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Junkers Ju-88C-4 Nightfighter (SH48177) 1:48


Mike

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Junkers Ju-88C-4 Nightfighter (SH48177)

1:48 Special Hobby

 

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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 projected that it could infiltrate, bomb and exfiltrate 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 popping up over Germany however, they were quickly retasked with nightfighter 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 with its distinctive dipole antennae clustered around the nose like whiskers.

 

 

The Kit

This is a collaboration between Special Hobby and ICM, who provide most of the plastic in the form of the A-5 box contents (we reviewed the A-11 here), with additional parts in resin and styrene tooled by Special Hobby to facilitate the kit's conversion into the original Ju-88 nightfighter variant.  Inside the box are six grey sprues of ICM plastic, with another slightly different in hue from Special Hobby, plus a clear sprue.  There is also another clear sprue tooled by SH and a bag of resin parts, both of which are stapled to a card insert along with the decal sheet, which is printed by Cartograf.  The bag of resin contains wheels, cockpit details, gear bay covers and flame dampers for the engines, all of which will come in useful.  Consequently, there are quite a few parts in the box that will stay there.

 

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The cockpit is constructed as normal, beginning with the sidewalls and radio bulkheads, of which these is a choice of two types, depending on your decal option.  A number of small resin parts are dotted around the cockpit, with the resin instrument panel being of primary interest, with a custom decal to provide the instrument faces.  The wings too are built as standard, with moving flying surfaces there and in the empennage, and the complete engines and landing gear that are housed within the nacelles, but this time they are covered with resin flame dampers for two of the decal options.  The gondola is present on this boxing, and is supplied in three main parts (plus glazing) on the additional sprue, with a streamlined "nose" that has two gun troughs moulded in, which may need a little reaming out to allow comfortable fit of the two guns on their sled.

 

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The nose is the most obvious difference between variants, and this is decked out with three MG17s and one 20mm MGFF for destructive power, all of which are set to the starboard side of the nose, which has a downward aspect from the side.  Defensive armament consists of three MG81s on flexible mounts, which are fitted to the rear of the gondola, and on each of the bulges at the rear section of the canopy, which has a new front to accommodate the lack of forward firing machine gun.  The resin wheels and bay doors are fitted to the main gear legs, and should give a final boost to detail in that oft neglected area.

 

 

Markings

There are three decal options from the box, two of which are black, the latter being really black without the yellow nacelle undersides and white fuselage bands of the former.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

  • R4+MK W.Nr. 0359, 2/NJG2, Glize-Rijen, May 1941 – all black with yellow lower nacelles and white tail band.
  • R4+MT 9/NJG2, Glize-Rijen, Summer 1942 – wavy RLM74/75 camouflage over RLM76, with unit crest on the nose.
  • R4+DL 3/NJG2, Catania, Sicily, May 1942 – all black with unit crest on the nose.

 

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Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas.

 

 

Conclusion

Another winner, combining the excellent ICM kit with their own parts to make what is to me a compelling variant.  I have a thing about nightfighters you see.

 

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Review sample courtesy of

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Is "Empennage" the Britmodeller word of the day?  That's the second review it appears in....

 

That looks like a lovely kit.  I've always had a soft spot for nightfighters and that looks like a must buy.

 

BTW - what IS an empennage?????

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Help! I'm stuck in a loop.

 

Want, don't need, resist, but want, don't need, resist, but want, don't need, resist, but want, don't need, resist, but want….

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3 hours ago, Tim T said:

That looks like a lovely kit.  I've always had a soft spot for nightfighters and that looks like a must buy.

 

yer, tis ^_^

 

9 minutes ago, Gorby said:

Doesn't he? Why? How do you know? Do the others... 

 

Clue: He doesn't wear pants.  Leia also famously said that George told her there's no underwear in space.

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