My latest is a classic Revell big-scale kit, the Stuka.
This is another fantastic piece of artwork adorning these old Revell boxes (but as good as it is, this one is probably only my third favorite behind their P-40E Flying Tiger and Spitfire Mk. I).
My copy of the kit was an original release, yet surprisingly there was a good bit of flash on various parts. But fit was pretty good. I acquired the kit from a seller on eBay about a decade ago. It was missing the radio set for the rear gunner’s compartment (which also included the framework that separates the pilot’s compartment from the gunner’s). I considered scratch-building those parts, but in the end, I didn’t figure its absence would be very visible given that I planned to build the Stuka with the canopy fully closed.
This was not a completely OOB build, as the kit decals looked suspicious as to whether they would survive water, so I bought an EagleCal decal sheet that includes the famous snake as on Revell’s box art. I also ended up getting the Aires resin tires for a later Stuka variant, but they worked just fine for this kit (other than the tail wheel appears much larger than the kit part and didn’t fit particularly well in the strut housing). The main kit tires were hot garbage.
Most paint is from Vallejo - RLM02 for the interior, RLM65 for the underside, and RLM79 and RLM 72 for the upper surfaces. The tires are RLM66 and the prop blades are RLM70. Weathering starts with thinned black for the exhaust stains, and a panel line wash of MIG neutral wash. I also tried a couple of new products (new for me, at least) from AK Interactive - exhaust wash and engine oil. First time trying these, so I’m not real happy with my work using them, but I’ll keep using them to get better with them.
Photos:
This was a stress-free build, which I needed after spending the entire summer months on the Republic Star Destroyer (drilling many, many tiny holes and running lots of fiber optic lighting). Took me about a month to complete, which was probably about 5 days spread over the last month. Next up I am doing a dual-build of old Hobby Craft kits, both in 48th scale - P-26C Peashooter and Seversky P-35A.
Now thats a nice lking Stuka. Doesn’t sound like you had to many issues. I have been thinking about getting this kit rather than the trump one due to the shape issues on the newer kit. I might have to see if i can find one, it certainly builds into a nice kit.
Yes, I know what you mean about that classic artwork from the 1960s! A good modeling friend/memtor passed this kit down to me a couple of years ago. It was partially started but he’s a master-class builder so it definitely was a big plus for me. I haved two or three later reboxings of this kit but ever since I was a kid I’ve loved this original boxing. How did the decals lay down? Your Stuka turned out great!
I’ve got the second release of the 1/32 P-38 and it’s been waiting for me to sand down all of the putty that’s filled the rediculous amount of gaps that kit has.
So to hear that this kit was reletively trouble free is awesome. I’d love to grab up this kit and have it up with my eventually finished Lightning.
Personally, I love your finish on this build. That thing pleases me for all the right reasons lol.
Very nice job, Aggieman - that’s a good-looking Stuka. In the 70s, a kid a couple of streets from me got one of these, I was green with envy. Happy days![:)]
Neat, Stephen! I have the same kit which I bought when I was in Silver Hill Maryland when I was travelling there in the 80’s but it’s the 1984 issue with the snake but the box art is awful.
This was the first 1/32 scale kit I ever had…a Christmas gift from my older brother, 1970…and as such it brings me great joy any time I see one built.
But even without all that nostalgia guff, yours is simply gorgeous. Hope you had as much fun building it as we do looking at it! [:D]
BTW, since you mentioned the stunning box art…
…Most of those ‘classic’ Revell box art illustrations were by a fantastic artist named Jack Leynnwood. It’s a name too few people know…but as a dedicated fan, I think more people should. If you’re at all interested, there’s a great piece on him on the ‘Old Model Kits’ blog:
Thanks so much for posting that link to Mr. Leynwood’s work. Some of those box top illustrations brought back a ton of memories from when I was a kid. Those illustrations made it so difficult to choose a kit from the shelves at F.W. Woolworths when my parents said that I could get a model kit. We, as modelers in 2021, have so much to be thankful for, kit quality and detail, selection choices, after-market etc., but sometimes I truly miss that excitement that I experienced as a kid making a selection from a shelf packed with model kits.
My all-time favorite of his box-art…his painting of Don Gentile’s ‘Shangri-La’ for the company’s P-51B kit…literally embodies the excitement as a kid that made me want to build models at a visceral level. So close you could touch it…so real you can hear the growl of the roaring Merlin engine.
“Mom…I want to build that!”
(With apologies to Aggieman for wandering slightly off-topic…[:$])
The kit decals looked too iffy, so I replaced them with a much more recent set for EagleCal. No issues getting them to adhere, even over all the riveting that Revell put all over the wings and fuselage (and not that I know for certain, having never seen a Stuka up close - saw one in the Chicago Museum of Technology but could not get close to it given that it hands from the ceiling, but I suspect the real Stuka does not have all those rivets as the model suggests). Just a little decal setting solution, although I do notice a bit of silvering on one of the squadron codes.
