HELP!!! Need to know which kit to buy

[Rustybugs]

Hi Folks, need some help to determine the right kit to buy, the aircraft is the Junkers JU-52-3M?, I am not sure of the model number, but whatever was present around 1937.

I figure someone must have built one of the kits and has an opinion of them. I checked and couldn't find anyone doing a review or start to finish of the kits.

I have looked at several sites but haven't really gotten a good review of the different kits. Airfix and Italeri are the only 2 that make it in 1/72. Anyone know if the Airfix kit is a reissue of a not so good mold or did they retool it and it is much better

The 1/48 scale is pretty much limited to Revell.

Any help would be appreciated. If you can direct me to a good review of the kit that would help also. I even checked on You Tube.
Thanks
Rusty

 

[Lucky13]

The 1/48 Revell/Monogram '52, is a nice looking kit and HUGE!

 

[Rustybugs]

Thanks Lucky, but a bit more detail about them would be nice

 

[Airframes]

As far as I know, the Airfix 1/72nd scale kit is the original late 1960s example which, for the time, was very good. At a guess, I would think the Italeri kit would have the edge, but you should find reviews on-line. Hyperscale have an extensive reviews list, as an example.
Likewise for the Revell/Monogram kit, in 1/48th scale, which is excellent and, as Jan mentioned, huge! The kit has been released in various versions, both civil and military, but they are all the same basic kit, with different decals/parts as required.
There was a relatively recent build of this kit here on the forum, in the 'Start to Finish' builds, by Boats (deckape), which should give you some idea of what it's like.
There have also been builds of the Italeri 1/72nd scale kit, I think in the same section.

 

[Florence]

Itaeleri 1/72 Ju 52 Toucan Review by Brett Green (Italeri 1/72)

Airfix 1/72 Models In Review

Heller 1/72 (I have one in the stash and it looks the goods to me) LS Plastic Model Military Aircrafts Collection: Heller Junkers JU 52 1/72 Scale

Or try here http://www.scalemates.com/products/reviews.php?scale=1:72&topic=Junkers Ju 52

 

[Airframes]

Good stuff David, but the Airfix link is showing the Ju87 and Cessna Bird Dog - ujnless I've missed something. However, the Heller kit is almost certainly the re-boxed Airfix kit, as, at the time, Heller and Airfix were part of Humbrol, and did some 'mould sharing'.

 

[A4K]

Rusty, got a spare 'Tante Ju' if you need one - Italeri 1:72. Drop us a PM if you're interested.

Evan

 

[Rustybugs]

Wow!! you guys came through... I wish some of the sites had a language icon, I looked but couldn't find one.

What I wanted the JU-52 for is a small diorama of Hitlers Ju and a couple of figures, one being the man himself and a Mercedes Benz or other staff type vehicle.

From what everyone is saying in their reviews is basically a pretty well done model of either the Airfix or the Italeri. So it would be a coin toss... Now where to find 1/72 decals for it to represent the one used by H. Found some photos of the bird including the interior so I have a pretty good idea on where everything goes decal wise.

A quick trivia question, why is it that most manufacturers won't include a decal of a swastika? I think I read that Germany forbid it from being displayed but now other countries are doing it, but why not in a model kit?

Thanks again for the great input

oh yeah check out my sig courtesy of Thorlifter

 

[A4K]

Nice sig mate (good man Thor!)

The Hakenkreuz ban in many kits is one of the things that ticks me off, so won't go into that subject... got spares though in the size you'll need for 'Grofaz's' Tante Ju, will drop them in the kit. Will check out my stash for the letters and numbers you need too.

 

[Rogi]

The italeri kit is amazing, The "Toucan" versions the one I've got really nice detail and panel lines real nice job on her

 

[Capt. Vick]

Evan, my Italeri 52 represents the corrugated panels on the fuselage with simple raised lengthwise tabs, but it looks as though yours actually has the troughs in the side. Is that so? And if so, what the heck molding of this kit do I have?

 

[Airframes]

Jim, check if yours is Italieri, rather than Italeri. They are the same company, but from what I remember, the original kit, issued by Italieri (before the name change!) was from the old ESCI moulds, and I believe the current kit is a re-tool. (hope this makes sense!!)

 

[A4K]

G'day Jim!

Just a trick of the light mate... same raised detail as yours.

Not too far off the original though: (DTM example, Munich. Close ups of own photo, taken 1999)

 

[Airframes]

Ah, so it is the same kit then, just different colour plastic.

 

[Capt. Vick]

Not Sure, will have to check. I remember mine not being as nice as yours...wah!

Terry are you serious that there are two Italeri's? Wild. When did this happen?

 

[Airframes]

They were/are the same company, but changed the spelling of the name a few years ago. Don't know why, maybe because the original spelling was awkward?

 

[meatloaf109]

Maybe a re-organization? I know that the quality of their kits has been inproving over the last few years. And the prices have been going up.

 

[Airframes]

Could be, and you're right about the prices. Their 'original' kits were all rather good, if perhaps not as 'refined' as some of 'today's' kits, and these still tend to be reasonably priced, whereas more recent releases are of even better quality, but in most cases with a correspondingly higher price tag.
Name changes of this nature, in the UK at least, sometimes occur when a company decides to go 'bust', and avoid paying out to creditors. They can then re-form the next day, registering as a Limited Company, with an almost identical name - maybe a letter missing here, or one added there - and then continue to trade as if nothing has happened!
I'm not suggesting this was the case with this company, but it might have been for some legal reasons, who knows?

 

[Rogi]

Maybe its just hard to pronounce the name correctly and they changed it to something more acceptable, its like the -ic in some names with the accent, its kind of like a ch, but it isn't pronounced ch but ch itself is the closest to the pronounciation in English.

 

[meatloaf109]

Could be, and you're right about the prices. Their 'original' kits were all rather good, if perhaps not as 'refined' as some of 'today's' kits, and these still tend to be reasonably priced, whereas more recent releases are of even better quality, but in most cases with a correspondingly higher price tag.
Name changes of this nature, in the UK at least, sometimes occur when a company decides to go 'bust', and avoid paying out to creditors. They can then re-form the next day, registering as a Limited Company, with an almost identical name - maybe a letter missing here, or one added there - and then continue to trade as if nothing has happened!
I'm not suggesting this was the case with this company, but it might have been for some legal reasons, who knows?

Exactaly! I have had a lot of experence with moving companies over the years, I was an owner/operator independant contractor truck driver for several of the major companies, some local agents would change names (not all) to get out of difficulties. It is a definite possibility!