NJ-22 Orao

Litaki, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Graham Carter

The Soko J-22 Orao (Eagle) was developed as a joint Romania-Yugoslavia project for a simple, tough aircraft using local skills, equipment and avionics in the 1970s. Originally fitted with a pair of license-built RR Viper, subsequent variants have upgraded engines.

The NJ-22 was the trainer and close-support variant and it was not particularly successful in its tasks and only some 21 were built. The break-up of the former Slavic states played havoc with placements and servicing and most were withdrawn from service by the early 2000s, only Serbia continues to use a small number of them.

A resin kit of this aircraft has been produced by Aeropoxy (!) and this is the first injected rendition of the aeroplane by Litaki, a brand new Ukrainian kit manufacturer and all bodes well for them if this and the single-seater is any indication of future releases. It arrives in a sturdy top-opening box with a very nice rendition of one of the decal choices, an example from the Serbian AF in 2023.  A great inclusion is a framable A4 card copy of the box lid for your collection. I have always felt that the two-seater variants of fighters are more attractive and this one is no exception in my humble opinion.

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Thumbnail panels:

As you can imagine, the main sprees are identical to those in the J-22 kit, only a new fuselage sprue and a small one containing the extra seat, instrument panel and a few other extras are included . These seven dark grey sprues are packed in a pair of resealable clear sleeves, with foam inserts to prevent part damage during transport - great idea! There is also a PE fret and the transparencies are in their own sleeve, as are the colourful decals.

PE is used for much interior, wheel well details and for the wing fences and aerials.

There are no locating pins or holes for major parts as this is a short-run kit. Despite this the parts are very well moulded with no flash and excellent surface detail on wings and fuselage. I’m not  great fan of horizontally-split fuselage halves but it does allow for convenient cockpit and wheel-well insertion. These interior components are well detailed, each being made up of several parts with good details and PE and decals for detailing. The bang seat is very nice - six plastic and six PE parts are used here. Instrument panel is made-up using plastic, PE and decals. Most of one sprue is made up of masses of ordnance for the close support variant. Gates are a bit wider than some of the more experienced manufacturers but will create no problems for the average kit builder.

A masking sheet allows for the canopy panels and wheels to be sprayed cleanly.

The instruction booklet includes a nice welcoming note and an outline of the aircraft’s history and use. The A5 stapled booklet gives a part map, a paint table for Mr Color, MIG, AK Interactive and Tamiya colours, a weapons diagram, and 52 construction steps. Each of these is clearly set out, well-drawn and with colour notes and hints. A great start for Litaki.

Markings

The colour schemes and decal placement drawing for the six choices occupy four A4 coloured cards, including the stencil locations separately.

All aircraft are in disruptive dark green/dark grey over a pale blue scheme, each slightly different, and are as follows:

1. 25504 ‘504’, Yugoslav AF 242nd Fighter-bomber Squadron, in 1989,

2. the same aircraft with the Republic of Srpska AF, at Banja Luka in 1996,

3. 25526, of GTA-002, Republic of Yugoslavia, 1999,

4. 25525 of the Serbian AF at Batajnica Belgrade air base in 2007, 

5. 25528 of the Serbian AF at Batajnica Belgrade air base in 2012, and

6. the same aircraft of the Serbian AF at Batajnica Belgrade air base in 2023.

The decals are semi-flat and appear to be well printed with good saturation, zero carrier film and a small tiger insignia is beautifully done. Take care extracting any white markings as the backing sheet is quite pale. Also take particular care cutting out the myriad stencils they are VERY crowded on the sheet - a little bit more space would make their removal less of a chore.

In summary, this is an excellent second kit from this new manufacturer. If they continue in this manner then we are in a treat.

This kit comes highly recommended to those of you with an interest in the aeroplanes of some of the lesser-known air forces. 

Thanks to Litaki for the sample

Review Text & Images Copyright © 2025 by Graham Carter
Images Copyright © 2025 by Brett Green
Page Created 19 February, 2025
Last updated 19 February, 2025

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