Wooden WW2 planes

Lockheed used the molded plywood long before the Mossie.  They moved to aluminum before any of their WW2 planes, though.  Those neat planes like the Vega and such were plywood (the original Vega, not the bomber).

I have an old article out of a magazine about the laminated plywood the British used in the Mosquito bomber. I've been looking for it. I copied it back in the late 1980s. Its probably in a box at my mother's house in the attic. Anyway it was very strong and flexible enough at the same time. It was used to repair a lot of RAF and some USAAF aircraft.  

I actually have a SM 79 in 1/48 by Smer (ugh!). The plan is to build a plastic kit and cover the appropriate parts with woodgrain decals in the right scale. I'm gonna wing it on the panel layout and go with what looks cool, esp against the silver bare metal foil. Sorry, you purists out there. FYI - the outer wings of the Corsair were fabric.

Here are some facts, which I've checked twice in each instance.

The 1937- 1939 Hurricanes were of aluminum frame construction, covered in fabric. After Sept. 29, 1939 all production Hurricane's were skinned in aluminum, except for the fuselage behind the trailing edge of the wing, and the control surfaces.

The Wellington was built with a geodesic aluminum framework, entirely covered in fabric. One reason was the same as that of the interwar battleship basket masts; in theory they could have big hole blown in them and still have integrity.

The swordfish was built entirely of aluminum frame construction, covered in fabric.

If the original poster is suggesting that they are building an unpainted wooden aircraft, that's a pretty complicated project. The grain will of course give away the panels, so a complete set of drawings describing the panel layout will be needed. Also a procedure for showing fasteners.

As complicated as it might seem, I would (heavens save me) probably choose the Mossie because there's a lot of info out there about her.

IMO the Revell kit is no good. Plenty of good ones in 1/48.

A really good choice would be the Savoia-Marchetti SM 79. I don't know of any in 1/32, but Trumpeter makes one in 1/48. Again, research would be the key, but it's a nice mix of wood and aluminum.

I get differing opinions on the Hurricane; some sources say that was sheet metal and others said wood and fabric. The Swordfish would look great but I imagine that the wings are mostly fabric, and I need a plane that's mostly wood. Oddly, my club always says to build anything any way I want, but I think being somewhat accurate would be better.

The Lavochkin La-5 was made mostly of wood. While the La-7 was still mostly wood it had some wood components replaced with aluminum alloy.

seasick

The Spruce Goose.

.....a personal favorite..........

The German WW2 fighter was the Ho 2-29. The Hurricaine had a wood body so did the Wellington but it was over an aluminium frame I think. Don't for get the Swordfish, which even though it was pretty much a WW1 aircraft being a bi-plane etc did play a big roll in the destruction of the Bismark.

Phil

The Spruce Goose.

The Polikarpov I-16 has a wood fuselage. There's looks of kits of those around.

The SM 79 had a wood fuselage, wood wings, with the forward crew section aluminum. Those are around too.

Someone mentioned in another thread the Mile trainers.

Hurrie had a metal structure in service, with a fabric covered tail section.

Didn't the Wellington have a lot of wood?  I think the Hurricane had some wood.  There was a German jet (forget the number) that was primarily wood.  US worked on a fighter that was primarily wood, but it never saw production.  Many gliders were of course wood.