Fiddler's Green Ju-88

[willygoat]

Hey all! I've made many posts here, but never a build thread of any type. Okay, so I've never really made any build thread. I have posted a few of my builds on the FG forums, but thought I would share this one here, as I'm trying to step up in difficulty on this model. This is the first model that I've ever tried to put clear windows and some sort of interior detail in. I usually stick to the basics, and that's still fine and dandy with me. Any who, the build.

I started with building the easy stuff first. I made the main fuselage and tail surfaces


Next, I did the wings. They have a slightly tricky angle to them. (silly Germans:p)


I then built the forward fuselage section. The grey "cut this area out for interior" part will be removed before final assembly.

[willygoat]

To make the interior, the kit had some "interior bits" included


For the next step, I built the canopy and nose glazing from the kit.


I used these to make a mold for my transparent film


Here's the mold. I stuffed the paper with plastic modeling clay


This, is the result (after 5 major mess ups)


Next, I printed another copy of the canopy pieces and cut out the frames

[willygoat]

Now, I glued on the nose glazing and frame


And installed the cockpit details


I then did a quick test fit with the wing to make sure it would be sturdy with out the top of the forward fuselage in place


Lastly, I installed the canopy glazing and frame for the lower canopy section.


I tried putting the upper canopy frame on, but I ended up tearing the super fragile pieces. I plan to redo that soon.

Well, that's what I have so far. I'll be playing with astronauts in Houston. TX this next week, so the plane will have to wait :^(

[bclemens]

Wow! Nice job- and you're really moving fast. Is that canopy plastic something available in hobby stores? I've never seen it before. looks like it's working out well! Congrats on a fine job so far!
Cheers!
Bruce

[willygoat]

Thanks Bruce! While I did build this faster than normal, these shots are from 2 days of work. I just posted them at one time. I got the plastic sheets at HobbyTown USA. It's a big hobby store chain (there're 2 here). It was not super cheap, but it did work really well once I got the hang of it. I'm sure you can get the plastic other places too. Its made by Squadron, which is a big modeling company.

[jagolden01]

Nice build.
Ju-88 is my favorite Axis airplane.
I did build this fiddler's version and loved the results.
I did not tackle any interior as you have though.

Your clear canopy came out beautiful! One of the things that amazed me about the Fiddler's Ju-88 was the parts for the canopy. Looking at them flat, Ijust couldn't imagine they build up cleanly into the proper shape, but they do, quite well also.

Look forward to more of your build. My nacelles/wing fitting came out poorly and I hope to build this again as well as the "Mistel" version.

Thanks for sharing and taking the extra time to photograph and post!

[Don Boose]

This model looks good so far. I admire the clear canaopy and the interior.

Don

[dansls1]

Looks really nice so far. You sure didn't start with something easy for forming your own canopy, did you?

[willygoat]

Thanks for the comments guys. I really appreciate them. Dan, as far as picking as easy subject for the canopy, I guess you could call it madness? I just really like seeing this plane in pictures and how you can see right through the whole cockpit. Maybe that, and the fact I haven't built a model in a while gave me the courage. Although, I did have many "practice" attempts before I got the final canopy.

[Edi]

indeed a great job!
I`ve to admire your method of the clear canopy.
I`m waiting for the final result
Edi