Zvezda 1/72 Ju-88-G6 Nachtjager

[stevesoutar]

Here's one wot I made earlier - my first attempt at this kind of mottled finish using a 2mm airbrush needle. 

 

I didn't mask the cockpit frames as well as I had hoped, and although the color is apparently correct (RLM 02 Grau - but can't remember where I read this. But, I don't like it, I think it looks out of place, and I wish I had used same green as the camo spray (RLM 82 Grun), instead of the grey.  I may need to apply to renew my artistic licence. 

 

FuG 212 antenna in brass from Master in Poland - I spent nearly an hour soldering the first pair together, then gave up & used cyanoacrylate glue for the rest - so they will be delicate & might be snapped off during dusting or handling. So far I have bent them accidentally, but they can be eased back in line, and so far they are all holding up ok.

 

Cockpit detail included good seats & the rack of radar equipment (painted by an amatuer), plus seat harnesses from an Eduard brass etch set  -  Visible to me when I peer into the canopy  😃. 

 

Weathering is ok, but a bit heavy handed on the panel lines in places. 

 

Lots of grimy exhaust staining underside, done using Revell weathering powders, matching what can be seen in some photos of operational nightfighters which were on ops continually night after night. 

 

I touched up a few splashes of overspray and a couple of overzealous patches of camo using a brush with some RLM 75 hellgrau to hide the offending blobs and star runs.

 

And I forgot to add the Hakenkreuzen on the rudder when I declared this project completed ...  (I was still waiting for a transfer sheet to arrive in the post)  - so 99.5% complete, may be booked in for maintenance & a touch up one day

 

Skyhooks by B&Q.  Anti-gravity tractor beams by fishing line (only visible in photos on websites, invisible to humans in most daylight and evening lighting conditions)

 

   Comments welcome 

 

JU-88 in its natural habitat (stars not to scale)

 

 

 

 

Edited November 8, 2022 by stevesoutar
verbal diarrhea

[NMLeonov]

Steve, that's some very nice work. In fact I like the color of the canopy frames, somehow it makes sense to me that the glass would be masked and painted separately from the rest of the aircraft at some point, to touch up any of those potentially troublesome areas in inclement weather! Your efforts in assembling and neatly painting the FuG 212 radar antennae adds to the impressive presence of the model.

[Learstang]

She looks good to me! This is a kit I've seriously thought about purchasing - how did it go together?

 

Regards,

 

Jason

[kapam]

You've done an excellent job on that!

I've been reluctant to try mottled Luftwaffe schemes, since my last attempt ended up looking quite awful.

Clearly you have the technique well mastered.

The skyhooks and tractor beams have been well executed too!

👏👏

[SafetyDad]

8 hours ago, stevesoutar said:

Here's one wot I made earlier - my first attempt at this kind of mottled finish using a 2mm airbrush needle. 

 

I didn't mask the cockpit frames as well as I had hoped, and although the color is apparently correct (RLM 02 Grau - but can't remember where I read this. But, I don't like it, I think it looks out of place, and I wish I had used same green as the camo spray (RLM 82 Grun), instead of the grey.  I may need to apply to renew my artistic licence. 

 

 

 

Hi Steve

 

that's a nice job on the mottling there - looks very convincing and extra points for it being in 1/72 

 

You may well be correct about the canopy framing - rather than 02 it could have been RLM66 (dark grey) or, as here, RLM75 Grauviolett. This is the aircraft graveyard at Brunnthal, South of Munich. There's a wealth of information in this picture - the colours have shifted slightly but it's still worth a peek. Please take my input as supportive, because that's how it's intended to be.

 

 

 

Picture widely available online - originally credited to Life Magazine. 

 

SD

[franky boy]

Nice build and good to see a model hanging from the ceiling. 

 

James 

[georgeusa]

Your attempt at mottling was successful.  I find it so hard to do with an airbrush that sometimes I go back to painting them by hand with a hairy stick loaded with thinner.  You did good.  Thanks for sharing.

[Bertie McBoatface]

Nice and tidy. It's good to see one displayed in the old way 😆

[stevesoutar]

Thanks everyone - I have been using my cheap double-action airbrush for about 2 years now, before I was brave enough to attempt this colour scheme 

 

The Zvezda kit was really nice - not cheap, but really nice quality. Everything fits well, there was a nice level of basic detail in the cockpit, and the crewmen came with seperate arms & a choice of heads, allowing for some choices to be made. I added some Eduard etched seat belts - that was it.

 

Oh yes - I added a pair of brass 0.303" brownings to represent the two Schräge Musik MG 151's - as the kit just provided featureless plastic rods, but I went with the kit barrels for the 4 cannon in the belly pack - still not sure if want them hellgrau or a gunmetal colour - the jury is still out

 

As a kit I would definitely recommend it  - crisp mouldings, no flash, excellent fit, nice decals. 

 

The landing gear looks really solid & substantial, with a fantastic level of detail - I felt quite sad that I wanted to make a 'gear-up' model (but I don't have shelf space for dioramas or static kits yet)  - so I have kept all that for any deserving future Ju-88 project.

 

 

The only criticism I have - the one thing I found awkward, was that the canopy comes in two pieces (why??), which only just fitted together, a really tight fit in the space provided, and the frames are thick & quite raised, so it wasn't possible to mask it & get really fine frame lines (up close, it looks it the frames were painted with a scale 6" wide decorators brush) 

 

Thanks for that graveyard pic SafetyDad - if I had seen that earlier, I might have gone with RML 82 for the frames as well, just to blend with the rest of the colour scheme ...  a great reference I will use for the future -  

... Somewhere (maybe in my 1967 Profile Publications No. 148 ??) I did read something about the frames being painted at the factory, and not normally being repainted by the squadrons - maybe that wasn't always true? 

[SafetyDad]

15 hours ago, stevesoutar said:

Thanks for that graveyard pic SafetyDad - if I had seen that earlier, I might have gone with RML 82 for the frames as well, just to blend with the rest of the colour scheme ...  a great reference I will use for the future -  

... Somewhere (maybe in my 1967 Profile Publications No. 148 ??) I did read something about the frames being painted at the factory, and not normally being repainted by the squadrons - maybe that wasn't always true? 

 

You are most welcome Steve. I had a good look through the pics I have, and came to the conclusion that the frames on Ju88Gs might have been 75, 66 or indeed, as you mention, a dark green. It's not always easy to tell, and many colour pictures have dramatic colour shifts that don't help with interpretation. 

 

This is not too bad

 

 

(Photo credit - expired eBay auction)

 

It appears to show a Ju88G-6 camouflaged in a similar fashion to yours, with 76 oversprayed with dark green. I have to be careful, because Junkers  supplied the 'power eggs' for the engines prepainted in dark green - it doesn't always follow that the rest of the airframe was painted similarly. Cockpit frames look Dark Grey RLM66 to my eye. RLM66 was the standard cockpit colour for later war aircraft (as an anti-dazzle measure) - many surviving colour pics also show this as a cockpit frame colour as well.

 

Anyway, food for thought I hope.

 

And again, nice job on the mottling

 

HTH

 

SD 

[MACALAIN]

On 09/11/2022 at 00:16, stevesoutar said:

Here's one wot I made earlier - my first attempt at this kind of mottled finish using a 2mm airbrush needle. 

 

I didn't mask the cockpit frames as well as I had hoped, and although the color is apparently correct (RLM 02 Grau - but can't remember where I read this. But, I don't like it, I think it looks out of place, and I wish I had used same green as the camo spray (RLM 82 Grun), instead of the grey.  I may need to apply to renew my artistic licence. 

 

FuG 212 antenna in brass from Master in Poland - I spent nearly an hour soldering the first pair together, then gave up & used cyanoacrylate glue for the rest - so they will be delicate & might be snapped off during dusting or handling. So far I have bent them accidentally, but they can be eased back in line, and so far they are all holding up ok.

 

Cockpit detail included good seats & the rack of radar equipment (painted by an amatuer), plus seat harnesses from an Eduard brass etch set  -  Visible to me when I peer into the canopy  😃. 

 

Weathering is ok, but a bit heavy handed on the panel lines in places. 

 

Lots of grimy exhaust staining underside, done using Revell weathering powders, matching what can be seen in some photos of operational nightfighters which were on ops continually night after night. 

 

I touched up a few splashes of overspray and a couple of overzealous patches of camo using a brush with some RLM 75 hellgrau to hide the offending blobs and star runs.

 

And I forgot to add the Hakenkreuzen on the rudder when I declared this project completed ...  (I was still waiting for a transfer sheet to arrive in the post)  - so 99.5% complete, may be booked in for maintenance & a touch up one day

 

Skyhooks by B&Q.  Anti-gravity tractor beams by fishing line (only visible in photos on websites, invisible to humans in most daylight and evening lighting conditions)

 

   Comments welcome 

 

JU-88 in its natural habitat (stars not to scale)

 

 

 

 

Well done.

 

Alain