Junkers J.2 (E.I)
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The Merlin kit has some very rough parts, with lots of flash and a lot of variation from side to side
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The radiator part was opened up at both ends and a radiator made from sheet styrene and bits of mesh
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All flying surfaces had to be thinned - here the ailerons, with the one on the left already thinned and the other still original
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Wings and tail pieces before and after thinning. Tail has also been thinned down
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All flying surfaces now thinned and new panel lines inscribed
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The kit has a white metal propeller - here it has been cleaned up and an etched metal boss added
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A shaft was also glued into the back
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The actual aircraft had a serial on both side and also under each wing, but the kit decals only have 2 for the fuselage. I made some copies of the fuselage serials and printed them on decal paper for under the wings
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Front of the fuselage had to be reshaped - reference drawings show it more tapered rather than the square front end of the kit. Here I've shaped the right side - the left side is the original shape.
![Album image #10 Album image #10](/albums/img/8/4/1/1349841-27411-19-720.jpg)
Both sides now reshaped (one time I could be thankful for the over-thick plastic in Merlin kits!), and some filler on one side where I'd chopped some plastic out in error.
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New panel lines scribed.
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The nose of the kit doesn't match the drawings. It is part of the fuselage halves so to work on it I taped the halves together, glued only the nose and, when dry, separated it from the halves with a razor saw. Here I've already increased the height of the nose with scrap styrene
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Nose reshaped to match the drawings (shrunk down from 1/48 to 1/72 on a copier)
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The sides also needed building up with styrene and putty and were then sanded to match the new nose shape. Some sections became very thin and needed to be backed with more scrap styrene.
![Album image #15 Album image #15](/albums/img/5/3/1/1395531-27411-30-720.jpg)
Further work on the wings - extended the wing roots with styrene to match the drawings. Also built an axle fairing out of aerofoil shaped styrene and different sizes styrene rod
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Cut out a slot on the right fuselage half for the exhausts
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Found a half engine with the right cylinder spacing. Added some exhausts and built a support structure to hold it.
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Engine painted and engine bay painted black. Engine glued in place.
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A floor and some structure added to the cockpit
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Interior complete and painted. The metal wicker chair came with the kit but the control stick came from the spares box, a basic panel from scrap styrene and some etched bezels and an etched rudder bar.
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Fuselage closed and wings attache
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Tail surfaces glued in place - some cleaning up of the joints needed
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Radiator glued on and drain plug made from a punched styrene disc and small piece of 0.4mm styrene rod
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Undercarriage components - all out of styrene card, rod and aerofoil sections
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All undercarriage components glued together. Also carved a tail skid out of card styrene
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Undercarriage and tail skid glued in place
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Upright and with wheels and prop temporarily on
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Some further rework of the engine/exhaust area, based on closer inspection of photos of the real machine
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Exhaust made, using an old Albatros exhaust (Revell I think based on the red plastic!) and styrene rod. Just pushed in place at the moment
![Album image #30 Album image #30](/albums/img/4/2/9/1681429-27411-72-720.jpg)
Radiator return pipe (?) added above the engine, made from styrene rod and soft copper wire. The close up photos show some filling repairs still to do.
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First coat of primer on - it showed up some areas that needed some filler
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All painting done and remaining small parts attached
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The old Merlin decals have yellowed badly, so I found some crosses of the same size and cut some white fields from white decal sheet
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Decals all on - just rigging to do
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Kommentit
32 18 September 2021, 06:54
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A collector kit !! I have only two pics from this aircraft, but there may be no more...
Good work.
14 December 2022, 21:59
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Thanks guys. Transall NG - have a look at the Aeronaut Books book Junkers Aircraft of WWI Vol. 1: Junkers J.1-J.4. Plenty of photos of it in there, and some nice 1/48 scale drawings that I've reduced down to 1/72
15 December 2022, 12:19
![](/profiles/img/27411-254-s.jpg)
Welcome aboard! Work on the exterior is almost done (although I may need to beef up the wing roots a bit when comparing to the drawings). Next I'll have to figure out a cockpit interior.
4 February 2023, 06:55
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A little bit of re-profiling of the nose section, based on a closer inspection of photos of the real thing
2 February, 00:53
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It is nice to see an update after a year 👍
You mentioned down scaled references from 1:48 to 1:72. Where one can find those drawings? I checked your project but found no assigned books. Thanks!
2 February, 20:03
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Thanks for the comments and likes. Bughunter, yes, haven't been doing a lot of modelling in the last year - work getting in the way. Anyway for references I've mainly been using the Aeronaut Books book Junkers Aircraft of WWI Vol. 1: Junkers J.1-J.4 (vol. 30 of their Centennial Series). I haven't really looked at adding my reference books onto Scalemates yet.
2 February, 21:37
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Thanks! Here it is: Book: Junkers Aircraft of WWI (by Colin Owers)
Just link it to the project like a kit. SM is wonderful 👍
2 February, 21:48
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Some more work done on the front end - nearing the end of the scratch building work
9 March, 22:48
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Good to have you Greg. In the home stretch on this one - primer/filler/primer time!
29 March, 12:50
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Thanks, Transall NG. Finally got around to finishing this one and taking photos.
20 May, 12:58
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Thanks everybody - quite pleased how this one came out myself. It's even led me to buying some other Merlin kits which aren't available from other manufacturers...
21 May, 09:56
Album info
This is my build of the Junkers J.2 prototype single seat all metal monoplane fighter of 1916, built as the first machine built