1/72 FFVS J-22A

[JonMW]

As if I didn't have enough projects on the go at the moment I started this commissioned build for my boss. The J-22 has a pretty interesting history, during WWII Sweden was in desperate need of a fighter plane and SAAB was working on two bomb plans and didn't have resources to do a third project at the same time. So a new company was created, FFVS, to design and build a new fighter plane using the Twin Wasp engine, there where also restrictions on only using materials from Sweden and no aluminium as SAAB needed all of it. So the solution was a steel space frame covered in birch veneer. The design work of the J-22 started in mid to late 1940, first flight was in September 1942 and it entered service one year later. Sadly there are no nice kits of the J-22, only this 1/72 one and a resin 1/48.

The kit is pretty simple with only two sprues and not that good detail, luckily this is the upgraded version with a lot better decals then the original release as well as a small PE fret.



First task was to fix the engine, the kit one on the right is not the most detailed thing in the world. So I got the engine from a Eduard F6F Hellcat, which is a Double Wasp that has four more cylinders then the Twin Wasp in the J-22.



So I cut off one of the cylinders, made a mold of it and made 14 resin copies. Also made a copy of the crank case from the J-22 engine that I glued on a plastic rod to get the right length of the engine.





All assembled and test fitted in the engine cowling, not too much will be seen when it's all done but it should take a wash better then the kit parts and will hopefully look a bit more interesting.





Next up is the cockpit, the kit one don't have too many details, nothing on the side walls, floor is pretty flat and the control stick is just ridicules, looks more like a sledge hammer.



You do get some details on the PE fret, I think the side wall details will look a bit flat.



So I got a resin cockpit kit that should add some detail. Only problem is that some parts don't fit as they are, not even close. The two humps on the floor are way too big so the seat either sits too high and hits the canopy or too far forward and then there is no space for the control stick. Also the instrument panel has the completely wrong shape, too be fair it's the same shape as the just as ill fitting kit part.



So after a bit of sanding to reduce the height of the humps on the floor and cutting off the foot controls from the instrument panel, this is what I will use from the resin kit. The plan is to use the PE panel and scratch build the side walls as the resin ones don't really fit.



This kit will take some time, not only due to the scratch building in the cockpit, but also the kit has almost no panel line and the ones that are there are either really faint or in the wring place and I need to make a new canopy as it's so bad you can hardly see through it.

[chief5437]

Never seen one of these before, kind of looks like a fw-190. Good luck with the extra work!

[Liamcraven666]

great looking cockpit ! good luck

[TommyKillander]

Great stuff!

Looking forward to see you turn this kit into a beautiful aircraft


Tommy

[JonMW]

Work has been a bit slow on this but I have manage to get some done. Decided to use the kit seat, the problem with the resin one is the seat shouldn't have solid sides but rather some tubes. Removing the sides from the resin seat would also remove the belts so then I might as well just use the plastic part. Almost got the cockpit done, just missing a a few details on the sides.

[JonMW]

After showing some photos of this for my boss who I'm building this for he said he wanted a pilot in the cockpit and landing gear up. As the kit doesn't come with a pilot and I couldn't find any sitting Swedish pilot I had to look in other places. After buying a few Airfix 1/72 kits the pilot that was the best fit in the cockpit came from the P-51D, problem is the oxygen mask which the Swedish pilots didn't have.



So that had to be removed using a chisel.



I decided to do the winter uniform with dark blue overall instead of the beige summer one.





I need to move the pedals as they where a bit close to the seat.

[JonMW]

I have finally gotten the fuselage done, it has needed a lot of filler and sanding and more filler and sanding and... It's not the best fitting kit in the world but it's starting to look like a J22. Next will be to scribe all the panel lines as almost all of them are missing from the kit.





The engine is done, just painted in Alclad Aluminium followed by some detail painting in black and finished off with a wash of MIG Engine oil wash. Also added the plug wires using 0.2 mm wire.



And the cockpit is done, I used the PE instrument panel from the kit. There where some gauges included in the resin cockpit set, printed on normal paper, most of the instruments lined up with the holes in the panel so I used those.

[Klargplutte]

Nice work on a very beautiful plane
Its a pity they didnt have a bigger engine like R-2800 to work with when they built that plane but oh well.

[JonMW]

It's high time to get some work done on this. I hope to have it done before the 22nd as we will have a Christmas dinner at work then and it would be nice to hand over the finished build to my boss then. It will be tight but I'll try.

First I needed to close the landing gear bays, the doors in the kit aren't even close to fitting, they are the wrong shape and size so they went in the bin and the bays where filled with Milliput.



As most of the panel lines are missing in the kit and the ones that are there are really soft I needed to redo all of them. Started by drawing the basic shapes with a pencil and then used 3M fineline tape as a guide for the scribing tool.



For the engine cowl I used the PE parts.



Made a cut around the cowl.



And attached the PE parts.



The air intakes in the wings are missing some fins.



So i cut some small pieces of thin plastic sheet.



And inserted them in the intakes,



Now for a bit of a problem. The canopy is a bit cloudy and hard to see through so my plan was to vacuum form a new one. First try the plastic wasn't warm enough so it wouldn't take the shape. So redid it and heated the plastic a bit more, a bit too much and the canopy melted. So now I need to get a new kit so I can steal the canopy from. Luckily there is one shop in Stockholm that has the kit in stock so I'll need to pay them a visit on Saturday.

[TommyKillander]

Oh, no...

Hope you can get the kit, otherwise let me know, I have seen it in shops in Göteborg (and also at Aeroseum I think).

Just drop me a PM if you need help.


Tommy

[JonMW]

Oh, no...

Hope you can get the kit, otherwise let me know, I have seen it in shops in Göteborg (and also at Aeroseum I think).

Just drop me a PM if you need help.


Tommy

Thanks but I manage to pick up a new kit today, so now it's on to painting.

[JonMW]

Managed to get the plane preshaded, painted, cleared and decaled today. Paint job is pretty simple with just XF61 and XF66 but the decals where a pain. Super thin and ripped if you just looked at them, so I had to replace a couple of the stencils with ones from the spares folder.

[JonMW]

Had another go at making a new canopy. This is the kit canopy, a bit cloudy and a bit of distortion.



First up was to fill the kit part with clay to get a base, then make a silicone mold and finally a resin copy.



This was then used to vacuum form a new canopy (or two as I need one for a future build for myself as well).



After a bit of cutting it fits just as well as the kit one and has a bit less distortion and is a lot clearer.

[JonMW]

This thing is almost done, managed to get a coat of flat clear on followed by a oil dot filter using yellow light grey and blue. Only things left are last bit of weathering, antenna wires and paint the spinner. So I should be able to have this done by Tuesday when we have our yearly Christmas lunch at work so I can hand over it to the boss.