Kagero's TopDrawings #16: Junkers Ju-88 Bomber Variants

Author:

Maciej Noszczak

Publisher

Kagero

Price

16.46 Euros direct

Reviewer:

Scott Van Aken

Notes: #7016. ISBN 978-83-662878-79-6

It seems that Kagero's TopDrawings series has become rather popular with modelers. The majority of their books in this line are on ships and aircraft. The thing they all have in common are superb drawings in the various scales of the subjects. When it comes to aircraft like the Ju-88 this means plans in 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32 scale. For an aircraft of this size, it means that the 1/48 and 1/32 plans are huge, especially the ones in 1/32. In order to accommodate this size, the plans are separate very large folding sheets.

The drawings are superb and cover all aspects of the airframe, including fore and aft drawings in addition to the two sides, top and bottom. Adding to this, there are cross sections provided for those modelers who are interested in this feature.

It comes as no surprise that the book covers the same planes in all three scales. Thanks to the release of the Ju-88A-1 and A-4 variants, those are the primary subjects, though there are also drawings for the other versions based on these airframes. This also includes a huge decal sheet that is the norm when it comes to TopDrawing aircraft subject. There are four different markings options provided, some of them in a desert camouflage. 

- Junkers Ju 88 A-1; W.Nr. 7036, coded '9K+HL' of 3./KG 51, Bexhill, Sussex, UK, 28th July 1940,

- Junkers Ju 88 A-11 (A-4 trop); coded 'L1+OK' of 2./LG 1, North Africa, 1942,

- Junkers Ju 88 A-4; coded '(3Z)+KS' of 8./KG 77, MTO, 1943,

- Junkers Ju 88 A-5; coded 'B3+EX' of 10.(Erg.)/KG 54, MTO, 1943.

The decal sheet is superbly done and provides markings not included in the kit, which means swastikas as well as the unique markings of each option. I've pinched the profiles for each of these from the Kagero web site so you can see what they look like. The markings themselves are superbly done by Cartograf and are a superb addition to what is a very nicely done book that will be of interest to fans of the type. 

November 2013

My thanks to Kagero for the review sample. Visit them at www.kagero.pl and order yours, or get them at your favorite hobbyist.

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and fairly quickly, please contact me or see other details in the Note to Contributors.