The Ju 88A-17 was a later
adaptation of the versatile Schnell Bomber to the role of
torpedo bombers. Other than a pair of torpedoes installed on special PVC
racks, this version had its ventral gondola deleted to reduce both drag and
weight and included a torpedo control housing unit on the bottom right area
outside the cockpit.
Dragon's 1/48 offering of the
Ju-88 variants is an excellent platform to perform a conversion of the
ubiquitous Ju 88A-4 that still sells at very reasonable prices. The model has
many downfalls that are characteristic to Dragon's models and concentrate
around the poor fit of sub-assemblies to major components, such as wings to
fuselage wings and canopy to cockpit. Nonetheless, with a bit of patience
and some putty to conceal the flaws, your model will look authentic even upon
close scrutiny.
I added the torpedoes and racks
from spares derived from the Ju-188 model and Walter rocket assist pods
scavenged from Hasegawa's Arado 234. In addition, I scratch made the control
housing unit and belly hatch, covered the missing Lofte sight area and also
included the ventral FuB L2 antenna, hydraulic pipes, a life raft cable and
invisible threat to mimic antenna wires. The cockpit had its usual share of
detailing that included seat belts and photo etched rudder pedals. Future
machine gun sights will complement the detailing when ever available.
In all, it was a pleasure to build
yet another 88 with the opportunity to practice the "Wellenmuster"
wavy lines on the upper surfaces. The markings were derived from improvised
decals and templates made for previous 88 models.
Rafi
Click on
images below to see larger images
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