Junkers G-24 by Revell Germany

1/72 scale
Kit No. 4299
Cost: $25.00
Decals: One version – Swedish commercial airliner
Comments: Early passenger-carrying seaplane; detailed exterior

History

The famous Junkers G-24 was among the pioneer aircraft of civil aviation. Designed by Hugo Junkers as early as 1922, it was the first German commercial aircraft with a passenger capacity of 9. It was originally produced in Dessau under the designation G-23. Uprated and renamed G-24, it was still produced in Sweden in 1925, but from May 1926 on it was supplied from Dessau. The Series 2 had not only a larger wing span, but also a Junkers L5 engine mounted in the nose, and one L2 engine on each wing. Maximum speed was 195 km/hour. Range was 1300 km. A G-24 with floats was used in 1926 by the Finnish airline Aero O.Y. and flew the Helsingfors — Stockholm run 71 times.

Once complete, the G.24 will have a wingspan of nearly 18 inches.

Altogether it carried 130.310 kg on a total of 32,529 air kilometers. The G-24’s corrugated surfaces and open cockpit seem to indicate that the technology of this aircraft was not much farther advanced than the Ford Tri-motor, yet the mounting of the second and third engines at the leading edges of the wings shows German awareness of aerodynamic design innovations that did not take hold in the United States until a decade later, with the debut of the Boeing 247 in 1933.

The Kit

The G-24 has a basic cockpit, with pilot and co-pilots seats molded onto the cockpit floor (at left). Each engine has a 2-bladed propeller.

The Junkers G-24 is molded in silver and black and consists of 113 parts. This kit can be hard to find and appears to be an older mold; the copyright date on the box says 1991, but this may be a re-release date. The interior is not terribly detailed; the seats in both the cockit and passenger cabin are molded onto the flooring, and a decal is provided for the instrument panel.  The exterior detail is far better, with the fuselage, wings, and tail section bearing a corrugated surface, and a host of struts and small parts provide a measure of crisp detail, as do the raised rivets on the pontoons.

There are decals for a single Swedish aircraft from the late 1920’s, as well as “Junkers” transfers for the nose, as a reminder that the aircraft is of German design. This will be a fairly large kit; the wingspan when completed will be nearly 18 inches.

The simplicity of the G-24’s mold betrays its age, but the kit retains its strong appeal for anyone interested in Golden Age aviation.

The G-24’s cabin interior is surprisingly simple, with seats molded directly onto the cabin floor. The original release date for this kit may have been during the 1960’s. Note the raised detail on the pontoons.

Conclusion

An interesting kit of a small airliner that for a time was on the cutting edge of world commercial aviation. Highly recommended.