Junkers Ju 87 G
Dual Combo

Eduard, 1/144 scale

Reviewed by Mark Davies

Eduard’s MiG-15bis Profipack Edition is available online from Squadron.com

The infamous Ju 87 Stuka should need no introduction, but for a handy synopsis on its development and service history, check out Wikepedia by clicking here.

The Kit

The main sprues for two kits come in a side-opening box, and are enclosed in a resealable cellophane plastic bag, along with the canopies in a small plastic bag of their own. The instructions and decals are supplied in a zip-lock plastic bag; whilst as plain PE fret (with card stiffener) and pre-cut paint mask each come in their own small plastic bags. So all very thorough and well protected from a packaging point of view. Eduard offers the same Ju 87G as a single kit in boxing #4417.

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The instructions are a glossy colour printed booklet. They include a parts map and have very clear and easy to follow drawings. English is used throughout, although the usual “Attention” blurb is provided in several other languages too. Paint colours are cross-referenced to Gunze’s Aqueous and Mr. Color paint ranges (stocked and sold by Eduard on-line).  A copy of the instructions can be downloaded or opened as a PDF by clicking here.

The kit is straightforward kit with a conventional parts breakdown, and is well-engineered overall. Parts are fairly crisp with delicate recessed surface detail. There is a little flash in a couple of places, but can be easily dealt with in seconds. Assembly may prove a little fiddly in places; I find Junkers-style ailerons and flaps tricky enough in 1/72-scale, so expect a possible challenge with them on this tiny kit. There are also some small PE parts, which include tailplane struts, pitots, 37-mm cannon magazines, the rear defense twin machine-gun mount, and antenna mast.

No cockpit detail, or indeed cockpit, is provided; just a blanked off surface to which the canopy fits. In this scale it may not seem to matter a great deal to those of us who build in larger scales, but we would do well to remember that there are 1/144-scale builders who garnish their model cockpits with PE details; so they may be a lot less accepting. But 1/144-builders are a pretty resourceful lot, so I’m sure many will elect to carve out a cockpit create their own detail.

Marking Options

The kit provides three markings options, including of course Rudel’s aircraft. Paint call-outs include RLM codes. The paintings and markings guides are nicely done colour four-views.

The options are:

• Ju 87G-2, flown by Hans Ulrich Rudel, SG 2, Eastern front, 1944-45.

• Ju 87G-2, SG 2, Eastern front, 1944-45.

• Ju 87G-2, Versuchskommando für Panzerbekanpfung, 1943.

The decals look to be of superb quality, and comprehensive for the scale. Swastikas are included, as is a spinner stripe, which I should think will be challenge to apply. The paint mask caters for the wheel hubs and various yellow stripes applicable to the schemes offered. The canopy framing remains a challenge for the builder to solve!

Eduard has delivered a simple, if unavoidably fiddly, kit of this classic Stuka variant.

Surface detail is nice, but elsewhere detail is compromised because of the scale selected. This is perhaps most notable in the absence of a cockpit. I have seen examples of this kit built up on-line, and they look convincing representations. With this in mind, I am happy to recommend Eduard’s Ju 87G.

Thanks to Eduard for the sample

Review Text & Black Background Images Copyright © 2014 by Mark Davies
Page Created 8 July, 2014
Last updated 8 July, 2014

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