The Aircraft

The Ju-52 was actually known as the Ju-52/3m. The 3m stands for 3 engine (dreimotor). The original Ju-52 was the Ju-52 1m which was single engine (einmotor). When the prototypes were flown, it was discovered that the plane was underpowered, and two engines were added, one on each wing.

The Ju-52 had an interesting exterior. The outer skin was corrugated, giving the skin far greater strength than a flat sheet of metal. This allowed the plane to have fewer spars and braces, so it could be lighter, which increased the cargo carrying ability. Unfortunately, the wrinkled skin also added drag, but in the 1930s there was much less interest in high speed and more interest in ease of assembly and maintenance.

The Ju-52 was known as “Tante Ju” (Aunt Ju) and “Iron Annie”. The Ju-52 remained in production until the end of the war, and some continued in service until the late 1970s.

The parts are molded in gray, black, and chrome. According to the instructions, the first step in assembly is the motor. The locating pins are small, making it hard to line up the parts. I used a slow-drying plastic glue rather than cyanoacrylate to make sure it was aligned properly.

Then I dip-painted the fenders, gas tank, carry boxes, and parts F-9 and F-10, using a special process with water and paint. I sprayed black and chrome into a five-gallon bucket filled with water, then hand-dipped each completed and prepared part in. As I withdrew the parts, the paint, floating on top of the water, coated each part in a swirling, soft-edged pattern.

History

Being that there is so much out there on the Bf-109, I will not take up any time with the history. The E variant was the first major upgrade of this airframe and was the main variant from the beginning of the war until mid-1941.

The Kit

This kit is made up of 3 sprues of grey injected plastic and 1 clear sprue. The parts are flash-free and have very fine detail. The only problem I had was the small parts (pitot tube, antenna mast, gun barrels, and counterweights) that have two attachment points on the sprue. It made it very difficult to remove these, and in the case of the mast...I broke it. That being said, I have to hand it to Airfix as their new tooled kits are fantastic. The decal sheet gives you markings for two aircraft – one Luftwaffe In desert cammo (black 8) from 1941 and one Royal Bulgarian aircraft from 1942. Since no swastika is provided and I had no spares, my choice was simple.