Duck J2F2 Amphibian BiPlane

This kit is a gem. It is not super high tech. Thank goodness, for biplanes are hard enough just tackling the wings. Photos of this plane has prompted me to buy & do multiples for schemes & themes. Murphy's war, with Peter O'toole. Prewar paint schemes & catapult projects. A beautiful aircraft & a really nice kit. What a modeler friendly price for what you get. As a collector of float & amphibious aircraft,...Bingo!

A rather large model for a bi-plane, the kit goes together rather nicely. Little need for putty to fill seams on the fuselage. Some sanding was needed to smooth out the join lines. The cockpit detail is sparse. Pilots are two well molded torsos and need to be replaced if possible. Careful painting of the pilots will make them acceptable. A full cockpit canopy which includes a rear facing gun is supplied. The engine detail is wonderful. The pistons are well molded and you get the exhaust ring that is clear visible behind the engine cowl. Propeller stencils are included. The alignment of the top wing is problematic. I recommend rigging the model beforehand as the box art and directions gives a good idea where the wires go. Aligning the struts to the wings is a bit of a challenge but Pro-weld will alleviate many issues. For rigging, I used a 0.20 gauge music wire cut to size and glued using white tacky glue. Exhaust staining achieved through slight application of Tamiya pastels. I built my model in flight. I had to cut a slot for the borrowed stand and created a cover for where the landing gear would have extended. No parts to do this are supplied with the kit. I used alternate decals for a plane in U.S.M.C. markings.

This kit is a very old design with minimal details but can be built with extra details to highlight this unique aircraft. There are many gaps that require filling. Especially the large gap on the bottom of the main float. The gap originally housed a rubber band powered wheel that was included by the original company. None of the parts are included in the Glenco kit but the opening is still there. I chose to scratch build the cockpit and crew area. There is plenty of room to do this. I replaced all clear parts with vacu-form versions for clarity and appearance. In the end it was an interesting and fun kit to build while utilizing scratch building skills. I would recommend this kit.