A Filthy Spat Plane!

[matrixone]

Most of my modelling time today was spent adding the extreme weathering on this Eastern Front Ju 87G Stuka, yes the actual plane WAS really that dirty!
This is Hans Ulrich Rudels Stuka and when he flew to an American base to surrender at the end of the war his a/c was covered with heavy exhaust stains and mud splattered on the rear fuselage and tail.













I need to slightly add a few scuff marks and paint chipping to finish the weathering on this model and then add the cannon and canopy and other small details and this one is finished! Maybe this next weekend I will have enough time to get it done and off my work table.


Matrixone

[Daryl J.]

That looks great!

Monogram kit?



Daryl J.

[matrixone]

Thanks Daryl!

Yes its the old Monogram 1/48 scale kit, its been in my stash for well over 25 years now and am glad I waited until now to build it otherwise I would never known just how dirty the full size machines were and thus never attempted to weather my model as much I have.


Matrixone

[Daryl J.]

Mmmuh pleasure.

The Monogram company as a whole had a knack for getting the shape of objects ever so correct didn't they and the Stuka is one of them IMHO.   One was ordered for Ye Olde Stash from Gordon Kwan two days ago as one's not been built by these hands since 1983.


Ropert and Evert give two thumbs up,
Daryl J.

[matrixone]

Thanks again Daryl,

The Ju 87G, Me 262, and the Do 335 are the best of the older Monogram kits of German a/c.
I still have the old Monogram Me 109E and Fw 190A kits in my stash but it might be a while before they get built.

Matrixone

[Mossie]

I'm sure Brian'll come round, there's always something about a dirty bird.... (probably only the Brits'll get that one)!

Nice weathering Matrix, it looks grubby, but not overdone.  Good work, looking forward to seeing it all done!

[upnorth]

Very nice weathering and building.

I never realised how much more attractive the open cockpit look makes the Stuka. Just stick on the front windscreen and she's perfect.  

[cthulhu77]

 yet another stunner!  I have to admit, I usually loathe stuka builds, mostly due to what they were built for...your build of a surrender bird is a great idea.

[Brian da Basher]

As the others may have already told you, nothing's too dirty for me, Matrixone! She looks fantastic! Those spats are always sexy () and you've really pulled off the mud spatters on the tail! Once you give this the "retro-photo" treatment, you'll have another one to fool the historians!

Junkers and Rudel give this Stuka a heap of Sierra Hotels!

Brian da Basher

[Maverick]

Sweet Stuka, Matrix

Always loved the late model birds.  Your weathering is in a word, superb!

A question, given that he flew Fw-190D-9s as his last mount, what was the story behind the -87D as a surrender aircraft?

Regards,

Mav

[GTX]

John,

I'm not certain, but I suspect he flew the Stuka at the end since it was the only/closest aircraft available to him - remember that the Russians had put a 100,000 ruble bounty on his head, payable dead or alive so he wouldn't want to be hanging around choosing the best aircraft.

Regards,

Greg

[BlackOps]

Nice   I envy your ability to get that perfectly aged paint look.  

[matrixone]

Thanks Mossie, upnorth, cthulhu77, Brian, Mav, and Greg!

Rudel did fly a Ju 87G to an American base when he and his entire unit surrendered, many of his pilots also flew the Ju 87G at that time.
Rudel ordered his pilots to ground loop their aircraft after landing...all but one of the Ju 87s did as they were ordered except one (which carried a female passenger).
There are three good photos of Rudels ground looped Stuka in some of the newer Stuka books recently released and my model is accurate except for one thing, the Wrk.N. on my model is incorrect. The weathering with the mud splatters and heavy exhaust stains are pretty close according to the available photos. I could not see any yellow Eastern Front markings on it so I left them off my model as well.

Rudel did have a Fw 190D-9 available to fly but only test flew it once, remember this guy had one of his legs shot off a few weeks before the end of the war and wanted to return to his unit ASAP so he chose to fly an aircraft that he could better handle with only one leg.
When he did surrender his amputated leg was still not fully healed and the stump was bleeding so he was treated by American doctors. I find it amazing he could have flown ANYTHING at all in the condition he was in let alone operational missions in the last days of the war! That guy was tough.


Matrixone

[GTX]

That guy was tough.

To say the least.  He also flew some 2,530 combat missions (a world record) and was the highest decorated German serviceman of WWII.  He was also somewhat famous for the number of times he was shot or forced down (some 32 times - several times behind enemy lines).  He was also wounded five times and rescued six stranded aircrew from enemy territory.  His exploits after the war - climbing the highest peak in the Americas, Aconcagua (6,962 meters (22,841 feet))as well as the second highest volcano on Earth three times, the Llullay-Yacu in the Argentine Andes (6,739 metres (22,109 feet)) - all with an artificial limb were also a feat.  A truly extraordinary individual!

Regards,

Greg

[Radish]

Great model, lovely finish...the late Ju-87s are one of my favourites, closely followed by the early Ju-87s.
Fabulous.