Review

21st Century's Stuka builds into a big, fearsome model. The Stuka, the face of Germany's World War II dive-bombing attack, is always popular with modelers. Now, 21st Century Toys joins the fray with a 1:32-scale Ju-87B/R. It's a simple kit that builds into a large, impressive model.

If you have not seen one of 21st Century's kits before, you'll be surprised - no sprues!

All of the parts have been cut loose and divided into bags with no identification other than the assembly drawings. But it's actually not that hard to figure out what parts go where. Two sheets of decals provide markings for three aircraft.

Assembly is divided into eight steps. An RLM color list references Model Master and Polly Scale paints, and the instructions (some in text) are complete and error-free.

Step 1 covers construction of the 13-part cockpit in which the seat can be adjusted fore and aft. My kit was missing the control column; I replaced it with florist's wire and a couple of shaped pieces of sprue.

Four screws join the upper and lower wing surfaces. I closed gaps with glue and bar clamps. One wing had some flash on the upper surface leading edge that I sanded to fit. On the same wing, the lower trailing edge seemed to fall short. The flaps were warped, and fit was sloppy. The vinyl screw covers were too small for the openings.

For a Ju-87B variant, install the bombs; for the R, install fuel tanks. However, hold off attaching the tanks, bombs or dive brakes until after applying the under-wing decals.

The landing gear presents a choice of what to install in the siren location. I selected the siren fairing (no propeller) as shown in the side profiles.

The propeller blades swing freely on a knurled metal pin. I used a hammer to drive the pin to its stop, but the prop remained a tad loose. I was able to shim the head of the pin with styrene to tighten it up. The spinner is too small and fits poorly on the nose.

I postponed the canopy, tail wheel and trapeze bomb until other assemblies were complete. Don't forget to install the cooling grille in the nose before joining the fuselage halves. To install the trapeze, you can twist the forward ends of the rack with a tweezers so the locating pins will pass the slots in the fuselage without damage.

The fuselage halves are held together with several locating pins and three screws. Once again, the screw covers were poorly molded and ill-fitting; I made new covers from card stock.

Using a yardstick to measure - it's the only tool I have that's big enough - I found the dimensions of 21st Century's Stuka remarkably accurate.

The manufacturers indicate that this model is for beginners with a kit or two of experience. I concur. It's a basic model that reminded me of the old Matchbox kits. Making it a contest winner would take an awful lot of work - but if all you want is a big Stuka for your shelf, it's just fine.