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AIMS Ju388 L1 conversion - Finished!


Wouter

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Hi, Wouter,

 

Thanks very much for taking the time to share your thoughts and do a little research for me. And, especially, for the words of advice re: resin conversions! I've actually been working with resin parts from Taurus to upgrade the engines on my AEG, and getting a lot of experience with working with SMALL parts in process. I have never done a resin conversion, but have done a major styrene conversion of the WnW HB W. 12 back to the prototype, pix of which I will post tomorrow in Ready for Inspection. But even with those experiences behind me, I think your advice re: tackling the Ju 388 conversion as a first seems solid. I'll order the Michulec book now. Any suggestions on which donor kit I should get should I want to try the V28? I don't want to hijack your thread with more questions, so will leave it at that.

 

Many thanks!

 

Cheers from NYC,

Michael

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Evening all, or goodmorning if you're somewhere else on the planet :)

 

I have been procrastinating on finishing the cockpit, since I dread the tedious masking. So I turned my attention to some other things that needed to be done. First the landing gear. Since I don't have the G-factor undercarriage and the model is quiet heavy I was looking for a way to strengthen the kit parts. I came up with this solution:

 

Unaltered kit parts

8PAngdn.jpg?1

 

clean the inside

mIqkafM.jpg?1

 

Hard metal rod and brass tubing fitted

2hoAKwz.jpg?2

 

This was glued using 5 min resin. the gear was now rock solid.

7E4MTL2.jpg?1

 

 

Somewhere along the way I found this picture

zULBMQH.jpg?1

 

You can see that the oleo is much more compressed then the Revell kit parts. I went back to reference photos and almost every plane has the compression. Besides that, on several Ju388 the oleo proctection covers (socks) are missing. Enough elements for me to alter the landing gear. Since altering the previously strengthened parts wasn't an option I needed a new pair . Luckily I was able to acquire a cheap Ju88 A1. I figured I could use the 'old' gear on that kit at a certain time in the future and use the 'new' ones for my 388. I approached the landing gear the same way like last time, but cutting out the covers. These were replaced with a piece of brass, representing the oleo. I made sure the brass pices were shorther than the 'socks'.

 

h8vasJi.jpg?1

 

both done

KDiW6Gg.jpg?1

 

Extra details added and the brake line

z692vCa.jpg?1

 

qT4PAnQ.jpg?1

 

So, pretty happy with that. Looks a lot more at what I can see in my reference.

 

More...

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Next up; something that brought me back to this build. The fantastic replacement propeller set by Henri Daehne! Oh boy, if haven't seen these in real life yet you're in for a treat. Excellent casting, superb detail and very accurate. Ok, one minor flaw due to resin shrinkage, the hubs had a few dimpels. These where easliy fixed with some filler. The resin used is pretty hard but also flexible. The blades are razor sharp at the trailing edge, but due to the flexibel resin the can take a beating. You have to purposely bent them (to far) to damage or break them.

 

Here is a blade compared to the kit part, it's like night and day in details and shape

NRJo1Ri.jpg?1

 

After a little cleaning, cutting to length and adding the counterbalancing weigths you quickly have eigth blades

Rwel59j.jpg?1

 

and after painting

82wF6Oc.jpg?1

 

Pre assembly

YQgDrkj.jpg?1

 

and finished. I place them beside the kit part for comparison. If you're qoing to build this kit, do yourself a pleasure and buy this easy and relatively cheap upgrade. Henri Daehne also makes a version without the hub for even more detail!

XyyxjmR.jpg?1

Edited by Wouter
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Wow, that looks great.  What a cool looking plane...  well, except for the belly bulge.

 

I've read that the ventral tubs on the early Ju88 and He111 cost like 25mph in speed.

 

 

Gaz

Edited by Gazzas
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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks gents!

 

progress is slow at the moment, work and life got in the way. But I hope to get back on the bench soon.

 

Very nice work! What size of wooden craddle is that one in the pics?
Cheers
Alan

It's the JM models 1:24/32. Ju388 wingspan is 70 cm or 27.5 inch.

 

Cheers, Wouter

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Super looking, Wouter.

 

Great work with strengthening the under carriage, and a great reference shot. Is there a boot over the oleo?

 

Cheers from NYC,

Michael

 

Thanks Michael.

 

No, I didn't want the boot on the oleo, that's why I made a new version of the under carriage (besides the compression being off).

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