ICM continues to manufacturer interesting subjects, and this plane fits that mold. Per Scalemates, this Ju 88 kit is the newest iteration with the first ICM Ju 88 kit appearing in 2015. It was followed by two releases in 2016 with new parts, five Ju 88 kits released in 2018, one in 2019, two in 2022 and 2023 and finally two in 2025.

The standard ICM box lid depicts beautiful artwork of the USAAF version flying over a deep blue sea and islands. Inside the box is a large plastic bag containing seven gray sprues and a separate bag with clear parts. The assembly manual, decals and an ICM painting chart is also provided. The manual has clearly labeled parts and color callouts. There are several mislabeled parts (discussed later). Also, the sprue diagrams only depict two parts which are not used. In reality, there are many more parts that are not used in this kit build due to them being optional. The last page has two full-color painting diagrams of each version (USAAF and RAF).

The cockpit, side panels, seats and instrument panel were all built according to the instructions and painted before enclosing them within the fuselage. The parts fit together very well. The cockpit detail is very basic, and considering the large cockpit window area, it might be worth adding additional cockpit detail using one of the many available after-market detail sets to enhance the look.

After completing the interior, the subassemblies of the rear stabilizers, tail fin, wings and flaps go together very quickly. When building the landing gear assemblies, please note that steps 45 and 50 have mislabeled that parts. In step 45, the instructions call for part D34, but this should be D35 and in step 50, it calls for part D35 and this should be part D34. If you do not use the correct parts in the correct order, the landing gears will not fit into their bays. Note: the tail has only a very small joint to attach it to the fuselage.

The engines are small models themselves, yet they are relatively basic. It is unfortunate that they are covered up by the nacelles, unless you pose the plane with one open (but this option is not clearly indicated in the manual). The engine mounts are fragile and it took a lot of patience to mount them correctly to the engine wall. The manual indicates that after the engine is fastened to the wall that you assemble the nacelle halves around the engine. The problem becomes evident in step 80 – mounting them to the underside of the wings. In step 80, you are instructed to place the nacelles down and over the landing gear, which was previously mounted to the wings. But to do this, you need to put them on at an angle, and this causes alignment problems. My attempts resulted in one of the nacelles coming apart. In retrospect, I would probably try to attach one half of the nacelle to the wing, then mount the engine inside and then attach the other nacelle half. This approach may work better.

The manual shows many options, such as bomb racks and bombs. With this particular kit representing a captured plane that was repainted for the USAAF or RAF, it did not make sense to use any of these options. Another option to watch out for is not an option per say – but there are two sets of propellers and nose cones. Pay attention to using the correct ones, because they do not fit equally.

The clear parts are excellent and fit very well. I used the ASK Ju88A-4 1/48 masks set for this project and they worked great.

Painting the plane is tricky and requires patience. I feel the manual could do a little better of a job showing the painting pattern for the front and nacelle areas – you have to take some educated guesses or use other reference material. The kit provides color call-outs for ICM paints. I used Real Color RLM04, RLM80 and RLM71 which I had on hand.

The decals applied flawlessly. They released from the backing paper quickly and conformed to the surfaces with no issues.

In all, this is a fun kit that makes a very neat looking plane. It sure is an attention getter! By adding more detail to the cockpit, you have a stellar model. This is an enjoyable and relatively quick build, and I highly recommend! Thank you to ICM for providing the sample and thank you to IPMS for the opportunity.