1/72 Hobbyboss Ju88 Plus Assorted Vehicles

Gallery Article by Greg Kerry on July 7 2020

 

      

One of the bigger Easy Assembly kits from Hobbyboss, this Ju88 is also one of the good ones. You wouldn't know it from the box though: simply labelled "German Ju88". Anyone expecting the classic Luftwaffe bomber would be disappointed as the solid nose readily suggests. So what is it then? A "C" or "R"? I am not sure beyond it obviously being the heavy fighter variant.

Click on images below to see larger images

It goes together well enough. The cockpit is inevitably a bit sparse and the rearmost seat seems to be facing the wrong way. Main undercarriage doors are very sensibly molded shut. I know the fin's swastikas are oversize but thought such aberrations really occurred so used them as they were. Brushpainting was by Tamiya acrylics.

Main reason for making this display was to use up figures from Airwaves (white metal, notably the couple by the Kubelwagen) and Preiser. The ancient Esci truck came in handy, as did the venerable Airfix motorbike (with German rider's head). I hadn't intended buying any new vehicles but the Academy Kubelwagen/Kettenrad/Jeep set caught my roving eye in my local model shop - and I had never tried any of that company's smallscale vehicles before. They are excellent even having engine detail.

Base is just scrap insulation board. I never intended any special story with this diorama but the various figures seem to suggest something . . . the guy with the dog is poignant, and the smartly unformed officer chatting up the female officer while his comrades get ready for another dangerous mission adds another aspect to the scene.

Greg Kerry

Click on images below to see larger images

 

Photos and text © by Greg Kerry