Search the Community

Every now and then you can get really lucky and stumble across a genuine bargain and a couple of years ago I found one in a local second hand bookshop, which was a bit of a miracle as they are usually very hot on knowing what something is worth, They have a section for bargain books that they have presumably had for a while but haven't sold so they charge £2 for them, and whilst perusing this section one day (it would be rude not to) the word "Adler" stood out on the spine of a new looking book, and even with my extremely poor knowledge of German I knew that it meant Eagle and that the word might have connotations towards the Luftwaffe so with one set of fingers crossed I pulled the book from the bookcase and this is what I was greeted with; Oh yes!!! An absolutely first rate high quality publication covering the service of 2.(F)/123 full of fantastic pictures and even colour profiles, a genuine no-brainer for £2! Whilst looking through the book later at home I found a couple of pictures that I decided that I simply must try to replicate in the form of a diorama even though dioramas are out of my comfort zone, and this is what I am going to try to replicate; A Ju-88D in desert camouflage of RLM 79 and 80 over 78 but with a layer of snow on it! I just love the contradiction of a desert camouflaged aircraft with a covering of snow on it. They had a fair bit of snow on the airfield in Greece in January 1942 and I may add some vehicles to the diorama later to give an effect like this; If I have problems with the blotches of RLM 80 then I could do an overall RLM 79 covered aircraft like this one with a Bf-110 from the same unit in the same scheme; I have gathered all I need for this over the past couple of years starting with an ICM 1/48 Ju-88D. Now I know that the kit has problems with the cockpit being too shallow and also some have said that the replication of the front of the engines isn't right, but take a close look at the pictures and you will see that both of these "problem" areas are covered by protective tarpaulins, result! This could also mean that the build moves along a fairly rapid rate as I don't have to build and paint the cockpit and hopefully the engines too. here is a picture of the kit box top; And the as yet unopened contents of it; I have got some decals for the unit from Aims in the stash and should be able to get the code letters from various sheets I have. I am really looking forward to building this as I have wanted to do it since getting the book a few years ago, I have an A-7 Corsair to move a bit further along before I start but I hope to get to it very soon. Thanks for looking in and as usual all comments and criticisms are gratefully received. Craig. 🇺🇦