¹⁄32

Ju 88 A-11

history

The Junkers Ju 88 was a German World War II Luftwaffe twin-engined multirole combat aircraft. Designed by Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke (JFM) in the mid-1930s to be a so-called Schnellbomber ("fast bomber") which would be too fast for any of the fighters of its era to intercept, it suffered from a number of technical problems during the later stages of its development and early operational roles, but became one of the most versatile combat aircraft of the war. Like a number of other Luftwaffe bombers, it was used successfully as a bomber, dive bomber, night fighter, torpedo bomber, reconnaissance aircraft, heavy fighter and even, during the closing stages of the conflict in Europe, as a flying bomb.

Despite its protracted development, the aircraft became one of the Luftwaffe's most important assets. The assembly line ran constantly from 1936 to 1945, and more than 16,000 Ju 88s were built in dozens of variants, more than any other twin-engine German aircraft of the period. Throughout the production, the basic structure of the aircraft remained unchanged.

the model

Ever since its introduction, Revell's wonderful 1/32 kit has been beguiling modelers the world over.

First, in addition to the Eduard "Interior Detail" fret of PE I also used Quickboost resin main landing gear and tail wheel. They were excellent allowing me to pick out the "CONTINENTAL" logo. I also installed Quickboost nighttime exhaust shrouds. The parts used were modified from ones intended for a Ju 87 so I hope I did them justice. Second, all antenna wire, tensioning sprIngs, hooks and insulators were made by me from scratch to scale. The main aircraft antenna was made from 0.008 fishing Tippett. The secondary, shorter FUG wires were made from 0.008 transformer wire. Also, the tension springs were made from the same transformer wire. Hooks attaching the simulated cable to the aircraft were fabricated from like gauge piano wire bent to order. Finally the insulators were drilled out and carved to shape from 0.008 styrene.

The model is finished as Ju 88 A-11 (A-4 trop) coded L1+OK of 2./LG1, which was stationed in North Africa in 1942. Colours included RLM 78/79/80 per standard desert camouflage. This aircraft is pictured on pg. 36 of Squadron Signal Junkers Ju 88 in action Part 1, publication no. 1085.

I hope you like my offering. It took me about 200 hours to complete and I was VERY impressed with Revell's great kit!