Junkers Ju88A-11 (Ju88A-4/Trop), ICM 1/48 (kit No.48235)

Certainly the most versatile German warplane of World War II, the ubiquitous Junkers Ju88 exemplified the Luftwaffe’s philosophy of using one good basic airframe for a multitude of tasks and was produced in many progressively improved versions throughout the war. Considered the backbone of the Luftwaffe, it was originated as a high-speed bomber and the first prototype, powered by two Daimler-Benz DB600Aa 12-cylinder liquid cooled engines, made its initial flight on 21 December 1936. It proved to be almost as fast as contemporary fighters like the Hurricane! The initial Ju88A-1 production version (with Junkers Jumo 211 engines, each rated at 1200hp) attained a speed of 450km/h and was just entering service in September 1939, as WW2 began.

Early operational deployment of Ju88A-1 showed that despite good performance and a worthwhile bomb load of 5500 lbs (2500 kg), defensive armament was totally inadequate, leading to the Ju88A-4 with more powerful Jumo 211 engines, increased span wings, structural strengthening to carry greater loads, substantially increased gunpower and fighter escort when available. This formed the basis for further diverse development of the type, ultimately in so many versions: the Ju88A series extended over Ju88A-1 to Ju88A-17 sub-variants.

It turned out to be a jack of all trades and was as competent as a bomber, dive bomber, day fighter, night fighter, or doing photo-reconnaissance. They even mounted a 75mm gun on the nose (Ju88P-1) and sent it against tanks in Russia, with limited success.

With the appearance of the basic bomber version Ju88A-4 in the Mediterranean and North Africa this aircraft was tropicalized by forward maintenance units and the designation Ju88A-4/Trop applied, but when manufactured from the outset for tropical operation it was allocated the designation Ju88A-11. It was fitted with filters to protect the engine from dust and dirt, as well as a rescue kit for ditching and forced landings.

The ICM kit in 1/48 scale

In 2015 ICM started releasing a series of new tooling 1/48 scale Ju88 kits which are much more detailed -and much cheaper- than the old Dragon offerings – the only game in town so far. There are already on sale five variants: A-4, A-5, A-4/Torp (Torpedo plane), A-14 and A-11 of this review. No doubt more versions will follow soon as the series seems to grow to the most comprehensive collection of 88s in quarter scale. The A-11 version has the peculiarity to sport the tropical camouflage (Mediterranean/North Africa) so it offers you the chance to build something entirely different from the usual RLM70/71 greens.

The package is designed in typical ICM recent style»: A very sturdy white cardboard box covered with the color-printed top lid. The art illustration is very realistic and attractive. Inside you will find nine (9) sprues, eight in light grey color and one in clear plastic, stored in clear nylon bags, an assembly/painting manual (24 pages - A4 color booklet) and a decal sheet. In total there are 226 parts, which assemble into a huge model, with 41,8 cm wingspan and 30 cm length.

Examining the sprues one can admire the excellent quality of detail achieved by ICM in all its recent releases. The moulding is perfect with absolutely no flash and the plastic is thin and realistic in all critical areas, like props, trailing edges, etc. Panel lines are finely recessed and the quality of the plastic is first rate.

Work on the fuselage begins with the addition of side wall components, instruments, consoles, oxygen bottles, tubing, radios, etc, which all look very convincing. The three crew seats come in many parts, with appropriate structural frames underneath, headrests, bases and adjusting levers. A control column/stick, more levers, instrument panel (supplied with decals) and foot/rudder pedals complete the cockpit/forward fuselage section. The cockpit floor is (very cleverly) an integral part of a larger section comprising the forward/middle lower fuselage area, together with the lower parts of the inner wings. This gives extremely good strength to the structure and takes care of the main wings dihedral symmetry.

The tail plane has articulated flying surfaces, and the wings are supplied as top and bottom, with the flaps and ailerons as separate parts, with neat curved fairings, so they look good when fitted lowered, at an angle. 

The flaps include the rear section of the nacelles, which are added as separate parts, and these and the ailerons run full-span, terminating just as the wingtip begins. The under-fuselage gondola has separate glazing panels in each side, with the front and rear machine guns.

The landing gear is based on a pair of trapezoid pedestal frames that are added to the underwing as an internal structure and in preparation for the installation of the nacelle cowlings. 

Both struts of the landing gear come with nice raised details, with sock absorbers, separate torsion links, retract/extend actuators and the modeler has to add some lead wire hydraulic brake lines to complete the area. The two-part wheels and twin main gear bay doors both have good detail and the former a radial tread. 

The completed nacelle fit to the underwing over the top of the main gear installation, which is clever and super sturdy as a structure. The propeller blades are very thin and realistic.

Both, narrow bladed metal VDM and broader VS-11 wooden propellers are included in the kit, as well as two different types of engine nacelles. The Ju88A-1, A-5, D-2, D-5 (and the BMW 801 engined variants) had VDM metal props. Most other variants had the wooden wider props. The instructions indicate which parts should be used and which not. Since any engine could take either the metal (narrow bladed) or the wooden (wide bladed) props, you should get a photo of the particular aircraft you are modelling. The tendency was for the wider wooden blades to be fitted, but many hundreds Ju88s were re-built examples, so photo references are a necessity.

At this point the instructions recommend adding the canopy glazing, which consists of a choice of two nose cones (one with a gun and another without), and the main glazing for the cockpit. All these parts work together to create a perfectly unified crystal clear greenhouse whole to show off as much cockpit detail as possible. The rear portion is made from two additional parts due to its double "blown" shape to accommodate the two rearward defensive guns. Under the wings the dive spoilers are added with four bomb crutches on aerodynamic pylons, with four bombs supplied (two of 1000 lbs and two 500 lbs). No internal bomb bay doors are offered separately but, anyway, the A-11 retained only the aft internal bomb bay and in most cases fuel tanks were installed in both bays permanently. All bombs were usually carried externally in order to allow for more internal fuel and as a result greater combat radius.

The kit includes two markings options from the Noth African theater, and the first page of the painting section details the application of the numerous stencils that are supplied. No swastikas are included on the sheet, but there are extra portions of the black/white crosses cleverly separated into narrow strips to ease decaling on the dive spoilers. 

The following two camouflage/decals choices are offered:

• Junkers Ju.88A-11 3./LG 1, North Afrika, 1942 – Afrika Brown over Hellblau RLM 65
• Junkers Ju.88A-11 I./LG 1, North Afrika, 1942 – Afrika Brown with Dunkelgrun RLM 71 patches over Hellblau RLM 65

A table on the front page of the instructions sheet gives the names and paint codes in Revell and Tamiya color ranges, so you can convert them to your paint of choice.

Epilogue

The Ju88A-11 kit from ICM is definitely the best of this type offered in any scale so far. Attention to detail is obvious everywhere. We particularly liked the beautiful interior detail and the Jumo engines. Surely the dedicated modeller will find ways to add even more detail using good references, experience and maybe some aftermarket sets - if he feels doing so. But if you are not in the mood to add too much, the kit as it comes is already loaded with plenty of parts, detail and clever solutions to offer you a fast building and satisfying replica of the best Ju88 you’ve ever added to your collection.

Highly recommended!

http://www.fasmamodels.gr/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=21269

http://www.gehobbies.gr/el/aeroskafi/32602-junkers-ju-88a-11-wwii-german-bomber-.html

http://www.icm.com.ua/news/475-ju-88a-11-wwii-german-bomber.html

https://www.scalemates.com/products/img/3/8/9/1030389-75-instructions.pdf