AMTech's 1/72 Ju 88S/T Kits By Chris Banyai-Riepl

History

The Junkers Ju 88A was one of the Luftwaffe's best bombers during the Second World War, but by late 1942 it could no longer survive against the new breed of Allied fighters. A desire to boost performance without introducing lots of changes in production resulted in the Ju 88S series. Built off the basic Ju 88A-4 airframe, the first Ju 88S simply mated the new, more powerful BMW 801D engine to the aircraft and replaced the angular front glass with a smooth hemispherical piece. The modest performance increase on this initial modification still was not enough, so more changes were made. BMW 801G-2 engines became the standard, with GM 1 nitrous oxide injection. Externally, the most noticeable change was the removal of the ventral gondola and a single aft-firing 13mm MG 131 machine gun. This version became known as the Ju 88S-1 and eventually around 70 were built. Following the S-1 variant came the Ju 88S-3 variant, which was identical to the S-1 except for the Jumo 213A engines.

While the Ju 88S series addressed the shortcomings of the Ju 88A bomber force, the Ju 88T series answered similar issues with the Ju 88D reconnaissance aircraft. Developed in parallel with the Ju 88S aircraft, the Ju 88T-1 and T-3 were identical to their bomber brethren, other than the addition of extra fuel tanks in the bomb bays and cameras embedded in the fuselage. The Ju 88T series was cancelled in favor of the faster Me 410.

The Kits

AMTech has released two kits of the Ju 88S/T, one being the Ju 88S-1/T-1 and the other the Ju 88S-3/T-3. The only difference between the two kits is the engines, just like the originals. Each kit comes with four sprues of light gray parts and one sprue of clear parts, with recessed panel lines and crisp molding throughout. The decal sheet is common between the two kits as well and is nicely done, with thin decals and opaque colors.

Construction begins with the interior, and these kits come with a very nice cockpit out of the box. The cockpit comes with three separate seats, a one-piece floor, a rear bulkhead, and a two-piece control column. A separate instrument panel and sidewall detail molded onto the fuselage halves finish out the interior, and once painted up it should look quite nice. The only thing I can see that needs to be added is some sort of front bulkhead on the front edge of the floor, which shows up as a straight edge when viewed through the transparent nose.

The wings feature a carry-through spar that is sandwiched between the fuselage halves. Each wing is split into an upper and lower half, with the entire engine nacelle separate. The BMW 801 engine nacelles for the Ju 88S-1/T-1 version is made up from five pieces, with a two-row engine and three-piece cowling. The Jumo 213A engines for the Ju 88S-3/T-3 are a bit simpler, with right and left halves and a separate engine face. The back end of the nacelle is also split into right and left halves, with an insert for the landing gear well. The fitting of the engine nacelles requires a bit of extra work, as per the addendum. A bit of sanding is needed to give the nacelles the proper sit.

The final details include the tail assembly, landing gear, bomb racks, and various antennae. In these kits, the vertical tail is split into right and left halves, while the horizontal stabilizers are molded as solid right and left pieces. The wing bomb racks have separate anti-sway braces, which could probably benefit from a bit of thinning. A similar situation exists for the antennae, which are nicely done, but still too thick.

The Decals

The decal sheet is the same for both kits, a wise move to save costs, as each version had pretty much the same markings. The Ju 88S-1/T-1 kit comes with two S-1 options and one T-1 option. The first S-1 is from 4./KG 1 in France during 1944 and features the factory finish of RLM 70/71 over RLM 65, with a wave mirror camouflage in RLM 76 applied over the top. This plane has fuselage codes as a simple white outline (EM). The second S-1 is from 3./KG 66 and is finished in a night fighter scheme of RLM 76 over black, with RLM 75 dots all over the upper surfaces. This option has little more than crosses for markings, with the only other addition being a small white 'Z6+DL' on the fin. The sole T-1 option is finished in the factory finish of RLM 70/71 over RLM 65 and carries the codes 4U+VK. Since this is a reconnaissance version, the underside camera windows are provided as silver decals outlined in black.

The Ju 88S-3 kit also has a trio of options, each in a similar finish to that in the S-1 kit. The first option is from 3./KG 66 and has a base camouflage of RLM 75 over RLM 76. The upper surfaces are spotted with RLM 77, while the undersides are spotted with RLM 74. Finishing the scheme off is a random series of squiggles in RLM 74 along the fuselage sides. This is one striking scheme, to be sure, and it is more interesting by the complete lack of national markings and only a yellow 'B' on the fuselage. The second S-3 is from I./KG 6 and has a black belly with RLM 76 painted over the upper surface camouflage of RLM 70/71. Small dots on the upper surface show the factory camouflage underneath. The final option is a Ju 88T-3, plainly finished in factory camouflage with no markings.

Conclusion

These kits are excellent models of a variant of the Ju 88 family that has not been kitted before. The nice level of detailing coupled with the clean lines of the type makes for an attractive model and should be a welcome addition to any Luftwaffe collection.