Time for another update.
First, thanks to everyone concerning your kind comments about the scratch-building on the cockpit. It’s not deserved, but thanks all the same! [:)]
Joe (lawdog)> Once again your finish and techniques are second to none. That’s going to be one heck of a Stuka!
Bish> Great work on that A2 and the figures! You just keep getting better and better at these dioramas.
mustang1989> I think I see you cut the grooves in the bomb attachments so the fins would fit. Nice work! And I wish I could find a cabinet like that! Score!
Tom68> Nice start on your first GB! That Monogram Stuka really can be built into a nice kit. Well done!
As for me, work continues on my Hobby-Gram Stuka. Yes, just to correct a few of you, this is a Hobby-Craft Stuka, and not a Monogram. They’re the same kit, just a re-box apparently.
First, once the cockpit was complete, I decided to add the “peil direction finder” just behind it. I used an x-acto knife and some round files to cut and file out a hole. Then, cutting a round piece from some plastic card, I attached a piece of a round toothpick covered in metallic duct tape and painted it. Not too bad.
I then glued in the cockpit tub, the IP and the front grill. Finally got a shot of the rear gunner’s station and the radios. [:)]
There were some panels on the outside part of the wings that shouldn’t be there so I filed them off, then glued the upper wings to the bottom half. No problems there.
The propeller hub was a bit “blunt” on this model, so I applied some putty and filed and sanded her into a more correct and pointy shape. Still working on that.
With everything in place, I tried some test fitting. Really nice! This is not glued together, only pressed together. The fuselage is held together by the front grill, which fits like a glove. There is a gap at the rear of the fuselage, but it presses together without a seam and once glued it will not need any filler. The wings and rear horizontal stabilizer fit so well, I won’t need putty for the joints, just on the bottom where there are gaps at front and back, but nothing serious.
And that’s it for now. I need to finish up the prop so I can install it and glue the fuselage halves together, then the wings and tail on. Then I can put a clear plastic cover on the Peil unit and finish it for painting.
On a following note: When I first started this kit, I had heard it was a poor kit, so bad one modeler threw it away. I expected a nightmare, but so far I’ve been pleasantly surprised! The fit on these parts is excellant, far better than some of the kits I’ve worked on recently. I will say, that if I run across another of these Hobby-Craft Stuka G-1s at a flea market someone is selling for $5, I will not hesitate to snap it up. It’s just the old Monogram Stuka, and I don’t consider it a bad kit (even though it’s not quite to scale and is sparse on detail). Just MHO.
Thanks for reading!
Gary
