**** DONE: 1/48 Ju88G-6 of 3/NJG 101 - Night War of WWII

[Wayne Little]

Thanks all. Wayne, you're scaring me!

Nah....don't be scared just some areas of fit, re-alignment of panel lines, careful dryfitting of wings fuselage etc, it does build into a nice kit, just requires a bit of extra attention in some areas...especially nose to fuselage to wing to get a nice fit.

 

[Crimea_River]

Yeah OK. I've read about that stuff and will watch for it.

Soooooo....precious little detail info out there on this bird. This is a model I wanted to depict as accurately as possible but the lack of solid info on the cockpit configuration is frustrating. Granted, much of the detail will be obscured through the glazing, the only unobstructed view being from underneath through the access hatch but even the larger stuff that will be seen seems to be controversial. I have found the closest relevant photo evidence to be in the Profile Publications #148 - The Ju88 Night Fighters by Alfred Price. There are no cockpit pics of a G-6, the precious few shown being from the captured G-1 "4R+UR" which was captured after inadvertently landing in England and a G-7 with a late experimental radar set. In Hartmann52's excellent build here: http://ww2aircraft.net/forum/start-to-finish-builds/junkers-ju-88g-6-ju-88a-1-revell-aims-set-1-32-a-41134.html our old friend Erich points out that the radar equipment in the cockpit was moved from the forward facing position on the lower right of the instrument panel on the G-1 to a rearward facing position on the G-6. The kit includes the former location as well as a seat facing forward to view the radar display. All of Price's pictures show the forward facing position, including the G-7's but he keeps referring to these pics as the "radio operator's position" which was actually a different position facing aft. I have seen no pictures of a G-6 arrangement, though Erich maintains that some exist. If that's true, I would love to see them!!!!

Anyhoo, unless someone here can show me a definitive setup, I'm going to stick with the kit's arrangement. Here's what I've done so far:

The wing roots in the fuselage halves are annoyingly hollow and visible so these would have to be filled.

Here you see the void filled with Milliput, roughly I'll admit, though all I needed was for something to suggest that there is a continuation of the cockpit wall there. This area will be hidden from the top by the ammo box but will be somewhat visible from the open hatch.

The rear facing radio operator's seat once again displays a beautiful ejector pin mark which obviously had to be rectified.

To do that, I cut off the headrest so that I could get a file in there and then glued the rest back on. However, I then dropped the seat and the headrest went zinging off into oblivion and, after a 30 minute search, I accepted the fact that it has ended up in that mystery warehouse that stores Bermuda Triangle ships and missing socks. So I ended up making one out of styrene card and rod.

The seats were then assembled to the floor and some fiddley bit were added. I like the rudder pedals and brake cylinders but none of this will be visible! I therefore didn't bother with the hydraulic lines and left the ejector pin marks, which I now realize Dragon must have tried to include on every part.....

And finally, an initial spritz of RLM 66 has been applied to everything. I'll fix up the wing root filling a bit and will need to add some scratch built bulkheads and floors where there are now empty spaces. All that for the next installment.

Thanks for looking in.

 

[JKim]

Interesting for sure as I contemplate jumping in with another Ju88G. I have not looked at this kit in any great detail yet but have started to gather online data and have run into the same lack of cockpit data. Does the kit have the radar equipment hanging off the right of the radio panel as shown in the 4R+UR pic in the Profile publication? At first blush, I would think the G-6 would have a similar radar position as the G-7 shown in the same Profile publication, which was facing the rear toward the seat next to the pilot's position.

When I can't find online photographs, I often look to other super-detailed builds, preferably in a bigger scale such as 1/32. You pointed out Hartmann52's excellent build here but there are some others that might be helpful, if you haven't seen them already...

Mikester's 1/32 AIMS conversion on LSM
Ju 88G-6, 1./NJG 3, "D5+AH" (1/32 Revell A-1 w/AIMS) - Works in Progress - Large Scale Modeller

Pastor John's 1/32 AIMS conversion on LSP
1/32 Ju 88G-6 - Works in Progress - LSP Forums

LSP_Paul's 1/32 AIMS conversion on LSP
JU-88 G6 : Revell with AIMS Conversion - Works in Progress - LSP Forums

Pastor John is the owner of AIMS and creator of the AIMS G-6 1/32 conversion set.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Wayne Little]

Good stuff Andy, John at AIMS is a good guy, might be able to help?

 

[Airframes]

Good stuff Andy.

 

[T Bolt]

It's shaping up real nice and Andy

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks guys. John, I too use other builds as references where info is scarce. Thanks for those links but I could not get the last two to work, I'll try again later.

EDIT: They work now. Must have been a temporary glitch

 

[rochie]

Good stuff Andy

 

[JKim]

I think the LSP site was down earlier today. I had trouble accessing it too.

Soooooo....precious little detail info out there on this bird. This is a model I wanted to depict as accurately as possible but the lack of solid info on the cockpit configuration is frustrating. Granted, much of the detail will be obscured through the glazing, the only unobstructed view being from underneath through the access hatch but even the larger stuff that will be seen seems to be controversial. I have found the closest relevant photo evidence to be in the Profile Publications #148 - The Ju88 Night Fighters by Alfred Price. There are no cockpit pics of a G-6, the precious few shown being from the captured G-1 "4R+UR" which was captured after inadvertently landing in England and a G-7 with a late experimental radar set. In Hartmann52's excellent build here: http://ww2aircraft.net/forum/start-to-finish-builds/junkers-ju-88g-6-ju-88a-1-revell-aims-set-1-32-a-41134.html our old friend Erich points out that the radar equipment in the cockpit was moved from the forward facing position on the lower right of the instrument panel on the G-1 to a rearward facing position on the G-6. The kit includes the former location as well as a seat facing forward to view the radar display. All of Price's pictures show the forward facing position, including the G-7's but he keeps referring to these pics as the "radio operator's position" which was actually a different position facing aft. I have seen no pictures of a G-6 arrangement, though Erich maintains that some exist. If that's true, I would love to see them!!!!

Anyhoo, unless someone here can show me a definitive setup, I'm going to stick with the kit's arrangement.

I think the Price publication shows the G-1 radar position forward facing next to the radio panel but the G-7 radar in a different rearward facing position that the AIMS set replicates. This is the same location that Erich is referring to. I'm guessing that this is the correct location for the G-6 radar display and I'm assuming that the kit shows the radar position in this location as well?

WIP photo of 1/48 Dragon kit taken from Hyperscale

 

[Crimea_River]

Must admit I haven't yet researched it deeply John. Will look and make a conclusion later.

 

[fubar57]

Looking good.



Geo

 

[Gnomey]

Lovely work Andy!

 

[JKim]

Andy... I think we are on the same page when it comes to the radar unit. I got confused with your term "forward facing" to mean the panel orientation when I think you meant operator orientation. I am assuming that the G-6 radar panel is to the right of the instrument panel as the kit depicts.

I am of the opinion that the "G-7a" pictures in Price's book (pages 11, 12 and 13) are in fact all G-6 machines. In the text, he describes the G-6 as having BMW 801 engines, which is incorrect. His description of the G-7 as being equipped with Jumo 213 engines and the G-7a carrying the SN-2 is in line with what we now call the G-6. According to more recent publications like Squadron's Ju88 in Action Part 1 and Aero Detail No. 20, the G-7 was a high altitude variant that never made it to production. Price's book was printed in 1967. I have another reference on Luftwaffe planes (German Aircraft of the Second World War by Smith and Kay) that makes this same error.

 

[Airframes]

I'm not sure, but I might have some pics of the radar installation. I need to look in my library, but the books are piled-up on the floor at the moment, as I'm in the process of moving some furniture around.
I'll see if I can reach the books concerned in the next day or two, and let you know. If I have got a pic, I'll post it just as soon as I've installed my replacement scanner.

 

[JKim]

I've sourced an additional picture of what is reportedly a FuG 220/SN-2 mounted in a G-6. It appears to be placed in the rear of the cockpit on the LEFT side of the radio panel. So now we have THREE possible locations! The picture came from a pinned discussion on Ju 88 A1 details over at LSP.

The topic originator (junkers88a1) acknowledges the variation in radar equipment installation in the G-series as problematic...

thats a tricky one..they cahnged equipment more iften than i can change my underwear..hehe just kidding..
but i only have a piucture of the FuG220SN-2 box positioned in the back near te radio and one only sees small portion of the radiowall with what i belive is a FuG 16ZY next to it. will see if i find it..have it soemwhere..

and it had the FuG17 tail warningradar.and it had the EZ6 anteanna so that means instead of the SL and SK box it should have the EZ6 box where the SL box is ..and the SK3 instead of SK..
but then it was also later equipied with FuG 220 and ten FuG 218neptune,then FuG 350 Naxos..and finally the FuG 240 Berlin..and many G-6 caputred by the allies had a whole bunch and mixs of FuG`s and its eems it was all impovised after what they got their hands on ( as Werner von Baumbach said in 1943 ( general der Bombers ) from now on impovisation is the order of the day !!! so getting a really good clue there on how they was is not easy..and sime had the FuG220 SN-2 placed on the radiowall and some had it up front in the nose.. the picture i have shows it back by the radiowall..
But i am not an expert on the G versions..i know the A1,A5,C2 and A4 as the inside of my pocket,, but after that its kinda loose ,,just bits and pieces i have.. but i will do some research with a friend of mine who collects radiuoequipment and hear what he know about it
and i can post the picture of the 220 SN-2 if interested..

Some interesting details posted in that topic BTW... some of it is probably applicable to the G-series. Here is the radar reference if you are interested...
Junkers 88 A1 detail photos - Page 17 - Works in Progress - LSP Forums - Page 17

 

[Crimea_River]

Oops! Crossed posts John. The pic you posted above looks to me like the installation in a Bf110, not a Ju-88.


Still have not resolved this as I have not had the time but I'll try to summarize the confusion a bit:

Photo of the IP of 4R+UR, the G-1 that was captured after landing in error in England. At the bottom right of this picture, you can see what appears to be the dual tubes of the SN-2 receiver, which would have also been present on the G-6, somewhere. The box to its left looks like a FuG 350 Naxos unit but AFAIK, 4R+UR did not carry Naxos but it did carry the FuG 227 Flensburg homing radar which was deleted on the G-6.

This next picture is also supposedly taken from 4R+UR pointing aft toward the radio panel and there also appears here to be an SN-2 receiver in this position. Were there 2? Was it moved? Is it something else? Are either of the above pictures mis-labeled and not of the same aircraft? The crash report of 4R+UR provides no clues.

Now we have this picture, reported to be from a G-6. SN-2 and possibly FuG 350 Naxos radar receivers shown. The photo is similar, and could be from the same aircraft, as the photo on page 12 of the Price work. The picture is pointing forward as you can see the rudder pedal in the upper left and the flare rack to the right.

The picture referenced by Price to be from a G-7 shows a similar position to the one above and also points to forward.

The SN-2 accessed by the rearward facing radio operator in the pic above is what is throwing me. This installation would have resulted in a very different arrangement of the typical radio equipment along the back wall and, presumably, the radar and radio operator sitting side by side facing to the rear. A "presumed" arrangement of the radio equipment was posted by another modeler at LEMB which I will not recreate here as it looks too much like a doctored manual picture and is not supported by facts.

There is a fair amount of archived discussion on this topic over at the LEMB and it's that material that I'm trying to get through now. It sure would be nice if Erich could stop by and post the photos he says supports the idea of there being no radar operator next to the pilot on the G-6!

 

[Airframes]

Sorry Andy, no luck so far. I've found pics of the SN-2 receivers in the rear position, as in one of your pics above, but nothing on the fitting for the G-6.
I feel sure I've seen (possibly got) a pic of the receivers in the front of the cockpit, but where they are I have no idea !

 

[Crimea_River]

Terry, the first and third pics I posted show the SN-2 in the front. The second has it in the back. The third pic is tagged as a G-6 but I don't recall the source of the pic.

 

[Airframes]

The third pic is very similar to what I remember of the one I've been looking for.
I thought it was in my copy of 'Defence of the Reich', but it wasn't. I'm begining to think it was with an article on the G-6, possibly in a 'bookazine' type publication back in the late '80s or early 90s, which I should have hidden away somewhere - Oh, the perils of having so many books !!!