Ju 88A-4

The Ju 88A-4 was an improved version of the A-1, which was the first series to be issued to active squadrons. The A-4 had upgraded engines, the Jumo 211J, and an increase in wingspan of 5' 4 1/4" with metal covered ailerons that were inset from the wing tip rather than extending all the way to the tip like the fabric covered ailerons of earlier models. It also featured a strengthened undercarriage to accommodate substantially heavier operating weights. Based on operational experience during the battle of Britain the defensive armament of the A-4 was improved including replacing the MG 15 with MG 81 machine guns and adding more of them, from 1941 on, the aft section of the cockpit was bulged to allow more space for manipulating the guns and incorporated new circular armored mountings for the twin MG 81's. Additional armor plating was provided for the pilot and other crew members. All subsequent A series aircraft were based on the A-4.

The Kit

The Promodeler kit will the basis for this build, it has been around for some time and most of the parts in the kit are from Dragon models line of Ju 88's. As with most Dragon kits there are some fit issues. The kit comes in a large hinge top box which is certainly better than an end flap box but still not as handy as having a separate lid. The box front has an interesting artwork of the aircraft in question. Inside the box is one huge bag that contains ten smaller bags with most of the sprues individually bagged. In cases where there were duplicate sprues both were contained in the same bag. Its easy to see that the kit was made up from multipurpose molds as at least one sprue was marked Ju-188. Some of the sprues were obviously trimmed from a larger sprue. 

The plastic is a light gray in color and the panel lines are recessed. What may surprise some is that there are no alignment pins. Unusual for Revellogram but remember the dies are originally from Dragon. Most of the parts have  matte finish to them and under a magnifier it appears rough but it feels smooth to the touch and don't expect it to cause any problems. A few parts have some light flash and the smaller parts have a minimal amount of parting line to clean up. I found no surface defects on the major pieces except what appeared to be a couple of sink holes on the bottom of the wing but these are where the holes are that need to be opened for the under wing bomb racks and would only be an issue if they weren't installed. Some of the fit issues are a result of partitioning the fuselage for multiple versions. The dividing line occurs such that it splits the wing root and that tends to be one fit area, also the wing tips are separate and one must check to verify that they match the wing thickness prior to attaching them or you may end up filling and sanding there as well. There are ejector pin marks on parts of the interior that will show and some others that won't. There are also a few on some of the smaller parts that may need cleaned up. 

The landing gear is nicely rendered as is the cockpit but no harnesses or belts are supplied. The ailerons are separate but all the other control surfaces are fixed. The gear doors that are open have interior surface detail and no ejector marks ! Some of the parts that come as photoetch in the Dragon Ju 188 kits are plastic in this kit, most notable was the screens for the fronts of the flame dampers and the spoked, recessed direction finder. One does get a lot of plastic for the money, by my count there are 212 gray parts. The clear parts were supplied on three sprues and are reasonably thin and clear with raised frame parts for easy masking and there is a lot of that to do on this kit. One sprue contains all of the parts for the A-4 and -5 versions except for the inserts for the rear facing guns and to provide those they include two sprues marked Ju 88 that have the inserts plus the older style cockpit glazings with a single rear facing gun. Altogether there are 30 clear parts bring the total to 242. There will be a lot of parts left over for the junk box. The sprue supplied from the Ju 188 has eight parts on it but the only ones used in this kit are two wing bomb racks the others are engine parts for the BMW engined version. Photos of the sprues are shown below, note that duplicates are not shown.

The decals are by Invisa-Clear and are well registered except for some of the small stenciling. Decals are included for four aircraft, two from Italy in 1943 and two from the Eastern front. As can be seen the sheet does include swastikas which is always a good thing.The sheet is show below.

The instructions are typical Pro-modeler, a twenty-four page booklet 8 1/2" x 11". It has a page of history and a page with warnings and symbols all in multi-languages, colors are listed by name and FS numbers. There are sixteen pages of assembly interspersed with some photos of a Ju 88 from a museum and six pages of painting and marking instructions.

After Market Goodies

Since this kit was first released there has been a lot of after market stuff available, too much to list. Some of it is out of production but most of it turns up on ebay eventually. I decided to help support the after market suppliers on this one, the following parts will be used to embellish this kit;

Cutting Edge [CEC48362] Corrected props and spinners. Most likely the kit supplied props and spinners will satisfy most folks only some with advanced AMS will chose to go with these. Shown below is what comes in the set and below that a comparison of the appearance. The corrected props have a wider cord and a fuller shape.

CMK [4009] Cockpit set. The kit supplied parts are nice but I couldn't help myself. The CMK kit comes in a small cardboard box with a photo of the completed set on the front. Inside were two bags, one with the resin parts, one with the photoetch. also included is a vacuformed cockpit canopy, nose glazings and glazings for the  ventral gondola. The instructions are on a single A5 size sheet printed on both sides. The resin parts, of which there are 21, are molded in a tan resin with crisp detail and I found only two pin holes and no short shots. The control column is especially well done and superior to the kit part. The seats have molded in harnesses and belts and are very well done. Flash was minimal and casting blocks do not present any major challenges. Also included in the set is a fret of photoetch with all sorts of pieces parts that will require a magnifier and steady hand to install. The fret includes an instrument panel with film for the instrument dials. The vacuform parts are clear with well defined framework. While the kit parts are nice the vacuformed canopy is all one piece which eliminates some of the hassle in assembling the kit canopy which comes in five pieces and reportedly is rather fiddly to assemble. I have included a scan of the instructions to illustrate the level of detail included.

Eduard [48246] Photoetch set. While it may seem like overkill, as there is some duplication, the Eduard kit includes a lot of outside the cockpit parts that are not included in the CMK kit. I had purchased this prior to getting the CMK kit and anything not used will find a home some where else, most likely on one of the other 88 family kits. The instructions are printed on two A4 sheets, one on both side the other on one side and are typical of their sheets. A photo of what is included is shown below.

Eduard [EUEX042] Canopy mask set. This one a given with all the little panes on this one !

I also have several alternative decal sets from Superscale that may get used depending on my state of mind when I get to the paint stage.

Conclusions

I have seen photo's of a lot of these kits built up and they all look most impressive. Because of its Dragon heritage and the lack of alignment pins it will pay dividends to dry fit parts prior to assembly and treat it like a limited run kit. Due to the complexity I would not recommend the kit to beginners.

Links to kit build or reviews

Reviews / Builds can be found here, here, here and here

References

"Junkers Ju 88A/D" AirDOC Photo Archive No. 2" by Henry Hoppe

"Junkers Ju 88 and Its Variants in World War II" by Helmut Erfurth

"Warplanes or the Third Reich" by William Green