Italeri 1/72 scale JU-52 Minesweeper from Minensuch-Gruppe; France 1943

[dirkpitt289]

JU-52/3 Minesweeper

"Guns before butter. Guns will make us powerful; butter will only make us fat."

Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, Head of the German Luftwaffe

History

Like the USAF C-47, the Junkers Ju 52 tri-motor was first built in the 1930s and remained in service for more than a quarter century. It made its maiden flight in April 1931, and three years later a heavy bomber variant entered service with the German Luftwaffe. The latter version formed the nucleus of the Luftwaffe's early bomber force, which was used with great effect during the Spanish Civil War.

By 1939, the Ju 52 was obsolete as a bomber, but because of its durability, simplicity of design, and handling characteristics, it continued to serve throughout WW II as a versatile workhorse for the German transport fleet. Adolf Hitler even used a Ju 52 as his private transport. Ju 52s delivered the attacking forces and their supplies during the German invasion of Norway, Denmark, France, and the Low Countries in 1940. Later on, approximately 500 Ju 52s participated in the historic airborne assault on the island of Crete in May 1941 and later supplied Rommel's panzerwaffe operating in North Africa.

In addition to the standard, fixed undercarriage version, there was a floatplane version, equipped with two large floats. This model served during the Norwegian Campaign in 1940, and later in the Mediterranean theatre. Some Ju 52 floatplanes were also used as minesweepers, fitted with a large degaussing ring under the airframe.

This particular Junkers Ju-52-3m was used as a minesweeper, and attached to the Minensuch-Gruppe, then based in France during 1943. The large ring was an electrified metal ally affair built in sections that were supported with bracings under the fuselage and wings. Low voltage current was fed through the ring while the aircraft was flying over the water suspected of being mined by the Allies. The electromagnetic field generated by the minesweeping ring would explode any magnetic mines encountered.

Based on the Frence coast, the Mine sweeping squadron remained operational until late 1944.


Technical Data


• Crew: 3 (two pilots, radio operator)
• Capacity: 18 troops or 12 litter patients
• Length: 18.90 m (62 ft 0 in)
• Wingspan: 29.25 m (95 ft 10 in)
• Height: 4.5 m (14 ft 10 in)
• Wing area: 110.5 m² (1,190 ft²)
• Empty weight: 6,510 kg (14,325 lb)
• Loaded weight: 9,200 kg (20,270 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 10,990 kg (24,200 lb)
• Powerplant: 3× BMW 132T radial engines, 533 kW (715 hp) each


• Maximum speed: 265 km/h (165 mph) at sea level
• Cruise speed: 211 km/h (132 mph)
• Range: 870 km (540 mi)
• Service ceiling: 5,490 m (18,000 ft)
• Rate of climb: 17 minutes to 3,050 m (10,000 ft)

Of the 4845 built, 7 are still flyable

The Model

Italeri 1/72 scale JU-52 Minesweeper No 126. I usually like to pick specific aircraft as my subjects such as the “Red 02” Mig 3 or Lt Stanley W Swede Vejtasa and his SBD Dauntless. In this case the image on the box just grabbed my attention. I will be doing this as an OOB. I don’t foresee any need for scratch building anything to drastic. Except for some excessive flash this kit is nicely detailed.

This kit has two build options. Version A, is from Minensuch-Gruppe; France 1943.

Version B, is from Minesuch-Gruppe 1; of the Baltic Sea 1944.

I’ve chosen Version A but I’m arming it to the teeth with options from both versions. Since this isn’t a specific aircraft build but more of a representation of what was I feel I can do this with a clear consciences.

[vikingBerserker]

Great choice Dirk, looking forward to your build.

[dirkpitt289]

Since my return to modeling this will be my biggest undertaking to date. I started by painting some of the part while they are still on the spree. I then moved on to the cockpit. I'm sure I could do more by adding more detail such as harnesses for the pilots but I'm not going to go that far just yet.

[B-17engineer]

Great job so far!

[Airframes]

Nice choice, and good background info. Looks like you've got off to a good start, looking forward to the next stage.

[Capt. Vick]

Who did this rotund fool think he was kidding? I bet all the Nazi's were laughing behind his considerable back.

[Wurger]

[Screaming Eagle]

Interesting, looking forward to more!

[Wayne Little]

Interesting, looking good so far!

[dirkpitt289]

Good morning everyone

It's been a while since I posted anything from this build. Its not much but its up to date.



This is the funnest part of modeling in my opinion NOT!!!

First I started by attaching the Cockpit and cabin into the fuselage.





I used Squadron Green putty to fill the seams on the fuselage. We will have to wait till the primer is applied to see how well I did but right now it's looking pretty good.




For the most part the filling that needed to be done on the wings and Nacelle were minimal so I used Mr Surface 500.


It seems like no matter how much I fill and sand its never enough. I also need to invest in a small chisel set to do small work on areas like the excess plastic around the light cut out.


Now this was a slick move. I assembled the wing without realizing I had a clear lens that needed to be installed first. Any suggestions how to fix this are welcome. It looks like I need to invest in a small chisel set to do jobs like removing excess plastic as seen around the hole for the light.


Till next time...

[dirkpitt289]

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[dirkpitt289]

a

[kgambit]

Originally Posted by dirkpitt289

Now this was a slick move. I assembled the wing without realizing I had a clear lens that needed to be installed first. Any suggestions how to fix this are welcome.

Not sure if this will work, but you might try this approach or a variation of it:

1) Take a long piece of thread and snake it thru the lens opening and out thru the opening where the wings join the fuselage
2) Use a very small amount of white glue to secure the end of the thread that is now sticking out of the fuelage joint hole to the outside portion of the lens (the part that is going to be visible from the underside of the wing).
3) Wait until the white glue is fairly well dried but not totally dry
4) Carefull pull the thread and the attached lens into the wing until the lens is near or in the lens hole
5) Use a small amount of clear part glue to secure the lens in the opening.
6) Let the glue dry so the lens is firmly in place.

The part I am not sure about is this: At some point you are going to need to detach the thread that was glued to the lens with the white glue. If you are confident that you have the lens firmly in place in step 5, you can possibly use a sharp knife to detach the thread from the lens at that point and then buff it to remove any scratches. The beauty of using the white glue to secure the guide thread is that white glue cleans up with water before it dries. So if you use the clear parts glue to secure the lens, you should be able to detach the thread from the lens by simply peeling it off and cleaning it up with water.

I've seen this approach used to pull side windows into place from inside a fuselage.

Hopefully one of our resident masters will be able to add the necessary refinements to this process.

[Matt308]

Cut the square panel out with a razor knife. Install the lens and glue it back in place. You might have to put a spacer behind the panel to keep it level with the wing surface. You know a couple of flat stock strips to keep the panel from sinking behind the wing. Probably wont even need any putty/sanding if you take your time with the cut.

[dirkpitt289]

Originally Posted by kgambit

Not sure if this will work, but you might try this approach or a variation of it:

1) Take a long piece of thread and snake it thru the lens opening and out thru the opening where the wings join the fuselage
2) Use a very small amount of white glue to secure the end of the thread that is now sticking out of the fuelage joint hole to the outside portion of the lens (the part that is going to be visible from the underside of the wing).
3) Wait until the white glue is fairly well dried but not totally dry
4) Carefull pull the thread and the attached lens into the wing until the lens is near or in the lens hole
5) Use a small amount of clear part glue to secure the lens in the opening.
6) Let the glue dry so the lens is firmly in place.

The part I am not sure about is this: At some point you are going to need to detach the thread that was glued to the lens with the white glue. If you are confident that you have the lens firmly in place in step 5, you can possibly use a sharp knife to detach the thread from the lens at that point and then buff it to remove any scratches. The beauty of using the white glue to secure the guide thread is that white glue cleans up with water before it dries. So if you use the clear parts glue to secure the lens, you should be able to detach the thread from the lens by simply peeling it off and cleaning it up with water.

I've seen this approach used to pull side windows into place from inside a fuselage.

Hopefully one of our resident masters will be able to add the necessary refinements to this process.

kgambit

Thanks for the advice, It seems tricky but I think I'll try it.