Junkers J.2 (E.I)

The Merlin kit has some very rough parts, with lots of flash and a lot of variation from side to side 

The radiator part was opened up at both ends and a radiator made from sheet styrene and bits of mesh 

All flying surfaces had to be thinned - here the ailerons, with the one on the left already thinned and the other still original 

Wings and tail pieces before and after thinning. Tail has also been thinned down 

All flying surfaces now thinned and new panel lines inscribed 

The kit has a white metal propeller - here it has been cleaned up and an etched metal boss added 

A shaft was also glued into the back 

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 

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. 

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. 

New panel lines scribed.  

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 

Nose reshaped to match the drawings (shrunk down from 1/48 to 1/72 on a copier) 

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. 

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 

Cut out a slot on the right fuselage half for the exhausts 

Found a half engine with the right cylinder spacing. Added some exhausts and built a support structure to hold it. 

Engine painted and engine bay painted black. Engine glued in place. 

A floor and some structure added to the cockpit 

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. 

Fuselage closed and wings attache 

Tail surfaces glued in place - some cleaning up of the joints needed 

Radiator glued on and drain plug made from a punched styrene disc and small piece of 0.4mm styrene rod 

Undercarriage components - all out of styrene card, rod and aerofoil sections 

All undercarriage components glued together. Also carved a tail skid out of card styrene 

Undercarriage and tail skid glued in place 

Upright and with wheels and prop temporarily on 

Some further rework of the engine/exhaust area, based on closer inspection of photos of the real machine 

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 

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. 

First coat of primer on - it showed up some areas that needed some filler 

All painting done and remaining small parts attached 

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 

Decals all on - just rigging to do