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Junkers Ju388L-1 1/48 Conversion


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This conversion is only my first build of 2018, it took a lot of effort to complete this build as my interest in it tended to lose its' way due to various non modelling factors! However I eventually managed to complete the build and I now would like to share the end result.

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The base kit for the AIMS conversion is the Dragon Junkers Ju88 family of kits, in my particular case I used a Ju88C-6 I had not yet got around to building.

Basically one replaces the front fuselage with a resin replacement, removes the rear fuselage and again replaces with a resin replacement, a bulged bomb bay/recce pod also resin is added to the fuselage (see pics below).

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The wingtips were replaced with the extended resin ones supplied. Control surfaces, tailplanes, vertical tail surface, elevators, engine cowlings, props, spinners were all supplied in resin. A P/E sheet was also supplied with detail items to add to the conversion, also a excellent decal sheet and a cd with instructions plus excellent reference photos. Last but not least 2 vac form canopies which caused me an awful lot of grief which I won't bore you with!!!

I leave you with some shots of the interior detail added:-

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One final note, model was finished using Mission Model paints in 82/83(81?)/76, the 83/81 colour was a mix of greens due to the awful colour Mission Models supply as RLM83 (if that is if RLM83 Green existed of course!).

My aircraft is based on a photo appearing on the Ju388 site showing several machines abandoned on an unknown airfield at the end of the war. I have purposely weathered the upper surfaces  of the aircraft as the elements would have had on these machines left out in the open and hardly flown due to lack of fuel and allied air superiority - that's my take anyway!!!! 

 

 

Cheers

Andy

 

 

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Hi, Andy...

 

Great work on this conversion.  I had a wry smil eon my face when you mentioned some difficulty with the vacuformed canopies... I've done the '188' AIMS conversion in 32nd scale and the canopies were tricky to bring into line, but that was probably as much my own fault rather than any problem with the parts.   Your added internal detail and colour scheme really do this one justice.  Very well done.

 

regards,

 

Paul

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Nice result!  Beautiful build especially the cockpit. I have the same kit, plus some Armory resin wheels, and would welcome any advice. Besides the fit issues, what did you think about the canopy. 

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21 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Wow :yikes: ... I like the work, the color, and the Detail. I am curious the middle seat in the cockpit ? Did the occupant have no legs ? The spacing is very tight to say the least. 

This was ready just in case Douglas Badder wanted to defect to the other side 😳  

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Many thanks for your positive comments.

20 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Wo:yikes: ... I like the work, the color, and the Detail. I am curious the middle seat in the cockpit ? Did the occupant have no legs ? The spacing is very tight to say the least

Keith is correct in stating the central seat is in the stowed position, it slid across to allow the 3rd crew member to use it and was in the stowed position to allow the pilot to gain access to his seat.

18 hours ago, 28ZComeback said:

Nice result!  Beautiful build especially the cockpit. I have the same kit, plus some Armory resin wheels, and would welcome any advice. Besides the fit issues, what did you think about the canopy

My main advice is to print off the instructions from the CD and then study them, unfortunately due to the usual blase of ' who needs the instructions ' except to recognise where the odd part goes, I ended up having to backtrack in several places due to 'knowing the best'!!!!! Instructions are useful after all!!!!

The worst fit issues are actually on the Dragon base kit, wing to fuselage joins are terrible, a known feature of these kits. I would suggest rescribing the panel lines on the AIMs resin parts as these are rather shallow and can easily disappear under a coat of paint.

I replaced the wheels with the far superior Eduard Brassin ones, Armory wheels are probably just as good, not having seen them myself.

The canopy is very thin and needs extreme care cutting out, I made a bit of a mess with mine and needed to add thin brass sheet around the front of the canopy to join it to the nose glazing this then allowed me to use filler to make the join good. A good idea is to bathe the transparencies in Kleer or some similiar product so Cyanoacrylate glue can be used without fogging the parts. Be aware the frame lines are not very clear it took me two attempts to get the frames the correct width.

One last thing I used Tamiya masking tape for curves to simulate the tape used on the actual machine, just run some thin Cyanoacrylate around the edges so it doesn't lift in the future.

Good luck with your build.

 

Cheers Andy

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I'm glad you overcame the loss of mojo.

It's a cracker, I've always liked the look of this aircraft.

I wonder what the performance was like compared to a Mosquito.

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I'm now desperately fighting the urge to get one of these :owww:  Looks great - the windscreen frames are quite wide though, even compared to the quick Google I just did.  Is this specific to this machine?  Genuinely curious :)

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4 hours ago, Mike said:

the windscreen frames are quite wide though, even compared to the quick Google I just did.  Is this specific to this machine?  Genuinely curious :)

I will readily admit the frame on the nose where the two part vac form joins is much wider than it should be 😞. This was due to my messing up cutting the main canopy out at the front, as I stated previously I used thin brass sheet to connect it to the nose transparency and then had to fill gaps to make it right. The thicker frame is the end result to cover the join up!!

All the other frames are approx. 2mm wide, this measurement coming from drawings on the AIMs instruction sheet I took this to be correct as AIMS seem to be very knowledgeable in regards to the Ju88 family.

I should add two canopies are supplied with the AIMS conversion but are not identical one being non standard so I could only use the one canopy. I'm sure, had I had the patience to wait AIMS would have supplied me with a replacement as it was I just wanted to get the beast finally completed.

Again thanks for all your comments.

                                                    Cheers

                                                              Andy

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