Eduard 1/144 Junkers Ju 87D& Ju 87R By Matt Bittner (with thanks to Chris Banyai-Riepl)

Overview

Developed as a dive-bomber and used to great effect during the Spanish Civil War and the Polish campaign, the Junkers Ju 87 soon became outclassed in the skies over Europe. Although obsolete in the face of more modern designs, the Ju 87 soldiered on until the last days of the war. As there are many books and websites out there that cover the history of the Ju 87 in detail, I will recommend the reader to check their library or do a Google search.

The Kits

Eduard has released a few 1/144 kits in the past, but with their 1/144 Ju 52s they really set the mark high. These new Ju 87s continue that line, with fine detailing and simple assembly. Both kits come with brown plastic parts, a clear canopy, a small fret of photoetch, and a small section of vinyl masking, plus a decal sheet with multiple options.

Starting with the interior, the resin cockpit really looks great, and the photoetch instrument panel is top-notch. Oops, sorry, got stuck in a rut there. There is no cockpit, as the interior is blanked off. In this small scale that is understandable, and once painted black and the canopy set on, there really is not much that is visible anyway. For those who have nothing better to do, though, you could open up the cockpit and put something in.

Since there is no interior, these models quickly become an afternoon of assembly, tops. The fuselage is split into right and left halves, while the wings are one-piece right and left halves. In a few minutes you will have the majority of the airframe assembled. An initial test-fit shows that there are some small gaps between the wings and fuselage, but these are restricted to the undersides and should be easy to fill. The tailplanes have separate endcaps and photoetch struts.

Other details in the kits include separate ailerons and flaps, a separate tailwheel, photoetch dive brakes, and one-piece landing gear. The propeller is made up of separate blades that fit into the hub. Finally, there is a photoetch gun and radio mast. The differences between the Ju 87D and Ju 87R are mainly with the external ordnance. Both come with a center-line bomb, but the Ju 87R comes with external fuel tanks for the racks on the underside, outer wings.

The decal options for the Ju 87D include three aircraft. The first is a Ju 87D of 1.Staffel, I Gruppe/ Schlachtgeschwader 3 on the Eastern Front, 1944. The second machine is a Ju 87D of 3.Staffel, I Gruppe/ Schlachtegeschwader 3 on the Gambut/Libya front, 1942. Finally, the third machine is a Ju-87D of 6.Staffel, I Gruppe/Schlachtegeschwader 3 on the North Africa front, 1942.

For the Ju 87R there are also three decal options, but none of them are listed as to unit. The first is the machine from the box, and is one of the best known Stukas around with the snake emblem down the entire fuselage sides. The second is a "typical" black/green and green splinter scheme, "T6+D". Finally, the third Ju 87R is another "typical" splinter scheme, "5+JH".

Conclusion

These are excellent little kits that will make a great attention getter when parked in front of your Airfix 1/24 Ju 87. Or if you are just looking for a quick build as a break between your next pair of in-depth projects, these might just fit the bill.

To see how these kits build up, check out the build article in this month's issue, by Ernst Thomas.

Our thanks to Eduard for the review sample.