Junkers Ju87M, Carrier "Graf Zeppelin", December 1943

[nönöbär]

Junkers Ju87M, Carrier "Graf Zeppelin", December 1943.

The Plane:

There is not much to say about the Junkers Ju 87 in general, but the rather unknown naval variation Ju87M is worth to take a look at.

When the "Graf Zeppelin" was put into service in 1942 (see http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,37705.0.html), the Ju87M was the primary dive bomber used on the ship.
Although it proved to be vulnerable against fighter aircraft during the Battle of Britain in 1940, the lack of alternatives required to use the "Stuka" on the carrier.
At the start of the carrier project, the Ju87C which was based on the Ju87B was developed. When the carrier came close to construction, several of the modifications based on the Ju87C were taken and integrated into the more modern Ju87D - now called Ju87M.
Being very similar to the Ju87D, the "Seestuka" had fold-able wings, arrestor hook and a drop-able landing gear for emergency landings on sea.

The Ju87M was very successful in its operation against allied convoys, but suffered some losses when allied escort carriers were nearby. However, the good accuracy during the dive attacks caused the sinking of several allied warships and many merchant ship.
The biggest success was the sinking of the British battleship Duke of York in December 1943 in a combined attack with FW190T torpedo bombers.

A total of 120 Ju87M were build, about 60% of them were lost in action or during normal flight accidents. When operating in the Baltic Sea form early 1944 on, the Ju87M were completely replaced by FW190T torpedo bombers, while the remaining Ju87M were used for ground attacks from land bases.

The Model shows a Ju87M on the "Graf Zeppelin" in Norwegian waters in December 1943.










Collection of German carrier aircraft of WW2:





The Model:

The model is made from  a 1/72 scale Revell kit. It is build OOB, the only enhancement was the arrestor hook made form parts of the spare parts box. Painted with Revell Aqua Color, the orinal decals pluse some of the spare part box were used. Antenna was made with EZ-Line.

[NARSES2]

Works for me, I like that scheme 

[Librarian]

Just can't help liking the Stuka, and very nice in that splinter scheme. I don't recognise the biplane tho...is it real or a whif? Nice lines from what I can see

[nönöbär]

Just can't help liking the Stuka, and very nice in that splinter scheme. I don't recognise the biplane tho...is it real or a whif? Nice lines from what I can see

Thx
The biplane is a Fiesler Fi-167. It was the planned torpedo bomber for the Graf Zeppelin, and a few of them were even build in the real world. More about the model is here: http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,42110.0.html

[Captain Canada]

Great stuff. Love the colours on her. Makes me want to build a Sea Stuka.

[DogfighterZen]

Works for me, I like that scheme 

Me too, very nice work on all 4.

[Librarian]

Just can't help liking the Stuka, and very nice in that splinter scheme. I don't recognise the biplane tho...is it real or a whif? Nice lines from what I can see

Thx
The biplane is a Fiesler Fi-167. It was the planned torpedo bomber for the Graf Zeppelin, and a few of them were even build in the real world. More about the model is here: http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,42110.0.html

Thanks for the link . Completely new plane to me....almost a HS123 with an inline engine....hmmm

[NARSES2]

There's at least one injected kit of the Fi-167 out there in 1/72 by Pavla. Possibly others

[nönöbär]

There's at least one injected kit of the Fi-167 out there in 1/72 by Pavla. Possibly others

The one I build was the Pavla kit.

[PR19_Kit]

Did HUMA do one? They were well into odd-ball Luftwaffe stuff.

[Glenn Gilbertson]

I like that Stuka camouflage - and the Graf Zeppelin group.