My AIMS is True

Ju 388L-1 Conversion in 1/32

- Gordon Scott

Kit No: 03988

Scale: 1/32 Type: Injection

Moulded Plastic Revell

Manufacturer: www.revell.de

The Ju 388 was very nearly a 'what if' aircraft, the pinnacle of the basic Ju 88 airframe development programme. Initially borne out of the fear of B-29s joining the USAF's assault on Germany, it was originally designed to be used in the High-Altitude Fighter role but this was subsequently changed to Reconnaissance for the L variant and Heavy Night Fighter for the J variant.

The Ju 388 was one of five aircraft types (others being the Arado 234, Ta 154, Do 335, and Me 262) earmarked for continued production in order to enable the continuance of the Luftwaffe's efforts into 1946, and many hundreds of both L and J variants had been ordered by August 1944. However, due to manufacturer infighting, political lobbying, official indifference, ignorance, and Germany's change of circumstances, by March 1945 not a single Ju 388 of either variant was left on the order books although approximately eighty Ls and just two Js had been produced. Some were trialled at the Luftwaffe's' EKdo but never reached the altitude and performance promised, largely due to engine and pressure cabin issues. 20/20 hindsight shows it was to RAF Bomber Command's advantage as the airframes and/or components would probably have gone into producing new Ju 88-G6 and G7 night fighters or Ju 188s. Germany's situation was summed up pretty well in a letter from a German airman to his mother when he said that the Luftwaffe had total air superiority up to a height of two metres as he watched P-51's destroy his airfield. So far I have been unable to locate any record of operational use of either the L or J variant.