Zvezda 1/72 Junkers Ju 88G-6
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Overview
The Junkers Ju 88 family is one of the best-known Luftwaffe bomber/fighter
aircraft of World War Two, yet surprisingly it has taken a long time before
the plane was adequately represented in 1/72 scale. Now we have two new
kits of the Ju 88G night fighter, one from a well-known Japanese manufacturer
and this kit from a somewhat lesser known Russian manufacturer: Zvezda.
Let’s take a look at this lesser known company and see how their
kit is.
The Kit
 Molded
in a light gray plastic, Zvezda’s Ju 88 kit is clearly designed
for multiple variants, with its separate vertical tail, outer wing panels,
and fuselage construction. This is a good sign, as overall the kit is
quite nice, detail-wise, with petite recessed panel lines throughout and
crisp, clean molding. A small decal sheet provides markings for three
aircraft.
Starting with the interior, this kit comes with a nicely detailed cockpit
section, which includes some of the best 1/72 figures I have seen in a
long time. In addition to the crew, the cockpit comes with a separate
two-piece control wheel, separate instrument panel, and a detailed rear
bulkhead with radio/radar equipment. The completed cockpit gets sandwiched
between the two fuselage halves, which has a separate belly piece and
separate nose pieces.
 Moving
to the flying surfaces, the vertical fin is split in halves, with the
rudder molded solidly on one of the halves. Similar treatment is found
with the ailerons as well, and the fit around the hinge line is surprisingly
good. The stabilizers are solid right and left pieces, while the wing
comes in eight pieces. The outer panels are separate, and all are split
into upper and lower sections. Each side is made up from four pieces,
and this could be a bit challenging to keep alignment. I would recommend
assembling the upper inner and outer pieces and securing those solidly,
then adding the remaining pieces. That should give you good alignment
without too much effort.
The remaining assemblies are just as nice as the rest of the kit. The
engines are well done, accurately capturing the look of the Jumo engines.
The flame damper exhausts are split into upper and lower pieces and have
thin edges on the exhaust ends. The nose radar is made up of six pieces
and looks quite nice.
 The
decal sheet looks to be quite complete, with markings for three aircraft.
The instructions do not provide any information about the aircraft, though,
so you will have to do some additional research if you want to know more
about these aircraft. The first one has a tight squiggle pattern in green
over the standard large mottle night fighter camouflage. It is coded 9W+EL.
The second aircraft, coded W7+LK, is finished in the standard mottled
camouflage, while the third aircraft, coded 3C+DB, has what appears to
be a tight-edged mottle finish. The decals feel thin and have a matt finish
to them. Alignment is quite good as well.
Conclusion
At half the price of the Hasegawa kit, the Zvezda kit is the hands down
winner if you are planning on building more than one Ju 88 night fighter.
After a quick test fit, I found the kit to go together quite well, and
with just a bit of sandpaper there won’t be any need for filler.
The detail out of the box is quite good, making this a great out of box
build, while leaving plenty of room for the super detailer. My thanks
to Zvezda for the review sample. |
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