I just finished my Civil Air Patrol Piper J-3 Cub, or L-4 Grasshopper depending on who bought it, this weekend, and it is the first in a small series of dioramas, with one hopefully going as a memorial to the U.S.S. Lexington. I actually used Hobby Craft’s Piper L-4 at 1:48 scale, which for it’s age isn’t a bad kit. The only thing I didn’t really care for is that the fuselage is clear acrylic, and pretty thick to boot. So, the windows aren’t as clear as I’d like, but that may have to do with the fact the kit is as old as I am, or older. That said, it was fun to put together. Here’s the play by play: I started with two P-40 pilots, which I modified a bit. I’ve seen CAP pilots with both standard flight caps and billed caps. I opted for the later… 
I screwed up and lost the I.P. Shoot, I still don’t know where the thing got off to. I ended up make another, which doesn’t look to bad, even if you can’t really see the details in the finished version. I got the pilots and interior painted, along with the engine… 
Then I started piecing this small bird together. 
There are some sloppy fits here and there, with the worst being the engine and cowling. Simply put, they DO NOT fit. It took some fairly serious filling and sanding on both the engine and the cowling (which is really thick), along with opening up the holes for the pistons, but once you get it whittled down to size it’s not bad looking… 
The cowling covers (piston covers) that come with the kit are a joke. They are entirely to small, so they got chunked. Instead, I took a couple of styrene strips and made my own. You do have to be careful to get the pitch, or angle, of the cowling right otherwise they will be crooked. 
Then I added the control wires for the rudder and the suspension for the tail wheel. 
After priming, I shaded with Tamiya’s White and Red/Brown, then I used Testor’s Model Master Acrylic Insignia Yellow to paint the plane. I used Tamiya’s Dark Sea Blue for the Wheels and I.P. Weathered using pastels. I probably should’ve taking pictures during this process, but for one reason or another it just didn’t happen… This is the first diorama box I’ve built, and the first time I’ve mounted a plane in the air. I hope it looks okay. Personally, I think it came out pretty good. For the mount, I took an 1/8" sheet of clear acrylic and cut it to shape, using my trusty Dremal and a heavy duty cutting wheel. I then cut a 1/2" x 1/2" square and cut an angled slot large enough for the edge of the mount to fit in. I glued the smaller piece under the wheel carriage and the mount to a slot I had cut into the board. I put the paper down, after measuring for the mount, and carefully lined up the slot at the wheel carriage with the mount and let it dry for a day before touching it. A few finishing touches and wha la… Here’s the finished product. 
I hope you enjoyed looking at my latest pretty. It’ll probably be used for booth display for my squadron. My next project will be of a CAP Coastal Patrol Stinson Reliant over open water, though I’ll probably work on a Super Cub at the same time. As always, comments are welcome… Raymond
Very creative display!Well done!
Damn Ray. This looks like a home run right here! =] Nice job tackling the base. And that clear plastic is thick…as is reading glasses thick, good Lord.
Nicely done! I like the scratch work you’ve got here. Can’t wait to see the next one. =D
The grasshopper had the greenhouse, so only a Cub. Looks great!
Nice job. Add some Tundura tires and a rifle and call it an Alaskan bush plane. Hasn’t changed much over all these years. Very cool build and really cool display for it.
A very nice build and finish, looks right at home above a grass runway, good job.
Patrick
Cool build, Ray!
Unless you replace the J-3’s Conti A-65 with something like a Lycoming O-320 160 hp it will never overcome the huge drag of those tundra tires LOL!
Well done Raymond, just love it 
Nice to see you have the wing’s dihedral andles correct at about 2 deg, allot of the kits have it to steep or not atall.
Theuns
Nice build and presentation of that little war bird.
Mike
Thanks for all the comments everyone. Theuns, I wish I could take credit for the dihedral but the kit got it right. Over all, I think Hobby Craft did a pretty good job, though like Mike the “Grasshoppers” I’ve seen have more of an extended canopy and they marketed this as a Grasshopper. I did have to do some scratch adds to it though… The exhaust coming out of the bottom of the cowling for example, along with the control wires, pilots, ect… Raymond
Raymond- you made that dog of a kit look good.
Not a fan of Hobbycraft kits.
The US navy flew J-3’s with the normal rear glazing NE-1’s