my kit instructions have me adding the inner wing machine guns but omits the barrel openings? best of my knowledge states that the wing guns were omitted due to their small caliber? I am aware of the under wing gun pods(illustration) as being an option for some missions . My plan is to use the drop tanks and the 500kg bomb under the fuselage for an anti shipping mission. So no wing guns?
Not an expert here, but the gun pods may have only been used in the Schlachtflieger version.
I hadn’t heard that the R version deleted the wing machine guns, but the Trumpeter instructions are messed up. They did the same thing in the B instructions, but in the A kit they added guns to both wings, even though the A only carried in one wing.
The wing gun fairings are parts B2 and B3, and B5 and B16. The barrels are A32. Parts B22, 23, 25, and 26 are closed off machine gun fairings.
Also, the R version usually only carried a 250kg bomb if also fully loaded with fuel.
My reference states that the MG-17 wing guns were inadequate for ground attack,its a mystery to me why they didn’t upgrade to more powerful calibers? The Stuka was so inadequate for air to air combat maybe they deleted them to save weight.I will probably go with the anti shipping armament and drop tanks. Im no expert but it sounds reasonable?
A huge bomb and huge fuel tanks sounds good to me.The trump instructions are a mess for those parts
I had no idea about the closed off machine gun fairings, great info thank you I will add them.Will leave the gunbays empty, I just noticed the faint raised area in front of the gun bay for those closed fairings
They did eventually go to 20mm MG151/20 wing guns in the D-5 version. Some Ju87s were photographed without barrels protruding from the wing gun fairing, indicating that they had been removed, but the fairings remained.
Trumpeter messed up the bomb loads in their kits. The large bomb in the B/R kits is the SC1000 (and its associated cradle), which the B/R couldn’t carry because it was too heavy, much less with the addition of two 300 liter drop tanks. It was only used on the later more powerful D model. Conversely, the D kits have the SC500 (or maybe SC250) and associated cradle used by the early versions. The MG17s weighed about 11kg each, so the weight savings from removing them were relatively minimal.
But, it’s your model. Build it as you want and enjoy!
“But they were removed”, I guess choices were made day to day in the heat of battle? this is all very interesting to me.as I build models I research as I am doing here and its so cool to learn about what these guys went through. My father and uncles served during WW2 I take a keen interest in all this.thanks for the information.
Machine guns used in the stuka 87G2 - Aircraft WWII - Britmodeller.com my post was based on this from a gentleman in Austria.