Eduard Junkers Ju.88C-6b Night Fighter Updates (for ICM) 1:48

[Mike]

Junkers Ju.88C-6b Night Fighter Updates (for ICM)

1:48 Eduard

 

 

ICM have been pumping out an excellent range of new kits of German WWII bombers for the last year or two, including the Junkers Ju.88 that was a jack of all trades, and a master of many of them thanks to its robust design that took it from the beginning of WWII to the end with many variants, upgrades to performance and conversions.  Eduard's new range of sets are here to improve on the kit detail 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 (491168)

Two frets are included, one nickel plated and pre-painted, the other in bare brass.  A complete set of new layered main instrument panels, side consoles, wall panels and radio gear are the primary parts on the painted set, with new gunsight using the acetate for the glazing; cockpit details including boxes, wheels and other structures; rudder pedals and detail parts; ammo guides and ammo  box details for the weapons; gun sights, retaining straps and canopy internal structure also supplied.

 

 

 

 

Zoom! Set (FE1168)

This set contains a reduced subset of the interior, namely the pre-painted parts that are used to improve on the main aspects of the cockpit, as seen above.  Whatever your motivations for wanting this set, it provides a welcome boost to detail, without being concerned with the structural elements.

 

 

 

Seatbelts STEEL (FE1169)

These seatbelt sets 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 extra depth to the buckles and other furniture by shading, they are more realistic looking and will drape better than regular brass PE.  As well as the pilot’s four-point belts and oval pass-through grommets, you also get a set of lap belts for the other crew member.

 

 

 

 

Exterior (481045)

This larger bare brass set contains some important upgrades, such as detailed new annular radiators for the engines, with scrap diagrams showing how they should be arranged; wiring and heat-shielding to the engines; internal instrument boxes with acetate dials on the engine bearers; new in-scale cowling panels to show off your handiwork; ribs within the gear bays to add visual interest;  an upgrade to the detail in the landing gear bays; structural elements and brake hoses for the main wheels, plus bay door skins for the tail wheels; a host of access panels under the wings and on the engine cowling sides, and of course a replacement set of dipoles for the radar antennae in the nose, which requires some cutting and adapting of the original kit parts, including removing the over-scale kit dipoles and cutting a cross in the remaining post with a razor saw to receive the new parts.

 

 

 

 

Masks (EX767)

Supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks supply you with a full set of masks for the greenhouse canopy, with compound curved handled by using frame hugging masks, while the highly curved gaps are in-filled with either liquid mask or offcuts from the background tape.  In addition, you get a set of hub/tyre masks for the wheels, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort.

 

 

 

Masks Tface (EX768)

Supplied on two sheets of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks supply you with everything above, but also give you another set of canopy masks tailored to fit the interior of the glazing so that you can paint the interior and give your model that extra bit of realism. 

 

 

 

 

Review sample courtesy of