorber. But looking at the picture it looks like it might be some kind of cord material?

 

[fanghawk]

... Regarding the raised panel lines, I have used very thin stretched sprue to replace the raised lines that got sanded off.

With the bit of experimentation I did with stretched sprue, I remember I had a very hard time getting it to stick to the model. CA glue is too noticeable, even the super thin stuff when used in enough quantity to get the sprue to stay in place. Plastic cement didn't work since it melted the sprue or at least caused visible alteration to the surface of the plane. So I'm curious, particularly since probably 90% of the models I currently have on hand to build all have raised panel lines, how did you attach the sprue and/or what glue did you use?

And thanks for the welcome back to the hobby...it's good to be back.

 

[Airframes]

Good stuff, and welcome back to the hobby.
The gaiters over the shock struts would have been leather, or more probably, due to shortages, a bonded canvas material, and were mostly a dark brown colour.

 

[fubar57]

I used Tamiya Extra Thin glue very sparingly. Attach one end to the end of one panel line and once its slightly set up lay it down along the part and attach it to the other panel line with a slight over lap. Trim this off when everything is set up. Very fiddly and sometimes requires three hands

 

[fanghawk]

I used Tamiya Extra Thin glue very sparingly. Attach one end to the end of one panel line and once its slightly set up lay it down along the part and attach it to the other panel line with a slight over lap. Trim this off when everything is set up. Very fiddly and sometimes requires three hands

You know...I'm finding that three hands would be useful in a lot of cases when it comes to modeling.

 

[fubar57]

Yep, doing that right now in my current Group Build

 

[Gnomey]

Good work so far!

 

[fanghawk]

Last three progress shots...this is where I left off a couple weeks ago and haven't gotten back to the bench. First, got the yellow trim painted...

Then tried my first ever shot at pre-shading. It's both easier (as in not a complicated process) and harder (as in requiring more than a bare minimum level of coordination) than I anticipated. They make it looks so quick and easy on YouTube.

It looked a little funky but I figured if I completely blew it, I could start over. Laid the RLM65 down and am fairly pleased with the results. Lots of little areas that need to be touched up but generally acceptable. I definitely like it more than the monotones we used to paint back in the day.

 

[Wurger]

 

[fubar57]

Nice!

 

[Crimea_River]

Welcome back to the hobby. You are doing very well. I can offer no help on the raised panel lines as I have not encountered any since the 1970's! However, If I did, I'd go with George's approach.

 

[Capt. Vick]

30 years you say? Looks to me like you haven't missed a beat. Well done.

 

[at6]

For an older kit, it's turning out well. As for sparse interior, try the Hobby craft JU87G. A copy of the old Monogram with even softer interior detail.