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Junkers Ju.188A-2 'Racher' (03855) 1:48 Revell The Ju.188 has a long and confusing development as a proposed improvement to the Ju.88, which was becoming less effective against the evolving Allied fighters as time marched on. It began life as the Ju.88B-0, but it wasn’t a major improvement, so languished in limbo because the expected Ju.288 was expected to far-outstrip it - once it was operational. The trouble was, the 288 was having the same problem with engines that the 188 was, plus other issues that delayed it yet further. The worsening situation with the Ju.88s triggered the RLM decision that some improvement was better than nothing, and the aircraft was given the go-ahead and officially separated from the 88 by the new Ju.188 name. The 188 had a stepless greenhouse canopy under which the crew sat, with only the rear gunner separated by his location in the under-fuselage ‘bola’ gondola. More delays were caused by the insistence that the aircraft be capable of mounting multiple engine types with standardised fittings in a “power-egg”, so that when the desired Jumo 213 engines finally stopped giving their engineers headaches, they could be retro-fitted quickly and easily for a healthy power increase in one easy step. It was christened Rächer, which translates to English as Avenger, which is a little ironic really. As the situation turned from attack to defence for the Reich, the bomber force saw its priority drop, with depressing consequences for the production of the new 188s, which were initially known as Ju.188A if it mounted the Jumo 213 engines, or as Ju.188E if it was powered by the BMW 801s. The 213 equipped A-1s were slow to reach the front, and were quickly replaced by the A-2, which had acquired a methanol-water injection system to boost the engine’s power to assist heavily loaded take offs and in emergencies. There was a torpedo bomber version that was made in small numbers, and planned variants of a number of types that never saw service thanks to the state of the war, coupled with the RLM’s focus on fighters as things got worse. The end of the type saw the high-altitude versions being split off under the name Ju.388, only a few of which saw service. After the war a number of captured airframes were operated by the Allies for evaluation, but none of them survived to reach museums. The Kit This is a re-release of the original 1994 Dragon kit by Revell, but that's no bad thing because it is a product of Dragon’s heyday, it is the only injection moulded kit of the type in this scale, and until fairly recently the kit has been harder to find as the years go by. Someone has removed some of the Dragon logos from the sprues, but not others, so it doesn’t take an expert to guess its origins. It arrives in a slightly-too-large top-opening box, and inside you will find thirteen sprues in grey styrene, two in clear, a small Photo-Etch (PE) fret and the instructions that hide the decals and one of those annoying safety sheets within. The detail is good, and the only thing that gives away the age of the tooling is the slightly rough interior texture that no-one will see once the model is completed. There is a tiny amount of flash on some of the smallest parts and a few sink marks on the wing tips for example, but if we apply a little modelling skill those will disappear under a coat of filler, especially if they’re dealt with before major construction commences. It’s a small price to pay for a handsome Ju.188 model. Construction begins with the cockpit, which is based on a multi-level floor part onto which the pilot’s conformal chair and the radio operator’s less impressive seat are fitted along with the radio gear and a selection of decals to depict their dials. Rudder, control column and throttle lollipops finish off the floor, and more instruments are attached to the starboard sidewall of the nose section. The nose is a separate assembly to the rest of the fuselage, as this part is the new section that attaches to a Ju.88 fuselage to make the Ju.188. If you look at the fuselage sprue, the words Ju.88 are written on the header, which can also be seen on a few other sprues too. A ‘chin-strap’ of clear plastic is attached to the front of the assembly and another at the rear with a Zwilling twin-mount machine gun projecting through the glazing for self-defence. The tail-wheel is needed before the fuselage can be closed up, so the main strut is glued to the other three lower parts and the tail wheel is slipped between the pins inside the yoke, with a detailed bay waiting to trap it in place when the fuselage is glued, with the cockpit section fitted after the two assemblies have cured. As usual for me, I’d be tempted to attach the cockpit walls to the fuselage sooner to minimise any chances of steps appearing between them, but that’s a decision for when the parts are off their sprues. The big tail fin with separate rudder slots onto a large tab moulded onto the fuselage halves, making for a good join, and the elevators have separate flying surfaces with two pegs holding the fins in place, and another smaller peg for the elevator surface allowing offsetting of the whole empennage to your preference. The two engine nacelles are fitted with tubular exhaust flame hiders, and the cylindrical cowling is made from two halves with a single adaptor ring that fairs them into the wings. At the front of the nacelles the cooling flaps can be posed open or closed by using the appropriate parts, and the annular radiator hides the absence of any internal structure from the viewer. The props are all separate parts that fix to the central boss, through which the axle fits and is secured in place by a washer that is glued carefully in place, with all that covered up by a spinner cap, and a sleeve at the rear that will slot inside the central hole in the annular radiator part. The rest of the nacelle contains the landing gear, which is chunky and assembles onto a flat plate, using several parts before the two-part treadless wheels are glued to the axles next to the separate oleo-scissor links. If you’d like a weighted wheel, sanding a little flat-spot in each one will do the job, or pony up for some aftermarket wheels if you prefer. The lower wing includes the rear portion of the nacelles, and the completed gear assemblies slide into place within after you have drilled out a few flashed-over holes in the inner section for the bombs. These are standard Ju.88 wings so far, and have separate ailerons and the Ju.188 wingtip extensions added to the flat ends using the usual slot and tab format. With the two wings complete, the engine nacelles are glued to the front, and the ailerons and trim-tabs are completed with actuator parts, then the wings are joined to the fuselage and the under-belly insert is added to fill the gap there. The gear bays get a set of bay doors with hinges and actuators either side of their respective apertures, before four SC500 bombs are made up and fitted to different pylons depending on their location under the wing. Note that the two smaller linked sprues were separated to make photography easier. The final fitting-out of the airframe includes lots of small parts, some of which could be snapped off during painting and handling. These include the crew ladder and door at the rear of the Bolo, D/F loop, the sunrise-shaped Pielgerat (PielG) 6 antenna, plus a few other antennae, pitot probe and clear light in the leading edge of the wing. The props and the forward portion of the engine nacelle are also fitted now, then it is time for that large, clear canopy. Before the glazing is installed, the crew-served weapons are added first, along with their corrugated spent cartridge funnels and in the case of the forward weapon, a PE support strut. A small instrument package with decal is glued into the highly curved forward windscreen, which is fixed by sliding the gun barrel through the hole in the lower portion. The large rear canopy is then placed over the rest of the aperture, with the hole in the roof filled with a glass-topped turret or a simple flat clear circular panel. The turret has the gun, cartridge chute and small turret basket underneath, which will need to be glued into position to remain in place during handling. Markings There are two options on the sheet, with some interesting schemes depicted that will no doubt terrify those that hate complex painting. The first decal option seems to have received a replacement wing, with a blue underside and splinter upper (see above), while the flying surfaces retain the stylised crazy-paving pattern of the rest of the airframe, which has a black underside. The second option has a squiggle pattern on its all green tail, just to test your airbrushing skills to breaking point! From the box you can build one of the following: Junkers Ju.188A-2, 3E+HK, 2./KG6, Melsbroek, Belgium, October 1944 Junkers Ju.188A-2, U5+KH, Wk.Nr. 160096, 1./KG2, Bron, France, March 1944 Decals were designed by House of Phantoms and are printed by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion It’s still a nice kit, and has been treated to a nice set of decal options, including instrument dials and even well-rendered decal seatbelts into the bargain. Now, someone dissuade me from converting this to a Ju.388. Highly recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Junkers Ju.88A-4 & A-5 Wheel Sets 1:32 & 1:48 Halberd Models Halberd Models’ recent flexible resin tyre sets require a slightly different method of construction to standard resin wheels, so I’ll refer you back to my initial review in 2019 here, which explains the process and design ethos in more detail. It also has a link to a video that shows the process fully, so if you’re unsure about how to use flexible resin tyres it’s worth a read. The assemblies are a drop-in replacement for the kit parts, so they should glue straight onto the landing gear axles, but it's always wise to test and adjust as necessary, as you'll be using either epoxy or super-glue to attach them because resin doesn't adhere with styrene glue. The tyres will deform slightly under weight, just enough to give them a more realistic look, but not so much that they'll look in dire need of more air before the next mission. Ju.88A-4 “Continental” Wheel Set (3233) This set is designed for the big Revell kit, which has been available for a while now, and this one is getting treated to a set of new wheels. Arriving in the by now familiar box, there are six resin hub parts on two casting blocks, plus three tyres – two main and one nose. Construction involves liberating the resin from their undercut base either with a razor saw or motor tool, then cutting the spoked centres out of the tyres and smoothing the inner face with a burr chucked into a motor tool. Each main wheel has a thick rear part with a deep hole in the centre, and a stepped front hub face, while the nose nose-wheel has two hub parts as you’d expect, over which you slip the tyre. They’re best glued with super glue (CA), and the wheels can be painted with latex based acrylic paints if necessary. Ju.88A-5 Early Type Wheel Set (4832) This set has a huge range of models it can be applied to with a little adjustment of the axle hole being the only possibility. They arrive in the same box as their larger sibling, and inside are ten resin parts that allow the modeller a choice of two types of hub, with and without a vented outer rim. Choose the correct parts after checking your references, and glue each hub half into the tyres using the groove in the rim to guide you, checking the scrap diagrams for the correct orientation of the tyres on the ground. The little tail wheels are built in the same way, but with one style of hub. Detail is excellent both on the hubs and tyres at either scale, and with sympathetic painting they should far outstrip that of the kit parts. Highly recommended. They’re currently being sold direct to customers via their Facebook page and through their distributors worldwide. Review sample courtesy of

Bf.110C-2/C-7 Photo-Etch & Mask Sets (for Revell 04961) 1:32 Eduard Revell's recently re-released boxing of the excellent Dragon kit got the once-over from us here not too long ago, and very nice it was too. Eduard's new range of sets are here to improve on the kit detail beyond what styrene is capable of in the usual modular manner. Get what you want for the areas you want to be more of a focal point. As usual with Eduard's Photo-Etch (PE) and Mask sets, they arrive in a flat resealable package, with a white backing card protecting the contents and the instructions that are sandwiched between. Interior C-2 & C-7 (32950 & 32951) Two frets are included in each set, one nickel plated and pre-painted, the other in bare brass. The bare frets only differ in their numbering, while the plated and painted frets have subtle differences in the main instrument panel. A complete set of new layered instrument panels and side consoles are the primary parts on the painted set, with new rudder pedals; throttle quadrant; gun-sight with a small slip of clear acetate; additional instrumentation; canopy internal structure and magazine grab-handles also supplied. The C-7 set has the extended panel to the lower edge, plus a set of additional instrument front for the radio cluster. Bf.110C-2 Interior (32950) Bf.110C-7 Interior (32951) Seatbelts STEEL (33225) In case you don't already know, these belts are Photo-Etch (PE) steel, and because of their strength they can be etched from thinner material, which improves realism and flexibility in one sitting. Coupled with the new painting method that adds perceived depth to the buckles and other furniture by shading, they are more realistic looking and will drape better than regular brass PE. The set can be used for both sub-types, and include crew belts for all three seats with only the pilot getting a four-point harness, the other two getting lap-type belts. The pilot also benefits from separate comfort pads under the buckles. Exterior C-2/C-7 (32443) This larger bare brass set contains some important upgrades such as additional structure and skin parts for the main landing gear bays; a more in-scale D/F loop for the spine; bracing straps between each fin of the C-2's bombs; brake hoses; four realistic hinge-points for each of the main gear bay doors along with end-detail and the delicate links of the retraction mechanism. Finally, the twin-tails are each given trim-tab actuators to replace the chunky moulded-in representations. Masks Tface (JX238) Supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape and arriving in a larger ziplok bag due to the size, these pre-cut masks supply you with a full set of interior and interior canopy masks tailored to fit the glazing so that you can paint the interior and give your model that extra bit of realism. This will be especially useful if you are using the interior set above, as you will have some additional detail to show off in there by the time it comes to painting. If you're closing up the canopy however, you can also just get the external masks that will still make the job easier. Tface Masks (JX238) External Canopy Masks (JX237) Review sample courtesy of

TopDrawings 78 Junkers Ju.88C (9788366148444) Kagero Publishing via Casemate UK The Ju-88 was designed as a schnellbomber in the mid-30s, and at the time it was faster than current fighter designs, so it was predicted that it could infiltrate, bomb and escape without being intercepted. That was the theory anyway. By the time WWII began in the west, fighters had caught up with the previously untouchable speed of the 88, and it needed escorting to protect it from its Merlin equipped opponents. It turned out to be a jack of all trades however, and was as competent as a night fighter, dive bomber or doing reconnaissance as it was bombing Britain. They even popped a big gun on the nose and sent it against tanks and bombers, with variable success. The C series aircraft were supposed to be primarily heavily armed fighters or ground attack, fitted with a collection of extra guns in a metal nose. Once Allied bombers started appearing over Germany however, they were quickly retasked with night fighter duties, in which they found their ultimate role. The specification retained the gondola under the nose, but this was often removed in the field to reduce weight and increase top speed, all of which gave them an edge over an unmodified airframe. After design was completed, the C-4 was the first to enter production, with 120 made, split between new builds and conversions of the A-5 on which they were based. With the addition of radar the C-6 took over from the C-4, and with a solid nose and radar "whiskers" it was found to be a capable night fighter. The C-6b was fitted with either FuG 202 Lichtenstein BC or later a FuG 212 Lichtenstein C-1 radar, and was replaced later by the 6C that also sported the deadly Schräge-muzik upward firing 20mm cannons. We have kits in almost every scale from 1:144 upwards, some old, some new such as the ICM kits in 1:48 with most major and some minor manufacturers getting in on the act, as other people's Ju.88s don't make money for them, and it's a popular subject (especially with me). The TopDrawings series majors on scale plans, which is the main thrust, but also includes a little background information, some pertinent profiles, and often a bonus of decals or masks targeted at the subject matter in hand. With this edition, you get a sheet of folded A3 plans printed on both sides with overhead views of various airframes including partials of the gondola area in 1:72, plus a larger A2 sheet also printed on both sides with side and overhead drawings and cross-sections in 1:48 along the length of the fuselage and wings. The book is written in English on the left of the page, with Polish on the right, which translates to top and bottom for the captions to the various drawings within. The book itself is bound in a card cover and has 24 pages, and the rear cover devoted to additional profiles of a C-2 and C-6. The first half of the plans show the variants from the C-1 to C-6 including the gondola-free C-5 that has a much sleeker look, especially from the front. After this the colour profile with four views are book-ended with contemporary photographs and a C-6 profile, plus the additional C-6 profile and a C-2 on the rear cover. After the break there is another set of plans continuing the C-6 sub-variants such as the night fighters, with some head/tail-on and fuselage scrap diagrams into the bargain. The final five pages show side profiles with the changes between the variants visible, showing the subtle changes and a thimble-nose fitted to a C-6. Throughout the book, there are numerous smaller diagrams that show the nose section without the wing and engine nacelles blocking the view, just the wing root stub visible. Conclusion These books are essential for the modeller that enjoys comparing their models against scale plans, and wants them to be as accurate as possible, with the separate large scale plans quite useful, especially if you model in 1:48 or have a large blemish on a wall that could be beautified by posting the plans over it to enjoy every time you pass. Review sample courtesy of