Junkers Ju 87 G-2, flown by Stuka Colonel Hans-Ulrich Rudel
built by Christian Jakl (1:48)
Hans-Ulrich Rudel was born on July 2nd 1916 in Konradswaldau, Silesia. He
was the son of a clergyman. In contrast to his later accomplishments and
bravery his childhood was rather peaceful and mundane. He was an average
student and fairly timid. His only passion which he developed upon in later
years was his love for athletics. This led to his becoming a master of the
decathlon. His many accomplishments in school as well as a member of the
Hitler youth led many to believe that he had a future at the Olympics. After
his final exams, however, he wanted to become a commercial pilot.
His father did not have the financial means to support his ambitions. The
desire to fly led him to enlist in the Wehrmacht. He began his basic military
training on December 4th 1936. During mid 1937, pilot training followed.
He was transferred to Graz-Thalerhof in June of 1938 as an officer cadet
with the first Gruppe of Stukageschwader 168. There, he flew the Ju-87 for
the first time. Things were not the way he would have liked. He was referred
to by his superiors and fellow cadets as a "head case". He stood by his
old principles; early to bed; drink only milk and no ladies please. On can
imagine how fellow pilot cadets would react to such an individual. When
the war began he could not wait to be sent to the front. He was repeatedly
turned down and instead of going through channels he applied directly to
the Headquarters of the Luftwaffe (Reichsluftfahrtsministerium). In order
to quiet this thorn in the side, he got his wish.
He flew 2530 missions against the enemy. Whilst doing so he destroyed 519
Russian tanks, a battleship, a cruiser, a destroyer, 70 landing craft, over
800 motorized vehicles, over 150artillery, anti-tank and anti-aircraft positions.
Furthermore he destroyed important bridges, supply lines and bunkers. (One
can increase these numbers since many of his missions were flown without
the knowledge of the Reich's leadership and the tallies were assigned to
the Geschwader. Hitler forbade his flying because he did not want him lost
to the propaganda machine). Rudel was shot down 30 times, and he was wounded
5 times. He also saved six crews downed behind enemy lines and escaped once
from Russian captivity. He was decorated with the highest award for bravery
in the German armed forces. He received the golden oak leaves with swords
and diamonds to the Knights Cross. His iron will was remarkable.
During one mission his leg was badly wounded but he kept flying even though
the wound had not healed. Then he flew while suffering from jaundice. After
a leg was amputated he continued to fly. During his many award ceremonies
he always simply stated that he was only doing his duty. He also always
thanked his mechanic. British aces regretted that he did not fly on their
side during the war. Stalin offered a 100.000 Rubel reward to have him dead
or alive and Generalfeldmarschall Schörner said that Rudel was worth
a whole division. Hans-Ulrich Rudel survived the war and settled in Argentina.
Despite his prosthesis he climbed 6000 meter mountains, water-skied, was
successful in Tennis tournaments and won a few ski races.
The
model
I'll admit right off hand that I am not a friend of the Stuka. The Ju87
G-2 shown here is a commission. The Gustav is probably the most pleasing
of all the variants. The Hasegawa model JT 54 dates to 1998 and is hence
relatively new. There are no problems with the assembly. It is a good model
for the beginner. I improved the model with the addition of the Aires cockpit
set # 4119. For the wing armament I used the Schatton 37mm brass barrels.
The decals are 80% masked and painted. Only stenciling and Werknummern were
decaled. There is a big minus with the Hasegawa kit. The representation
of the flap connectors and the aileron connectors were poorly done and do
not correspond to the original. I used various "Evergreen "plastic parts
to improve them. It is possible with this improvement to position the flaps
as one desires.
Junkers Ju87 G-2 flown by Stuka Colonel
Hans-Ulrich Rudel (1:48)
Model built by Christian Jakl, photos taken
by Wolfram Bradac
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(click the images to
enlarge - the images are shown on a new page)
meet the modeler
Christian Jakl
I live with my charming wife and daughter on the outskirts of Vienna. I was born in 1971 and studied to be a typographical engineer. Since childhood I have always been interested in modeling. From model ships and cars I have gradually shifted to aircraft models of WW II. with a heavy emphasis on the German Luftwaffe. My real interest however is in the creation of dioramas in 1/48 scale. I enjoy the scratch building and can let my creative energies come to the fore. I have devoted my time to thedeveloping of new techniques; to enhance model kits with added accessories and above all to try out new tools to get better results.
The learning curve is constant. I am never satisfied and am constantly trying to make models as lifelike as possible. The only problem is the time factor. There is never enough of it as you all well know. I hope you enjoy these webpages and I would like to have you critique my work in a constructive manner.
This page: GALLERY: Junkers Ju87 G-2, flown by
Stuka Colonel Hans-Ulrich Rudel
was last modified on: Jan 13, 2005
The URL of the page is: http://www.rlm.at/cont/gal12_e.htm
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The
model
christian.jakl@oeamtc.at
