![]() The narrow white band around the fuselage was an additional marking for aircraft flown by the Stab. I like how it turned out, but the decals crumbled and left me with only enough to do half the aircraft! The fuselage and left wing iron crosses had to be hand-painted.Luftwaffe Aviation Art - Color profiles by Simon SchatzĪ5+BB, flown by Stab of I./St.G.1 in Poland, autumn 1939. The commander of StG 2 was the infamous Hans-Ulrich Rudel-the Luftwaffe's primary tank killer, with 519 known tank kills. It is shown in standard Luftwaffe summer "splinter" camouflage of two shades of green over blue-gray, with yellow fuselage stripe and wingtips for Eastern Front units it's meant to be a Stuka belonging to Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 (StG 2). The kit went together easily and makes a nice little addition to my 1/144 scale collection. ![]() Though I already have a Ju 87R, I wanted to build a "tankbuster" Stuka. Of the 6500 Stukas produced during World War II, only a few survived the war, and only two are intact five other wrecks are being restored to display condition.īattlefront Minatures, who makes the great Flames of War miniatures game, has a Ju 87G-2 in 1/144 scale. Hans-Ulrich Rudel, the most decorated German of the war, destroyed over 500 tanks (and over 1500 other vehicles) in a Ju 87G. The Ju 87G variant gave the Stuka a new lease on life: armed with two 37mm cannon under the wings, G-models wreaked havoc on Soviet armor. Though its slow speed and obsolescence made it a candidate for replacement by faster Fw 190F fighter-bombers and heavily armored Henschel Hs 129s, the Stuka's superb handling and familiarity kept it in service-though it only operated where the likelihood of Allied fighters was minimal, or with a strong escort. It would be during the Battle of Britain, however, that the Ju 87 finally met its match: designed to operate where the Luftwaffe had air superiority, its slow speed made it a deathtrap against British fighters. The Stuka seemed invincible, and proved it over Poland, Norway, the Low Countries and France. Its pinpoint accuracy made it a valuable weapon, but its howling dives induced terror against Germany's enemies. Its appearance was likened to that of a vulture, while wind-driven sirens were fitted to the landing gear to make a chilling howl when it dived. A rear gunner was provided to give the Ju 87 some protection from the rear, though guns were added to fire forward as well.Īfter the outbreak of World War II, the Stuka became a feared symbol of the Nazi advance. It was fitted with an advanced (for its time) flight computer, which would automatically pull the Stuka out of a dive when and if the pilot blacked out-a common occurrence in an aircraft designed to make 90 degree dives on its targets. The gull wings were to give the pilot good visibility and provide for a shorter landing gear, while the fixed landing gear was to save weight and cost. Though it went through a number of design changes and accidents, the Stuka, as the Ju 87 became known, was a solid, tough design. ![]() ![]() Udet was fascinated by the concept of dive bombers (after watching Curtiss Shrikes in the United States), and wanted the nascent Luftwaffe to have them. The Junkers Ju 87 Stuka (a contraction of Sturzkampfflugzeug, or dive bomber) was the result of collaboration between one of Germany's foremost aircraft designers, Hermann Pohlmann, and the first chief of staff of the Luftwaffe, Ernst Udet. ![]()
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