Junkers

Junkers D.1 by Warbirds 1/72 vacuform.

By late 1914, Professor Hugo Junkers (1859-1935) was convinced that an all-metal monoplane fitted with a cantilevered "thick wing" was a viable proposition. The first Junkers monoplane flew on Jan 18, 1916 but was too heavy to meet military requirements. Using duraluminum sheets and new manufacturing and constuction techniques the first all duraluminum plane was flown on Sept 17, 1917. It is not known if any D.1's were ever flown in combat.

This model depicits 5180/18 in its full camouflage scheme. This was my first vacuform kit. The prop, guns, pilot and wheels were taken from Revell kits as were the decals. I was tempted to replace the guns with white metal before taking the photos but I wanted the kit to be as it was built about 1985.

Junkers D.1 by Warbirds 1/72 vacuform.

By late 1914, Professor Hugo Junkers (1859-1935) was convinced that an all-metal monoplane fitted with a cantilevered "thick wing" was a viable proposition. The first Junkers monoplane flew on Jan 18, 1916 but was too heavy to meet military requirements. Using duraluminum sheets and new manufacturing and constuction techniques the first all duraluminum plane was flown on Sept 17, 1917. It is not known if any D.1's were ever flown in combat.

This model depicits 5180/18 in its full camouflage scheme. This was my first vacuform kit. The prop, guns, pilot and wheels were taken from Revell kits as were the decals. I was tempted to replace the guns with white metal before taking the photos but I wanted the kit to be as it was built about 1985.

Junkers D.1 by Pegasus 1/72 short run injection.

By late 1914, Professor Hugo Junkers (1859-1935) was convinced that an all-metal monoplane fitted with a cantilevered "thick wing" was a viable proposition. The first Junkers monoplane flew on Jan 18, 1916 but was too heavy to meet military requirements. Using duraluminum sheets and new manufacturing and constuction techniques the first all duraluminum plane was flown on Sept 17, 1917. It is not known if any D.1's were ever flown in combat.

This model decipits one of four Junkers D.1s found by the Allies at Hombeck, Belgium on Jan 21, 1919. The fuselage strips gives rise to speculation that the aircraft may have seen combat service.

This is an early Pegasus release and the kit does not include any metal parts. The machine guns and exhaust are from Aeroclub. The kit is OOB with only minor modifications such as drilling out vents and detailing the interior.

Junkers D.1 by Roden 1/72 injection mold.

This is the third release of the Junkers D.1 and is by far the most detailed and easier kit to build. There is a completely detailed engine that unfortunately cannot be seen. All of the parts are crisp, devoid of any flash. There are no major fit problems and the kit went together well. The only problem encountered was the undercarriage legs are not the same size and a little cutting was required to get them to fit properly. This kit is built 100% OOB with no attempts to correct any "flaws" in the kit.

Junkers D.1 by Rareplanes, Pegasus and Roden.

This a collection of the three D.1s in my collection ranging from the Rareplanes vac built about 1985, to the early Pegasus short run injection built in the 1990's to the recent Roden injection mold in 2004. All of the kits have plus and minus qualities about them but all were built out of the box with no attempt to correct and of the "flaws." The photos are for a close up comparison of the three kits that are available. It also shows the builder's knowledge of his subject increasing as reference material became available.

Junkers J.2 by Phoenix Kits produced by Blue Rider Models, vacuform kit

In its original form, the Junkers J.2 was aerodynamically the cleanest and most elegant aircraft ever to have appeared up to this time. Designed by Professor Hugo Junkers and his team at the Junkers factory in Dessau, the J.2 made its first flight in July 1916. The J.2 featured a semi monocoque fuselage in sheet steel, a completely enclosed Daimler Mercedes D.II engine and a fixed forward firing Spandau machine gun. Unfortunately, too much emphasis had been placed on aerodynamic cleanliness, with little regard to the overall weight of the machine. This led to the J.2 having a generally inferior performance to the currently favored biplanes during the fighter competition.

Six J.2s were built but only two in this configuration. The remaining four had a lengthened fuselage and larger rudder area. The first reconfigured J.2 flew in September 1916 but was written off after a crash on September 20, 1916.

The kit was released about 1991 by Phoenix Kits and produced by Blue Rider Models. It is a basic vacuform kit with a few metal parts and decals. An engine was added along with some additional cockpit details. The machine gun was partially buried and fared over. The landing undercarriage was made from plastic strut material as was the crash pylon. The model was painted with Gunze Sanyo Blue, Tire Black on the wheel covers and Neutral Grey for the tires. Total building time was less than 10 hours.

Junkers CL.1 (J.10) by Pegasus Models, 1/72 short run injection molded

The prototype J.10 first flew on May 4,1918, powered by a new BMW.IIIa, 185 hp engine. It was designed to carry out the work of infantry close support. It entered production in March but only six were finished before the Armistice, a further 37 would be completed post war.

In February 1918, General Rudiger Graf von der Goltz was given command of the 12th Landwehr Division (The Baltic Division). Air support for the Division was provided by a unit known as the Kampfgeschwader Sachsenberg, part of the Marinefriekorps, volunteers from Sachsenberg's old unit in Flanders. The CL.1s main task was close ground support and reconnaissance.

The model depicted is 12921/18 from Kampfgeschwader Sachsenberg in Kurland during the Eastern battles following the end of WW1. (See cover of Windsock Datafile 131)