I recently acquired a 1/48 Smer Piper L4 Cub kit. Could anyone tell me anything about it?

Apart from the odd patterning on the wings and fuselage, which, I think, is supposed to pass for some sort of fabric impressions, it looks like an alright kit. But really, anyone who has seen an actual Cub, as well as Aeroncss, Taylorcraft, as well as any other full-size aircraft with fabric covering, you really don't see the actual weave of the fabric, and on this model, makes a pretty good large scale radiator screen pattern.

So, it looks like I'll be going at it hammer and tongs with the wet-or-dry fine grit.

My plan is to model a J3P, which was the Lenape Papoose powered J3, which was a 3 cylinder radial. This was not very popular, because the Papoose resembled the Szekley radial, and that was more widely known as the "Sickly" radial, due to its woeful lack of power and reliablity.

But as a modelling subject, a radial-powered J3 Cub has always been an intriguing subject for me to contemplate.

As to the engine, the closest resemblance to the Papoose cylinders is those on the Shaky Jake, the Jacobs R755, which Engines and Things markets a 1/48 resin model of. As the case and other accessories are covered by a cowl of sorts, I think that I could get away with using the cylinders off a Shaky Jake, and just fashion a cowl out of brass shim stock.

I haven't been able to find confirmation, but I suspect that this kit is a repop of the old 1/50 Heller kit from the dark days of the 1970s. The fabric texture is definitely reminiscent of Heller's style. It'll be interesting to see a round-engine cub

Of course right after posting that I found the confirmation I was looking for. It's definitely ex-Heller.

Well, I was first introduced to the Papoose in pieces, as the engine was a basket full of parts(a big basket, as it also held all three cylinders), and later in an article on the Cub in a July, 1986 issue of AOPA, which also featured the J3P, which also included a reproduction of the original blue prints of the engine itself, which also included dimension measurements. I have since lost that issue, but, interestingly, acquired another copy in a box of old aircraft megazines, and this one I'm keeping mostly safe.

I had also worked on a Shaky Jake, and, coincidentally(or not, perhaps), the Shaky Jake and the Papoose have the same diameter, and the jugs look very much alike, same dimensions.

So, this is whyb I'm thinking that I could use the jugs off a 1/48 scale Shaky Jake for this, which I just ordered from Engines and Things. And if I'm satisfied with what results, I'll try to find another Cub and repeat the whole process.

On the J3P, there is a cowl, of sorts, more a bolw which coveres the case and extends to the back of the engine in the nose. My plan is to take a page from the full-size aircraft restoration manual(commonly called the AC 43.13 1A and 1B, which is an advisory circular the FAA publishes for any woark needed on a full-size aircraft that is not covered by the manufacturer), and basically form a cowl out of ten thousandths brass shim stock and a piece of maple. I'll be doing it like on the "big toys" by making a form out of maple and beating it into shape with a soft faced mallet.

This is how it is done in any competent repair station on anything up to and including heavy jets, such as the Boeing 727.

A bit of a story on that. I was working in the airframe shop at TRAMCo, when one of the junior mechanics(one of the kids fresh out of A&P school) was told to fashion a tip rib on one of the UPS 727's that was in for a "D" checks, which wasan inspection in which the bird is nearly torn apart, which is common on older aircraft, especially heavy jets(what airliners are commonly referred to as). He was handed and appropriately sized piece os .0625 soft aliminum, and told to make it. He asked where the hydraulic press was, as that was what he was told that pieces are made on. The shop foreman yelled at him to get a block of maple and get busy with a rasp and rotary file. The kid complained(and nearly got fired for his trouble), and I was ordered to walk him through the process, which didn't please me very much. But I did, and he made his rib, which was sent out to be heat treated to the proper hardness(T6) and temper.

Had a lot of fun at TRAMCo that year.

Ok, thanks.

Was the Heller kit reasonably accurate?

If I like what I end up with, I'm planning on building another one, this one not in the Cub yellow with black lightning flash on the side.

I've tried to post pics from Google images, and haven't been able to for some strange reason, as I'd like to show everyone what my minor obssession is all about. There are two J3P's in that, one in Cub yellow, while the other one is more a black and gold color, both very handsome looking.

Also, I just bought a Nikon Coolpix camera, with the plan to start posting pics of various building projects. How would I be able to do that, as I'm not the most computer literate(I attended high school BC, before computers, 'way back in the dinosaur days, at least according to my son)?

That bloody Foreman is the one who should have been fired. What kind of idiot tells someone to do something without first checking to see whether they know how to do it, and then yells at them for not knowing?

Anyway, deep breath.
The Heller Cub is pretty good. It certainly can't be mistaken for anything except a cub Your engine mod should look pretty good.

Adding images to your posts is a relatively simple process but you need to get your head around a couple of concepts. You need to have your image stored somewhere on the 'net, and you need to be able to copy its location and paste it into your post using the IMG button that you should see in the bottom of the little window you type your post into. There's a good tutorial about images here.

Getting the images from your camera and into your computer so you can upload them to an image site on the internet is the other concept to get used to. When you bought your camera you should have received a CD and a USB cable with it. There's an image transferring program on that CD which will let you plug your camera into your computer and move the pictured from the camera to the computer. There should also be a tutorial on the CD which will show you how to do it.

Well, TRAMCo isn't known as Trashco for nothing. In all fairness, it is more of a training outfit, as many mechanics got their "feet wet", so to speak with regard to mechanicking on heavy jets and the like. They even get the odd 707 and DC8 on occasion. Yes, the foreman should've used a bit of understanding, but the kid got it right the first time(and later got fired for something completely unrelated. I think that it had to do with fueling a 737 with avgas, which resulted in the entire fuel system having to have most of the components replaced, as well as an extensive overhaul of both engines, but that's another story for another time, as well as other incidents, not all of them being as damaging or expensive).

As to the pics, I'll keep at it and see what happens.

https://www.google.com/search?q=google&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&oe=utf8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=k0fvUKrXIoK02wW3voGwCA&biw=1024&bih=571&sei=m0fvUPioIoac2AWhrICgDA#um=1&hl=en&tbo=d&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=pics+of+piper+j3p+cub&oq=pics+of+piper+j3p+cub&gs_l=img.3...5782.16813.0.17766.20.15.0.2.2.0.656.2265.0j1j0j4j0j1.6.0...0.0...1c.1.XpNSWaX__uM&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.1357700187,d.b2I&fp=db1962809fe88ce6&biw=1024&bih=571

did I do it right?

If you click on images when you get the page, they should come up.

I screwed up(sorry).

Don't click on images, but on search, and the page with come up, and you'll all see what a J3P is.

To post images in the forum you need two things. First you need to click the IMG button when you're writing the post. That makes this: {img}http://put.url.here/image.file{/img} appear (except the brackets are square. I had to replace them to make the code visible in the finished post).
Then you need the URL of the picture you want to post. In the case of the one above it's http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8432/7707487048_7b0b42ef2b_c.jpg
then you just paste that URL right on top of the text which says "http://put.url.here/image.file", replacing it completely.

You can also use the URL= button to create a link to a webpage like this.
The code looks like this: {url=http://put.url.here}linkname{/url} except that once again the brackets are square in the live code. Where it says "http://put.url.here" you paste in the URL of the page you want. In this case it's a link to a google image search like this: google.ca/search?hl=en&q=j3p+cub&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&biw=1680&bih=880&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=vmnvULiLB4mtigLuxoDIAw
Where it says "linkname" you type whatever words you want people to click on to reach the link.

O. ok.

This is something completely new to me, so I'm gonna be making some mistakes.

Anyway, now you know what a J3P looks like. The only problem I see with making a model of this particular one is the exhaust collector. Not sure where I'd be able to get that ribbed hose.

Maybe a nice thick bass guitar string?

That might be doable.

However, I think I'll be modelling the black and yellow one,N21561, because the exhaust stacks look simple enough.

Still got a lot of homework ahead of me, though.