Dragon Ju188E-1 Avenger in Biggly 1/48 scale

[Mottlemaster]

 

I have just cleared the work bench to make way for this project .

I think its been sitting in the stash for over twenty years and if i dont build it now , i never will .

I have an Aims decal sheet and will look out for some extras to add to it such as a bomb load ,seatbelts and may be an interior etch set as there will be a large glass house to peak into .

 

In the previous Ju66 stgb i built the Dragon G6 which was loads of fun so hope this goes together as well .  I am forwarned about the over wide glassing parts so hope to find a fix for that .

 

Looking forward to following all the JU88's in the GB

 

Cheers

Alistair

[Marklo]

Should be an interesting build. Welcome to the GB

[modelling minion]

Very nice choice Alistair, based on your previous models this should be a cracker.

I shall be watching with interest as I have one of Revell's recent reissues in the stash.

 

🇺🇦

[vppelt68]

 , loads of

[VolkerR.]

On 16/11/2022 at 12:45, Mottlemaster said:

  I am forwarned about the over wide glassing parts so hope to find a fix for that .

 

 

The problem with the overwide glass part of the cockpit can be fixed easily: Assemble the cockpit and close the fuselage, but do not glue the cockpit floor on both fuselage sides. Then you insert a small piece of plastic between the floor and the wall. This way you widen the cockpit. Check with the glass part and correct if necessary.

 

Regards

Volker

[Mottlemaster]

Fantastic fix Volker . That is a great place to hide a spacer . I will be following your method .  Love your 188 pics . Do you have a build thred ?  Thanks again for your reply ,much appreciated .

Cheers Alistair

[vppelt68]

1 hour ago, VolkerR. said:

The problem with the overwide glass part of the cockpit can be fixed easily: Assemble the cockpit and close the fuselage, but do not glue the cockpit floor on both fuselage sides. Then you insert a small piece of plastic between the floor and the wall. This way you widen the cockpit. Check with the glass part and correct if necessary.

 

Regards

Volker

A very nice 188, Volker! That aerial, well, I just say "wow" as I'm lost for words. V-P

[VolkerR.]

Sorry, no build thread, only this:

 

[Mottlemaster]

I have a severe case of writters block when it comes to making a post on my build thred .

I have been slowly plugging away at my 188 but do not think that i have chosen the best kit to have any chance of completion by the end date

 

I spent an age cleaning up the parts needed

 

 

Lucky my wife goes through enough White chocoate Options to supply lids for parts storage .

 

A coat of rlm 66 on cockpit interior . made some seat cushions from Milliput

 

 

 

I hope to attempt this scheme of very regular and defined spots

 

Not sure how to do them yet .

The kit comes with external bomb racks but no bombs so have purchased this

 

Probably going for the SC1000 as i like to think that this aircraft could have been the one that left this behind in Exeter

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-56226798

 

I will try to get another posting up before the GB end date

Cheers

Alistair

[vppelt68]

I see spots! Were there any seat cushions? I thought Luftwaffe aircrew sat on parachute packs, that acted as seat cushions.

[VolkerR.]

Looks great until now.

As for the spots: You make holes of about the same size but not exactly the same shape in one litttle sheet of paper each. Then you make little "worms" of Bluetack around the holes so that you have a mask that is about 3mm in the air. Spray through the hole, but only once. If you move the airbrush around when spraying the spot will feather out.

Good luck!

[Walter]

Looking forward to this

[modelling minion]

Great to see your build underway Alistair, must get cracking on mine.

As for the spots have you thought about doing it in reverse? By this I mean spraying the darker colour first and then applying lots of small dots of Blutak or similar and then spraying the lighter colour over the top. This looks like a very interesting scheme and I am very interested to see how it turns out.

 

🇺🇦

[Mottlemaster]

If i had started this build independently and missed out on the absolutely suberb tip from Volker i would now be facing a big problem . The canopy parts are far too wide for the cockpit and spreading the cockpit parts after assembly would have been difficult and potentially put the clear parts under tension with risk of fracture.

I always try to do a series of dry fits but due to shapes and surface area of cockpit and canopy parts with the 188 , it is almost impossible to see how they would all aline when glued .

 

 

The new 1mm styrene strip spacers can be seen on right of cockpit floor .

Im not sure if this is how you did it Volker but it has worked a treat .

I have only attached the cockpit floor to the left side of cockpit side alowing adjustment if needed later on .

 

 

Held in position by hand im confident that i can get a near perfect fit lateron .

On 14/12/2022 at 18:53, vppelt68 said:

I see spots! Were there any seat cushions? I thought Luftwaffe aircrew sat on parachute packs, that acted as seat cushions.

Yes Vp you are correct to point out the seat cushion issue . I had infact put them at the back of the seats not at the bottom  . When painted up in some leather colour they add some intrest to what is essentially a rlm 66 interior . Luftwaffe lmid and late war cockpit interiors can be rather bland .

Seat belts come from a pre painted Eduard bomber set .

 

With the front end well underway i feel that prograss may now proceed with greater pace .

On 15/12/2022 at 08:10, modelling minion said:

Great to see your build underway Alistair, must get cracking on mine.

As for the spots have you thought about doing it in reverse? By this I mean spraying the darker colour first and then applying lots of small dots of Blutak or similar and then spraying the lighter colour over the top. This looks like a very interesting scheme and I am very interested to see how it turns out.

 

🇺🇦

Thanks modelling minion for your idea on spot creation . i will do some test runs on scrap card and post results .  Obviously if it doesnt work the Clearasol will sort it out

 

Cheers Alistair

 

[Mottlemaster]

Some more progress.

 

the spacer in the cockpit worked very well perfect canopy fit . Thanks again for VolkerR's tip .

Definitely recomend the eduard mask set for this kit

Bomb load is just placed on for now . i have seen a photo of a Ju 188 with this load . Dont know if drop tank needed for raid on exeter but thought it made an intresting ordinance load out .

 

Cheers

Alistair

[Retired Bob]

1 hour ago, Mottlemaster said:

Bomb load is just placed on for now . i have seen a photo of a Ju 188 with this load . Dont know if drop tank needed for raid on exeter but thought it made an intresting ordinance load out .

Nice work on this aircraft, like you Alistair, I have had one of these lurking in the stash for about 25 years.  Must get around to it one day.

On the weapon load, the drop tank would have been there to balance the large bomb.

 

Regards

Bob

[vppelt68]

Great job and I recommend a mask set for all German WW2 bombers! I hope I'm wrong, in asking did the Ju 188 have the oleo scissors on the back side of the landing gear leg? V-P

[Graham Boak]

Checking in the latest Osprey produced two photos showing the anti-torque links at the front of the leg.  There may well be more but I stopped looking after two clear examples.

[PeterB]

5 hours ago, Retired Bob said:

Nice work on this aircraft, like you Alistair, I have had one of these lurking in the stash for about 25 years.  Must get around to it one day.

On the weapon load, the drop tank would have been there to balance the large bomb.

 

Regards

Bob

In the same way that the Do 217E's converted to carry the Hs 293 missile could just about managed 2 but usually had one, with a 900L drop tank under the other wing to balance things up. In the past I never really though about the weight of drop tanks but subject to the usual variables such as type of petrol and temperature I believe 1L weights 0.755 Kg, so add in the weight of the tank itself and I guess it matches up with the SC1000 Herman or Hs 293 pretty well at take off, but from then on things get slightly complicated. If you use up the fuel the balance gradually goes out, and if you don't, then what happens after you drop the bomb? Still, at least it does even out the drag I guess and they both are pretty close to the fuselage so the effect of the weight might not be that big.

 

Just a thought!😄

 

Pete

Edited January 17, 2023 by PeterB

[Mottlemaster]

On 17/01/2023 at 12:35, Retired Bob said:

Nice work on this aircraft, like you Alistair, I have had one of these lurking in the stash for about 25 years.  Must get around to it one day.

On the weapon load, the drop tank would have been there to balance the large bomb.

 

Regards

Bob

 

Bob , i think iv had this one in the stash for a similar length of time . Its a fun kit to build but as im learning ,cant be rushed . Its going to take some shelf space with its extended wing tips . Thoroughly recomended for the time when your bord of kits that have good fit

On 17/01/2023 at 12:37, vppelt68 said:

Great job and I recommend a mask set for all German WW2 bombers! I hope I'm wrong, in asking did the Ju 188 have the oleo scissors on the back side of the landing gear leg? V-P

 

Well spoted VP . Can you believe that i did exactly the same thing with my Dragon 88G built in the last 88stgb , lucky this time i hadnt glued the bottom of the legs on so they were a 10 second fix

18 hours ago, PeterB said:

In the same way that the Do 217E's converted to carry the Hs 293 missile could just about managed 2 but usually had one, with a 900L drop tank under the other wing to balance things up. In the past I never really though about the weight of drop tanks but subject to the usual variables such as type of petrol and temperature I believe 1L weights 0.755 Kg, so add in the weight of the tank itself and I guess it matches up with the SC1000 Herman or Hs 293 pretty well at take off, but from then on things get slightly complicated. If you use up the fuel the balance gradually goes out, and if you don't, then what happens after you drop the bomb? Still, at least it does even out the drag I guess and they both are pretty close to the fuselage so the effect of the weight might not be that big.

 

Just a thought!😄

 

Pete

 

Its an interesting conundrum Pete . There must have been some complicated calclations on fuel tank useage to keep things balanced .

This is the main fuel pump control switch board for the Ju88 and probably the same for the 188 .

 

I got this one on ebay a few years ago as an unidentified aircraft part .

 

Cheers Alistair

[Retired Bob]

10 minutes ago, Mottlemaster said:

Its an interesting conundrum Pete . There must have been some complicated calclations on fuel tank useage to keep things balanced .

Using a fuel tank to balance a bomb load would have been more important for the take off, once airborne the aircraft could be trimmed out as the fuel was used and once the drop tank was empty its drag could be 'removed' from the aircraft.

I bought a load of Dragon kits, most of their nightfighters bombers and even a pair of Mistle Ju 88's, total glutton for punishment.   I've made a mental note on how to get the canopy parts to fit, and I have the masks, seat belts and some other AM all ready.

[Mottlemaster]

I have been strugling with time with thid build as other work has got in the way , however there has beenprogress .

 

This is not a project i feel i can or want to rush . The painting has began and the spots have sprouted .

 

 

 

paints used are Mr hobby rlm 66 and 76 as per Aims instructions  .

 

I am thinking that i'm probably around 75% completed so will not get to finnish it in time for the G/B .

 

Thanks for looking

Alistair

[vppelt68]

Your build looks like it's spot on! No reason to rush, take your time and enjoy the build 🙂

V-P

[modelling minion]

She looks great Alistair, the spots have turned out really well, which method did you use for them in the end?

 

🇺🇦

[Mottlemaster]

On 04/02/2023 at 19:38, modelling minion said:

She looks great Alistair, the spots have turned out really well, which method did you use for them in the end?

 

🇺🇦

Thanks Craig

 

It was a toss up between trying to do the spots free hand or with a mask . In the end i decided that the size ,sharpness of the border and spacing would make spraying free hand far ,far above my skill level .

 

I started by applying an overall top coat of RLM 66 and when totally dry i applied the masks .

 

The spot making kit .

 

The two matchstick sizes allowed for the creation of different size spots . I found the square profile of the match stick end gave a much cleaner spot than a round applicator as maybe it was easier for the surface tension of the Copydex to break from the corners of a square .

 

 

I started at the tail so i could match the spot size and dencity from the diagram supplied by Aims .

 

 

It took around two days for the copydex to fully dry after  which i applied the Rlm 76 .

 

The 76 was left to fully dry so that when the edge of the spots are cleaned off with a trimmed down stiff brush i would get no smudging

 

 

 

 

I hope to get some black on today but am away on holiday next week so thisone will be a non finisher .