Ju 188E
The Ju 188 grew out of a need for an interim replacement for the Ju 88 when it was realized that the planned replacement version, the 288 was going to be seriously delayed. Fortunately Junkers had been working towards that end on their own in spite of having the 88 design frozen to prevent delays in its delivery. The RLM insisted that the aircraft be capable of accepting either BMW radials or the Jumo 213 with no changes to the engine bearers to eliminate production delays due to engine shortages. As a result the E model preceded the A on the assembly line as the E was to get the BMW engines and they were available before the Jumo 213's. By mid 1943 both versions were rolling of the assembly line. The E was built in three varients, the E-0 was a pre-production model which was equipped the same as the Ju 88A-4 but with the new vision cockpit, increased wingspan and a crew of four. It was to serve as both a level and dive bomber. The E-1 varient was also intended for the same role as the E-0 and included ballon cable cutters on the fuselage nose and wing leading edges. The E-3 varient was the same as the E-1 but with an enlarged cockpit that raised on the pilots side. All told 1,237 examples of the 188 were built.
The Kit
The Dragon kit is about 95% the same as their Ju 188A kit with most of the difference being the engines as the E version had BMW radials. Rather than rehash the whole thing I will refer you to the A version review. The packaging, quality and fit issues of it will be the same here. I did not do a parts count. There are a few parts that won't be used. The bomb racks that are shown in the first sprue below are standard Ju 88 racks which aren't used but apparently they were on the sprue with the BMW engine parts so they can go into the spares box. The sprue with the wheels is similar but different to the one supplied with the A so I included it here as well. The last sprue shows the bomb racks for the E version but there are no bombs supplied with the kit. The clear parts are identical to the A version, right down to the scratch like defect so it must have been something in the mold itself. Fortunately if it turns out that it's not easily fixable a vacuform set can be had from Squadron [9638]. Shown below are the different sprues supplied with the E version.
After Market Goodies
As of this date the only aftermarket items I could find specific to the Ju 188 are Eduard masks [EUEX151], Vacuform canopys from Squadron [9638] and replacement wheels that work on all Ju 88 / 188 models from True Details [48029]. Some parts from most of the aftermarket kits for the Ju 88 could be used on this kit. I chose not to use any of these items as the kit parts seemed satisfactory to me.
Eduard has released a new color
photoetch set with self adhesive parts [49400]and
a Zoom color set [FE400]. I opted for the Zoom set. It uses the new
layered system for the panels instead
of a film that needs to be painted on one side and the self stick means
no glue to mess with. The set is pretty basic and includes self
adhesive color replacements do the instrument panels and radio rack
gear as well as throttle and mixture levers and bezels for them and a
few other bits of window dressing. Just enough to add some detail
without going over board. See photo below.
Conclusions
This
like the Ju 88 kits can be built into a very attractive model with a
little patience. Due to its complexity and the typical fit issues that
Dragon kits exhibit I would not recommend it to beginners. It has
always been one of my favorite aircraft and I'm looking forward to
building it. I will be looking for some more interesting paint and
marking schemes than those provided with the kit.
Links to kit build or reviews
It is not for an E model but the Reviews / builds here and here are similar as the two models are essentially the same.
References
"Black Cross Volume 1 Junkers Ju 188" by Helmut Erfurth
Last updated 10/19/11