nmayhew

No, I believe those with no content thus far are the ones which do not work. Those with content seem to work fine for me.

i wish my models "didn't look to bad..."

Wonderful! I reviewed the Flakvierling version w armoured cab - beautiful kit but some parts of rear bench seat missing in that kit, and as always be careful with those instructions! What particular vehicle are you planning, do you know yet?

Jeroen Thanks for sharing - what a wonderful build, and this from someone who never really liked that 'Finito...' scheme. Hope you can share more of your builds with us at LSM as time goes by Cheers Nick

Hi Derek I think early boxings just missed the extra sprue out - I have heard from some who have bought the B-2 kit that they did indeed get all the required sprues. There are no such issues with the R-2 kit (I have this one and it's ok, and haven't heard anything about it in this regard). Hope this helps?

I think that may be the Staff chat function - let me check and get back to you

beautiful work! thanks for sharing Nick

1/35 WWII German 200l Fuel Drums by Eureka XXL Eurela XXL make a wide range of armour and diorama accessories, mainly in 1/35 - you can view their full range here. Today I look at two resin / PE update sets for German armour, each containing four 200l fuel drums, the only difference between the two being the services that used them. #E-011 Wehrmacht (2 designs) #E-012 Waffen SS & Kriegsmarine Each set contains parts for four 200l fuel drums. These drums were used variously by the Wehrmacht, Waffen SS and Kriegsmarine - I am not sure if they were used by the Luftwaffe, or indeed the Luftwaffe Field Divisions. I suppose you would most often see them in refuelling / maintenance pictures, although I have seen Tiger tanks with these lashed to the back. Their scope for use in dioramas and vignettes is pretty extensive. There are four resin parts in each pack - and these are identical across the two packs as far as I can tell. The design of the resin drum cylinder is the same, but the castings are subtly different: two are fairly 'clean', whilst two have various dents and bashes in the main plate / drum sides. At first I thought the two prominent rims around the middle of each drum were hopelessly over-scale, but the Germans did in fact make them like that - these were used to roll the drums along the ground without damaging them I imagine. The only problem I can see with the casting is that these prominent rims are completely blemish free, and even if made of finest steel would surely have attracted the odd dink and dig here and there? That being said, this is nothing you couldn't add yourself in a few seconds if desired. The other features in the resin are a delicate single seam line which runs down the side of the drum, and the filler cap and surround which is located between the two middle rims. The seam does, on very close inspection, run over these rims which it should not actually do, but this is a 30 second sanding job. In fact, I am not even sure it would be visible after even a single coat of primer it is that fine. The other part of each set is a fret of PE brass. Each fret contains eight barrel ends, and these are the main pieces which differentiate the sets. E-011 contains two Waffen SS drums, and two Kriegsmarine drums. The latter can be used on your super large Italeri S-100, but I can't help thinking that a set of four solely SS drums would be far more popular? E-012 has two varieties of Wehrmacht drums. The filler caps are completed by three smaller parts of PE. No instructions are provided in the sets, but as is the trend these days, this information is provided on the Eureka website: no explicit guideline to construction, but some nice shots of the completed barrels, compete with painting guide. There are also three pictures taken from Bundesarchiv showing the drums 'in action'. Conclusion Two very simple sets which are difficult to find real fault with. The use of two different media is spot on here - I can't imagine the drum ends and all the lettering working if the whole thing was cast in resin. A set devoted solely to SS fuel drums would probably be a better seller... Highly recommended There is a list of Eureka XXL suppliers worldwide on their website here and a number of shops stock their products on eBay.

Following with interest!

Hi A few reviews will be brought over from the SPR review site - I personally will bring a few significant armour ones that I wrote (Sdkfz 231, 232; Tasca Firefly Ic Hybrid etc) Going forward, the reviews posted here will only pertain to the subjects we cover ie armour 1/35 and larger; aircraft 1/48 and larger; plus relevant tools / paint / airbrush stuff etc Glad you liked the review

I would, at this stage, just like to say that I am "primed" for the HK Mosquito which Dave mentioned was in the pipeline. Hopefully some of the HK 'love' will reach the land of Hengist and Horsa...

cool have just uploaded my monster AFV Club Valentine II review - seems only right given we have the accessories, might as well have the kit! feel free to take a look and comment now that I have finished (I was surprised i could fit all those pics in one post - seems we don't have limits like on say LSP for that sort of thing?) N

1/35 British Infantry Tank Mk.III Valentine Mk.II by AFV Club Kit ref #AF35185 Introduction This is the second in a series of (currently) three Valentine tanks from AFV Club. Firstly, we had the Valentine Mk.I (#AF35178), and we have recently seen the announcement of a Mk.IV in Russian service (#AF35199). This review covers the Mk.II, which is best known for its actions in North Africa. Snapshot of the Valentine The Valentine was the most widely produced British tank of WWII – just under six thousand were made in the UK from 1939 until 1944; and when including those made in Canada, the total was some 8300. It was unusual in that it was a private design by Vickers-Armstrong, rather than being designed to a General Staff specification. The Valentine served in North Africa, the Far East, and on both Western and Eastern fronts in Europe, but mainstream production came to late for it see action with the British Expeditionary Force in 1940. Although there were eleven marks of Valentine, they can be divided into three categories: the 2pdr armed tanks with two man turrets – the Mk.I, II and IV, as well as their Canadian counterparts, the Mk.VI and VII; the 2pdr armed tanks with three man turrets – the Mk.III and V; and lastly the up-gunned 6pdr / 75mm Mk.IX, X and XI (the Mk.VIII did not enter service in case you thought I missed one). Kit Overview The kit comes on ten sprues of green plastic, plus the hull is which is moulded as single tub; the tracks are rubber band type. There is a small fret of photo-etched metal (PE), a turned aluminium barrel and four individual track links in white resin. A sprue of clear parts is provided for headlamp lenses, periscopes and commander’s cupola. A very partial turret interior is provided, as are the radiators. Markings are provided for six tanks, four of which are desert vehicles; optional sand shield side skirts are provided for these. For my reference, I mainly used Dick Taylor’s "IntoThe Vally: The Valentine Tank and Derivatives 1938-1960", as well Armor Photohistory “Valentine Part I”, also by Dick Taylor. Against the 1/35 scale plans in these books, the kit is dimensionally accurate, and all of the relevant external features have been captured in quite excellent detail. As with other AFV Club kits, there are a large number of very small and delicate parts; the details of these are very sharp, but you will need to handle with care. I did not see any flash or sink marks. Hull As mentioned above, the hull tub is a one piece affair, which certainly makes for easier construction in what is otherwise perhaps not a kit for beginners. The same applies to everywhere else on this kit, but the bolt detail is quite superb – the close-up shots in this review will show that even some of the tiniest hex bolts have been moulded exquisitely. A quick glance at the box art of AFV Club’s kits will tell you that the Mk.I, II and IV all look pretty similar, and this is confirmed even when you start pawing through the reference books I used. The main difference between a Mk.II and its predecessor was the introduction of diesel engine (retained for all subsequent marks). Outwardly though, you need a good clear shot of the rear to tell the difference: Mk.IIs have a pair of grab handles on both left and right hand radiator louvers, a stay-arm bracket or stopper on both sides, and hinges for both louvers; the Mk.I only has these on the left louver. Now there is always a “but” when you make statements like that, and sure enough just to confuse matters, 75 Mk.Is were produced with Mk.II louvers! Early Mk.Is also had a mesh exhaust cover, replaced with sheet metal later on and into Mk.II production. In truth, neither of these points should really be an issue to modellers of this Mk.II kit. Also, as far as I can work out, none of the 308 Mk.Is ever saw action (most kept in Britain for home defence). Anyway, AFV Club have got these features spot on in their kit. The engine top deck and the sloping rear deck are multi part sub-assemblies, but enable the intricate nature of the Valentine’s cooling louvers to captured accurately. Valentines in Africa were fitted with side skirts, and these are provided in the kit. The skirts often had extended guards at both front and rear (see Markings, below). African Valentines can also be seen with brackets and rails along the side of these skirts for the sun shield deception device (it would look like a lorry from the air). There are various optional steps in the instructions to show which parts to use, holes to drill etc. These skirts often show quite extensive dents and bangs, and I am sure the usual suspects will produce aftermarket versions in PE, but for the time being, the ones in the kit look very good. PE parts are provided for the braces which run down the sides of the skirts. The extra fuel drum carried by Valentines is also in the kit – the main drum is in two parts so there will be a seam to remove, and care will be needed not to remove any of the adjacent bolt detail. The drum sits over some of the pioneer and repair tools, which themselves are up there with resin parts in terms of detail. Turret The turret shell is moulded with a one piece roof, four main parts for the vertical surfaces, and a single piece turret ring. The turret side and front are notable for the cast texture they have moulded on to their surface. At first I thought this was perhaps overdone, but on closer examination of period photos, it seems about right. The vision port on the left hand side of the turret was introduced early in the Mk.II production run (as an aside, all Mk.IVs were fitted with this port; externally they were identical to the Mk.II, but had a different engine and transmission). Alternate parts are provided depending upon whether you want the port or not. The vision port on the right hand side may be modelled either open or closed. There is not a full turret interior, but you do get a gun breach, radio and hatches with detail on the insides. The Ordnance QF 2 pdr breach looks good as far as it goes, but it is missing the guard around the rear of the mechanism which caught spent shell casings. The Besa machine gun in the turret (another in the hull) looks good, but you may want to hollow out the barrel (fiddly) or buy an aftermarket barrel. The radios are worth a careful look. Early Mk.Is and IIs were fitted with the No.11 radio set, which was replaced by the No.19 set, which began to be fitted on Mk.IIs and IVs in March 1941; it was and also retro-fitted to earlier tanks as circumstances allowed. Internally, the actual set boxes looked quite different. Some of the kit radio parts - #32 is for the No.19, #33 for the No.11 The No.19 set [Wikipedia] Externally, on the turret roof, the No.11 used a single thick antenna, with a folding base at the extreme rear of the turret bustle. The No.19 used two thinner antennae and different bases for the aerials: the “A” or No.19 on the rear of the turret roof, just right of centre; and the “B” or No.24 mounted on a bracket at left rear. This was because in reality the 19 was three units in one – radio sets A and B, and an integrated amplifier. Inside, the No.19 should look something like this The instructions would have you fit the No.11 set which is only appropriate for early Mk.IIs; but the aerial mount parts for this set are not provided in the kit. Luckily, the No.19 set is included, as well as all the relevant parts – they are just not on the instructions! So, in Step #33, use parts #E7 and #E32, joined together with part #E10; part #E4 may sit atop part #E7 but am I’m not sure about that as yet, whilst radio guard part #E31 fits over the top to complete your No.19 set inside the turret. On the turret roof, this is where the “A” aerial / No.19 antenna should go Outside, the “A” aerial mount should comprise part #B14 sitting atop etched part #G21. The “B” mount is correctly taken care of in the instructions in Step #35. All Mk.I, II and IV Valentines were fitted with the same 2 pdr gun, but there were two slightly different barrels: the first, smooth and slightly fluted at the muzzle; the second showing distinct steps at both muzzle and near the breach. The smooth barrel seems more common on early Mk.IIs from what I can gather from photographs, but I do not have definitive data on which production batches got which barrel etc. The kit comes with a nice turned metal barrel which has the steps at either end. If you want to model a tank with the smooth barrel, there is a cheap and accurate alternative from RBModel. One of the most engaging features of a number of early British tanks is the Lakeman machine gun mount on the turret. If you think it looks a bit like those retro angle-poise lamp fittings, then you are not wrong. The lamp mechanism had only recently been invented, and was transferred to the Valentine, and used for a Bren gun. Nice Bren gun, to be suspended on a Lakeman mount I gather that in practice they were rather fiddly and not a great success, but either way, although the box art shows the Bren and the Lakeman fitting in place, none are evident in my reference photos (they are present in a number of profiles though). When the mount and gun were deployed, the commander’s vane sight was often seen folded down (part #G14) so keep this in mind if you are fitting the Lakeman. The assembly will be quite delicate when finished so extreme care will be needed, and you will need to source your own small ring (thin gauge wire will do) which should attach at the end of part #E28 and go round the Bren just forward of the magazine. There is an excellent picture of this arrangement on p46 of “Into The Vally…”. Wheels, Suspension & Tracks The suspension, wheels and tracks are the same as in AFV Club’s Mk.I kit. The Valentine used a number of patterns of road and idler wheels in its production run, and the spoked appearance of the ones here are usually seen on the Mk.I. Whilst it is rare to see them on Mk.IIs in the desert for instance, it is not unheard of (see “Rosemary” below), and part of the problem may be that war time pics often don’t show this area clearly enough for positive identification. Wonderfully crisp detail, but the pattern is more common on Mk.I Valentines Note cast texture even on wheel hubs The more common type of wheels seen on Mk.IIs had oval shaped dish-like impressions, and these are included in AFV Club’s kit #35199 of a Valentine IV in Red Army service. I am awaiting confirmation as to whether these sprues will be available separately. The more commonly seen pattern on desert Valentines – note oval shape dish / indentation pattern [sprue shot courtesy AFV Club] “Rosemary” – a rare shot of a desert Valentine with the same ‘spoked’ wheels as in the kit [british Pate – for discussion only] In the mean time an alternative is to use the wheels from one of MiniArt’s Valentine kits, although they are a fraction undersized. Their kit #35096 has the relevant dish pattern wheels, whilst kit#35100 has another pattern you may wish to use. Note that at their release, the MiniArt kits were clearly better than the ageing Italeri kit, but they are in my opinion now a clear second to the AFV Club offerings with respect to accuracy and finesse. The suspension will be fully workable, and incorporates coil springs in injection mould plastic. I have had experience of these in some of AFV Club’s artillery pieces, and whilst they are generally easier to remove from the sprues than you might think, these assemblies will require care. How they will stand up to rubber band type tracks, I have to test. Band tracks sometimes have too much tension and pull the first and last road wheels up off the ground. The tracks themselves are the second and by far most common type. The detail is very good but if you would prefer individual link tracks, AFV Club have already released a replacement set. Markings Markings are provided for six vehicles. I have identified pictures of five of the six vehicles, and will try to show what features each of these tanks should have if you want to model them accurately. Obviously if your tank has different wheels or a No.11 radio this will be a little more difficult than just sourcing a new 2 pdr barrel. ‘APH’ and ‘ITV’ represent “Armour Photo History” and “Into The Vally…” books respectively. A. 8th Royal Tank Regiment, North Africa, late 1941 until 1942 profiled APH p60, pictured ITV p100 T16113 “Horatio” of 9 Troop, B Squadron, 8 RTR, near Sidi Rezegh airfield, Operation Crusader, late November 1941 (W.D. number is conjecture) No.11 radio set no Lakeman mount visible fluted barrel (shown in profile; indeterminate from picture) ‘dished’ wheels shorter front fenders on sand skirts (rear not visible) no sunshield rails, but partial bracket visible (?) no vision port on left side of turret B. North Africa, Feb 1942 pictured APH p24 T272378 seen on beach in front of landing craft, North Africa, 9th February 1942 No.19 radio set no Lakeman mount visible stepped barrel ‘dished’ wheels shorter front and rear fenders on skirts no sunshield rails, but brackets fitted vision port on left side of turret unconfirmed C. 23rd Armoured Brigade, Tripoli, Jan 1943 pictured APH p30 T16319 seen in main square, Tripoli, Libya, 26th January 1943 No.19 radio set no Lakeman mount stepped barrel (probable – I cannot tell) ‘dished’ wheels shorter front fenders on skirts (rear not visible) sunshield rails fitted vision port on left side of turret unconfirmed D. 66th Tank Battalion, 16th Armoured Brigade, Polish 1st Corps, Scotland, 1941 pictured APH p34-5, profiled ITV p188 T1290292 is not shown per se, but tanks from this block are shown on exercise in Scotland in late 1941, from I and II (later 66th) Battalion, 1st Tank Regiment, 1st Polish Corps No.19 radio set no Lakeman mount fluted barrel ‘dished’ wheels No sand skirts fitted vision port on left side of turret confirmed on T1290294 E. 1st Battalion, 1st NZ Army Tank Brigade, Pukekohe, New Zealand, 1943 profiled APH p59 “Taniwha” 15 Troop, C Squadron, 1st Battalion, 1st NZ Army Tank Brigade, Helvetia Military Camp, Pukekohe, New Zealand, 1943 No.19 radio set no Lakeman mount fluted barrel ‘dished’ wheels no sand skirts fitted vision port on left side of turret F. 8th Royal Tank Regiment, Libya, Nov. 1941 profiled ITV p186, pictured below T17634 “Harry II” of 9 Troop, B Squadron, 8RTR, Operation Crusader, late 1941 according to ITV, this tank likely had its turret refitted to a different hull: pictures the same Caunter scheme covered turret on a Caunter hull, and also one on a plain Light Stone hull No.11 radio set no Lakeman mount stepped barrel ‘dished’ wheels shorter fenders on sand skirts sunshield rails fitted no vision port on left side of turret per profile “Harry II” [imperial War Museum] Conclusion I really like this kit. It is not for beginners, and it does have wheels which were not seen on most Valentine Mk.IIs. The markings are a bit of a let down in that as far as I can work out, you cannot build a single one of them from the contents of the box, but hopefully the section above will provide some pointers in that regard. But most importantly for me, it is accurate in both outline and details, and if you take care with the assembly you will have a stunning looking Valentine. Highly recommended. With thanks to the team at AFV Club for the review sample. AFV Club kits can be purchased at LuckyModel and most good retail hobby outlets. References: Into The Vally: the Valentine Tank and Derivatives 1938-1960 by Dick Taylor Armor Photohistory “Valentine Part I” by Dick Taylor Tank Power Vol.XC Valentine #331 – Wydawnictwo Militaria Nicholas Mayhew

cheers guys that was my first review done 'from scratch' direct onto the forums and it is soooooo easy i will do the Eureka barrel set later this weekend i know i shouldn't say this, but for the first time in ages, this did not seem like "homework", and i actually enjoyed writing a review! Jim - let me know who I need to credit for the sample btw

Valentine QF 2pdr Barrels and Tow Cables by Eureka XXL for 1/35 AFV Club / MiniArt kits Introduction Eurela XXL make a wide range of armour and diorama accessories, mainly in 1/35 - you can view their full range here. Today we look at two update sets for the Valentine tank, both comprising turned metal barrel and tow cables. It is not specified that they are made for any particular kit, but any relevant AFV Club or MiniArt Valentine will be appropriate. You will need to check your references regarding the barrel - see below. #ER-3544 Valentine Mk. I, II, IV - Towing Cables & Gun barrel QF 2pdr Mk. IX #ER-3545 Valentine Mk. I, III, V - Towing Cables & Gun barrel QF 2pdr Mk. X The set comprises turned aluminium barrel, two wire towing cables, four resin towing hooks and one metal 'clamp' which was used to clasp the tow cables together. Despite the apparently robust packaging, a towing eye had snapped of the cable end on each of my sets, see below - maybe I was unlucky? Even with CA glue, the repair will be quite flimsy. Moving on...the first barrel is the fluted version of the QF 2pdr. You will see this gun, and this specific barrel on a number of British early / mid-war tanks, notably the Valentine and the Matilda. The box says this is for marks I, II and IV, which whilst not untrue, does not necessarily mean that all of these marks carried this particular barrel. I suggest - as I always do - that you try to locate the photo of the tank you are making and go from there, but as a rule of thumb these fluted barrels were seen earlier on than the 'stepped' one (#ER-3545). I compared the barrels against numerous photos and they seem 'about right' to the naked eye, which is always a good start. I also got compared them to plans in both "Into The Valley" (which I reviewed here: http://scaleplasticandrail.com/kaboom/index.php/all-things-military-vehicle/everything-else/book-reviews/1321-the-valentine-tank-and-derivatives-1938-1960-from-mmp-books ) and "Armor Photo History #2", both by Dick Taylor, and they seem to match up quite well. These two books are the best references for the Valentine that I know of - I have the Tank Power XC as well, but would not buy this again if given the choice - too many errors and generalizations. A closer look at the ends of both barrels: The tow cables are two pieces of what I believe to be brass, about 13cm long. I do not know if this is the correct length - I need to have a proper read through of Into The Vally - but it certainly seems plausible. The wires show excellent scale detail to my eye. They have also been annealed, and will quite happily be bent into a particular shape and stay there. I would probably anneal them once more to be safe, but certainly most of the work has been done here. The resin cable ends and towing eyes are also very finely cast, but delicate! They have hollowed out ends ready to accept the wire - I tried one wire in one eye and it fit fine, which is reassuring. The brass eyelet which is the final piece of these sets was used to hold two cables / both ends of the same cable together. The metal is fairly soft and can be opened and pinched shut with small pliers. Conclusion Simple, well detailed and accurate. The only work you will have to do is a bit of reference searching to establish which particular barrel is appropriate for the Valentine or Matilda you are making. Whilst the AFV Club kit comes with a perfectly decent fluted metal barrel, it has now tow cables, so to complete your kit in a more realistic fashion one of these sets will definitely come in handy. Highly recommended There is a list of Eureka XXL suppliers worldwide on their website here and a number of shops stock their products on eBay.

1/35 Sherman Antenna and Periscope Guards Accessories from Adler's Nest and Schumo Kits Introduction Just in from Tasca I have three upgrade sets for the Sherman in 1/35. The first two are from Adler's Nest, whilst the third is a brand which is new to me – Schumo Kits. Sherman Five Piece Command Antenna By Adler's Nest #ANM-35034 The Sherman radio antennas were made up of sections, each one three feet long with threaded connectors at each end, all except the last one. Most tanks has three sections screwed together, whereas command tanks could have five of these sections, making for an aerial some 15 feet long. Each section had a numbered designation – "MS-xx", and the connections were colour coded, with the connections of the same colour being joined together. This set from Adler's Nest enables you to model pretty much whatever configuration you want. Inside its protective tube, I found the five sections which are machined so that they can slot together, pretty much like the real thing. The parts are tiny, as you might expect, but on close inspection you can see the hollowed out end sections. Test fitting showed that these have been machined to very tight tolerances – either an extremely keen eye or a little fiddling around will tell you which aerial goes where in the sequence. For those interested in painting instructions, a full description can be found here. This antenna set is specifically designed to be used with the base, below. Sherman Flexible Antenna Base By Adler's Nest #ANM-35033 This accessory set represents the MP-48 flexible antenna base. It is designed to be used with the aerial set above, but can also be used as a standalone upgrade on your kit if desired. It comprises turned brass parts at either end, a metal spring fitting between the two, and a piece of what I presume to be lead wire. With the wire inserted inside the spring, you can bend the aerial base to whatever angle desired, and it will stay in place. Simple, but quite ingenious I think. When compared to the Tasca kit part – which I think is quite good in its own right – the Adler's Nest base looks in a different class. I found I needed to widen the hole in the top of the Tasca turret by a fraction for the base to fit in, but once mounted, it should look superb. My only complaint about this set is that it should really come in the same type of tube that the antenna are supplied in – the spring and wire are quite delicate, and I'm not sure a small plastic bag is really enough. Sherman Periscope Guards By Schumo Kits #3500-10 The set comprises five periscope guards which are suitable for the M4 Sherman, M5 Stuart, M26 Pershing series of tanks. Note that not all Shermans used these, so check your references. The guards are made from white metal and are an alternative to the photo-etch guards often supplied in kits The photo-etch guards as supplied by Tasca The Schumo parts certainly have a more three dimensional look – the real things are quite chunky. However, I am still undecided on whether I would be better off giving PE guards a heavy coat of Mr Surfacer 500, or to go with the Schumo option. The casting in white metal is not that sharp, and I will probably have to clean up one or two of the guards in my set. Here is one of the guards on a Tacsa turret so you can judge for yourself. Packaging is an issue: they come in a plastic bag and really need a small box or tube of some sort. Given Schumo products are quite hard to get hold of, it would be a shame to have these damaged in transit. Conclusion Five Piece Command Antenna & Antenna Base Nothing more to say apart from top quality, great engineering, and a real difference maker. Highly recommended Periscope Guards The more I look at them, the more I think I like them, but the casting is not as crisp as it could be. Still probably more realistic than photo-etch. Worth consideration With thanks to the team at Tasca for the review sample. The products reviewed here are available at Tasca's online shop.

1/32 Ju87 B-2 Stuka update sets by Eduard for Trumpeter kits #03214 & #03216 Introduction Eduard have kindly given us three of their photo-etched metal (PE) updates for the Trumpeter Ju87 – seatbelts, interior and canopy masks. The Trumpeter kit is the only modern kit of the early Stuka, but is not without issues. These can be summarized as follows: overall too small forward of firewall, and with some B-1 features; spats incorrectly shaped; canopy framing moulded on outside only – should be a mix of internal and external; incorrect / simplified ventral bomb cradle, and incorrect main bomb. Whilst the update sets here do not address any of the above, they will improve the original kit. They are all equally applicable to either the original B-2 kit (#03214) or the R-2 kit (#03216), which has underwing drop tanks instead of bombs #32753 Ju87 B-2 Seatbelts c€16 available directly from Eduard here #32751 Ju87 B-2 Interior S.A. c€22 available directly from Eduard here #JX144 Ju87 B-2 Canopy Mask c€10 available directly from Eduard here #32573 Ju87 B-2 Seatbelts A relatively standard Luftwaffe pilot's seatbelt which, as usual, is made up of a number of different parts (instructions here). They are pre-painted, but some may wish to weather them, as they are rather pristine. The rear gunner's seat requires the addition of a piece of plastic to represent the cushion, over which the Eduard part is placed. Superseded by the new fabric belts which seem all the rage? Perhaps, but these still look good No seatbelts are provided in the kit, so some form of aftermarket is necessary here. The tide does seem to be turning away from these etch belts, however, as even Eduard have no started producing belts in compressed paper / fabric for a more realistic appearance. This range is in its infancy at present. Alternatives, and probably my preference, would be those from HGW, examples of which we reviewed here, but I still think the Eduard offerings are worthwhile and viable. #32571 Ju87 B-2 Interior S.A. This is quite a large set, with two self-adhesive (S.A.) pre-painted frets, and one standard sheet in unpainted brass (instructions here). The SA frets cover the cockpit instrument panel and various other dials etc on the cockpit sidewalls. The clarity and saturation of colour is excellent, but the depiction of RLM66 will be too light for some purists – personally, I think it's fine. The main instrument panel is that of a B-2 (or R-2). The Trumpeter kit provides a B-2 panel (part #J2) which is a bit clunky, and would not look convincing with the kit supplied decal in my view. A B-1 panel is also provided (part #J28) but is not be used; the differences are very minor – just a few dials different / absent. Eduard's instructions wrongly suggest kit part #J28, but given the outline is the same, and that you will be filing the detail off in order to lay the various etch parts over the top, I am not sure it makes any difference? Kit part is rather chunky – the Eduard IP will make a massive difference. The natural brass fret provides various canopy frame handles, stowage bins and pilot's pedals, but also a new pilot's seat (kit headrest cushion to be used) and a the large spent ammo bin for the rear gunner. Why Eduard still bother to provide a part for you to roll into shape as the MG15 barrel is beyond me – times have moved on guys! There is the armoured plate behind the pilot with vent holes cut in it which lay against the roll bar framework – check your references as not all aircraft had these, and those that did sometimes had a sliding plate which could cover the holes if required. Overall, I think the pictures I have taken of the kit parts should convincingly show you the additional finesse of Eduard's set – this is definitely worth it. Kit seat is very thick and not in scale These dials also look a bit cumbersome #JX144 Ju87 B-2 Canopy Mask Trumpeter have not accurately captured the Ju87 canopy, which had a mixture of internal framework and external dividers. Whether this is a fatal flaw (!) is up to you, but Eduard were left with little choice but to provide masks for what is there, rather than what perhaps should be. The instructions here will show you that there are actually quite a lot of separate pieces to this set. Note you will be required to use some liquid mask or similar for areas of the rear gunners glazing Kit parts – nice and crisp, but ultimately wrong; not a lot Eduard can do about this Conclusion Good high quality PE sets, with instructions that are clear and easy to follow. The seatbelts are the only ones where I would probably use another product. If you think the Trumpeter kit is worth building now – or even if you are holding out for some resin upgrades down the line – these updates will make a big improvement to your Stuka. Highly recommended With thanks to the team at Eduard for the review sample. Nicholas Mayhew

lovely work Rick such a shame it battled you all the way - "kits should know when they are conquered" but you showed it who was Dominus in the end! (sorry, watching lots of Spartacus at the moment - just don't get me Roman swearing! )

agreed Matt that's why i thought they were fabric jobs top work Mr J!

fantastico as per usual but i have to point out - is that a gigantic seam line down those main tyres?

Jim, The aircraft looks awesome, but i never thought I'd hear you say "Don't forget to buy your copy!" Are you on a cut of MIM sales now?! :P :P :P Next thing we know, you'll change your auto sign-off on posts to "thanks and bye for now" Nick, in mischievous mood before he goes to his vampire-like sleep...

I knew you would have had it covered Just checking!

Yup, half way along over the exhausts, vertical panel line that just seems to stop, without meeting another line; this would not be possible on a real panel right? It looks like this is the case on both sides of the cowling from your pics.

Dave Top work as always Question about that seam: the horizontal has been eradicated, but what about the vertical one that just disappears into nothingness? Surely that shouldn't be there either? Don't have refs with me - am at work! Cheers Nick

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