Junkers Ju-87B-2 Hungarian Eagles

 

This project is centered around a specific Hungarian Stuka, 'B.6+02'.

It first started while looking through one of my go-to reference guides 'Warpaint Series No.3 Junkers Ju 87 Stuka', which had a very unusual looking Hungarian bird. The plane at the top is a snippet that I copied from that book.

I then browsed through a copy of 'Hungarian Eagles - The Hungarian Air Forces 1920-1945' and sure enough, I found the very same Stuka, with the same camouflage style but in different colors. This is the second plane in the image.

Looking further, this time on the internet, I came across this same plane but with an entirely different camouflage pattern and color scheme. These were sourced from a decal sheet made by Hannants (3rd plane) and HADModels (4th plane).

Which one of these is correct? Well, I had no idea but I liked the look of each camo pattern enough to want to do a representation of both. I decided to give nicknames to each style. The first I called 'Jasionka', which is referenced in Hungarian Eagles. The second is 'Veszpren' which is referenced by the two decal sheets. 

More images of the 'Jasionka' plane. I don't think Jasionka is actually a place in Russia though. I can't find any place in that country that goes by that name. It sounds more like a Polish name. 

I eventually came across an actual image of B.6+02. It appears that Hungarian Eagles probably got it right although it's also possible that the plane received a new paint job at some point. Due to the poor image quality, I can't tell if the camo is supposed to have a hard edge or a soft one. Because I liked the look of the hard edged camo depicted in the previous images, I decided that was what I was going to go for. 

The cockpit is very spartan. I bought an Airwaves photoetch set meant for this specific kit but I shouldn't have bothered. 

There's a lot of empty space on the rear gunner's side. You could probably install a toilet back there.

As stated previously, I shouldn't have bothered with the aftermarket PE. There's still a lot of missing components to this cockpit such as the detailing on the cockpit walls and the radio. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find a more comprehensive aftermarket set at the time so I worked with what amounted to a minor upgrade. 

I don't have too much to say about the build itself. This is a very old kit (older than me, even), but the fit is good. I still had to do some filling, sanding, and re-scribing though.

Unlike the cockpit, the exterior is very detailed.

I did some pre-shading with an airbrush but decided to disregard it later. 

I actually made a mistake here. There's supposed to be a panel line that goes across the underside, just above where the aileron flaps end. This is still slightly present in the plane on the right but has almost been entirely deleted from the one on the left.

I used RLM04 for the wingtips and the tail band (masked off in this image) and sprayed the left plane (Jasionka) with RLM76 and used RLM65 for the right plane (Veszpren). Both colors are extremely similar and unless I was purposely looking for it, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

I don't believe B.6+02 was ever armed, but I decided that I wanted 'Jasionka' to carry a payload. 'Veszpren' was explicitly stated to have not been armed so I didn't install anything other than the dive breaks. 

As I mentioned in the previous image, I made a mistake with one of the panel lines on the underside of the plane. The panel line in question is not present in the diagram provided by Fujimi. I should have checked my references here as I would have saved a lot of time (and swearing) by not trying to outright delete something that's supposed to be present. 

'Jasionka' was given a base coat of RLM71 while 'Veszpren' was given RLM63. 

Veszpren. RLM62 and RLM61 where added. To do the masking, I just did it the normal way with strips of tape cut into wavy shapes. 

'Jasionka's' paint job did not go as smoothly. Twice in a row I had issues with tape lifting off the paint, even after letting things settle for a day or so. I use water-based acrylics which are known to dry fast too. 

Upon closer inspection, I figured out the problem; the primer had somehow failed to 'bite' into the plastic in one area. I did not wash the sprues or the model prior to painting so I suspect that there was either oil from my hands or some sort of mold release agent on the affected area. 

I also had some paint leak through the masked off areas on the underside. 

Sure enough, the issue was indeed something that had interfered with the primer. This can be seen in two areas. The first is on the air intake which has bare plastic exposed and the second is just above it, where even after respraying, the area is recessed and not level with the rest of the surface. 

I went back and fixed the overspray/leak that occurred earlier. 

Dry-fitting the landing gears. The Fujimi kit has pre-molded sirens which had to be removed and sanded down.  

Both planes are done. For the decals, I used Xtradecal X72223 by Hannants, which also happened to be one of my references. The decals are very good. They have a sensible amount of carrier film, are robust and can withstand a good amount of manipulation, yet still work well with Micro Set and Micro Sol.

I did use a few of the Fujimi decals that weren't covered by the aftermarket provided by Hannants. They looked like they had already yellowed but were totally useable. They were good enough that I decided to save the left overs in case I ever wanted to do another StG2 plane.

I painted in the lights that are located on the wing tips with a crystal red and crystal blue color. However I did not color in the landing light on one of the wings. Most modern kits provide the landing light as a separate clear piece that slots into one of the wings, but the Fujimi kit just has a panel line cutout. I could paint it silver but I feel like it wouldn't look right.

I don't do a lot of weathering for aircraft. Just a pinwash sealed with a matte varnish. 

Veszpren. 

Jasionka. 

The tri-color decals on the tail rudder bothers me a bit. I might touch it up with matching paint colors at a later time. 

Jasionka. 

Jasionka. 

Jasionka. 

Jasionka. 

Jasionka. 

Jasionka. 

Jasionka. 

Jasionka. 

Veszpren. 

Veszpren. 

Veszpren. 

Veszpren. 

Veszpren. 

Veszpren. 

Veszpren. 

Veszpren.

If you've actually come this far, I'd like to say that I don't recommend this kit.

It's not bad, given it's age but if you want something more detailed, the more recent Airfix Ju 87B1 and B/R kits are more detailed and accurate.

If you're interested in a G-Series Stuka with the 37mm autocannons, the Academy kit is a mainstay.

Or if you want to build one of the D-Series Stukas, go with the Special Hobby/Academy kits. Their Axis Satellites release has become a favorite of mines, but the Stuka Experten and Night Attack Stukas releases also look really good.

For the Fujimi kit, you'll need a comprehensive set of aftermarket or be wiling to scratch build missing components to give some life to the cockpit. Although to be fair, it's not like there's a whole lot to see once the canopy is on.