The Hamfisted Modeller: 1/48 ICM Junkers Ju-88C-6

Depicted as an aircraft flown by KG 40 based in Lorient France in November 1943.

Not my usual subject choice. and If I was going to build a Ju 88 I'd have probably have chosen a Battle of Britain aircraft. But I had this kit and no one wanted to buy it so a mate and I settled on a mini build off of WW II German twin engined aircraft. I chose the option the box with the pox as I figured it would stand out in the cabinet. It does I'm not sure I made the right choice.

For the record he chose the Dornier Do 17. You might see it one day at Bruces Scale Models - but it'll be rubbish

The Kit

ICM 1/48 Junkers Ju-88C-6 Kit No. 48238

Aftermarket

Eduard Steel Pre Painted PE Belts - for the Ju-88A4 but I assume they are the same.
CMK wheels - the kit doesn't have the correct later wheels.
Some metal barrels for the some of the canons and machine guns (can't remeber the brand)
Brass tube for the big nose cannon blast tube.

This is a pretty good kit. It is quite well detailed. The cockpit in particular is pretty nice straight from the box.

It has a full engines. I didn't bother putting them all together as I didn't want to display them.

The only fit problems I encountered with the nacelles. Gary at Scalespot-Models suggested you could fit the nacelles and then fit he main gear assemblies later. I couldn't get them to fit on this variant (he was working on the A series) so I just glued them in. They are pretty solid assemblies so I'm not to worried about them getting in the way.

I did have to remove a bit of materiel from the locating lugs on the nacelles, plus I removed some material from the edge of the wings where the nacelle mates, to remove the gap between the upper wing and the nacelle. Once I got this right I glued in the main gear assemblies in - only to find these push the nacelles out getting a gap of about 1.5mm.

At this stage I just decided to glue them, fill and rescribe. I filled the gap with a CA and talc and sanded it smooth.

The only other real gripes are that the wheels are the wrong type (early as oppsoed to late) and there was no Swastika for the tail marking, but that is standard for ICM.

Markings

Home made masks made on my Silhouette cutter for the national markings
Kit decals for the stencils. These performed pretty well.

Paint

RLM 71 Dunklegrun - Mr Hobby and Mr Color
RLM 70 Schwartzgrun - Mr Hobby, Mr Color and Tamiya
RLM 65 Hellblau - Mr Color
RLM 76 Hellgrau - Mr Color
RLM 02 Grau - Tamiya and Mr Color
Black - gaianotes black grey
Vallejo Acrylics for details

Clear Coat's

Gaianotes Gloss
Gaianotes Flat

Weathering

Shades of the base colours were used for post shading prior to decaling. These were applied through various airbrush stencils to break up the colours.

Oil paints for the wash and some streaks
Coloured pencils for streaks
Tamiya Weathering sets for the mud on the wheels.
AK Interactive enamel products for the internal washes

Conclusion

This was a fairly enjoyable build. ICM have come along way from their early kits and. I'd have no hesitation in building more of their modern tooling if this is a representation of what they are like.

I'm pretty happy with the result although I'm not sure of the chosen scheme - it looks like it has the pox. I think it will be heading for the for sale pile sooner rather than later.