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Introduction
In 1916 the German Inspectorate of Aviation Troops (Idflieg) issued the J type design specification for an armored ground attack and liaison aircraft. Junkers responded with their J.4, a metal aircraft. The new aircraft received the designation J.I by the Idflieg which was somewhat confusing as Junkers first metal aircraft was also designated J.1 and was not related to the new aircraft. The J.I was constructed of duraluminum (dural) tubes with a corrugated dural skin on the wings. The engine bay to the gunners' position was constructed of steel to offer protection to the engine, pilot, and gunner. The fuselage aft of the gunner was fabric covered and the tail surfaces were dural. Although the aircraft was relatively slow it was popular with its crews because of the protection provided by its armored forward section and metal construction while attacking enemy ground targets. Initially, I was rather hesitant to start the Wingnuts Wings kit due to the large number of parts that were in the box (I'm used to somewhat simpler models). The model sat on my bench for quite a while before I started it, solely because of the quantity of parts. I need not have worried. Once I started actual assembly I found that it was a project that I could not stop working on, sometimes as soon as getting home from work - something I rarely, if ever had done before. The model has 152 injection molded parts on nine sprues, plus a small photoetch fret and a large decal sheet with markings for small five different aircraft. The instruction book is just that, a book with 24 pages including a detailed assembly section, numerous photos of the J.I taken during the Great War, and photos of the remains of two J.I aircraft. The Wingnuts Wings kit also directs you to their website which has additional information and photos on the aircraft not covered in the instruction book. The instruction book will certainly find a place on my bookshelf now that the model is completed. The kit assembly portion of the instructions are of the exploded view type and are relatively easy to follow. That being said, I would recommend studying them closely before starting (I found that I had left a few parts off by not paying close enough attention in a few steps!). The Build Assembly is very straight forward and every part is very well engineered and fit near perfect in every step. Some assemblies like the pilot's seat has 16 parts and the engine which has 27 parts. The manner of assembly for the engine alone is such that no visible seams show when the engine is completed. On the upper wing there is a small gap between the inboard part of the aileron and the wing center section. I was able to take a small part not used in the kit with the same corrugation as the wing and cut it to fit into the gap. All major sub assemblies fit quite well together and to other assemblies. The only assembly issue I had was in steps 11 & 12, where the upper wing center section is attached to the rest of the airframe. I thought it would be a bit fiddly as the upper wing center section had a bit of play when it was mounted to the four main struts. However, when you get to step 13 and attach the remaining struts the assembly becomes quite rigid. It helps that the struts plug into the wings with some rather stout pins so alignment is not an issue. The wing outer sections fit into the center wing sections without the need for filler. As a matter of fact, I had to use only a minimal amount of filler putty in a few spots on the aft fuselage, probably due to my own ham-handedness. Painting callouts use Tamiya, Humbrol & Misterkit colors. The decals go down quite well, although I had a few issues with them settling down over the corrugations on the wings. Solvaset helped a great deal and repeated applications made the majority of the wing decals snuggle into place. My decals didn't all go down well, but decals aren't my strong suit anyway. Conclusion I can say without trepidation that this is perhaps one of the best kits I've ever had the pleasure to assemble, even with the large number of the parts in the box. The model took me only three weeks to finish. The subject matter, design and execution of this kit shows that Wingnuts Wings really care about their product. I can't give enough superlatives to tell you how much I enjoyed this model. There will certainly be more Wingnuts Wings kits in my future. Bring on the Gotha!!
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