Piper J-3C Cub

[Feuer Zug]

The Piper J-3 Cub is an American light aircraft that was built between 1938 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. The aircraft has a simple, lightweight design, which gives it good low-speed handling properties and short-field performance. The aircraft is a high-wing, strut-braced monoplane with a large-area rectangular wing. It is most often powered by an air-cooled, flat-4 piston engine driving a fixed-pitch propeller. Its fuselage is a welded steel frame covered in fabric, seating two people in tandem. The Cub was designed as a trainer. It had great popularity in this role and as a general aviation aircraft.

Crew: one pilot
Capacity: one passenger
Useful load: 455 lb (205 kg)
Length: 22 ft 5 in (6.83 m)
Wingspan: 35 ft 3 in (10.74 m)
Height: 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Max takeoff weight: 1,220 lb (550 kg)
Powerplant: Continental A-65-8 air-cooled horizontally opposed four cylinder, 65 hp (48 kW) at 2,350 rpm

Performance
Maximum speed: 76 kn (87 mph, 140 km/h)
Cruise speed: 65 kn (75 mph, 121 km/h)
Stall speed: 33 kn (38 mph, 61 km/h)
Range: 191 nmi (220 mi, 354 km)
Service ceiling: 11,500 ft (3,500 m)

Information sourced from Wikipedia.

 

 

[PossumPatrol]

That looks great! Really impressive that you were able to make it so detailed at such a small scale.

[Feuer Zug]

17 hours ago, PossumPatrol said:

That looks great! Really impressive that you were able to make it so detailed at such a small scale.

Thank you. It's fun building at this size. I like the challenge of getting the lines as close to the real aircraft as I can.

[Ptchnk]

I really like it. You did a very good job to capture the shape of the plane with so little parts.

Do you have the instruction available for it? My son would love to build that one!

[Feuer Zug]

On 6/11/2026 at 8:24 AM, Ptchnk said:

I really like it. You did a very good job to capture the shape of the plane with so little parts.

Do you have the instruction available for it? My son would love to build that one!

Merci. I don't have instructions. All my works are built by hand after trial and error getting the lines correct.

[Ptchnk]

2 hours ago, Feuer Zug said:

Merci. I don't have instructions. All my works are built by hand after trial and error getting the lines correct.

I'm especially wondering how you managed the narrowing tail from 4 to 2 studs wide as well as the reversed studs technics you used for it..

[Feuer Zug]

18 hours ago, Ptchnk said:

I'm especially wondering how you managed the narrowing tail from 4 to 2 studs wide as well as the reversed studs technics you used for it..

To go from 4 studs to 2 studs, I use the: Hinge Plate 1 x 4 Swivel. It allows for narrowing, while leaving a void that I can put bricks with studs on two sides to hold the top and bottom of the empennage together. It's fragile, but functional.