Warbird Information Exchange

Last week a local thrift shop had a bunch of model airplanes for sale, already assembled. Some were garbage and pretty beat up but some were quite well built. I picked up a sound but garishly painted Ju 87 D model Stuka.

I've narrowed it down to either a D-1 or D-3 model. Is there any way to visually tell the diff between the two?

It's definitely an earlier D model, not a D-5 or G model cannon bird. I've completely repainted it like one from Hans-Ulrich Rudel's unit, since I have a ref book "Aggressors" vol 1, Tank Busters Vs. Combat Vehicle with a three page fold out of a Stuka. It's also a simpler paint job as my childhood modeling skills are still pretty rusty.

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"I love the smell of 100LL in the morning."

The D-3 lacked the propeller-driven undercarriage siren and later models had mass-balanced ailerons.

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What is red, furry and on your six?

Thanks Fritz, where would the 'Jerico Trumpet' have been located? I haven't spotted anything underneath it that I can't identify. According to illustrations in "Flying Colors" by William Green and Gordon Swanborough, the D-5 and its' up-gunned derivative, the G-1 tank buster had slightly longer wings with more pointed tips and correspondingly longer control surfaces.
According to your reply, I'd say it's a D-3. Thanks for the input. I dont want a model that's not accurate.
blues skies....

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"I love the smell of 100LL in the morning."

The siren was located on the landing gear oleos. It began as a simple whistle, but was later changed to a propeller driven siren. They disappeared from the plane beginning with the D-3. However, it was not uncommon for crews to remove the sirens or the entire landing gear fairing (both of which were a nuisance) from D models, so you could probably call it either a D-1 or D-3, if the siren is absent.

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What is red, furry and on your six?

AhSo! I've seen a few wartime photos of Stukas with a cylinder shaped object sticking out from the upper front main gear strut.

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"I love the smell of 100LL in the morning."