**** DONE: 1/48 Ju88G-6 NJG6 - Night War of WWII (1 Viewer)

[JKim]

Username: JKim
First name: John
Category: Advanced
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Dragon/DML
Model Type: Ju88G-6 Nachtjäger
Aftermarket addons: MSAP decals, Montex canopy masks, Master Models FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 radar, Eduard Interior Detail Set

 

[JKim]

Now that the Toryu is in the camo painting stage and we still have a couple of months left in this GB, I thought I'd unspool this Ju-88G-6. This is the same molding as the Cyberhobby kit that Sergio and Andy are doing but perhaps it's appropriate since the Ju-88 was one of the most numerous night fighters of WWII. I picked up this kit a few months ago off Ebay. It was opened but unbuilt and I was able to get it for a decent price. I haven't really looked at the kit so I thought I'd do a sprue review... it's useful for me to see closeup pictures of the kit I'll be starting on.

My first Dragon/DML kit. The reviews I've read online are mostly positive, especially considering its age (released in 1993) but based on Sergio and Andy's starts, there is going to be some work getting this thing to look pretty. Instructions look logical and detailed.

The decals are not in good shape. Not wanting to take a chance on disintegration upon application, I decided to look elsewhere for markings.

A few weeks ago, this out-of-production decal set popped up on EBay for less than $10. I immediately purchased them. I really like the black-trim on the tail fin of 2Z+AW and since it is the only option with the FuG 220 SN2 radar, I'll most likely be modeling this aircraft.

Not looking forward to masking the big greenhouse on this guy so I picked up this Montex mask set to help ease the pain. I'm not a particular fan of Montex masks as they have a habit of lifting at the corners after they are applied. Eduard masks are markedly superior but there is no Eduard mask set available for this kit.

These sprues were shrink-wrapped with the decals and a post-it note... obviously after the kit was opened. No missing or broken parts that I could see.

The molding quality looks very nice for a 90's kit.

The wing sprue. The wing tips are separate pieces.

The panel lines are recessed nicely but what was once state of the art is now just nice.

The fuselage is also modular with a separate front end for the G-series nose that replaced the glazed nose of the bomber version with as solid nose to house the radar equipment.

The radio panel. The kit doesn't come with a decal for any of the instrument faces so I'll either have to paint or find some spares in the decal stash since I am not planning on any aftermarket upgrades for the cockpit.

The rear gun has some detail but I have no idea how accurate it is.

The cockpit floor, along with other pieces such as the seats, have an abundance of sink marks. Lots of tedious work ahead to clean this up.

This sprue has many of the G-specific parts such as square tail plane, forward fuselage and ventral gun tray. I didn't see the cannon barrels but I'm thinking they'll be replaced by brass tubing.

The radar control unit with the viewing hood in place.

The instrument panel molding, like the rest of the details in the kit, is a bit soft compared to the state of the art kits of today but should yield decent results with careful painting.

There are two of these sprues and they hold the landing gear, radar antlers, prop and spinners.

The radar masts are pretty fine but I'm thinking about replacing them with a set of brass ones from Master. Oh and I see the ventral cannon barrels and the Shrage-Muzik barrels as well. The cannon barrels will be easy to replace with brass tube but I hope the Shrage-Muzik barrels are at least circular in cross-section so I can drill them out.

I've heard complaints about these spinners being inaccurate but I'm reluctant to spend cash on replacements. Hopefully, they're close enough.

The clear parts look like they are in good shape... always a concern on an older kit like this.

Finally, the kit comes with a little sprue of photo-etched parts. This a steel fret not brass so I'm assuming that they'll be much tougher to deal with.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Airframes]

Good one John, and thanks for the review and break-down of parts. I have their Ju-88P (to back-date to a Ju-88A1) which shares some common sprues for the major components, so your review will be useful when I come to tackle areas such as ejector pins etc.

 

[Crimea_River]

Looking forward to you tackling this one John. I still plan on getting as much info as I can on the radar equipment arrangements before closing up the pit so I expect you'll fly past me in no time.

Chris Wauchop did a really nice build of your bird here: Junkers Ju 88 G-6 by Chris Wauchop (Dragon 1/48)

 

[Wayne Little]

 

[JKim]

With the Toryu still in construction, I decided to take some baby steps on the Ju-88. I thought I'd use some tips I found in the AK FAQ book that I just bought and see if I could paint up the instrument panel. Nothing ground-breaking but there are some step-by-step tutorials on how to paint instrument panels and they include some steps that I've never tried.

Here is the instrument panel that the kit provides. It's not the best in terms of accuracy and detail but it should offer enough raised details to be painted into a decent instrument panel. The entire cockpit will rest within the heavily framed canopy so I'm not looking for super-detail in the cockpit.

The first step is to paint the instrument panel in a base color, in this case RLM 66 Dark Grey.

The instrument faces are then painted flat black. I thinned the black down with iso alcohol to help it seep into the crevices better. I'm not worried about perfect neatness here since I will be coming back and painting the instrument bezels later.

The instrument dials are painted in white with a fine brush.

The instrument bezels are painted in a lighter grey.

Some details are picked out in red and yellow. The paint is sealed with a coat of Alclad Aqua Gloss and then given a dark pastel wash to hide the tiny painting imperfections and to create some contrast between edges.

The panel is sealed again but this time with a coat of flat clear. I've put drops of Micro Krystal Klear in each of the instrument faces to simulate glass lenses. The Krystal Klear, like Elmer's White Glue, will dry clear.

Voila... the completed instrument panel. I admit it's kinda crude compared to an Eduard photo-etched IP or even a plastic IP with decal dials but it should be sufficient for this build. The square panel with the dimple is where the radar control unit will be placed. That's why I left the ejector pin mark alone in this case.

 

[Airframes]

Nicely done John.

 

[fubar57]

Very nice work on the IP John.



Geo

 

[T Bolt]

Very nice start

 

[Crimea_River]

Looks good John. At the moment, that radar panel location is what I'm trying to figure out and am still researching the subject. I've only been able to devote 15 minute snippets to this though - not enough to develop a thread of logic.

As to the accuracy of the panel, it's pretty good if you believe the G-6 panel to be similar to the G-1 pictured below:

 

[Wurger]

 

[Wayne Little]

Nicely done John.

 

[rochie]

Nice work John

 

[JKim]

Looks good John. At the moment, that radar panel location is what I'm trying to figure out and am still researching the subject. I've only been able to devote 15 minute snippets to this though - not enough to develop a thread of logic.

As to the accuracy of the panel, it's pretty good if you believe the G-6 panel to be similar to the G-1 pictured below:

View attachment 308240

Good picture Andy... where did you get it? I think this is more representative of a G-6 than a G-1 since it shows the NAXOS radar controls to the left of the SN-2 equipment. I don't have confirmation that the G-1 carried the NAXOS whose antenna is housed in the characteristic fairing on top of the canopy.

I needed seatbelts for three seats so I went shopping on EBay. Being the impulsive guy that I am, I went ahead and splurged on the Eduard Interior Set for the G-6. It was bit more costly than just the belts but I also get some other things to address the cockpit's deficiency like boxing out the area between the cockpit and the bottom hatch. Will I wipe off the hand-painted detail on my instrument panel and replace it with the photo-etch version? Stay tuned!

 

[JKim]

Playing with some bits and pieces... cleaning things up but not putting paint on anything yet. Hopefully, the photoetch set arrives soon so that I can get into the meat of the cockpit work. In the meantime, I've been dryfitting various cockpit components and removing sink and ejector pin marks that won't hidden by parts.

Before I ordered the photoetch set (which includes a set of pedals, I added straps to the kit foot pedals using foil from a wine bottle. I don't know how visible the pedals will be once the fuselage is buttoned up. I'll just go with these if they are hidden and save the photoetch for another build.

Going through my spares box, I stumbled across a single brass barrel from an MG131. I thought it'd be a good opportunity to finally use it.

I cut the plastic barrel off. You can see some putty on the body of the gun which is the remnant of a tiny ejector pin mark. Lots of these all over the kit... so fine that they can be mistaken for circular details.

Using a micro drill bit, I put a hole at the end of the gun body to accept the new barrel. I've only placed the barrel for now... I'll glue it after I've cleaned up the little putty work.

Since I can't really move forward with the cockpit work until the photoetch set arrives, I'm going to look at some other parts to tinker with in the meantime.

 

[Airframes]

Nice 'conversion' on the gun John. I'll be getting some resin MG15s and spare brass barrels to replace those on some of my BoB collection models, as they make a heck of a difference to the overall appearance.

 

[Crimea_River]

Nice John. Not bothering with a PE set on mine.

 

[Wayne Little]

 

[le_steph40]

8)