Scale aviation modeller international

wires to pass through without

getting damaged. You also have to

make a similar gap in the engine

compartment’s firewall for the

motors, while in the port wing you

have to make another hole in the

landing light bay for the LED. Once

all of this is done the lower wing

can be attached to the fuselage.

I fitted the lights and motors

to the various positions and taped

all the wires down with masking

tape. I also placed small pieces

of self-adhesive aluminium tape

around where the bulbs are located.

This was done to act as a reflector

and to reduce any possible bleed-

through of light through the plastic.

Once the lower wings were

fixed in place, I applied the top

halves, not forgetting to open up

the flashed over holes in the lower

wings for the dive break mounts.

The wing tips are separate

pieces, but instead of following the

instructions, I fitted the separate

tips to their corresponding wings

before assembling the halves

together. When you do it this

way you reduce the chance of any

mis-fit caused by attaching the

whole tip post-assembly, and it

also makes it easier to get the

wing tip LED lights in place.

The tail fin was now slotted

onto the fuselage mounting tab

to create a strong and precise fit.

The rudder fits to the fin using

another tab, but don’t forget to

place the LED for the tail beacon

before assembling the rudder.

With the rest of the flying

surfaces attached,

work could begin

on building and

attaching

the engine

nacelles.

The Ju 88’s engines feature

three engine instruments on

the inboard side of each nacelle,

which are provided in the kit as

separate parts, with a clear cover.

However, despite providing decals

for the main instrument panels

dials, none are supplied for these,

so I raided the spares box for

a set of appropriate looking

dials courtesy of an Airscale set

of Luftwaffe instrument decals.

Another modification I

performed was to open up the

ends of the exhausts. Using the

point of a #11 scalpel blade, I

carefully scraped the ends to form

a deep enough hollow to give

them a more realistic look.

The two motors are meant

to be simply glued to the inside of

the engine bay faces, but I thought

that might be just a bit too delicate

and imprecise, so I built a firmer

mount using some plastic tubing.

I cut two lengths of the tubing,

one for each motor, squared their

front ends, and cemented

them securely to

the back of the

Master Models’ beautiful

turned-brass gun barrels, and

the kit parts being modified to

accept them

The detail is stunning!

Pilot’s gun sight

After being detailed with

Eduard’s etched parts

Silver coat to prevent the light

bleeding through

My modification to achieve a

secure, blemish free fit of the

front ammunition bin

Pre-shading done

Masking made easy, courtesy

of Eduard

Humbrol’s RLM79 applied and the panels faded

Dark grey coat for the interior colour

RLM80 mottling applied

12 • JULY 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

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