Steve's 1/24 Heller (Airfix) Junkers JU87B Stuka

[HAWKERHUNTER]

Well lads this will be my offering to this group build. The tooling for this model dates back to 1975 but following a buyout of Airfix Heller became involved and released this particular model under their own brand in 1991. I have cleared this with Paul and as the model is made using the original Airfix tooling then I have been given the all clear to proceed.
At 1/24 scale this is going to be a big model. You will notice that the sprues are formed using two different colour/types of plastic. I have no idea why that is. Kit comes with some nice rubber tyres, 2 x pilots which I may have a bash at although I dont usually put pilots in my aircraft and a half decent set of decals that I will be using.
This kit has been through several sets of hands before landing in my stash. Think I paid about £20 for it many years ago. Many of the parts have dropped off some of the sprues as its been on its journey so fingers crossed that it is all there. So here are the obligatory box and sprue shots. The engine also looks very detailed so not sure how I will be displaying the model as it would be nice to be able to see the engine. Decisions decisions.






Hope you enjoy following along.

[scottie3158]

Steve,
Count me in mate I will follow with interest.

[HAWKERHUNTER]

nice to have you on board Paul

[PaulTRose]

Oh this will good!

[HAWKERHUNTER]

I hope its less bother than the 1/24 Airfix FW190. That was a real pain. But that was the purpose of this GB I believe to see if we could make something decent from these early tooling jobs.

[pjgtech]

Looks like a nice kit that. I have always wanted to do a Stuka, but never have. But I recently got an old one (Matchbox in 1:72 scale) in an auction haul, so will follow yours and hopefully pick up a few tips for mine maybe.... Good luck with it. 8-)

[HAWKERHUNTER]

Cheers Peter. Nice to see your getting involved in some of these GB.

[HAWKERHUNTER]

Just doing some research today to get me in the "Stuka" mood. I didn't realise how rare this plane is. Only 2 complete Stukas exist one in Chicago Museum of Science and Industry and the other at the RAF museum at Hendon. A third Stuka is apparently being restored to flying condition by the American Heritage Museum but that project is on hold. And thats it. The rest are just wrecks or pieces of aircraft.
This the one in Chicago (Not sure where the wheel/speed fairings are)

[Nicko]

Following along. That's going to be a BIG undertaking! I'm still glad I didn't pull the B29 or USS Forestal out of the loft though...

Nick

[Jim R]

Well Steve that's a challenge. We see few 1/24 scale aircraft and very few Stukas, considering what an icon aircraft it was. Should be interesting.

[HAWKERHUNTER]

This will be my third 1/24 Jim. I have done the Airfix Spitfire and the notorious Airfix FW190. Only problem is what to do with them once completed. Anyway, stick around, I think this GB will be alot of fun working with these old kits.

[Neil Merryweather]

ooh that's a monster!(she cried...)
I have the ME109 and Hurricane in the stash, as you say, where to put them when they are done?
I've resisted this time round as I need to stay focused on the D-Day build and they would take me far too long
shame

[colin m]

I do like the look of this. As it's 1:24, maybe you should have a head start. Neil has 24 parts to his Comet, how many has this beast got ?

[colin m]

We see few 1/24 scale aircraft

On that subject. We did a 1:24 scale group build possibly back in 2015.

[HAWKERHUNTER]

how many has this beast got ?

The part with the highest number on the plans is marked 343 but I have just done a count up of the parts on the sprues and got 320. Funnily enough the 1/24 Stuka currently available is advertised as 171 so it looks like they reduced the parts when they re tooled it in 2017.

[Valeron]

Nice looking kit. I'll be watching. good luck.

[flyjoe180]

Looking forward to seeing this monster built, Steve

[HAWKERHUNTER]

Make yourself comfortable Joe, could take a while

[Airborne01]

Made one of these back in the day - a .177 sorted that pile of c..p out! (And it was fun!!!)
Steve

[HAWKERHUNTER]

Any pit falls I need to know about Steve or should I ust miss out the middle bit and bin it now haha.

[Airborne01]

I was somewhat hasty and impatient then, I think you'll ace it mate!
Steve

[HAWKERHUNTER]

When you said that I thought it was going to be like the Airfix 1/24 FW190 where the engine was too big for the fuzz. I shall do my best with it Steve. Not long until start time now.