Revell Pro-Modeler 1/32 Junkers Ju 88A-1 Bomber

[UKguyInUSA]

Hello Chaps,

Since completing my Monogram Pro-Modeler 1/48 scale Heinkel He 111H-22 and enjoying every minute of the build, along with the end result, I wanted to do another German Bomber, either the Ju 88 or the Do17. Very kindly, one of my YouTube viewers sent me this kit- the Revell Pro-Modeler 1/32 Junkers Ju 88A-1 Bomber, for which I was extremely grateful!

So, without further ado, let's get onto the introduction:

The kit comes in a sturdy two piece lid and base box with a 24 page black and white instruction booklet, a decal sheet that offers two sets of markings- one for Geschwaderstab KG 30 and one for a "Battle of Britain" version Kampfgeschwader 54, six bags of sprues; five bags containing a total of 13 grey sprues and one bag containing a single clear sprue making a total of 281 parts.

This kit was originally released as a new tooling in 2008, then again in 2011 with a new box art and last released in 2013 with new box art and some new parts. This kit is the second release of 2011.

The Box Art:

Specification table on the side of the lid:

With the lid removed one can see the contents are contained in a nice sturdy base with overlapping sides:

The 24 page black and white instruction booklet:

The Decal Sheet:

The 13 grey sprues:

The one clear sprue:

So, that's the kit, let the build begin!....I have actually begun the build, I started on Monday, but I'm just getting around to posting and starting this build thread.

"Build Update #1 coming very soon!

In the meantime, if you'd like to see my YouTube "Build Introduction" video, then here is the link to that:

https://youtu.be/jXrdga-zYG8

Thanks in advance for reading this thread, leaving any comments and for watching my video, should you decide to do so!

Happy modeling and have fun!

Cheers

Martin

Edited March 5, 2017 by UKguyInUSA
Correction to title

[rob85]

Wow looks like you have got some work on your hands!

Rob

[Jockster]

Very impressive Martin, I've never heard of the pro modeler series before but it looks rather good. I believe I'll be tuning in to YouTube as well as your thread here. Looks like it would be pretty complete oob, is there much you intend adding yourself?

[UKguyInUSA]

Wow looks like you have got some work on your hands!

Rob

Yes, I do!! Lots of lovely jubbly details to get stuck into inside that cockpit...which I've already made a start on now

Thanks for taking a loo and have a great weekend!

Cheers

Martin

[UKguyInUSA]

Very impressive Martin, I've never heard of the pro modeler series before but it looks rather good. I believe I'll be tuning in to YouTube as well as your thread here. Looks like it would be pretty complete oob, is there much you intend adding yourself?

I'd never heard of it before, until a fellow YouTube modeler sent me the Monogram Pro-Modeler Heinkel He 111H-22 that was my last build of 2015. I really enjoyed it, and in my Channel Update video of December, I mentioned that I was going to build some more German Bombers, because the Heinkel was my first one. A couple of weeks later, I had a large parcel on my doorstep from one of my Channel viewers that contained three 1/32 scale kits, including this one!!

When Revell acquired Monogram, they changed the title to the Revell Pro-Modeler Series.

All my builds are "OOB" for a reason...my channel is dedicated to showing my viewers what they can expect to get in the box for the price they pay, so that I can have an opinion, and my viewers can form their own opinion, on whether I feel the kit offers great VFM- "Value For Money". The only extras that I add are the antenna wires and perhaps a vertical stabilizer mounted hard-point for the antenna to attach to if it hasn't been included in the part molding.

Here's my "Final Reveal" video for the Monogram Pro-Modeler 1/48 "Heinkel He 111H-22 with V1 "Flying Bomb" if you missed it on here. It was a lovely kit, straight from the box:

Have a great weekend!

Cheers

Martin

[UKguyInUSA]

Revell Pro-Modeler 1/32 Junkers Ju 88A-1 Bomber- "Build Update #1"

The build began last Monday and the first thing that I did was the ceremonial bathing of the parts, followed by allowing them to air dry:

After the washing, the next thing that I tend to do is to glue together as many of the sub-assemblies as possible to eliminate the large number of sprues piled up on the work-bench. I started off by cutting from the sprues all the halves of the ailerons, flaps, horizontal stabilizers and elevators, then glue those together:

I then got the parts together for assembling the vertical stabilizer, rudder and wing tips and glued them together:

Next, I got together the parts that make up the wings- upper and lower wing halves, the previously assembled wing-tips and the undercarriage mounting structure. I glued, taped and clamped the starboard side first, followed by the portside:

When the upper and lower wings were set, I removed the clamps and the tape, then glued the wing-tips on and the undercarriage mounting structure, I then smoothed down all the seams. The wing-tips didn't match very well and there were gaps that will require filling at a later stage:

Next, I got the parts together to build up the cockpit rear bulkhead- bulkhead, radio sets, magazine rack and magazines and glued them together:

This was followed by getting together all the parts that make up the starboard side inner wall assembly for the cockpit and then gluing that assembly together:

...and then all the parts for the Portside inner cockpit wall and console assemblies and gluing those together:

I then got the pieces together for the central dividing wall with the bombadiers floor and bomb aiming sight and glued those together:

Next were the parts that assemble to make the cockpit rear floor area, and again, these were glued together to make them ready for priming:

Next, I got all the parts together for the three seat assemblies, one being the pilots seat which was also assembled to the floor beneath his seat that carries the foot-pedals and the steering column:

I then got all the parts for the wheels and undercarriage and assembled those together, leaving the wheels off and putting those onto cocktail sticks ready for priming and painting:

The last of the sub-assemblies was to put the propeller spinners onto cocktail sticks ready for priming, then assemble the spinner back-plates and center hubs for locating the propeller blades onto. The bearing and spindles were also assembled to the back of the spinner back plates:

Next, I prepared all the sub-assemblies and sprues that were to be primed and took them to the spray-booth:

I then airbrushed a black primer onto everything in readiness for painting all internal parts and surfaces:

When the black primer had dried, I then airbrushed RLM 66 Grey onto the cockpit assemblies and internal surfaces that were to be this color. I then added some white to the RLM 66 to tone it down and then airbrushed some highlights on top:

Next, I airbrushed the light olive onto the parts that required this color and again, I added some white to it to tone it down, then added some highlights:

The last items that I painted were the propeller blades and spinner assemblies with silver so that at a later date of this build, I can apply the "Hairspray Chipping" technique to expose some of the silver beneath the top coat colors:

I had now gone as far as I wanted to for this update, and so, I put everything onto my work-bench to check out how much I had got done and took some photos:

Well, that's it for this update. From hereon, I will detail all of the internal parts, gloss clear coat them, weather them, then finish them with a final matt clear coat. I will then assemble the plane, fill and smooth any gaps, clean the plane, then prime and pre-shade ready for moving onto the painting stage.

In the meantime, if you'd like to watch my YouTube Channel "Build Update #1" video for this report, then here is the link for that:

Thanks in advance for looking at this thread, leaving any comments and for watching my video should you decide to do so

Until my next update, happy modeling and have fun!

Tally Ho and Chocks away!

Cheers,

Martin

Edited February 21, 2016 by UKguyInUSA

[Jockster]

Wow, you don't hang about Martin. Impressive!

[UKguyInUSA]

Wow, you don't hang about Martin. Impressive!

Thanks Jockster, much appreciated!

I'm retired, so I have a lot of time on my hands during the day, and some weeks, especially when the weather is bad outside, I spend most of it on a model.

Cheers

Martin

[Jockster]

I am insanely jealous as I have another twenty odd years left to go!

[UKguyInUSA]

I am insanely jealous as I have another twenty odd years left to go!

I'm jealous that you still have twenty years to go...I'd love to be younger again! Getting old scares the you know what out of me and the last 16 yrs, since leaving the UK to live in the USA, have literally flown by. If the next 16 go just as fast...I'll be ancient, if I'm still around.

[Greif]

Very nice! What a beast in 1/32!

The kit seems to be nicely detailed... I have always a doubt when it's time to buy a Revell kit... I remember a Concorde in 1/144 which was a nightmare!

I've a Ju88 mistel 2 to build... I will follow this big 88 to so how she's coming!

Enjoy your building!

Cheers

[BigMouthStrikesAgain]

Great build and coming on very quickly. Look forward to seeing more of this beauty

[Watcher]

I have the LCM 1:48 Ju 88 in my stash so I will watch with interest.

[UKguyInUSA]

Very nice! What a beast in 1/32!

The kit seems to be nicely detailed... I have always a doubt when it's time to buy a Revell kit... I remember a Concorde in 1/144 which was a nightmare!

I've a Ju88 mistel 2 to build... I will follow this big 88 to so how she's coming!

Enjoy your building!

Cheers

Thanks for taking a look Greif, much appreciated! Yes, she is a beast and she has a lot of lovely details in the cockpit to have a go at!

A couple of my first builds, when I started modeling in 2014, were Revell USA kits and after building them, I thought to myself "never again". But, then I built a recent Revell of Germany 1/32 scale kit that was unbelievably cheap for the size of kit...it was their 1/32 Arado AR196A-3 which cost me $27.95 less a $5.00 coupon I had, making it $22.95. I was seriously impressed with the quality of the engineering, the molded product and the amount of details that it came with for such a low price. So, that said....if I buy Revell, I will only buy Revell of Germany kits, they blow the USA kits out of the water.

Here's a link to my YouTube video for the Arado I built:

Have fun with your Mistel build, I'll look out for your build updates on here!

Cheers

Martin

[UKguyInUSA]

Great build and coming on very quickly. Look forward to seeing more of this beauty

Thanks Big, much appreciated!

Cheers

Martin

[Adam Maas]

Thanks for taking a look Greif, much appreciated! Yes, she is a beast and she has a lot of lovely details in the cockpit to have a go at!

A couple of my first builds, when I started modeling in 2014, were Revell USA kits and after building them, I thought to myself "never again". But, then I built a recent Revell of Germany 1/32 scale kit that was unbelievably cheap for the size of kit...it was their 1/32 Arado AR196A-3 which cost me $27.95 less a $5.00 coupon I had, making it $22.95. I was seriously impressed with the quality of the engineering, the molded product and the amount of details that it came with for such a low price. So, that said....if I buy Revell, I will only buy Revell of Germany kits, they blow the USA kits out of the water.

Here's a link to my YouTube video for the Arado I built:

Have fun with your Mistel build, I'll look out for your build updates on here!

Cheers

Martin

​Don't write off the Revell US kits so quick, there's some real gems to be found.

​Notable gems:

​1/48 F-15E, 1/48 PV-1, 1/48 Super Hornet, 1/48 Stearmann. They've got some solid older kits as well (their F-4C/D and F-4J come to mind).

​A lot of their kits are older though, Revell US doesn't tool nearly as many new kits as other companies.

[UKguyInUSA]

​Don't write off the Revell US kits so quick, there's some real gems to be found.

​Notable gems:

​1/48 F-15E, 1/48 PV-1, 1/48 Super Hornet, 1/48 Stearmann. They've got some solid older kits as well (their F-4C/D and F-4J come to mind).

​A lot of their kits are older though, Revell US doesn't tool nearly as many new kits as other companies.

I built the Monogram F-4C/D kit....not sure if it is the same kit you've suggested, but in the Revell name when they acquired Monogram? It's not a bad kit, but compared to todays standards of engineering and quality of molded product including exterior surface detailing, it still becomes immediately apparent that it is an old kit. Nothing wrong with old kits, but if you want to do some serious finishing work, it's nice to have the recessed exterior surface details so they can be highlighted.

Here's my YouTube video of my Monogram 1/48 F4C "Final Reveal", which I think would have looked so much better should there have been recessed panel lines to bring alive:

Cheers

Martin

[Greif]

Thanks for taking a look Greif, much appreciated! Yes, she is a beast and she has a lot of lovely details in the cockpit to have a go at!

A couple of my first builds, when I started modeling in 2014, were Revell USA kits and after building them, I thought to myself "never again". But, then I built a recent Revell of Germany 1/32 scale kit that was unbelievably cheap for the size of kit...it was their 1/32 Arado AR196A-3 which cost me $27.95 less a $5.00 coupon I had, making it $22.95. I was seriously impressed with the quality of the engineering, the molded product and the amount of details that it came with for such a low price. So, that said....if I buy Revell, I will only buy Revell of Germany kits, they blow the USA kits out of the water.

Here's a link to my YouTube video for the Arado I built: https://youtu.be/ZRKU-k-M-BE

Have fun with your Mistel build, I'll look out for your build updates on here!

Cheers

Martin

I've watched your video and I'm very impressed by the Arado, excellent build, congratulations Martin!

I've noticed that you use Matt varnish for the general finish of the aircraft... Many modelers prefer to use the satin one. I used to think that the Matt varnish tend to flatten to much the structure, but I must admit that I've changed my mind seeing your Arado. I have also noticed your airbrushing technic with deeming the color a bit to already highlight panels; tricky with nice result.

The Mistel will wait quietly inside her box with her Fw190 because she's only number 3 on the assembly line! I'm proceeding my Me109 1/32, but pushing forward there's a CMC 1/48 Heinkel 177....

Have a nice build!

Cheers

Erik

[UKguyInUSA]

I have the LCM 1:48 Ju 88 in my stash so I will watch with interest.

Have fun building yours when you make a start on it....this is a BIG build and I've only just finished detailing the cockpit. I'll start assembling the cockpit and putting it into the fuselage halves tomorrow.

Cheers

Martin

[UKguyInUSA]

I've watched your video and I'm very impressed by the Arado, excellent build, congratulations Martin!

I've noticed that you use Matt varnish for the general finish of the aircraft... Many modelers prefer to use the satin one. I used to think that the Matt varnish tend to flatten to much the structure, but I must admit that I've changed my mind seeing your Arado. I have also noticed your airbrushing technic with deeming the color a bit to already highlight panels; tricky with nice result.

The Mistel will wait quietly inside her box with her Fw190 because she's only number 3 on the assembly line! I'm proceeding my Me109 1/32, but pushing forward there's a CMC 1/48 Heinkel 177....

Have a nice build!

Cheers

Erik

Hello Erik, yes, I always use matt finishes on military WWII aircraft, but will put sating on areas such as chrome/shiny steel and leather areas, such as the hydraulic cylinder rods and leather seats/handles etc.

Yes, I always add a lighter color to the base color and airbrush some random areas to create highlights.

Have fun with your Bf109!

Cheers

Martin

[UKguyInUSA]

Revell Pro-Modeler 1/32 Junkers Ju 88A-1 Bomber "Build Update #2" (2.9.16)

Hello Chaps,

Ten days have passed since my last update and now I have progressed enough to share my second update. In "Build Update #1" I had built all the sub-assemblies of the cockpit, primed and applied base coat colors ready to begin detailing them and then assembling them into the fuselage halves.

The following three images show all of the sub-assemblies detail painted followed by images of the separate sub-assemblies for closer inspection:

The Instrument Panel:

The rear bulkhead with magazines upon racks:

The radio/transmitter panel:

The bombardier/front gunners seat:

The Radio Operator's seat:

The Pilot's seat:

The Portside Console:

The Portside Inner Wall Assembly:

The Center Bulkhead and Bombadier's Floor and Bomb Aiming Device:

The Radio Operator's Floor Assembly:

The Starboard Side inner Wall Assembly:

When I had finished detail painting all of the sub-assemblies, I then airbrushed a gloss clear coat onto them in preparation to apply weathering washes and the instrument panel decals:

I allowed the gloss clear coat to dry overnight and then, the following day, I mixed a dirt wash with oil paints and odorless mineral spirits and brushed it liberally onto the parts. I allowed this to dry for 30-40 minutes:

While the dirt wash was drying, I applied the decals onto the instrument panel using Walther's Decal Setting Solution:

With the decals applied, it was back to the dirt washed parts. Using kitchen roll and Q-Tips, I rubbed the dirt wash off the parts leaving behind a subtle shade of the wash on areas of the assemblies:

After allowing the dirt wash to dry for a few hours, I sealed it in with a final matt clear coat:

When the matt clear coat had dried, I then applied gloss clear coat into the dials on the instrument panel and the dials on top of the starboard side control panel. Once it dries it will give the appearance of glass covers:

Next, I mixed a mud wash and brushed this onto the Radio Operator's floor and the foot panels beneath the Pilot's seat:

I then laid everything out to see how the sub-assemblies looked before proceeding with assembling them into the fuselage:

It was now time to assemble everything together into the starboard side fuselage half, but before I did that, I assembled a magazine rack and glued that onto the portside inner wall along with gluing the console to complete the portside inner wall assembly:

I then assembled the bottom forward fuselage panel onto the starboard side fuselage half:

Followed by assembling the radio/transmitter panel onto the rear bulkhead:

This assembly was then glued into the starboard side fuselage half:

Next, I glued the bombardier's seat into the central bulkhead and floor assembly and fitted that into the fuselage:

I then glued the second bulkhead into the fuselage along with the radio operator's floor assembly:

Following those items, I then glued the portside inner wall assembly into position:

All that was left to complete the cockpit assembly was to fit the radio operator and pilot's seat. But before that was done, there was a small flare gun to paint and glue into the Pilot's seat. With the cockpit complete, I took a set of photographs for prosperity before most of it is hidden behind the canopy sections and upper and lower fuselage sections:

Next, I fitted the three rear wheel well bulkheads, the wheel hydraulic suspension cylinders and the two horizontal braces for locating the horizontal stabilizers onto. I temporarily located the portside fuselage half until all the parts were set solid in their locations:

Before gluing the two fuselage halves together, there was a clear lens/window to be glued into the portside fuselage half:

When that window had set solid, I then glued the two fuselage halves together and taped and clamped them until they had set. I then removed the tape and clamps and took a couple of photos:

So, that's it for this update, I hope you like what has been done so far?

Next, I will build up the plane, fill sand and smooth all seams, mask the canopies, wheel wells and radial engine fronts, prime and pre-shade in preparation for moving onto the painting stage.

In the meantime, if you'd like to watch my YouTube Channel "Build Update #2" video, then here is the link to that:

Thanks in advance for watching this thread, leaving any comments and watching my YouTube video should you choose to do so!

Until my next update, happy modeling and have fun!

Cheers

Martin



Edited February 10, 2016 by UKguyInUSA

[Gremlin56]

Nice progress Looking very good

[Reserve_22]

[Greif]

Very nice job Martin!
You're giving me a lot of tips for my future models.
Did you use an aftermarket kit for the cockpit details or everything is OOTB?
Can't wait to see your 88 finished.

Cheers
Erik

Edited February 10, 2016 by Greif

[UKguyInUSA]

Nice progress Looking very good

Thanks Gremlin, greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Martin