The Czech manufacturer has released resin kits of the interesting Junkers Ju 46 ship-launched postal floatplane, as CHRIS CLIFFORD reports.
I’m a big fan of waterborne aircraft, so a gleeful “yes!” was the exclamation on learning of the new Master-X 1/72 kits of the Junkers’ Ju 46. It’s a fascinating type, as just five airframes were built, being a modification of Junkers’ previous W34, the first delivered in 1932. The Ju 46 was a larger, reinforced version equipped with floats and a revised vertical stabiliser. These machines were catapulted from the Norddeutscher Lloyd liners SS Bremen and Europa, 900 miles off the coast of the USA. Once airborne, they would fly the rest of the way to deliver various items of mail once on US soil.
Master X has produced four different boxings, the kits replicating both seaplane and landplane variants:
• Ju 46hi, D-UBUS Europa (MX 7224.01)
• Ju 46hi, D-OBRA Bremen (MX 7224.02)
• Ju 46hi, D-2491 Sirius (MX 7224.03)
• Ju 46hi, BB+LX/WL+OLMP, Luftwaffe Service (MX 7224.04)
Above: Most parts are in grey resin, while almost all the struts are black. Master-X’s rendition of the classic Junkers skin corrugation is notable.
Here, we look at the D-UBUS product. It’s arguably the most appeali…
