The Tamiya He-219 is the standard for 1/48th scale models of this airplane. However, marking options have been a little sparse for this kit. Eagle Cal has released a new sheet that covers the three basic paint schemes seen on the Uhu. This set is released in conjunction the Eagle Cals 1/32nd scale decals covering the same aircraft. The 1/48th scale decals cover the A-0, A-7, and the A-2 versions. To build the A-0 and A-2 versions, the modeler would be advised to get the Vector resin conversion set, also available from Eagle Editions.

It comes as no surprise that I love the Eduard Fw-190A series of kits. Having had the pleasure of building quite a few of them, I have often remarked at the quality of the decals. These decals are printed by Eduard and typical of Eduard’s quality; these decals are actually as good as any other aftermarket decal in the world. They rival the quality of Cartograf.

The stencil decal themselves are all contained on a 4” x 3 ¾” decal sheet. The decals are crisp, perfectly printed, and in perfect register. They are suitably thin with minimal carrier film. One of the nice things is that the decals have wing walk areas in grey and black. There are options throughout the sheet, like the two different versions of black and two white versions of Nicht anfassen on the sheet. The landing gear servicing stencil is also provided in two styles.

It seems amazing to me that Trumpeter is the fourth model company to market a 1/48 scale plastic kit of the Supermarine Attacker F.1 (the others being Classic Airframes, Falcon, and Magna Models). Amazing because this aircraft’s single most significant reason for mention in the history of aviation is the fact that it was the Fleet Air Arm‘s first jet fighter. It was not particularly successful in that role…it was just the first.

The Aircraft

The TR-1A is/was a development of the famous U-2. The U-2 is a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft with multiple sensor arrays, allowing photo, radar, electronic, and signals intelligence. The original U-2A was developed for the CIA by Lockheed, using a fuselage from the F-104 and extra-long, glider-like wings. This allowed the U-2 to fly at altitudes well above those which could be reached by any other jet aircraft. The U-2’s ability to fly over any area with impunity ended with the development of the Soviet SA-2 Guideline SAM, which shot down Francis Gary Powers over the Soviet Union in 1960 and Major Rudolf Anderson Jr. over Cuba in 1962.

The TR-1A was put into production in the 1980s as a tactical reconnaissance aircraft. It is identifiable by the two large sensor “superpods”, one on each wing. It is identical with the U-2R, and all TR-1s have been redesignated as U-2Rs. The U-2R is larger than the original U-2.

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.