Ju 88C-6
The Ju 88C series of aircraft came about as the result of the Ju 88, despite its size, having a remarkably good performance and excellent handling characteristics and was felt that it would make an excellent candidate for long range intruder and anti-shipping attacks and would make a better Zerstorer than the Bf 110. However due to it's priority use as a bomber little emphasis was placed on manufacturing a fighter version. Although some work had begun on a heavy fighter version in 1939 it wasn't until 1943 that necessity finally transferred priority from bomber to fighter. The C-2 version was the first to see service in 1940 but in very limited numbers and it was modified from the A series bomber versions. The next version, the C-4, was built from the ground up as a fighter based on the A-4 variant. There was a C-5 version that was powered by BMW radials. The C-6 version was the first version to be built in any quantity as only about 100 C-4's were built. The C versions played only a minimal role in the night defense of the Reich throughout 1942. Beginning in early 1943 night fighter units began to receive larger numbers of the fighter versions.
The Kit
The Promodeler kit comes in a large two part top open box with a nice rendition of the aircraft in question on the top of the box. The kit uses most of the pieces that were shown in the review of the A-4 version so I won't repeat them here. The kit was packaged in a similar manner with a large bag containing twelve smaller bags. Some of the sprues were arranged slightly different and this kit contains no bombs or bomb racks and does not have the under wing dive brakes. I also did not include the redundant set of cockpit glazings that the A-4 kit had. The kit does have two additional sprues that the A-4 did not have. One of these is keyed to the C-6 version with a solid nose with nose weaponry and mounts, parts for the radar antenna and exhaust flame dampers. The other appears to for a Zerstorer version as the nose is the same but without the mounts for the radar antenna and a different style of exhaust flame dampers. The instructions make no note of these parts so they may be intended for a future release. The comments made about the quality and finish of the parts in the other review apply here. Photos of the sprues included in this kit that were not covered in the A-4 review are shown below.
The only parts used from the bottom sprue are the instrument panel, guns and the lower nose section.
The decals are made by Cartograf in Italy and include markings for two aircraft one from Holland in 1942 and one from Sicily in 1942. They appear thin and except for the kill markings on one aircraft are well registered and contain a fair amount of stenciling. There is a bit more carrier film than I like which usually results in more trimming. Cartograf decals do not always get the best write ups but there are a lot of after market decals available if it becomes an issue. Swastikas are included which is unusual considering where they were made. There is a decal included for the direction finder array and this part is also suppled as a plastic part as it was in the A-4. There is no mention of the decals usage so I guess it's up to you to decide which looks best. In the Ju-188 kits this part is supplied as photoetch. The decal sheet is shown below.
The instructions are also very similar to those suppled for the A-4 but there are only 16 pages instead of 24. Most of this is due to there being no photos of an actual airplane as there was in the A-4.
After Market Goodies
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. For a comparison with the kit parts see the A-4 review. See photo below.
I also suspect that some photoetch parts acquired for the A-4 will find there way into this kit.
Conclusions
As with the A-4 this kit will have issues related to its heritage and the way the kit is laid out for multiple versions but it is certain capable of being built into and attractive aircraft if one treats it as a limited run kit and does lots of dry fitting before assembly. Many of the after market kits made for the A-4 will work on the C-6 as well. The propellers are the same so if they bothered you on the A-4 you might want to replace those as well. Due to the complexity I would not recommend the kit to beginners.
Links to kit build or reviews
None found specific to the Promodeler kit
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
Updated 2/22/08