Welsh Models 1/144 Junkers Ju52 3/m
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Overview
Welsh Models has a good reputation for making good vac form kits. I
have personally built a SAAB 340 and also have a Boeing 737 and a MD-80
going so when Eduard never released the promised civilian version of their
1/144 Junkers Ju52 I had no hesitation to get the Welsh kit instead.
The Kit
Just as my previous three Welsh kits the Junkers has a vac formed fuselage
and injection moulded wings. It also has various parts made from white
metal. It has both the long and the short cowls for the fuselage engine.
It also contains plain wheels and a set with wheel pants mounted.
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The corrugation is very fine and have two different sizes. The finer
one is even smaller than the corrugation on the VLE Ford Trimotor (see
the July 2007 issue of Internet Modeler) and that is something that I
didn't expect. But there is no corrugation on the underside of the fuselage.
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The plane is of a true passenger version which means that it does not
have the large cargo door with windows on the right side. There is a clear
vac formed canopy for the cock-pit but there is no interior included,
just two bulkheads and a floor. The fin and stabilisator are also injection
moulded.
 Decals
are provided for two machines. One Lufthansa: D-AVUP and one British Airways:
G-AERU. As a Swede this last machine is of special interest for me. The
Swedish airline ABA (AB Aerotransport) bought Ju 52's in the 1930´s.
One was used between 1935 and 1937 with the registration SE-AER it was
named 'Västmanland'. 1937 it was sold to British Airways as G-AERU
and named 'Juno', where it was used on the Night Mail Route London-Stockholm.
In 1941 it was sold to Sabena who used it in Congo before it was scrapped.
 Looking
at a picture of G-AERU I see something that could be a small problem.
It should have a door on the left side of the cabin behind the cockpit
just like the one on the right side on the kit, and there is also a door
missing to the luggage compartement at the rear. This plane should have
three blade propellers but there are only two blade propellers in the
kit.
Conclusion
The Junkers 52 is a very interesting plane really, sometimes I almost
think that there wasn't two planes built that looked the same. I am building
four planes in 1/72 scale and none of them has the same door/window configuration
so I will not say that the Welsh kit is wrong.
Besides from those small remarks it is a nice looking kit and I think
it would be easier building this than demilitarize the Eduard kit.
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