REVELL 1:72 JUNKERS JU 290
'INBOX Review'

 

Reviewer: Johan De Wolf (rec.models.scale)   
Addendum supplied by Cristiano Griggio

Kit Details:

History: Developed from the civil Ju 90, and initially called the Ju 90S, the prototype Ju 290 first flew time in august 1942. As winter set in in 1941 it became painfully clear to the Wehrmacht that the trusted old Ju 52 lacked the capacity to keep the troops in Russia supplied sufficiently. The quickest solution was to adapt the Ju 90 which had been designed for the Lufthansa. In comparison to the Ju 90, the Ju 290 was larger, got stronger engines and defensive armament. The most interesting new feature was the newly developed Trapo Klappe. This was a hydraulically operated rear-loading ramp that allowed vehicles to drive right into the fuselage and it also made airdrops of bulky equipment possible. Although initially designed as a transport it would also prove to be the ideal replacement for the increasingly vulnerable Fw 200 Condor as a long-range patrol aircraft. In this role it became known as the Seeadler (sea eagle). Later in the war three 290's where used to make a round trip to Manchuria to exchange technology and rare materials with the Japanese. In all about 65 Ju 290's where built in some 8 versions that differed mainly in armament fit. After the war two partly completed 290's where found near Prague. They where transferred to the Letov factory that completed one as the L-290 Orel which was then given to the Russians.

The kit: Packed in a familiar blue end-opening box you will find 6 light grey and one clear sprue with a whopping total of about 270 parts. To put them all together correctly there is a 21-page A-4 size instruction booklet. Besides the usual warnings and general advice it contains a short history, a drawing of the parts layout on the sprues, 76 easy to follow construction diagrams and 4 complete colour schemes. The decal sheet looks to be of excellent quality and gives markings for 4 aircraft including a large amount of stencilling. The detail on the plastic parts is fine and realistic. The transparent parts are thin and very clear. Parts breakdown suggests Revell might be planning more versions. It could also be that Revell wants to make it easy for the cottage industry to produce conversion parts for other versions. This would be very commendable. Although the box only mentions the Ju 290 A-5, this kit can also be built as an A-4. The outward difference is in the defensive armament. The A-4 had MG 131's while the A-5 had the MG 151's that, despite being of only marginally larger calibre, packed a much harder punch. Parts for both are included in the kit.

Accuracy: The length of the kit is spot on. Span is 2mm under though, but on a kit of this size that is nothing I'd worry about. The kit captures the graceful lines of the original very well. The only thing that bothers me is the rear end of the engine cowlings, but more on this later.

Construction:  As usual this starts with the interior. Besides the engraved panel lines on the outside the fuselage halves have detail on the inside too, but only in the cockpit and rear gunners' area. It is a pity that the cargo hold is without structural detail as some will be visible through the cabin windows. Also it would have given a bit of additional strength during construction, as the plastic is rather thin. Through about 20 construction steps the very detailed interior is built up out of some 40 parts, not even counting the windows and guns. The instrument panels have raised detail that will look great after dry brushing. Decals are also provided. There is little left for the cottage industry to improve upon here.

The fuselage is made up of two halves. At the top the roof panel with the gun turrets is squeezed in between the two halves. The underside of the fuselage is molded as one with the mid section of the wing. This method allows for more detail but also results in a tricky fit and a weak structure. Therefore, I strongly recommend adding a wooden spar to the wing. This will add a lot of strength during construction and will prevent the wing-to-fuselage bond possibly breaking during handling. Having said this, dry fitting revealed no fit problems at all and it appears possible to construct the kit without the need for filler. The Trapo Klappe is molded separately but it will require minor surgery to display it opened.

The wing is molded from the same thin plastic as the fuselage and it would have been very helpful to have some internal ribbing - like Trumpeter did with their Bear wing. Again some internal strengthening is necessary to prevent bending or warping during handling and to ensure the correct dihedral. The control surfaces and flaps have been molded in such a way that it will be easy to remove and reposition them, but I wouldn't recommend doing this because it worsens the structural problems. The gear bay is fully boxed in but has no internal detail. On a parked aircraft no detail can be seen anyway as the gear doors are always closed. The sturdy gear is made up of about 30 parts including the tail wheel and gear doors. The only detail that could be added would be the brake lines.

The 4 engines are made up of about 10 parts each. Thankfully, the 3-blade props are a single molding, no fiddling with separate blades. The engine covers are separate parts and could be displayed open. The only problem I have with this kit is part 82. This part is the ring that connects the engine nacelles with the cowling. On photographs of the Ju 290 the exhaust stubs can clearly be seen protruding from under this ring and there is no "gap" between this ring and the rest of the cowling. On the kit part this ring completely covers the exhaust and there is a 1.2mm gap between it and the cowling. This will be difficult to correct. The ring on the kit part should be removed while taking care not to remove the exhausts as well. Then a new ring should be made and positioned 1.2mm further forward.

After the main construction is done there are still some 30 parts left for detailing the outside of the aircraft. About half of these are taken up by the very delicately molded Fug 200 Hohentwiel radar antennae.

Colours: Detailed colour instructions are given for every construction step. Numbers are only given for Revell paints. In all, 20 colours are used of which one needs to be mixed. There are decals for 4 machines. They are all painted in a splinter scheme of RLM 74 and RLM 75 over RLM 65. Only the first has an additional mottle of RLM 83 on the fuselage sides and outsides of the vertical tail. - Werknr. 110172, an A-5 coded 9V+BH belonging to 1./FAGr.5 as being held ready for operation Eisenhammer at Roggentin in March 1945. - Werknr. 110180, an A-5 coded KR+LK also belonging to 1./FAGr.5 based at Ergolding bei Landsberg in September 1944. - Werknr. 110180, coded 9V+BH, as found at Rechlin in November 1945. - Werknr. 110169, an A-4 coded A3+FB belonging to 1./KG 200 based at Wiener Neustadt in January 1944.

Conclusion: Revell is to be congratulated for delivering another gem. This is an excellent kit. I will not recommend it to a novice because of the weak structure that makes construction more difficult. Anyone else with a bit of experience should have no problem with this kit at all. And patience will be rewarded with a very convincing replica. Compared with a Hasegawa B-25 that costs around €40 here, this Ju 290 kit, which is twice as big is certainly great value for money. I hope Revell will continue to turn out high quality kits like this one. So how about a state of the art Halifax or Hampden or Boston/Havoc or…..

References: Putnam, German aircraft of the second world war. Salamander, Hitler's Luftwaffe.

Addendum:  I have seen recently many reviews on the gigantic Ju 290 from Revell-Germany. I would like to make a couple of comments on the most notable flaws of the kit but, please, note that I have not built it:  It is too large for the room I have in my house. I just looked at the sprues in the nearby shop and found some photographs of full builds on the Internet - www.hyperscale.com, from fellow modelers Brett Green and Joachim Krause- and on the Italian magazine "Skymodel" -in this case fellow modeler Gerd Busse. 

I really liked the reviews on SMAKR from Johan De Wolf and Kevin Ronayne: they quite correctly noticed the ring on the back of the engine cowlings that hides the exhaust stacks and a couple of flaws in the shape of the propeller blades. Kevin was right, these are too narrow and with rounded tips, whereas they should be broader and pointed; it seems like Revell took them from the old kit of Fw 200 because the shape is similar. Still in the same area, it is worth noting that the cowlings lack the armored lip (similar to that seen on Fw 190 As) and this is quite evident in photos. The spinners are also much too short: once again it seems like they took them from the old kit of Fw 200 because the shape is similar. 

The biggest flaw, in my opinion, is in the shape of the junction between ventral gondola and port side of nose, that really struck the eye. Also the little windows in the front side of the gondola are quite different from the real thing, and I think these problems are quite prominent and really need to be fixed. It is my opinion that also the vertical tailplanes deserve attention, as they are too square, particularly the lower profile. In my opinion the turret rings are too high over the fuselage, but I cannot be absolutely sure. 

One last word on the beautiful build from fellow modeler Gerd Busse: he noticed a step that needed sanding at the joint between upper fuselage and horizontal tailplane. 

Cristiano Griggio 
Venezia Italy

PS: Cristiano supplied a number of model and real images which clearly pointed out the flaws in the kit to support his information above. However for copyright reasons, and a no response from another webmaster seeking permission to use some images, I was unable to include them here - Ed. 

 

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