Revell releases for 2020 (after 1st quarter)

[Trenton guy]

5 hours ago, Eric Mc said:

I have the Ju 88 on a backorder with Hannants. It hasn't arrived in stock there yet - which seems a bit strange as the kit seems to be generally available now.

 

[Trenton guy]

Oops, pressed the wrong button above. Yes, it does seem strange that the Ju-88A-1 has not yet shown up at the big H. Seems like it has been at the Megastore for a month. Gave up on my Hannants preorder and ordered from a British e-bay seller. Has any one else noticed the rather significant drop in the rate of new items at Hannants. Future release announcements continue unabated and,as a result, my watching list has grown to 55 items from the more usual 20 or so. Wonder what’s going on, if anything?

[IanC]

20 hours ago, vppelt68 said:

I don't know about Dragon Ju 188:s or Tonkas... But I picked my three Revell 1:72 Ju 88 A-1:s from my post office an hour ago, and I'm a happy modeller now 🙂

 

The dreaded flimsy blue boxes are gone, replaced by flimsy black boxes! The Modellversium in-box review explains the plastics part of the new kit well enough, no need to dig deeper into that.

 

Here's a comparison view of A-1 instructions on the left, A-4 on the right. I like the new ones.

 

Not to mention the difference in painting instructions! There are two pages of colour instructions per both decal options; both sideviews with detail inserts like seen above, and full upper and lower surface views. Excellent! V-P

 

Three? Won't they all look the same when built? 😀 

 

I think I'm missing out. I've never bought more than one of anything. At least not at the same time. But I can see the point - one to build, one to lay down etc. Probably why my stash is pretty meagre - there's only one of anything!

[vppelt68]

5 minutes ago, IanC said:

Three? Won't they all look the same when built? 😀 

Nope, as the first will be converted to a D-2 brown/blue painted recce version, the second will be a C-4 all black night fighter and the third one will be an A-5 with black belly and brown upper surfaces. I think they will look different enough from each other! V-P

[RicardoD]

11 hours ago, Albeback52 said:

 "Exciting" is a very subjective term though!😉😊.

 

Exactly so 

[Richard502]

17 hours ago, vppelt68 said:

Nope, as the first will be converted to a D-2 brown/blue painted recce version, the second will be a C-4 all black night fighter and the third one will be an A-5 with black belly and brown upper surfaces. I think they will look different enough from each other! V-P

Will we get to see a build report? I am curious about the brown/blue reece version.

Richard

[Albeback52]

13 hours ago, RicardoD said:

Exactly so 

Hope there is something there at least which is of interest to you.

I would agree that, if one is looking for new releases, then the Revell programme is disappointing.

But, I'm a very practical person. If the reissues, particularly those like the Dragon Ju-188 and, the 1/72 armour kits (previously issued by Toxso) gain wider distribution and availability, then I'm all in favour!

Cheers!

Allan 😊

 

[vppelt68]

2 hours ago, Richard502 said:

Will we get to see a build report? I am curious about the brown/blue reece version.

Richard

I plan to build these in the MTO GB starting in September. It´s a long wait though... V-P

[-Ian-]

On 6/8/2020 at 5:12 PM, vppelt68 said:

I don't know about Dragon Ju 188:s or Tonkas... But I picked my three Revell 1:72 Ju 88 A-1:s from my post office an hour ago, and I'm a happy modeller now 🙂

 

The dreaded flimsy blue boxes are gone, replaced by flimsy black boxes! The Modellversium in-box review explains the plastics part of the new kit well enough, no need to dig deeper into that.

Here's a comparison view of A-1 instructions on the left, A-4 on the right. I like the new ones.

Not to mention the difference in painting instructions! There are two pages of colour instructions per both decal options; both sideviews with detail inserts like seen above, and full upper and lower surface views. Excellent! V-P

 

About time they improved them, the godawful instructions (which in the worst cases resemble a 50th generation photocopy with virtually illegible text) are the aspect of Revell kits I always hated.

Edited June 10, 2020 by -Ian-

[alt-92]

Hate is such a strong word.

An intense dislike and the heartfelt desire to launch the person responsible into the Sun I could understand better. 

 

Who knows, maybe they did a test build with their own instructions and reached the same conclusion.

[Dave Fleming]

On 6/9/2020 at 1:56 PM, vppelt68 said:

Nope, as the first will be converted to a D-2 brown/blue painted recce version, the second will be a C-4 all black night fighter and the third one will be an A-5 with black belly and brown upper surfaces. I think they will look different enough from each other! V-P

 

And if you fancy something really different.... mine will be like this!

 

[RicardoD]

11 hours ago, Albeback52 said:

Hope there is something there at least which is of interest to you.

I would agree that, if one is looking for new releases, then the Revell programme is disappointing.

But, I'm a very practical person. If the reissues, particularly those like the Dragon Ju-188 and, the 1/72 armour kits (previously issued by Toxso) gain wider distribution and availability, then I'm all in favour!

Cheers!

Allan 😊

 

B-29... Maybe... 

The thing is the new boxes are so good enough to convince you there's something totally new inside... which isn't the case of course 

[Stilwell]

7 hours ago, Dave Fleming said:

 

And if you fancy something really different.... mine will be like this!

 

Is it my imagination, or does this aircraft have a camera lens fairing on the rear bomb bay doors, making it a Ju 88A-1(F)? That would be a bit different.

Also, it is one of the few pictures I have seen of an A-1 without the FuB 2 antennae under the rear fuselage. They are blacked out on the sprue map, and the build instructions don't tell you to open the holes and fit them, but they are shown in the painting instructions. And most of the photos I have seen which show that area show them fitted. And looking closer at this photo, there may be some stubs in their location. If so, they may have been fitted, but were lost prior to this photo being taken.

[vppelt68]

6 hours ago, Stilwell said:

Is it my imagination, or does this aircraft have a camera lens fairing on the rear bomb bay doors, making it a Ju 88A-1(F)? That would be a bit different.

That is a good catch and I second your opinion 👍. V-P

[Stilwell]

With a little more research - The story of AX919 is covered in the book "Arrival of Eagles - Luftwaffe Landings in Britain 1939 to 1945" by Andy Saunders. It apparently started out as 9K+HL of 3/KG51 before getting lost on 28 July 1940, possibly due to being spoofed. It made it within sight of Dublin, then possibly back over France, before running out of fuel near Bexhill. The rear upper glazing was jettisoned prior to the wheels up landing. This explains the lack of the FuB 2 antennae; photos in RAF markings also show the gondola absent, presumably also heavily damaged in the landing. It was fitted with the four underwing bomb racks, plus airbrakes as visible in the photo. As is apparent from the contours in the photo above, the replacement rear glazing wasn't the later "bug-eyed" two gun standard, but it was the earlier two gun standard.

So a little conversion work required from the new Revell kit, to add the camera fairing and remove the gondola, and possibly add an aftermarket rear upper glazing piece, but it would look a bit different amongst a collection of Ju 88s.

 

  Jonathan.

[Dave Fleming]

16 hours ago, Stilwell said:

As is apparent from the contours in the photo above, the replacement rear glazing wasn't the later "bug-eyed" two gun standard, but it was the earlier two gun standard.

So a little conversion work required from the new Revell kit, to add the camera fairing and remove the gondola, and possibly add an aftermarket rear upper glazing piece, but it would look a bit different amongst a collection of Ju 88s.

 

 

 

 

The kit has the single rear gun option on the canopy. (A couple of the RAF A-5s had the same arrangement, as well, which was always a pain as most Ju88A kits had the latter style)

 

[Graham Boak]

Surely all as-built A-1s and A-5s had the single gun rear?  If not all A-5s then all but a late handful.  Individual examples could have been later updated, of course.

 

But changing the engine cowling and the radiator fronts was every bit as major a change from an A-4 anyway?

[vppelt68]

I *think* but haven't checked yet, that the clear sprue M-B is the same in Revell's C-6 kit. It only came with the armoured "lens" or whatever it's called. The new sprue M-A has the early entry hatch / C-position and the unarmoured lenses for both B and C positions? I haven't had time to dig deeper into my kits yet...

[Stilwell]

> Surely all as-built A-1s and A-5s had the single gun rear?

 

Possibly. I don't know whether the interim twin gun standard was used on production, or was just available by modification. But the replacement rear upper glazing fitted to AX919 by the RAF was to this standard:

 

https://t1.thpservices.com/previewimage/gallil/80cb16d257da2850d5e6fbe21ce61d3a/mev-11956483.jpg

 

You may need to increase your screen magnification, but this glazing lacks the large circular glazed panels present on the single gun and later "bug-eyed" twin gun standards. Instead it has small circular openings for the gimbals for the guns themselves, and the gunners aim through the regular canopy panels.

I believe this is the standard provided by Falcon and Tasman for their Ju 88A-5 vac-form canopies, given the curved profile rather than the flat of the circular panel:

 

   

 

 

compared to :

for the A-1 and A-4.

 

And while the A-5 could potentially be fitted with any of the three variations (early single, interim twin or late "bug-eyed twin") depending on the repair history (a potential research nightmare), Falcon and Tasman appear to have gone with a simplification of A-1 = early, A-5 = interim, A-4 = late, then the modeller can pick which one is appropriate for their project.

 

> But changing the engine cowling and the radiator fronts was every bit as major a change from an A-4 anyway?

 

The new Revell kit also provides the early fin / rudder and the panel on the rear upper fuselage without the radio direction finding equipment that was added from the A-4. These earlier features were also standard on the A-5. And hence the C-2, C-4, D-0 and D-2. But to make all of these, you would need to source the longer wing tips (as well as the other type specific features)

 

> I *think* but haven't checked yet, that the clear sprue M-B is the same in Revell's C-6 kit.

 

The C-6 clear sprues are: J-A (sundry windows), J-B (rear lower without a circular panel, and late "bug eyed" twin gun Rear Upper), M-B (early single gun rear upper with a circular panel) and Q (windscreen with no gun port).

The A-1 clear sprues are: J-A (sundry windows), J-C (noze glazing, including gondola front; and windscreen with gun port), M-A (rear lower with a circular panel), M-B (early single gun rear upper with a circular panel).

 

   Jonathan.

 

 

 

[Dave Fleming]

There is a (probably apocryphal) story about one of the RAF Ju88As, that when repaired it was fitted with a replacement wing from another aircraft. It was only when they test flew it they discovered that one wing was longer than the other.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

7 hours ago, Dave Fleming said:

There is a (probably apocryphal) story about one of the RAF Ju88As, that when repaired it was fitted with a replacement wing from another aircraft. It was only when they test flew it they discovered that one wing was longer than the other.

Spooky ... Im surprised it flew without some serious instability issues. Or is that how they figured it out. 

[Dave Fleming]

17 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Spooky ... Im surprised it flew without some serious instability issues. Or is that how they figured it out. 

 

Exactly that - as I say, it's a story, I've never found any firm evidence to confirm it.

 

[iainpeden]

19 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Spooky ... Im surprised it flew without some serious instability issues. Or is that how they figured it out. 

Reminds me of the DC 2 1/2.

[alt-92]

The Italians even did it intentionally (MC.202/205).

 

[VolkerR.]

On 02/06/2020 at 08:40, VolkerR. said:

I read this 2 days ago and on the website it said "more than 5 available". I bought one immediately. Today it is sold out!

Thanks for your post!

 

Volker

False alarm.

I ordered when it was indicated as available on the website, but I was informed today that it is not available (yet?).

So we wait for the Revell repop.

 

Volker