Czech Master Resin 1/72 Bucker Bu 131 B/D Jungmann
By Jim Schubert
History
Carl Clemens Bucker formed Bucker-Flugzeug G.m.b.H. in October 1933 at Johannisthal Flugplatz in the Berlin borough of Treptow specifically to build a two-place, 80 hp trainer for the newly created R.L.M. (Reichsluftfahrtministerium). That trainer was a simple, very conventional design with a welded steel tube fuselage truss and tail group with wooden wings, Save for the forward fuselage, the plane was fabric covered. It was powered by a Hirth 60 R, air-cooled, inverted, in-line, four-cylinder engine of 80 hp. The new trainer was named Jungmann (Young Man) and given the Bucker Model No. Bu 131A. In 1935 the Jungmann design was used as a starting point to create the single-seat Bu 133A Jungmeister (Young Champion).
The Bu 131A was superseded by the B series with the Hirth HM 504 of 105 hp giving a significant improvement in performance. The main visually discernable difference between the A and later models is the cowl bowl, which on the later models is separated from the cowl sides on a line sloping aft from the bottom rather than the A's near vertical separation line.
In addition to the Jungmanns built by Bucker in Germany they were also built under license in Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Spain and Japan. The total number built by all firms is unknown but must be between four and five thousand. The type was operated militarily by, at least, Germany, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Sweden, Brazil, Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Spain, Japan, Bulgaria, Roumania, Hungary, Netherlands East Indian Army, Italy and South Africa. Today only about 150 Jungmanns of al types and manufacture survive.
The Kit
Ten pages of instructional material inform us how to assemble, paint and mark this pretty little biplane and two more pages provide us with 12 reference photos. Thirty-three parts cleanly cast in a pale cream-colored polyurethane resin make up the bulk of the kit. Two clear cast resin windscreens and two more printed on clear plastic stock give you the choice of which you prefer. An Eduard pre-painted, photo-etched fret of 24 parts completes the parts count. The decal sheet provides markings for five different planes - two Luftwaffe, one Netherlands East Indies, one Italian and one Swiss.
There's nothing new that can be said of this kit; it is the typical high quality product consistently issued by CMR. My only complaint about this kit, and most other biplane kits, is that the manufacturers do not make installation of the top wing easy to do. Monogram, Hasegawa, and Accurate Miniatures have shown the way to do this. I'm certain the sales of biplanes would increase if the techniques of these three pioneers were universally adopted by all kit makers.
Conclusion
This is a fine example of Czech Master Resin's standard fare and a very good kit of a popular biplane.
References
- Profile 222, The Bucker Bu 131 Jungmann: L. F. Sarjeant, Profile Publications, UK.
- Flugzeug Profile No. 27, Bucker Bu 131 "Jungmann": Erwin Koenig, Flugzeug Publications, Germany.