Scale Aviation Modeller International 08.2018

frame itself mounts onto the central

lower wing section and forms a

very strong V-shaped assembly,

around which the wings are built.

The only additions I made to

the cockpit were some etched

harness and a colour etched control

panel from the remnants of an

Eduard detail set (which I found

amongst my spares and which was

originally intended for the ageing

Hasegawa kit). The multi-piece

panel was slightly smaller in

size than that provided by Airfix,

but it fit comfortably onto the

original once I had removed the

raised plastic detail. It required

re-painting, however, due to the

spurious blue-grey shade in which

it had been originally printed,

a common problem with early

Eduard colour etched sets.

For the main interior colour

I used Colourcoats RLM02. The

fuselage closed comfortably

around the assembled cockpit,

and the control panel assembly

(which also features the pedals

and clear bomb-aiming floor panel

housing) slipped neatly through

the open nose and into position as

per the instructions. A separate

firewall was added to complete the

fuselage and enclose all within.

CRANK IT UP

Optional wing-mounted gun bays

are included, which require that

the integrally-moulded access

panels in the single-piece upper

wing halves be removed. The rigid

V-shaped box frame, mentioned

above, forms the walls of the gun

bays, and to this the two outer

lower wing sections are cemented.

A combination gun mount

and ammunition container, and

a separately-moulded machine

gun breech are provided for

both bays. However, these are

simplistically rendered, so I made

the decision to leave the upper

wings intact and the bays closed up.

A transparency is provided

to replicate the leading edge

mounted landing light, which

benefitted from an application

of Alclad Chrome on its inner

surface before being enclosed

within the port wing. (Locating

holes positioned midway along

the lower wing sections need to

be opened prior to wing assembly

if it is your intention to add the

underslung bombs or fuel tanks).

I found the representations

of the wing-mounted 250 kg

bombs a little crude, so I replaced

with items with more delicate

fins from the spares box. This

required that the bomb hangers

be modified by sanding the crude

diamond-shaped originals into

curved cradles to straddle the

four replacement bombs.

The protruding wing gun

housings are moulded separately

and feature barrels with hollowed

out ends, which is always a welcome

touch. But care must be taken if

attaching them after the wings have

been assembled, as they are easily

dropped inside. This happened to

one of mine; I managed to shake it

back out again, but in hindsight,

attaching them prior to assembly

might have been a wise precaution.

To complete the airframe, the

separately-moulded rudder was

added at a slight angle, as was the

tail wheel. A choice of tail wheels

is provided, one with a dust boot

and one without. The instructions

recommend fitting the latter, but

photographs of S1+GK suggested

otherwise, so I used the alternative.

The tailplanes proved to be a

sloppy fit and I found it necessary

to broaden the mounting lugs

with strips of plastic card. The

tailplanes were then cemented in

place, with the separately moulded

ailerons posed at an inclined

angle, but I Ieft off the supporting

struts and added them later.

UNDER PRESSURE

Weighted tyres are thankfully

becoming more common in aircraft

models these days, an innovation

that was in part influenced by

Airfix. Their Stuka, as with all of

their more recent releases, features

flattened tyres and a clever system

within the undercarriage housings

by which the wheels can be locked

into the correct position for a

sitting or an in-flight model.

If the model is to be displayed

“THIS KIT HAS NO MAJOR PROBLEMS

AND THE COMPLETED MODEL

LOOKS EVERY INCH A STUKA”

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