The Peter Buckingham Column Part 7
IN PURSUIT OF PERFECTION - Part 7
I was now in month ten of my learning curve. The last two models I had completed - the 1/72 Revell Lancaster Mk I/III and 1/72 Tamiya Chance Vought Corsair F4U-1D - had reasonable finishes, the latter being particularly pleasing as I had sprayed enamel paint for the first time.
I felt the need to attack at least one more model before completing my ‘apprenticeship’ by building the treasured Tamiya 1/48 Fieseler Storch, the model responsible for introducing me to plastic modelling. My main interest is aircraft from WWII and, in particular, Luftwaffe variants. Aircraft which look ‘like they have bits hanging off ’ are a favourite, hence the ugly/beautiful Storch and the Junkers Ju 52 tri-motor with corrugated aluminium skin. Character!
Graham kindly supplied the kit. Some Ju 52’s based in Crete c.1941 were involved in troop glider towing so I purchased a Huma 1/72 kit of the DFS 230 glider to keep it company. I suppose you could call it a ‘What if?’ scenario. The excellent reference book by Morten Jessen, “ Junkers Ju 52 - Luftwaffe’s Workhorse”, contains pictures of the Ju52/DFS 230 combination.
Both kits went together well with just a tad of filler on the wing roots and, as the Ju 52 undercarriage was just butt jointed, I drilled the undercarriage legs and the fuselage for thin gauge copper wire reinforcement and epoxy resin glue for strength. Both models were masked for splinter camouflage in RLM 63/71/73/65. Although in some photographs the Ju 52 appears to be in a brown camouflage scheme, this is due to the lighting conditions and it is actually as shown in the photographs below. Strange!
The enamels went on perfectly - thin coats - and no capillary escape under the masking tape. My concerns about decals on corrugations however were justified, and although I had the help of Micro Sol and Mr Mark Softer, some parts of the decals refused to sink into the corrugations satisfactorily. It was a big ask, but the results were acceptable.
Overall, I was pleased with the result of the Ju 52 and the DFS 230 - they look good together.
Do you know what? I could be ready to start the Fieseler Storch. Watch this space.
More next week.
Peter Buckingham.
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