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Airfix Ju-88 A4 query (1/72)


petrichorAM84

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Hi all,

 

I have the above kit in my stash and I'm planning to build it soon however as the cockpit is non existent due to the age of the mould I want to improve it. Would the cockpit detailing set from Aires (AIRE7138) which is designed for the Revell kit work with the Airfix kit or will I have to give scratch building the detail a go?

Thanks in advance.

 

Andrew

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It might work but would require a good deal of fiddling. The Airfix fuselage cross section is quite off as best I recall from building that kit almost 50 years ago. Unless you just really want to build the Airfix oldie, I would suggest getting the Revell kit

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Another vote for the Revell new tool kit, although the Hasegawa kit is almost as good.

 

The old Airfix one is best left for collectors.  Radleigh had no end of bother with the one he was building a few years back - there's a build thread on here somewhere - and he eventually got shot.

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1 minute ago, The Wooksta! said:

Radleigh had no end of bother with the one he was building a few years back - there's a build thread on here somewhere - and he eventually got shot.

 

Presumably this one?

 

May I also suggest purchasing the Revell kit and using that instead of the Airfix one.

 

Kind regards,

Sam

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Hey! Having built that kit, I would say the safest bet would be to try and scratch build it. There's a lot of perspex in the front of that kit that I think would foul the resin. And also, since the tooling is a billion years old I think the plastic side wall are about 2 inches thick so to thin it all out to the point where aftermarket resin could be used could be really difficult! 

Good luck with whatever you do! 

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You're so cruel everyone...50 years ago, in the small boxes of the time you got a crammed load of fun, lots of parts (over 100 !!!), moving stuff etc.. But I concede the kit is not really accurate, and the moulds probably rather shot. Besides it's not an A-4, at least going by the engines.

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Sorry, even 50 years ago I had the Frog and never liked the Airfix.  Come to think of it, almost 60 years ago I had the Lindberg, and never quite understood how the retracting undercarriage was supposed to work.  About 30 years ago I did get the Airfix, thinking it couldn't be as bad as all that...

 

But if you want a mule to experiment with different techniques, it's a great subject for various colour schemes.

Edited by Graham Boak
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While the 2011 Revell kit is both good in itself and excellent value for money (but make sure it's kit 04672, not the ancient one, which was most recently boxed as kit 04130), my favourite "out of date" Ju88 is the Italeri one, which unlike a lot of their kits goes together pretty easily and still looks nice. If you can get one cheap at a show it remains a worthwhile thing to build, which for me I'm afraid in my view doesn't apply to the Airfix one, even as a nostalgia build. I never had much luck with it even 40 years ago when the moulds were in better nick.

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I like the Italeri one too, despite the incorrect fuselage sections (like all the older kits) but bear in mind that the radiators are those of an A-1 not an A-4.  You used to be able to get a lovely Eduard etched brass set that not only gave you better fronts, but similarly superb ones for a Jumo 213.  Sadly long gone, but someone may know of something to replace the italeri ones?

 

There was a large range of replacement bits (including the underwing nacelles) from AIM, but I think the range has shrunken recently.

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Both the Italeri and AMT (AMTech) Ju 88s are quite nice, but you should be aware that the engine nacelles and by extension, the wheel wells are quite undersized (a problem also shared by the newish Zvezda series of 88s).  If you compare these to the Hasegawa and new Revell series of Ju 88s, you will see by just how much.  Still, does not take away from the Italeri kit as it is much more easy to build and does look good when finished.

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Erm, I was 10 when I did it first time round, the second one being a few months later.  You know the joy of just building stuff at that age?  Or have you all turned into jaded cynical misanthropes like me?

 

Anyhoo, the final time was in 1988 and I was 15.  Wanted to see if I could do a better job.  I did, just.

 

Interesting to note that as abysmal as the Airfix kit is, they seem to have got the u/c nacelles more the correct size that later, more modern and supposedly better kits.

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I have one of these in the stash and upon arrival of some new decals, I think I will do a build just for the innocent fun we used to have back in those days. No attempt to correct the shape, just an tiny amount of detailing and a re-scribe.

 

Martian

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