The Prince of Darkness - Finished

[Andwil]

No, not that one, nor Ozzy, but this:

 

 

flown by Hptm. Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn und Wittgenstein.

 

AW

Edited December 17, 2022 by Andwil

[vppelt68]

Welcome! I've read the fascinating "Princes of Darkness" by Claire Rose Knott - and so I believe have you too 🙂. V-P

 

[Andwil]

There’s a lot of plastic in that large box plus a little aftermarket:

 

 

about 12 sprues of crisply moulded grey plastic

 

 

 

 

 

clear sprue plus PE radar aerials and nylon bushes for the props:

 

 

Not all parts will be used, the modular breakdown allows for different versions to be built.

 

I started with the basic cockpit assembly, 13 parts from 4 different sprues

 

 

 

I also assembled the tail fin and tailplanes:

 

 

My plan is to build and paint a number of sub-assemblies early in the build.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[vppelt68]

Welcome, that'll be great company for your Do 215 🙂. The "IKEA-method" of building with subassemblies is something I like too.

V-P

[PeterB]

Assuming the kit has options, have you decided which type of radar array you are going for - Fug 202 Lichtenstein B/C, the improved Fug 212 Lichtenstein C1 or the later Fug 220 SN-2? Years ago when I was thinking of refurbishing my old Revell C-6 I bought the Owl set of the earlier 202/212 style arrays with their 4 x 8 dipoles but later I found one of the cross shaped resin mountings was broken so that left only one alternative - the hybrid system used for a while when the 220 was introduced and found to have too large a minimum range. That initially had a full set of the shorter minimum range 202/212 aerials together with the 220 ones, but soon was reduced to just one centrally mounted 202/212 array of 8 dipoles between the 220 ones. Of course, the upgraded version of the 220 got rid of the range "gap" so the old aerials were no longer needed. If you are doing the one in the box art I would presume it is Fug 202/212, in which case I wish you the best of luck, particularly if the kit is 1/72!

 

Pete

Edited November 12, 2022 by PeterB

[Andwil]

Yes, I’m doing the one on the box with  the Fug 202/212, Hasegawa provide PE aerials which should be fun!

 

AW

[Andwil]

A few more parts glued together which completes most of the sub assemblies.

 

Propellors and engine nacelles:

 

 

The engines didn’t fit particularly well, the fronts needed some fettling to fit and will need some filler.

 

Main undercarriage components assembled using the gear well parts as a jig, the legs can just lift out and be permanently attached after the model is painted.

 

 

Next step will be to clean up these assemblies for primer and paint.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[vppelt68]

I did the jig-trick in my first Revell Ju 88 builds too. Then I began cementing the landing gear in place because I noticed they could be better (brush-)painted while being already assembled, the nacelles are easy to build around them and the legs are sturdy enough to endure the rigors of assembling the rest of the kit. I believe Hasegawa kit is the same. Oh, the wheels must be left off until the nacelles are done! V-P

[Andwil]

The various sub-assemblies have been primed and received their base colour, I’ll use washes and dry brushing to bring out the detail.

 

 

 

 

I used Lifecolour RLM 02, 66 and 70 for these parts.
 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[JOCKNEY]

Great stuff AW, you certainly get your moneys worth with all those parts

 

Cheers Pat 

[Andwil]

Here are the cockpit parts painted up and with the instrument decals in place.  The decals are quite thick and stiff and consequently quite tricky to get into place on the side walls, a fair bit of Mr Mark Softer had to be used.  I don’t know if the brown leather seat padding is correct, but it adds a bit of interest to an otherwise dark grey cockpit.

 

 

 

 

You will notice that I had to paint one of the radio boxes on the rear bulkhead.  This is because the instructions call for decal #27 to go there.  They also have a decal #27 on the port side wall.  Only one decal #27 is provided on the sheet!  The decals are also very shiny and required a matt coat in order to match the rest of the cockpit.  Still drying in the photos.

 

I have also assembled the wings:

 

 

You can see that the nacelle fronts are not a particularly good fit.  Also apparent is the slightly different colour of the plastic on some of the sprues.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW 

[Andwil]

Cockpit cemented to the port nose half:

 

 

and the nose section closed up:

 

 

I closed up the fuselage after dry fitting showed that it would be possible to wiggle the tail wheel and that circular thing that sits on top into position after painting.  The forward, cockpit section was then attached to the rest of the fuselage.  Again the fit is not the best, with a sizeable gap:

 

 

That required a shim:

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[Andwil]

Back after a few days away and I got the nose and tail feathers on:

 

 

also mated the engine nacelles to the wings:

 

 

after these have set I will tidy up the seams and attach the wings to the fuselage.  Not pictured is the gondola, a fiddly construction of three clear parts and one solid part.  Fortunately most of it will be painted so the small windows can be masked while I sort out the seams and sand off a thumb print!

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[Walter]

Nice work, I don't recall my ju88 Hasegawa kit requiring so much gap filling. I'll have to build another very soon I think. 

[Andwil]

14 hours ago, Walter said:

Nice work, I don't recall my ju88 Hasegawa kit requiring so much gap filling. I'll have to build another very soon I think. 

To be fair, other than the ones I’ve highlighted the fit has been quite good, the tailplanes and fin fit perfectly.  The one that surprised me was the wide gap between the forward and main fuselage sections that required a shim.  I thought maybe I had assembled the top part incorrectly, that maybe it should have been flush with the rear fuselage with a step that the rear canopy fitted onto, but double checking the instructions and the clear part proved that I had done it correctly.  The underside fit is quite good so I can’t explain the gap on top.

 

The undernose gondola  is a pain though, mine is a bit of a mess at the moment, but that’s mainly down to me being all thumbs.  In providing parts to allow for the different versions of the Ju 88, it has resulted in otherwise avoidable fiddliness.

 

AW

[Andwil]

Ailerons and their actuators attached to the wings:

 

 

 

and the gondola fixed under the nose. This had another gap requiring a shim under the rearmost part.  This may have been due to the gondola being assembled separately, had it been built in situ the fit may have been better.  I painted the shim black first as the white card would probably show up through the small windows.

 

 

 

Finally, I masked up the canopy.  Not having a masking set for the kit, it was a real pain, especially the windscreen which is made up of many small, irregular panes.  I would strongly recommend anyone contemplating this kit, or any Ju 88  for that matter investing in a masking set!

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[Andwil]

I got the wings on today.  I was in the process of attaching the canopy, when I remembered, just in time , that I had not attached the gunsight.  Luckily I was using PVA canopy glue, so the canopy was easily prised off and the sight glued in.  I also had to fill the locating holes for the large antler aerials on the nose that I will not be using.

 

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[Andwil]

Primer:

 

 

which has revealed a few spots needing a bit more work.  The build had reached the stage where I begin to feel dissatisfied with it as it looked rough, but this time not too much to fix up.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[Walter]

I know the feeling keep it up!

[Andwil]

I’ve put some Mr Surfacer 500 on a couple of seams that I wasn’t happy with and also painted the yellow fuselage band as I think this will be better than using the decal provided.  AK RLM04 yellow sprayed over a white base.

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[Andwil]

With Mrs W off with one of her “Ladies who lunch” groups, I had a full day of modelling.  First up was to fit the tiny attachments for the radar aerials to the nose.  These pieces are ridiculously small:

 

 

there are four of them that go on the nose, with no clear attachment points, more what you’d expect from Sword than Hasegawa.  Luckily I got all four on, in more or less the right spots, without losing any to the carpet monster.

 

The errant seams were rubbed down again, primed, the yellow band masked off and a rough black pre-shade airbrushed:

 

still trying to airbrush straight lines 😵‍💫

 

Then a couple of light coats of  RLM 75:

 

After lunch I did a largish mottle of RLM 74 over the top:

 

 

 

Finally for today, finished off the wheels with an umber wash:

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[Andwil]

Today I masked and painted the areas of the original RLM 70/71 camouflage on the fin which sit behind the Prince’s scoreboard, and the canopy framing.  The aircraft must have been repainted in its nocturnal camouflage at some point.  When I removed the masking, some paint on the fuselage lifted, which will need to be resprayed.

 

 

 

Thanks for looking in.

 

AW

[JOCKNEY]

Great progress AW

 

Cheers Pat

[Andwil]

Undersides painted.  Firstly I blocked in some matt black, particularly around panel lines:

 

 

Then airbrushed NATO black over the top.  I’m happy that I achieved some modulation in finish to break up the black, it’s subtle and the camera hasn’t  captured it, but its there, trust me!

 

 

I also patched up the top where the paint had lifted:

 

 

and unmasked the yellow band.

 

 

its not really black at the back, its shadow from the strong afternoon light through my window.  A gloss coat is now drying ready for decals hopefully tomorrow.

 

Thanks for looking in.

 

AW

[Andwil]

Decals:

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking in.

 

AW