Such was the rapidity of military aircraft development that few types were produced through the entirety of WWII. The Ju-88 family was one of those. First flying in the late 1930s, the type was entering service when war broke out. It was one of the mainstay bombers during the early campaigns and during the Battle of Britain. Constantly updated, the aircraft was able to be adapted to a number of different roles and was pretty much the major type used by bomber squadrons, especially on the eastern front. It was used as a heavy fighter, torpedo bomber, reconnaissance platform, maritime patrol and as an airframe for testing different systems.

This particular volume covers those versions not in the first volume. This includes the Ju-88C/D/G/H/P/R/S/T versions. While the Ju-88C heavy fighter, Ju-88D reconnaissance bomber, and Ju-88G night fighter were built in numbers, the others were not, mainly due to timing as the German aircraft industry stopped building bombers to concentrate on fighters. If you are wondering what happened to the E/F, those were only built in prototypes and were subsequently relabeled as Ju-188.

This edition follows a familiar format with a background history, a look at the different variants, the camouflage schemes worn by the aircraft (which includes a lot of full color profiles), and a set of detail drawings of each different variation on the scheme. There is also a large colors and markings section thanks to the variety of schemes these planes carried. Foreign operators are also covered.

 In addition to this, you have a fairly complete modelers section. There are several pages of kit reviews that is limited to what has been released in the last 10 years so you may well not find your favorites in this section. As usual, we have build articles including the Hasegawa 1/72 Ju-88G-6 and ICM 1/48 Ju-88C-6. As usual, the 1/72 build has been enhanced with aftermarket while the 1/48 build is out of the box. In addition the usual set of drawings showing the changes in the aircraft as time went on. Then there is a detail section which uses both images from extant airframes as well as a plethora of period photos and drawings from the technical manuals as well as some from extant airframes. Next are listings for all the different kits along with decals, accessory sets, and books, making for a fairly extensive listing. The last pages of the book are 1/48 plans for several versions in a huge multi-page fold-out. 

Overall, this makes this what is probably the best book for both the enthusiast and modeler to have on the subject. It is a book I'm very glad was released and one that will get a lot of use as the Ju-88 is one of my favorite aircraft.  It is a book for which I can easily provide my highest recommendation.

September 2024

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