1/32 Revell Ju 88A-1

Gallery Article by Rafi Ben-Shahar on Oct 22 2010

 

Although the 1/32nd scale is not my cup of tea, I made an exception with Revell's Ju 88A kit thanks to my affinity to Dragon's 1/48 counterparts.

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The highlights of the kit include a highly detailed cockpit that realistically reflects the actual busy and cramped environment of the actual aircraft. In addition, Revell made an effort to position part breakdown along actual panel lines, thus preserving the details of the spine, something so missing with the Dragon kits. Also, the fit of parts is quite good not to mention that wing and fuselage attachment is trouble free.

Downfalls include crude joint lines, particularly at the highly glazed cockpit area. Side windows parts actually tend to collapse inwards in the process of attachment. In addition, there are no seatbelts, swastika decals and the characteristic external bomb racks. Finally, Revell omitted prominent canopy framing that characterizes all Ju 88 variants (but, were added here).

In all, this kit is a mixed bag, probably exclusive for Ju 88 fans.  I had fun building the beast because I did not fuss in refining the crude attachment of cockpit transparent parts. You never really bother to poke your nose for the search of fine details in a large scale model, or do you?

Rafi Ben-Shahar

Photos and text © by Rafi Ben-Shahar