Marivox 1/72 Swedish Fighter FFVS J-22

MARIVOX 1:72 SWEDISH FIGHTER FFVS J-22
'INBOX Review'

Reviewer: Dave McDougall (captain.haddock@btinternet.com)
- Upgraded Kit version details supplied by Darrell Thompson

Kit: Marivox 1/72^nd scale Swedish Fighter FFVS J-22 (kit #1) + Upgraded Kit version (see bottom of Inbox review)

Parts: These come in a sturdy box. Plastic bag containing two sprues of 40 injection molded parts in medium grey plastic. There’s a tiny amount of flash on one or two pieces but it’s so little it’s hardly worth mentioning. 1 transparent part (the cockpit canopy) is also floating around loose in the bag and this has two rather nasty bits where it’s been attached in some previous life to a sprue.

Instructions: Four page booklet approximately A5 size. The instructions do include a good English translation. Page one gives a bit of historical background and some technical data. The next two pages give a construction guide in 6 steps with an exploded view for each step. I don’t think any part of these are unclear. The last page gives painting and decal schemes. Colour call outs for both Humbrol enamels and generic colours (e.g. Dragoon Blue).

Versions: Paint schemes and decals for five Swedish airforce aircraft. Two of these are World War 2 era aircraft and the other three are for post war examples. (A side view of each of two of the schemes is shown in colour on the side of the box lid.)

Decals: Six roundels and various letters, emblems etc. These don’t look to be very good quality. The decals feel quite thick. The definition on the letters and the emblems (in particular the latter) isn’t very good.

Accuracy: Who knows? I’ve certainly no idea as I only have very limited information on this aircraft.

Detail: Quite nice actually. Crisply molded with finely recessed panel lines. Not quite Hasegawa quality but close. A seat, control stick and instrument panel are supplied for the cockpit. (Have received additional information from other modelling sources that these decals are poor quality once used on the model, so be wary - Ed)

Options: A choice of an A or a B model J-22. The only difference between the two appears to be the number of wing mounted machine guns and the engine cowling exhaust.

Impressions: I like it. I’m pleasantly surprised by the quality overall; especially as it didn’t cost me much. The cockpit canopy is a bit annoying but I imagine with a bit of work it’ll clean up okay. It should build up into a nice little model. I’ll probably look for an aftermarket set of decals. I think it’ll be highly(!) unlikely that there are some available specifically for this aircraft. However, I’ll see if there are some general decals around for Swedish aircraft. And lets face it, kits of this aircraft aren’t exactly thick on the ground.

Other Comments: During WWII, it was almost impossible for neutral Sweden to buy modern combat aircraft. Always determined to defend its neutrality, Sweden developed the J 22 monoplane fighter. It was a clean, compact fighter copied by a copy of the Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp, by the standards of the time a relatively low-powered engine, but the best one available. It replaced the biplanes, and was in service until 1952. 200 were built. The J22A was the initial production model and the J22B with revised armament was built directly by the Swedish airforce.

"Upgraded" Marivox J-22 Kit Version - Addendum provided by Darrell Thompson

Since the above review was done Marivox have ‘upgraded’ this kit with new decals and an etched brass fret.

The new decals are printed by Techmod and are glossy, perfectly on register and are as good as any decals I have seen, all the tiny stencils are readable with a magnifying glass. The decals cover the same five versions (two J-22A’s and three J-22B’s) as the original decals. Know need to search around now for aftermarket decals that probably aren’t out there!

The small brass etched fret contains a nice instrument panel, sidewall details, seats belts and a rear view mirror for the cockpit. The undercarriage gets improved by some nice torque links and replacement undercarriage doors. The cowl flaps get replaced with individual flaps, which aren’t going to be easy to position but should greatly improve the cowl as the scribing on the injected cowl is a bit vague. The fret is finished off with a nicely textured wing walk panel and a tiny aerial, which sits above the canopy.

The same instructions are included with the details for the etched brass being supplied on a separate A4 sheet. Also included is a four page A5 ‘stensilled instructions’ showing all the positions for the stencils in the form of a beautiful large five view drawing.

If you want some nice detail pictures J-22’s go to the IMPS Stockholm site, http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2002/01/stuff_eng_detail_j22.htm

they also have a couple of pictures of this model built up, http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2002/01/stuff_eng_sebardt_j22.htm

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