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Revell Pro-Modeler 1/32 Ju-88A-1

By Randy Fields

History

In the mid-thirties Junkers submitted a design for a twin engine bomber for the Luftwaffe. The first production variant was the Ju-88A series bomber produced in September of 1939. The Ju-88 proved to be very versatile being configured as a night fighter, fighter-bomber, tank buster and a long-range reconnaissance aircraft. The Ju-88A-1 was a major participant in the battle of Britain and continued throughout the war. By then more Ju-88's had been built than all other German bombers together - over 15,000 planes

The Kit

All I can say when I opened the box and examined the sprues was wow! Revell produced a sensational 1/32nd scale kit of the famous Junkers Ju-88A-1 bomber from WW-II. My kit had only one drawback - when I examined the box it did not include the instruction booklet. However a quick email to Revell and they promptly sent me a replacement copy.

The kit comes with 281 injection plastic parts crisply molded in grey and clear plastic on 13 parts trees, plus a single tree of clear parts. The surface detail consists of recessed panel lines with raised features where appropriate and the molding detail is consistent throughout the kit. I was really surprised at the quality of the Ju-88's moldings which were produced in Poland. And the kit's size is impressive with a wingspan of 22-1/2 inches and a length of 17-7/8 inches the finished model will take up substantial display space. It will also take a fair amount of paint to prime and finish this model.

The cockpit and fuselage interior detailing is outstanding and will look terrific painted and highlighted right out of the box. The kit includes a super-detailed cockpit with side walls, a bomb sight, wireless equipment and instrument panels though you will have to supply your own seatbelts and instrument decals. Eduard makes a nice set of photo-etched interior parts and seatbelts for the Revell kit as well as a set of masks which will save a lot of time masking all of the clear parts on the Ju-88. But, the cost of the aftermarket Eduard parts will cost as much as the Revell kit itself. (approximately $35-$40 USD).

Revell put some thought into the engineering of such a large model kit. They included strong main wing spars and similar spars for the horizontal stabilizers for strength and alignment even the vertical stabilizer has a molded stub on the fuselage halves.

The kit includes decals for 2 aircraft: 1. 7./Kampfgeschwader 54 France, September 1940, Battle of Britain and 2. Geschwaderstab KG 30, Westerland/Sylt. 1939.

Conclusion

This kit builds into an impressive model straight out of the box and I would suggest that any one with average modeling skills can complete this kit. However, because of the number of parts and size of the kit you can expect to take some time in completing your Ju-88. Our thanks to Revell for the review sample.