Classic Plane 1/72 Junkers Ju 60
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A Brief History
The Ju 60 was Junkers initial response to the challenge of new, higher
speed transport designs in the early 1930s, such as the Lockheed Orion.
The airplane featured a crew of 2 in a tandem arrangement and a 6 seat
cabin of oval cross-section. Smooth duralumin skin was used over much
of the fuselage and wing root area. Traditional corrugated skin was used
on the outboard wing, fixed tailplane surfaces, elevators, and rudder.
Both Junkers and Heinkel sought to meet Deutsche Luft Hansa’s
(DLH) requirement for a design to exceed the performance of Swissair’s
Orions. Heinkel’s efforts led to the development of the fast and
elegant He 70. The Ju 60 was not as successful, and was significantly
slower than predicted. It was superceded quickly by the more refined Ju
160, which, among other improvements, eliminated all corrugation in favor
of smooth skin sections.
The single Ju 60 that is positively documented in photos was registration
D-2400, christened “Pfeil” (or “Arrow”). It appears
to have been the 2nd Ju 60 airframe, based on records of an earlier prototype
with fixed landing gear. D-2400 was re-registered as D-UPAL and served
with DLH on eastern European passenger routes in 1934. It connected several
major German cities during 1935-36, before apparently being destroyed
in 1936.
The Ju 60 was a transitional form in the evolution of Junkers transports.
Although not successful in its own right, it paved the way for more advanced
designs such as the Ju 160 and Ju 90. It has the distinction of being
first Junkers commercial airplane to incorporate retractable landing gear,
and the final Junkers design to make use of the signature corrugated skin.
The Kit
Ludemann/Classic Plane is a small hobby operation based out of the Modellbaustudio
Rhein-Ruhr shop in Essen, Germany. They offer an extensive line of resin,
vacform, and conversion kits, many of which can be found nowhere else
in kit form. The kits are rather hard to find but are occasionally stocked
by the AviationMegastore in the Netherlands and Hannants in the UK.
The Classic Plan Ju 60 comes in an end-opening box, not quite pre-crushed
but definitely pre-pre-crushed. The box art is a simple but pleasing line
profile drawing.
The instructions cannot really be called such, consisting of 2 sheets
with a frontal and plan view, and 3 very contrasty photos. German text
provides a brief history of the type, and oddly, a brief paragraph with
color references is provided in both German and English.
The kit is all tan colored resin, and there are 2 plugs to which all
the “fiddly bit” small parts are attached. Without instructions,
it is a bit of a challenge to identify all of these parts, but most of
them appear to be control surface balance horns and landing gear components.
Many of these parts, as well as the 3-bladed propeller, were damaged in
my kit. This state of affairs is my biggest disappointment with the kit,
particularly considering the price.
The larger castings are generally of good quality. The smooth fuselage
sections and inboard wing are well done, with fine raised panel lines
delicately rendered in scale. However, the make or break aspect of a subject
such as this is the manner in which the corrugated surfaces are done.
The corrugated surfaces here (outboard wing and all tail surfaces) are
generally crisp and well defined, above average for a limited run kit.
The major shortcoming from an accuracy standpoint is that the prototype
had subtle and not-so-subtle variations in corrugation “pitch”
on the inner and outer parts of the outboard wing, as well as the tail
surfaces. The kit renders the wing corrugations uniform across the span,
a very difficult thing to correct if important to you. I would be inclined
to “suggest” the inner/outer wing corrugation differences
with a very subtle shift of color, something you can get away with in
1/72. The vertical tail surface corrugations appear to be a finer pitch
on the kit than that of the horizontal tail, which looks like a difference
that does not exist on the prototype – but, I wouldn’t sweat
it in 1/72.
Cleanup of the leading and trailing edges will be a little challenging,
as is always the case with corrugated wings, whether done in resin or
mass-produced injected styrene.
The cockpit and cabin are molded as a single unit. The passenger cabin
section is quite nicely done, and has 5 forward facing seats, 3 upright
and 2 folded. There is also a double seat facing aft from the cockpit
bulkhead. The cockpit is rather crude, and consists of the pilot seat
and a side facing radio operator seat. The pilot seat in my kit was deformed,
and the rest of the cockpit area needs extensive cleanup, and probably
scratchbuilt controls and doo-dads.
The cowl comes cast as a single unit with the BMW Hornet engine. You
could get away with basic cleanup of the engine and otherwise use as is,
but sticklers will want to remove the engine stock and replace with something
more detailed.
The kit comes with what appear to be ALPS-printed decals for D-2400, including
the white “PFEIL” and 2-line “LUFT-HANSA” stencils.
Options for both Weimar and Nazi flag banners are included for the tail
- I for one always appreciate mid-1930s German subjects that can be modeled
without the crooked cross.
Conclusion
This is not a “shake & bake” kit of the Tamiya variety
by any means, and the unwary purchaser will be disappointed for the going
price of about 25 Euros (approx 32 USD). Sorting out the purpose of the
various small parts, and/or fabricating new or replacement bits will be
a bit of work. Cleanup of some of the resin castings will also require
above average effort. But if you, like me, are cursed by interest in civil
aircraft from between the wars, you know not to wait for Tamiya or other
major manufacturers to tackle these subjects. If this genre is your passion,
I suspect you will find this kit a decent starting point and ultimately
rewarding. This kit is well down on my ever-changing list of building
priorities, but whenever I do tackle it, you will be sure to see a review.
I purchased my kit through the AviationMegastore
/ Luchtvaart Hobby Shop near Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The manager of this shop, Mr. Erwin Stam, tries very hard to stock these
difficult-to-find kits and his efforts are most appreciated. Herr Ludemann
in Essen is also to be commended for making subjects such as this available
in kit form.
References
1. Stroud, John, European Transport Aircraft Since 1910, Putnam, 1966.
2. Stroud, John, Aeroplane Monthly magazine, “Wings of Peace”
feature, February 1988
3. Kay, Anthony, Junkers Aircraft and Engines, 1913-1945, Putnam,
2004
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