J-22 Tiny Swedish Wooden Wonder 1/33

[smithdr]

Got the gear done today...

You can see the kit oleos around wire and the initial sandwiched wheels before carving.

Then...the kit hubs...kind of boring so I scratched some parts to give them a 3D look. Not perfect, but better.

Finally, after painting, washing and dry brushing. I needed to paint the struts and hubs since the shots I have of the real plane show these parts to be a light green rather than grey. We'll see how this all looks when it's actually attached to the model!









Now, I'll finally start on the plane itself. Cockpit next with a considerable amount of scratch building as the kit parts seem to not be too accurate. We'll see how this goes!

Thanks for looking,

Dan

[elliott]

Wheels and hubs look good Dan. Looking forward to the cockpit and fuselage.

[Don Boose]

Beautiful undercarriage, Dan!

Noting your techniques, I can't help but as if you have by any chance been influenced by Flying Scale Models of World War II (1974), Bill Hannan, Bill Warner, the Flying Aces Club, Dave Diels, and their ilk?

And, like me, do you have a large stash of Diels, Comet, Guillows, Berkeley, and Megow models in the basement or attic?

Don

[YOAVHOZMI]

absolutely great work on the wheels.

YOAV

[smithdr]

Thanks Guys...means a lot considering the building skill around here!

And you are right, Don...I have a few Guillows, Comet and Sterling kits around but I tend to use my own contest balsa (the really light stuff) and basically use the kits as patterns. Most of them turn into pretty nice flyers! I guess that's why I'm liking these paper card models. I kind of like cutting out formers etc. And instead of using tissue, you use card stock for covering. Best of both worlds! I also have some of the plans from the book you mention and have built the Hurricane...flew like a mad man. I miss Model Builder and Flying Models mags...all those guys you mentioned were great! Add in Don Srull, Dennis Norman, Mooney, Dave Reese and Bill Stromman (spelling?) and lots more and you have a great list.

I like following the Flying Aces folks since those people are true artists and I can't believe the stuff they make fly!

I also like the old Mooney p-nut kits. They are a blast to build and fly.

I think I may need to make a flying J-22 before long!

More later,
Dan

[Don Boose]

Thanks for mentioning the other stick and tissue Greats, Dan.

Dave Diels (who served in Vietnam as an Engineer officer, also served with an Engineer Amphibious unit in the 1960s, and was one of the sources for my book on Army amphibious operations in Korea) is an old buddy. He offers plans for a peanut J-22 OBTW: Diels Engineering, Inc.

I was trying to remember Dennis Norman's name. He pioneered the printing of airplane skin patterns on tissue and offered some kits of same. He and I talked about the possibility of printing FG paper models on tissue for stick and tissue models. Others have printed paper models on thin foam for flying models.

Standing by to enjoy your next steps with the J-22.

Don

[rockpaperscissor]

Gets better and better with each new installment. The spinner and prop are first rate. Your enhancements to the wheels make a huge difference in their appearance. Great job so far.

[Leif Ohlsson]

Way back when, there was a Swedish model aircraft company called Wentzel, which marketed a whole line of 1:25 scale model aircraft, mostly WWII and early 50s. Here's their 1/25 scale J-22:



I attach the original scale drawing as zipped file, for those interested. The framework (modeling the steel tube frame) is actually pretty realistic.

Leif

[smithdr]

Super Cool, Leif!

This sucker may be in my future. I'll see if I can get it lost in a thermal...

Cheers,

Dan

[smithdr]

A bit more done and some experimenting. Since the area about cockpit forward was metal sheeting, I wanted to get 3-D panels and rivets approximated so I made some embossing tools from and old blade and some piano wire. In the pictures, the rivets look a lot deeper than they appear in person! I went through the areas I wanted to emboss, primed them and assembled. I was only going to prime the metal parts but the light blue on the underside looks a little "loud" to me so I decided to paint/prime the whole plane. Here are some examples of the embossing and the engine/cowling test fitted. I've added epoxy on the inside of the cowl and I hope to smooth out the nose ring tomorrow.

On to the shots:










Cheers and thanks for looking!

Dan