Junkers 88 A1 detail photos

[junkers88a1]

seen from front facing back

[JHS]

Does anybody wish to comment on the L'Arsenal racks? I received my set yesterday and they appear to be exactly right for the 88A-1. Were they not designed by the fellow who designed the Revell model?

[junkers88a1]

i have not yet seen the etc racks from l`arsenal but they are as you said designed by the same man who designed the Ju 88 model for Revell and i hope he got them right

[JHS]

Hi, Guttorm. Here is what they look like as shown on the L'Arsenal website. I will have to figure out how to operate my new digital camera so I can take some phots of my set. Thanks again for all of your help on this wonderful thread. P.S. Publish your book---I'll buy two copies!

 

 

 

[JHS]

G, I have a question regarding Ju 88A production. Was the A-5 a production series or was it simply a designation for A-1s which had been upgraded with the longer wings and various improved gun positions and armor for the pilot?

 

I also have a question about the armor-glass "lens" found on some Ju 88A-1 and A-5 dorsal and ventral positions (the one with the rectangular viewing port which was not like the type used on the blister-type dorsal position of the late A-5s and the A-4). Do you happen to have one of these at your museum? If so, I'd really appreciate some detailed phots of one.

 

Thanks. Jeff

[Wurzacher]

Guttorm,

 

may i ask for some pictures of the front side glazing of the gondola? According to my references U4+TK had only one window for the bomb aiming device, but Eduard´s masks will keep nearly all of the gondola´s front clear to represent windows?!?

 

Checked you website, but strangely there are no pics from the front side glazing of the gondola.

 

Thank you!

 

Thomas

[junkers88a1]

ill try and answer some questions here

 

the A5 is a product of the A4 in production, as the A4 wings, engines, undercarriagelegs and several internal cockpit components was finisehd for serieproduction but the fuselage was not ready. so they took A1 fuselages and added all the A4 upgrades to the A1 and called it a A5.

we do not have any of the other canopies in our museum that you ask for. sorry about that. but not sure what you are asking for..

 

and the bola and the bombsight..it has only one window in the front ( that part is not restored so that is wht we dont have pictures of it on our website ) so i ahve no idea why eduards want the whole thing to be glass.. it was just one small window ( but they might have seen the pictures from the bottom of the lake when one only see the frame of the window and the rest is gone..( that front part was magnseium ) and might have belived that it was glass all around.. as when seen on bottom one can see the window and the frame..and therest is gone..hehe

[junkers88a1]

there is a picture at the search section on my website that shows the bolafront and the lotfe in place.. and there one can see the window and also the missing parts around it..as that was magnesium and gone..

 

hope this will help as the A1 had the same window as the rest of the 88`s in the bola.

[Andreas88]

ill try and answer some questions here

 

the A5 is a product of the A4 in production, as the A4 wings, engines, undercarriagelegs and several internal cockpit components was finisehd for serieproduction but the fuselage was not ready. so they took A1 fuselages and added all the A4 upgrades to the A1 and called it a A5.

we do not have any of the other canopies in our museum that you ask for. sorry about that. but not sure what you are asking for..

 

and the bola and the bombsight..it has only one window in the front ( that part is not restored so that is wht we dont have pictures of it on our website ) so i ahve no idea why eduards want the whole thing to be glass.. it was just one small window ( but they might have seen the pictures from the bottom of the lake when one only see the frame of the window and the rest is gone..( that front part was magnseium ) and might have belived that it was glass all around.. as when seen on bottom one can see the window and the frame..and therest is gone..hehe

 

Sorry, but I have to correct you Guttorm:

As the official "Kennblatt für das Flugzeugmuster Ju 88 A-4" states, the A-5 emerges from the A-1. It summarized all the A-1 improovements. Be aware, that after the conversion of the short wingtips against the 20,08 m wingtips there was a official order to name such converted aircraft "A-5" for its further career.

As the Jumo 211 J engines were not cleared for action as planned, the A-5 (with Jumo 211 B/G engines) surfaced BEFORE the A-4. The switch-over to the A-4 was hard but not without no relation to the A-5. As an example I have a photograph with an A-4 with A-1/5 vertical fin-and-rudder. That means: the very first A-4 used-up remaining A-5 fuselages! As well as you surely know D-1 recce aircraft with an D-2 fuselage (which was the recce-version of the A-5).

 

Sure external points to recognize an A-4 are:

- Jumo 211 J, with its third air-intake in the cooler-front for the additional air-cooler

- 1140x410 mail wheels with different wheel-hubs

- NO compass in the nose-glazing-tip

- more streamline ETC-fairings

 

Again: on very-early A-4 (and D-1) one can observe vertical fins with rudders with NO counter-ballance wind-fin on its top.

 

I know NO A-5 with Jumo 211 J engines. That is because the Jumo 211 J produced its warm air on the opposite side the Jumo 211 B/G engine did. Therefore it was too much work (even the front shops were not able and allowed to do so), to mirror all the connections in and behind the fire-bulkhead of the engines.

Even I do NOT know any A-5 with A-4 main wheels. Cause the A-4 had stronger wheel-axles, so the 1140x410 (as unfortunately Revell put in its A-1-kit) did not fit on a A-5-undercarriage-leg.

The compass disappears, cause the cockpit-layout of the A-4 was different to the A-1 (A-5), and this compass was re-located.

And concerning the ETCs I think, I had posted enough.

 

Happy modelling / converting from Berlin

Andreas

[Wurzacher]

there is a picture at the search section on my website that shows the bolafront and the lotfe in place.. and there one can see the window and also the missing parts around it..as that was magnesium and gone..

 

hope this will help as the A1 had the same window as the rest of the 88`s in the bola.

 

Thanks, Guttorm!

I made scans showing the relevant masks from Eduard and Montex. Maybe you can make clear if the square window is there on U4+TK (and other Ju 88´s) or not.

 

Here is Eduard´s proposal:

 

and here is Montex:

 

Will i have to use the square mask for doing a window as shown on both instructions? Or is there no window on U4+TK?

 

Thomas

[junkers88a1]

you got it correct with the windows and the square window is also present on the A1 ( behind the oval window in front ) but not the others around the oval one..they should not be there

 

now regarding the jumo 211 J on A5. the A5 we salvaged in 2000 ( werknumber 6146 ) had jumo 211 J engines and A4 undercarriagelegs with the larger wheels ( the cockpit was a pure mix of A1\A4 and a typical ******* and not following any documentations i have ever seen so it shows the things of war..do with what you have ) several A4 componets was installed included the two switches extra on the main instrument panel seen on the A4 but not the A1 panel but not installed on the panel itself but above it). the right side consol was also upgraded and also several other boxes and instruments seen on A4

we also found the writing inside the wings where the upgraded had been made from shorter A1 wings to A4 wings. with the writing explaining where to cut and where to add..all written with pencil on the main spar )

 

this was one of the very early conversions from A1 to A5. it still had the A1 vertical and rudder from its A1 config. The Ju 88 A1 was converted to A5 in december 1940. so i know one thing,,i know from what we salvaged that it does not match the documentations of WW2 but still it was what it was..a A5 getting close to resemble the upcomming A4

 

but you are corret that the A5 came from the A1 as they were waiting for the A4 fuselage to get ready ( the A4 wings and engines+undercarriagelegs was ready before the A4 fuselage so they used A1 fuselages to make a A5..in other words..a A1 with A4 wings ( and alos several smaller upgrades in cockpit..where your list is correct )

but its also clearly as you say ( with the picture you have ) that the A4 ( some varaints in the early stages ) had A1 fuselage.

but are you sure that is a A4 and not a A5.. with the A4 wings .. like 6146 ??

 

still a lot to learn so keep it comming

 

Guttorm

[Andreas88]

Yes - a lot to learn. And you surely have a real havy-upgrated A-5 there. May they changed the complete wings to manage the complete different heating system of the 211 J (and beside that, they got the many undercarriange-leg for the bigger wheels) ?

 

But Jeff's question was general. Terefore I wrote generals about the A-5. And generals, how to recognize an A-4 from the outside (as you mostly have only photographs and no wrecks on hand). As the A-4 was seperated with extra new production-number-blocks (normally 5xx-blocks by ATG, Siebel, Heinkel, Henschel or Arado, and 1xxx by JFM) from the mix-familiy of A-1 / A-5.

Jeff, a dokument of Testcenter Rechlin -E3- from 11-Sept-1941 notes:

Conversion of A-1 to A-5 was done from Oktober 1940 to July 1941. Series production of A-5 begun in July and September (sub-contractors) 1940.

e.g.: ATG started the A-5 with prod-number 5097. That means, only 96 A-1s left this manufactor at Leipzig.

 

The order was -as A-1s were converted with new wing-tips- to name these A-1s as A-5s for the upcoming service-life. Because the longer wing was the main feature of the A-5 (beside the up-numbered defensive weapons). I have a picture of a A-0 with 20 meter-wing . . .

 

Therefore the informations "the A5 is a product of the A4 in production", and "as the A4 ... engines ... was finisehd for serieproduction but the fuselage was not ready" could not be un-commented.

My informations states that the Jumo-engineers were not able to make the J-engine war-hard to the planned date for the A-4 series. The modernized and upgrated A-4 fuselage was not that problem.

 

But one has to have a guiding-line to name an 88.

 

And as the "Kennblatt für das Flugzeugmuster Ju 88 A-4" names the Jumo 211 J engines and the upgrated defensife weapons (MG 81) as its main features, I take this general guideline to name 88s on photographs.

And therefore I have to name my Jumo 211 J-equipped 88 an A-4 (with a A-1/5 typical vertical fin-'n-rudder) born in the switch-from-the-A-5-to-the-A-4-process . . . till I will find the wreck and have the chance to look for the production-plate. :-)

 

Happy recognizing

Andreas

(still learning, too)

[JHS]

Any opinions on whose bomb racks are more accurate, MDC's or L'Arsenal's?

[junkers88a1]

mdc for later versions and L` arsenal for early

[Andreas88]

mdc for later versions and L` arsenal for early

 

I agree.

Jeff, pay attention to make the "faces" of the racks look good, cause that is the portion, one will see first on your model. Perhaps my photographs and comments posted some weeks ago in LSP Forum will help.

 

Happy modelling

Andreas