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Playing in the Sandbox Group Build Sept 1, 2024 - Jn 1, 2025

Junkers Ju 188D of III./KG 26 (1/32 Revell w/AIMS Conversion)

mywifehatesmodels

By mywifehatesmodels
in 1945 Group Build

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mywifehatesmodels

mywifehatesmodels

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I believe this build will qualify, as KG 26 was using the Ju 188 as a torpedo carrier, pretty much to the very end of the war, even though they sustained some pretty heavy losses in those final months. It is my understanding that elements of II and III Gruppen handed over their aircraft to the British, in Norway, at the end of the war (which is what I have read that the photograph below actually depicts). I believe most of those aircraft were destroyed, soon afterwards. However, there was at least one or two that survived, if only for a couple years, to be reviewed and tested by the RAF before being scrapped (one reference stated that a particular 188 from this unit was kept until 1947 before meeting it's fate).

 

I've built a couple of Ju 188s before, both of them being from the DML kits in 1/48 scale. The first was about 20 years ago and was an E. The second, which I completed earlier this year, was an A and was done as a study for this build, actually. However, at the time, I was leaning towards a night-flying pathfinder of KG 6, as found by the British in Belgium, late in the war. As mush as I enjoyed building that one and was pleased with the outcome, overall, there was yet another scheme that had been pulling at my heartstrings, for most of my life, actually. Ever since I was a kid, it seemed that every time I went looking for information on the Ju 188, there was one photograph that kept popping up. Almost every generic "Aircraft of WW2/the world/Luftwaffe" would have this picture in it, somewhere. So, it's a familiar photo for most Luftwaffe fans, yet I haven't seen a lot of models built depicting it, especially in larger scales.

 

0254-01-1-1_zpsoj5wzeg4.jpg

 

This is believed to be a D-2 and, if you look closely, you'll notice that it still has the mounts for the Fug 200 "Hohentwiel" radar on the nose and, therefore, is also lacking the nose mounted MG 151/20 cannon (unless it was also removed like the dorsal cannon, but most radar equipped aircraft didn't have the nose gun). Given the activity record of III/KG 26 leading up to the time that this photo was taken, it can also be assumed that this aircraft most likely had pylons/racks mounted for torpedoes. I'm not sure yet if I want to depict it exactly as it appears in the photos, or install the radar (AIMS has a PE set that would work). I'm kind of leaning towards the latter. Even though it will be more work, I think the overall presentation would be more impressive with the radar attached.

 

The base kit is going to be Revell's Ju 88A-4 and the conversion is AIMS models' 188A/D set.

 

20140101_144740_zps3daa4548.jpg

20140101_151246_zpsb8c69ced.jpg

 

For my main references, I have copies of the two Ju 188/388 books by AJ press (Polish versions, however) and have also obtained a copy of Hikoki's "Luftwaffe Aerial Torpedo Aircraft and Operations in World War Two". The Hikoki book is a great reference for specific units, giving an operational diary, including that of KG 26.

 

It will probably be some time before I can start this build, as I'm trying to get started on another commisisoned project and hope to get that finished, first (but if I can start picking away at this at any point in the meantime, should I have some down time from that build, I will certainly do so!).

 

Cheers,

 

John

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mywifehatesmodels

mywifehatesmodels

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Thanks, guys. I'm very anxious to start this one!

 

Oh boy!!  :rolleyes:

 

I'm going to bring this up here. However, I've seen it on various forums, before. In the U.S., the rolling of eyes is usually a sign of disapproval and, as seen above, could be viewed as a sarcastic response. It's actually viewed as an immature action by many. I remember when I first arrived in San Antonio, Texas, on my way to basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base. We hadn't even made it to the base yet, but were still at the airport when myself and one other kid, who were in charge of checking our group in with the sergeant at the check-in desk, who was supposed to tell us where to go to find the bus that would take us to the base, reported as we were supposed to. During that process, the female sergeant tore into us, immediately, letting us know who was in charge (it surely wasn't either of us! :lol: ). During this "dressing down", my partner rolled his eyes at her. WRONG thing to do! She proceeded to verbally tear him apart, for five straight minutes. It was at that point that I learned to never, under any circumstances, roll your eyes at anyone. I was also to learn, through an even more venomous exchange, later on, to never leave one of the buttons on your uniform pocket undone (because "the enemy could put a bomb in there"... and no, I'm not making this up!). If ever I wanted to roll my eyes, it was at that moment, but I knew better.  But, anyway, that's another story.

 

I've seen several Europeans use the "rolling eyes" emoticon when, under the specific context of things, it didn't mean what I thought it meant. I think that this is probably the case here, but just wanted to point it out to avoid any possible confusion in the future. Or, maybe Jeroen just isn't so crazy about this thread. If that's the case, then I appreciate his honesty, but I don't think that's what he meant!  ;)

 

Thanks again,

 

John

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mywifehatesmodels

mywifehatesmodels

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Thanks, everyone.

 

Freak'n crazy good scheme choice there and at your pace we'll be singing your praises before Chistmas ........or not too soon after ha ha!

Please proceed...........

Cheers Bevan

 

Bevan,

 

For this one, I'm going to have to take things a bit slower. I still have another build for a friend to do first and I haven't even started it yet. Also, this one is going to be pretty complex and I want to be sure to get it right, so I'm going to have to slow down a bit. When I did the 1/48 version, with the Eduard PE set, the cockpit took two weeks of pretty steady work. This one makes that look like a small set of Legos! :lol:

 

John

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Mikester

Mikester

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Just want to stress that I'm not upset about it. In fact, I also started a thread over at the GD forum of LSP, regarding the same discussion. It's been very humorous and a lot of fun.

 

John

 

I've noticed that some Europeans really take offense at being called "dude".  Growing up in California this was (and still is) a staple of my vocabulary.  Once they figure it out that's it just our version of "mate" they usually relax but it's funny how things work.

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mywifehatesmodels

mywifehatesmodels

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I've noticed that some Europeans really take offense at being called "dude".  Growing up in California this was (and still is) a staple of my vocabulary.  Once they figure it out that's it just our version of "mate" they usually relax but it's funny how things work.

Dude has become universal, pretty much throughout the U.S. What used to be considered a surfer slang word is now normal vocabulary around the country. Even my teenage daughters use it and they were born and raised in rural Minnesota (as was I).

 

Now, "Mate" is someone you are either having sex with, or a term taken from a low budget pirate movie. :lol:  I kid, of course. I've spent plenty of time around Aussies, so I'm used to it.

 

John

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mywifehatesmodels

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Okay, I don't want George to think I'm all talk and no show, or that I'm too scared to start this project. :lol:  Actually, I'm still waiting for parts to arrive for my other build before I can start it (there's been a delay). So, I've started taking notes on everything for this one and I'm going to outline some of my observations and intentions at this time. I'll start with the nose/cockpit tub.

 

For the time being, I would recommend that anyone, who wants to know more about this conversion set, look up Jim Hatch's review of it on this site. Jim gave a fantastic overview of what's included, before it was even released to the public and that was one of the things that had me hooked from the beginning (okay, the fact that it's a 1/32 scale Ju 188 may have had something to do with it, too. I mean, how cool is that?  B)  ). The one thing that stands out about this set is that the cockpit/nose area of this plane is a single resin casting. It's actually quite amazing to think that such a piece could be cast in one piece for a conversion like this and they (I think it was MDC who cast this part) did an amazing job. There are a couple of catches with this, however. The first of which is that the starboard instrument panel is molded into the tub.

 

20151217_092840_zpsksrtqabr.jpg

 

The detail in this area seems to be adequate. However, my biggest concern is whether or not I can successfully add decals and paint into the confines of this area without screwing it up. So, I'm starting to lean towards the idea of building part of the panel from scratch, outside of the model, then putting it in later. This will give me more room to work on it and I also want to upgrade things a bit. I think I'm going to get some instruments and bezels from Airscale and try that route. Of course, the whole process is going to take a lot of test fitting, since there are plenty of other cockpit parts that I will need to leave room for, but I'm no stranger to that routine.

 

The next area of concern is going to be the lower windows in the forward part of the nose. Being that the sub-variants of the 188 were different in this area, the window areas are outlined and need to be cut out for the specific version you're modelling. For the D, which I intend to build, I will need to cut out all four window spaces and install the windows, accordingly. I don't see the window parts included on the vac part sheets. I'm awaiting clarification on this from Pastor John at this time, but installing my own clear sheet shouldn't be too much trouble, either. So, we'll see what happens next in that area.

 

20151217_092955_zpsqayzenjj.jpg

 

Beyond those points, I haven't come across anything else that looks out of the ordinary. In fact, the tub, floor and other various details, being molded in one shot, will keep the parts count down and, in 1/32 scale is certainly large enough to still allow easy access to this area. This avoids a lot of "jigsaw puzzle" feeling that I had when assembling the 1/48 scale DML kit.  The next step will be to start working on cutting out the canopy parts and getting them worked into shape. As with the smaller scale model, this will likely be a case of assembling as many parts as possible before gluing anything together, checking for fit along the way. With the holiday quickly approaching, my time at the bench is becoming steadily reduced, but I'm going to try to pick away at some of these things when possible. I won't be able to get the Airscale parts for another week or two, anyway (and I'm going to have to change back over to my friend's 1/48 Su-2 build, once those parts arrive), but I will try to use what time I have to at least get something moving here.

 

Cheers,

 

John

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mywifehatesmodels

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Thanks, guys!

 

I'm going to be referring back to Jim's build of the E variant, quite often, me thinks. If I recall, it was pretty much complete, minus paint? If Jim can provide any further information (ahem, or a build update! ;) ), that would be great, too.

 

I heard back from Pastor John, yesterday. The lower windows on the nose are not provided in the set, so I'll be cutting my own. His reasoning for doing things this way, was to make the resin casting of the nose a simpler process, as it was already complex enough, which I can completely understand and to avoid yet another vac sheet for such small parts that would also be more problematic. There are probably at least a couple ways to skin this cat, but I haven't reached that point yet. So, I'll figure it out later.

 

As for the radar assembly, it comes as part of the AIMS conversion for the 88H-1, but can be purchases separately, which is the route I'll most likely take, as the thought of trying to assemble the entire thing from scratch makes me more than a bit nervous! So, I still have a shopping list to work through, but I also have time to get everything else together, as I won't likely be able to really dig into this for at least another month.

 

John

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