1:48 Ju-88P-1 BASIC kabuki masks

1:48 Ju-88P-1 BASIC kabuki masks

This is a masking set in 1:48 scale from the New Ware brand, not a model of an aircraft. It covers the areas that are to stay clean after spraying: on the glazed nose of a German bomber that is work which hand brushing would turn into hours of misery. The name gives the designation kabuki masks and the BASIC level, the most limited of the levels of extent the brand uses. For this type the brand also offers the EXPERT level and a separate set for the national insignia.

The real subject

The Junkers Ju 88 was an all-purpose twin-engined machine that the Luftwaffe used as a bomber, a dive bomber, a night fighter and a reconnaissance aircraft. The Ju 88 P-1 version was among the attempts to turn it into a destroyer of armored vehicles and bombers: under the fuselage it received a massive pod with a 7.5 cm cannon derived from an anti-tank gun. The weapon was heavy, and its recoil and the drag of the pod took away from the aircraft's performance, so the type was built only in small numbers. That makes it all the more interesting a subject for modelers.

Masking and painting tips

• Mask the glazed nose field by field and keep checking how well it lies down.
• Let the base harden perfectly before masking.
• Spray thin coats, so that the paint does not run under the edge of a frame.
• Lift the mask slowly and at an angle, not straight upward.

Who the set is for

• Modelers building German twin-engined aircraft in 1:48 scale.
• Those who want the more limited variant of a masking set.
• Anyone interested in unusual combat conversions of the Second World War.