ProModeler Ju-88A

Please see the previous post for information on the Aires aftermarket cockpit add-on.  We begin construction from there.

After getting the cockpit completed I went to finish the rest of the kit.  I mostly followed the instructions with the exception of adding the glass and delicate things like antennas until after painting.

The kit requires you put together the engine nacelles with the landing gear inside.  No way to add the internal parts of the gear until after painting but I was able to leave off the end of the gear so it was easy to mask.

The other item left off was the front of the engine nacelles.  I did this so you can leave off the exhausts until after painting.  The big holes in the front of the nacelles also make good finger holes for holding the model while finishing!

The kit required some filling and sanding.  Especially at the wing tips which are separate parts.

The ailerons were also molded separate but I warn you don’t try to  model them up or down as the aileron hinges in the bottom of the wing won’t fit.

I wanted to do the desert markings with these neat squiggles in two different colors.

I have been successful before using blue tack as a masking device.  The idea is to paint the squiggle color, roll the blue tack into thin ropes, apply to the model, and spray over it.  Here is an example of a Bf-110 I did using this method.  It worked pretty sweet and  saved me from free-handing it.

In the case of the Ju-88, I don’t know what the issue was but I  suspect the blue tack sticks really good to Vallejo paint and I had a lot of trouble cleaning off the blue tack, to the point I  was destroying some of the painting.  If you look at the second photo  here you can see the embedded blue tack.

So I bit the bullet and started over.  I decided to pre-highlight the color starting with dark gray primer and then using an airbrush I gave areas a thinned coat of Vallego white primer.  I figured this was a desert craft and the resulting colors would need to be lightened somewhat.

This Ju-88 has quite the squiggle (Wellenmuster) camo on the bottom of the aircraft.  To complete this I purchased a set of fillable pens that I could put some of my Vallejo RLM70 into and basically draw the camo on the bottom.  Not perfect but pretty okay and it is on the bottom!  I think next time I  would try the .7mm pens instead of the 2mm tip.

Freehanding the camo on the upper was a bit of a challenge as I was having airbrush issues.  However, they were soon resolved and I am happy with the result.

After decaling and a coat of future we grubbed her up and added all of the other parts.  Shes a big girl on the shelf.

Since I have about another 4 of these 1/48 Ju-88s I learned a lot about putting them together.  Overall a decent kit with lots of details.  Add the Aires details and you have a winner.