Revell Pro-Modeler 1/32 Junkers Ju 88A-1 Bomber - "FINAL REVEAL!!" (3.18.16)

Some lovely work there and some great detail in this kit.

Thank you so very much for all the work you've put into this WIP thread! As someone who hopes to build an aircraft from my stash that meets standards I've not yet aquired, watching your build is inspiring. Who knows, although I work in 1/48 for aircraft, I may take my Pro Modeler Ju-88A-4 from my stash for my next airplane model ... your thread is that motivational even though my 1/48 -4 may not have a lot in common with your 1/32 -1.

I watched your video - very well paced and instructional.

I've also made a personal note to buy some of Badger's primer since A) It's acrylic, and B) you've recommended it.

Thanks again,

Mike

Revell Pro-Modeler 1/32 Junkers Ju 88A-1 Bomber "Build Update #3" (2.20.16)

Hello Chaps,

It's been 11 days since my last update, but I did manage to get more done during that time. At my last update, the cockpit had been assembled into the fuselage halves, and so now, it was time to assemble the rest of the main frame of the aircraft.

I started off by assembling the undercarriage/engine housing components then gluing those onto their corresponding wings. First the portside followed by the starboard side...

But, after dry-fitting a few times to ensure I was assembling the correct parts and joining them to their corresponding wings, I had substantial gaps where the rear component joined the front of the undercarriage housing assembly. I therefore filled the gaps and smoothed them down later when the filler had set...

Next, I assembled the engine housing components and made them ready for assembling onto the wings. One of the engine indicator viewing window lenses was missing off the sprue, so, I cut a square tab marker from a sprue and glued that onto the inside of the engine housing, so that later on, I can fill it with pva glue to create a lens...

I then moved onto assembling the wings to the fuselage, starting with the starboard side, including fitting the engine housing. In the instructions, it indicates that the upper fuselage panel is to be put into place before attaching the wings, but, I left it off so that I could insert fingers inside to press the inside fuselage against the wing to fuselage joint and holding until set. This helped close any minor gap that was present. I used CA glue to give a fast acting and stronger bond...

I then moved onto fitting the portside wing and engine housing, followed by fitting the upper fuselage panel...

The upper fuselage panel was taped into place, and whilst that was setting, I fitted the vertical stabilizer, rudder, horizontal stabilizers and elevators. I taped the horizontal stabilizers to set their position and left them taped until the glue had set solid....

To complete the wings, I needed to add the flaps and ailerons and their actuators. I started with the starboard side, fitting the spacers for the flap first, fitting the flap and aileron. I positioned the flap down, although the instructions indicate them to be horizontal, or retracted. After the starboard side was done, I completed the portside wing...

Because I modeled the flaps down, I then had to modify the length of the flap actuators to fit accordingly...

Next, I got the two components that make up the "fuel dump" assembly and fitted them to the underside of the tail end...

I then moved onto assembling the instrument panel and compass parts into the upper front cowling. The compass face didn't have a decal included to liven it up and make it look like a compass, so, I made an attempt to paint a compass face and then gloss clear coat it to give the appearance of a glass cover...

I then moved onto painting the inside of the navigation light lens housing silver, including the back face of the light. I then fitted them in place....

I then moved onto one of my least favorite tasks, especially with aircraft that have multiple windows/canopies....masking them! This included both the upper and lower canopy assemblies...

With those canopies masked, it was now time to glue them onto the fuselage assembly. I started off my gluing the rear upper fuselage cover that goes over the radio housing, followed by the front upper cowling that the instrument panel and compass are located into...

The gun-sight was next, so, I cut it off the sprue, cleaned it up, glued it in place, then painted it....

I now moved onto fitting the front lower canopy section that wraps around the bomb aimers sight, followed by fitting the very front/nose canopy...

I then assembled the part that makes the lower canopy that includes the drop down hatch through which the crew members climb when boarding and exiting the aircraft. I temporarily located the hatch so that I can display it in the open position...

The three machine gun assemblies were then glued and painted...

Next was assembling all the components into the upper front canopy, including one of the machine guns. But, before assembling the machine gun, I cut the barrel off so that it isn't accidentally broken off and lost to the carpet monster during all the handling that is still left to do before completing the build. I then glued the completed canopy assembly into its location at the front of the cockpit/fuselage. I temporarily located the rear upper canopy, because I want to be able to remove this to show the details within the cockpit....

I then filled the engine indicator lens gap with pva glue and allowed that to set clear to simulate the missing molded lens...

All that was left to do now was to mask the rest of the areas of the plane that I didn't want primer and paint to get on to. I masked the front of the engines, the exhausts, the navigation light, the wheel bays and rear wheel well with tissue, and, covered the clear lenses with liquid masking....

With the masking complete, I then put the wheel bay doors and air-brakes onto cocktail sticks and cleaned those and the plane down with Isopropyl alcohol to make them ready for priming...

Before airbrushing the primer on, I airbrushed RLM 66 grey onto the window frames, which is the internal color of the cockpit...

I then primed the loose parts on their cocktail sticks and the plane with Stynylrez grey primer, my first time using this primer made by Badger. I have to say, it's an exceptional product that flows beautifully through the airbrush, straight from the bottle and dries solid within minutes, It sticks extremely well! I did a test on a piece of plastic card, by putting the stickiest tape I had onto it and pulling it off quickly, nothing peeled off. To remove it, I had to use my sanding stick....highly recommended!.....

After priming, there were a few little gaps that became apparent, which I will have to attend to before moving onto the painting stage, along with re-scribing a few spots around seams where the sanding had removed the recessed panel lines.

So, that's where I've gotten to so far until my next update that will include the plane painted and decaled. In the meantime, if you'd like to watch my "Build Update #3" video on my YouTube channel, then here is the link to that: 

https://youtu.be/w45c8wqlLSo

Until next time, thanks for taking a look at this thread, leaving comments and watching my video, should you do so!

Happy modeling and have fun! ")

Cheers,  

Martin

lawdog114

Absolutely stunning.

 

Thanks mate, greatly apprciated!

Cheers

Martin

BrandonK

BK

 

Ha ha! Thanks Brandon, totally appreciated, dude!

Cheers

Martin

allan

The details on this kit are amazing!  And you put it together really well!

 

Love the flare gun. :)

 

Thanks Allan, greatly appreciated!

Cheers

Martin

Toshi

I love the way you've depicted this kit.  A superb job!

Toshi

 

Thanks Toshi, greatly appreciated mate!

Cheers

Martin

Bish

 

UKguyInUSA

 

Bish

Nice start, lookin forward to seeing more. I have the RoG boxing (minus swastika's of course, didn't realise the Revell kit's over there had them) so will be following along.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Bish, much appreciated!

Have fun with your RoG version...I love their newly tooled 1/32 scale kits...I've made a few of them now.

I didn't realize Revell USA had the swastika's in their kits either, until I opened this one. It must just be a ban in Europe and the UK?

 

Cheers

Martin

 

 

 

 

Ye, i have a few as well, yet to build one, but they all look really nice.

Ye, its definatly a Europe thing, well Germany mainly. I just assumed with it being Revell, it would have carried ove rthere. Good to see it hasn't. AM Swatika's are a must here in any scale.

 

I bought a sheet of mixed scales and sizes of Swastika in 2014 from Aeromaster for the kits that I have that don't include Swastikas. After all the large 1/32 scale Revell of Germany Luftwaffe kits that I have built now, along with a few 1/48 scale, I'm starting to run low....time to order another set.

Cheers

Martin

BK

The details on this kit are amazing!  And you put it together really well!

Love the flare gun. :)

Revell Pro-Modeler 1/32 Junkers Ju 88A-1 Bomber "Build Update #2" (2.9.16)

Hello Chaps,

Ten days have passed since my last update and now I have progressed enough to share my second update. In "Build Update #1" I had built all the sub-assemblies of the cockpit, primed and applied base coat colors ready to begin detailing them and then assembling them into the fuselage halves.

The following three images show all of the sub-assemblies detail painted followed by images of the separate sub-assemblies for closer inspection:

The Instrument Panel:

The rear bulkhead with magazines upon racks:

The radio/transmitter panel:

The bombardier/front gunners seat:

The Radio Operator's seat:

The Pilot's seat:

The Portside Console:

The Portside Inner Wall Assembly:

The Center Bulkhead and Bombadier's Floor and Bomb Aiming Device:

The Radio Operator's Floor Assembly:

The Starboard Side inner Wall Assembly:

When I had finished detail painting all of the sub-assemblies, I then airbrushed a gloss clear coat onto them in preparation to apply weathering washes and the instrument panel decals:

I allowed the gloss clear coat to dry overnight and then, the following day, I mixed a dirt wash with oil paints and odorless mineral spirits and brushed it liberally onto the parts. I allowed this to dry for 30-40 minutes:

While the dirt wash was drying, I applied the decals onto the instrument panel using Walther's Decal Setting Solution:

With the decals applied, it was back to the dirt washed parts. Using kitchen roll and Q-Tips, I rubbed the dirt wash off the parts leaving behind a subtle shade of the wash on areas of the assemblies:

After allowing the dirt wash to dry for a few hours, I sealed it in with a final matt clear coat:

When the matt clear coat had dried, I then applied gloss clear coat into the dials on the instrument panel and the dials on top of the starboard side control panel. Once it dries it will give the appearance of glass covers:

Next, I mixed a mud wash and brushed this onto the Radio Operator's floor and the foot panels beneath the Pilot's seat:

I then laid everything out to see how the sub-assemblies looked before proceeding with assembling them into the fuselage:

It was now time to assemble everything together into the starboard side fuselage half, but before I did that, I assembled a magazine rack and glued that onto the portside inner wall along with gluing the console to complete the portside inner wall assembly:

I then assembled the bottom forward fuselage panel onto the starboard side fuselage half:

Followed by assembling the radio/transmitter panel onto the rear bulkhead:

This assembly was then glued into the starboard side fuselage half:

Next, I glued the bombardier's seat into the central bulkhead and floor assembly and fitted that into the fuselage:

I then glued the second bulkhead into the fuselage along with the radio operator's floor assembly:

Following those items, I then glued the portside inner wall assembly into position:

All that was left to complete the cockpit assembly was to fit the radio operator and pilot's seat. But before that was done, there was a small flare gun to paint and glue into the Pilot's seat. With the cockpit complete, I took a set of photographs for prosperity before most of it is hidden behind the canopy sections and upper and lower fuselage sections:

Next, I fitted the three rear wheel well bulkheads, the wheel hydraulic suspension cylinders and the two horizontal braces for locating the horizontal stabilizers onto. I temporarily located the portside fuselage half until all the parts were set solid in their locations:

Before gluing the two fuselage halves together, there was a clear lens/window to be glued into the portside fuselage half:

When that window had set solid, I then glued the two fuselage halves together and taped and clamped them until they had set. I then removed the tape and clamps and took a couple of photos:

So, that's it for this update, I hope you like what has been done so far?

Next, I will build up the plane, fill sand and smooth all seams, mask the canopies, wheel wells and radial engine fronts, prime and pre-shade in preparation for moving onto the painting stage.

In the meantime, if you'd like to watch my YouTube Channel "Build Update #2" video, then here is the link to that: https://youtu.be/vd8SPlxe6BM

Thanks in advance for watching this thread, leaving any comments and watching my YouTube video should you choose to do so!

Until my next update, happy modeling and have fun!

Cheers  

Martin

Hunter

Martin,

Great introduction to your build, and it looks like you are off to a great start of your build. Looking forward to more postings of this build.

Hunter

 

Thanks Hunter, greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Martin

I love the way you've depicted this kit.  A superb job!

Toshi

Jay Jay

I always follow your builds with great interest, and I thank you for the excellent W.I.P's.  You do make things look rather easy . Interesting that you assemble interior parts before base color  painting where I tend to base paint the small  parts before assembly.  I should try it your way since your models come out much better than mine. cheers.

 

Hello JayJay,

Thanks for taking a look and your kind comment, much appreciated!

I don;t always assemble interior parts before painting them, and will sometimes paint them individually, then build them up. But, this is such a large kit with a lot of sub-assemblies within the cockpit, that I decided I would build each assembly before painting them to speed things up and so when I detail the dials, levers, handles etc, I can see the overall effect as soon as Ive painted one detail.

Cheers

Martin

7474

Looks great.... I'll be watching this 

 

Thanks 7474, much appreciated!

Cheers

Martin

BrandonK

I love to see the parts get color. You feel like you are really cruzin' along at this point. I like what I'm seeing here. NICE>

BK

 

I feel the same way...as soon as there is color on the cockpit parts and some of the internal areas of other section, and, I have sub-assemblies built up, I feel I'm aking good headway!

Thanks for taking a look and commenting, much appreciated, Brandon!

Cheers

Martin

UKguyInUSA

 

Bish

Nice start, lookin forward to seeing more. I have the RoG boxing (minus swastika's of course, didn't realise the Revell kit's over there had them) so will be following along.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Bish, much appreciated!

Have fun with your RoG version...I love their newly tooled 1/32 scale kits...I've made a few of them now.

I didn't realize Revell USA had the swastika's in their kits either, until I opened this one. It must just be a ban in Europe and the UK?

 

Cheers

Martin

 

Ye, i have a few as well, yet to build one, but they all look really nice.

Ye, its definatly a Europe thing, well Germany mainly. I just assumed with it being Revell, it would have carried ove rthere. Good to see it hasn't. AM Swatika's are a must here in any scale.

Martin,

Great introduction to your build, and it looks like you are off to a great start of your build. Looking forward to more postings of this build.

Hunter

Bish

Nice start, lookin forward to seeing more. I have the RoG boxing (minus swastika's of course, didn't realise the Revell kit's over there had them) so will be following along.

 

Thanks Bish, much appreciated!

Have fun with your RoG version...I love their newly tooled 1/32 scale kits...I've made a few of them now.

I didn't realize Revell USA had the swastika's in their kits either, until I opened this one. It must just be a ban in Europe and the UK?

Cheers

Martin

lawdog114

I like. i just got my hands on the new ICM A-5. I hope to dive into that one soon. Maybe they will also give us an A-1 in 1/48th too. I look forward to your progress here.

 

Thanks mate, much appreciated! Sweet...I've never built an ICM kit, but that one looks like a good kit from the reviews.

I'll be starting the detailing of the interior sub-assemblies and parts soon, then I have to clear coat and weather them, then apply the flat coat. It could be another week before I get another update ready...there's a lot of details to contend with!

Cheers

Martin

I always follow your builds with great interest, and I thank you for the excellent W.I.P's.  You do make things look rather easy . Interesting that you assemble interior parts before base color  painting where I tend to base paint the small  parts before assembly.  I should try it your way since your models come out much better than mine. cheers.

Looks great.... I'll be watching this 

I love to see the parts get color. You feel like you are really cruzin' along at this point. I like what I'm seeing here. NICE>

BK

Nice start, lookin forward to seeing more. I have the RoG boxing (minus swastika's of course, didn't realise the Revell kit's over there had them) so will be following along.

Revell Pro-Modeler 1/32 Junkers Ju 88A-1 Bomber- "Build Update #1"

The build began last Monday and the first thing that I did was the ceremonial bathing of the parts, followed by allowing them to air dry:

After the washing,  the next thing that I tend to do is to glue together as many of the sub-assemblies as possible to eliminate the large number of sprues piled up on the work-bench. I started off by cutting from the sprues all the halves of the ailerons, flaps, horizontal stabilizers and elevators, then glue those together:

I then got the parts together for assembling the vertical stabilizer, rudder and wing tips and glued them together:

Next, I got together the parts that make up the wings- upper and lower wing halves, the previously assembled wing-tips and the undercarriage mounting structure. I glued, taped and clamped the starboard side first, followed by the portside:

When the upper and lower wings were set, I removed the clamps and the tape, then glued the wing-tips on and the undercarriage mounting structure, I then smoothed down all the seams. The wing-tips didn't match very well and there were gaps that will require filling at a later stage:

Next, I got the parts together to build up the cockpit rear bulkhead- bulkhead, radio sets, magazine rack and magazines and glued them together:

This was followed by getting together all the parts that make up the starboard side inner wall assembly for the cockpit and then gluing that assembly together:

...and then all the parts for the Portside inner cockpit wall and console assemblies and gluing those together:

I then got the pieces together for the central dividing wall with the bombadiers floor and bomb aiming sight and glued those together:

Next were the parts that assemble to make the cockpit rear floor area, and again, these were glued together to make them ready for priming:

Next, I got all the parts together for the three seat assemblies, one being the pilots seat which was also assembled to the floor beneath his seat that carries the foot-pedals and the steering column:

I then got all the parts for the wheels and undercarriage and assembled those together, leaving the wheels off and putting those onto cocktail sticks ready for priming and painting:

The last of the sub-assemblies was to put the propeller spinners onto cocktail sticks ready for priming, then assemble the spinner back-plates and center hubs for locating the propeller blades onto. The bearing and spindles were also assembled to the back of the spinner back plates:

Next, I prepared all the sub-assemblies and sprues that were to be primed and took them to the spray-booth:

I then airbrushed a black primer onto everything in readiness for painting all internal parts and surfaces:

When the black primer had dried, I then airbrushed RLM 66 Grey onto the cockpit assemblies and internal surfaces that were to be this color. I then added some white to the RLM 66 to tone it down and then airbrushed some highlights on top:

Next, I airbrushed the light olive onto the parts that required this color and again, I added some white to it to tone it down, then added some highlights:

The last items that I painted were the propeller blades and spinner assemblies with silver so that at a later date of this build, I can apply the "Hairspray Chipping" technique to expose some of the silver beneath the top coat colors:

I had now gone as far as I wanted to for this update, and so, I put everything onto my work-bench to check out how much I had got done and took some photos:

Well, that's it for this update. From hereon, I will detail all of the internal parts, gloss clear coat them, weather them, then finish them with a final matt clear coat. I will then assemble the plane, fill and smooth any gaps, clean the plane, then prime and pre-shade ready for moving onto the painting stage.

In the meantime, if you'd like to watch my YouTube Channel "Build Update #1" video for this report, then here is the link for that:  

https://youtu.be/-z3OV-9Bicc

Thanks in advance for looking at this thread, leaving any comments and for watching my video should you decide to do so

Until my next update, happy modeling and have fun!

Tally Ho and Chocks away!

Cheers,

Martin

lawdog114

Very nice. I look forward to your progress.

 

Thanks Lawdog...next update coming in minutes!

Cheers,

Martin

OrfyWorfy

I will be following this build myself and looking forward to it. The only thing that stops me building one is that I'm a UK guy in the USA myself and will be returning in 6 months after a 10 year stay and already have to many precious models to ship back!

 

Thanks for aking a look Orfy, much appreciated and I'm happy to hear you'll be following the build. My next update will be uploaded within the next 30 minutes. Any reason you're returning to the UK, or was your 10 year stay here a contract that you've now reached the end of?

Eeewww.....I'd be nervous about my models being shipped that distance, I wouldn;t be able to sleep worrying that they were going to get damaged!

I've been here 16 yrs now- November 1999. I lived in Palm Beach, Florida for the first 7 years, then mved north to new Hampshire for business and have been here since. I bloody hate the long winters though and miss the all year round sunshine!

Where in the states do you live? Have you enjoyed your stay, or do you miss the UK?

Cheers

Martin

BrandonK

What's the parts count on that kit? Looks like a lot.

BK

 

There's 281 parts Brandon, you can see the specifications on the side of the box in one of the box images above.

Cheers

Martin