This is my recently completed Hobbycraft 1/48 Ju-88s. Not a well detailed kit but but it went together with minimal fuss and with a little love, looks alright.
The only major work done was the addition of the exhaust pipes. The kit had no representation of exhaust so I had to wing it. I carved out notches in the nacelles with a file and used flattened solder to represent the pipes. (solder graciously provided by Summit - thank you)
I was trying to keep this a simple and fun build… and it was. For what this kit is, I found it to be very enjoyable. Not at all what I expected but no show queen for sure. Looks like a Ju-88 and that pleases me.
Excellent work Jeremy, sure looks like a real -88 to me! I bet those squiggles took a while to complete. Excellent work on the masking too, bet that was as much (if not more) of a chore than the AB work!
Like I said before, this was a really fun build. If you’re not looking for accuracy, I recommend this kit if you find one cheap. Bare bones, quick and fun.
Frank - I think it took me longer to mask off the splinter than it did to paint the squiggles. [:O]
The canopy was a chore… 3 days it took me. I had to take my time because the framing isn’t well defined which makes it very hard to mask. I masked a little , then stopped and came back to it the next day.
The solder exhust pipes look good! I love that camo pattern, painted a Pro Modeler Do 217E and a Pro Modeler Moskito with the same squiggles. Excellent work! Len
I love it! That paint job looks great, and really sets off the “Agressive” look of the 88 more than the standard green/black green over blue of the bomber version…
I have an 88 in the boneyard (1/48th AMT/Ertl kit) that needs resurection, but I’d rather build a new one… Just out of curiousity, how much did ya pay for yours?
I bought this one about 15 years ago, think it ran about 7.00…
Len - Thanks! I’ve got a Dragon and ProModeler Moskito and they look like nice kits. I’ve never seen a picture of the Moskito in squiggles. If you have a pic of your two birds, I would love to see them.
Hans - Thanks alot man! I think I shelled out $10 for this kit about five years ago. Not bad. The way I see it, if you can pick up a kit for $20 or less these days, you’re doing good. Revell, Testors and Lindbergh are about the only ones with 1/48 kits below $20 and I’ve built the hell outta 90% of their offerings.
Mike - Thanks! I practiced painting for a couple of hours on two old Monogram Do-335 fuselages I have. By that time, I had it figured out pretty well. I still goofed up in a few (or more) spots but the squiggles hide the mistakes and that’s a good thing. [Y]
You’ve definitely got an airbrush and the skills that are up to the task but if you look at photos of that camo scheme I think you’ve made yours a little too continuous and consistent. I’m not sure those words are exactly right but the long relatively parallel features of your camo scheme don’t match up well with the more random and shorter nature of the finish on the actual birds. If you take a look at some of the photos in Merrick’s book on Luftwaffe camo I think you’ll see what I’m getting at. With some of the older kits like the Hobbycraft models (I have a bunch on my shelf too) about all you have going for you is the finish since there isn’t much detailing in the kit itself without a lot of scracthbuilding.
dcaponell - I know what you’re saying about the consistency of the finish. They’re usually more spaced and more random. Thing is, I had a picture of a Ju-88 on my pc with tight and consistent squiggles similar to what I did. Looked like a machine did it with an even finer line. I actually randomized (is that a word?) mine a little so that it didn’t look too planned out.
Also, check out the length of the lines closely… most of them are short. I’ve painted my fair share of cars and I figured that the longest line I have on the plane would equal out to about a full cup on a 1/48 spray gun. [;)]
Can I find that picture now as proof? Of course not. [:D] When I do, I’ll post it up for you.
Roger that… When a kit approaches 25- 30.00 bucks, I shy away away from, especially it if it’s a single-engine 1/48th figher or the like… I’ll go a LITTLE higher on multi-engines, but no more than 35.00… I absolutely will NOT pay 40-70 bucks for ANY kit… For that kind of money, it better fly off the bench, buzz around the room, and land on the shelf when I’m done…
