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Jas-39D
aerotechi posted a topic in Ready for Inspection - Aircraft
My last build of 2019 Saab JAS-39D from Revell. Nice model to look and and build tho a few inaccuracies in the model to correct. Mainly the angle of the nose gear door being at 45 deg and not vertical as per the instructions (paperclip mod required) Must thank Julien for the walkaround post that was invaluable for checking colours and position of the gear door. https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/71776-saab-gripen/
JAS-39
1/48 - Saab J 21A-3 & A 21A-3 by Pilot Replicas - J 21A-3 released - new engine set released
Homebee posted a topic in The Rumourmonger
Here are some news from Pilot Replicas ( https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pilot-Replicas/390440134419981 & http://pilot-replicas.com/ ). I'll believe it when I see it... Anyway a 1/48th Saab J-21R - jet variant - would be of my interest. About the loooonnng announced Saab Sk.60/105 see here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234928441-148-saab-sk60a-by-pilot-replicas-box-art-cad-pic/?hl=replicas Source: http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/message/1411215996/An+update+from+Pilot+Replicas V.P.
1/72 - Saab 37 Viggen by Tarangus (in partnership with Special Hobby) - released - new SH/AJSF/AJSH boxing
After the 1/48th kits - Tarangus: link1 & link2; Special Hobby link3 (I'm still waiting the Sk.37 two seats variant Link3), Tarangus is continuing its partnership with Special Hobby (link) with the production of 1/72nd Saab 37 Viggen kits. Source: http://www.tarangus.se/2017/10/30/new-viggen-in-172-scale/ V.P.
1/48 - Saab 105/Sk.60 by Pilot Replicas - 3D renders+box art - release in 2020 ?
A 1/48th Saab 105/Sk.60! More infos here: http://www.ipmsstock...=1172&hilit=105 announced by a new US model company, Pilot Replicas: http://www.pilot-replicas.com Source: http://www.cybermode..._replicas.shtml This is the third reported Mirage IIIE/5 family and derivatives project in 1/48th after those already in quick progress from High Planes/PJ Production and MustHave. And don't forget the new tool Kfir from a Chinese undetermined source announced on ARC forum: http://s362974870.on...howtopic=253907 To be followed. V.P.
Saab JAS-39A/C Gripen - 1:48 Kitty Hawk
Mike posted a topic in Kits
JAS-39A/C Gripen 1:48 Kitty Hawk The Gripen was a name chosen by the people of Sweden for the replacement for the much loved Viggen and Draken from the deep Cold War era. It was decided that the aircraft should be capable of air-to-air, air-to-ground and reconnaissance missions, which in Swedish gave rise to the JAS acronym. It took 9 years from initialisation of the development studies in 1979 to the first flight of the Gripen, but after a couple of crashes early on, the programme was slowed down significantly while kinks in the fly-by-wire system were ironed out, resulting in an in-service date of 1997. Operating costs were a very important factor in the project, and Saab and their partners worked hard to keep this low, using a system health monitor that reports back to a continuous improvement programme to continue to work on any problems that cause additional costs. The longevity of parts and simplicity of maintenance were also considered from the outset, and the Volvo built General Electric derived motor has been trimmed of excess weight, given better bird-ingestion protection and a reduced part count to assist in this, as well as reducing the weight of the unit in a highly weight conscious project. Despite its small size, the Gripen can carry a significant quantity of munitions on its pylons, and has the capability of accommodating the defensive or offensive components from a number of countries, which helps to recommend it to potential export purchasers. The Next Generation Gripens are in development offering increased fuel or munitions load, more powerful engines, enhanced avionics, and due to their long projected service life, we'll be seeing them in the skies for a long time to come in some shape or form. The Kit Although there are a couple of Gripen kits in this scale already, Kitty Hawk have tooled this completely new kit using modern technology and looking over the sprues and their delicate surface detail, we should be in for a treat if the buildability is of the same quality. Continuing their tradition of diminutive boxes, the Gripen arrives in their now-usual white box with a painting of a well-loaded Gripen coming at us on the front. Inside there isn't much room for air as there are nine sprues of mid-grey styrene, one of clear parts, a fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, two decal sheets and of course the glossy combined instruction booklet and painting guide. The cover of the booklet is of the new fold-out type, so that the decaling and painting guides can be more complete, covering all sides of the aircraft, rather than leaving us guessing at times as was the case in earlier issues. Thanks for listening guys! The kit is broken down with vertical seams on the fuselage, and it has a separate nose section to allow for a later two-seat variant, which I'm sure won't lag too far behind. The two-seater is a good 66cm longer than the single-seater, but as they share the same radar, it makes sense that the nose-cone is separate. The lower wing is full-width with a section of the lower fuselage moulded in, and the tail fin is moulded into the fuselage, which also holds a full engine representation, although there are no intake trunks supplied. Personally, while I think it's a shame that they aren't fully trunked, most people won't even notice due to the small intakes either side of the cockpit. If it bothers you however, the simple answer is to make or buy some intake blanks, or to build your own trunks… I'd choose the former any day rather than the thankless task that is building your own intake trunks. Been there, incinerated the t-shirt. Construction starts with the cockpit, and a decent representation of the Martin Baker Mk.10 is provided, although there are a couple of small sink-marks on the front of the seat cushion on my sample due to the thickness of the styrene there. Nothing that a tiny smear of filler can't sort out though, so not really worth getting upset about. A couple of decals are supplied for the headbox sides, which is always good for improving the realism of a cockpit in my estimation. The cockpit tub is a single part, into which drop the seat, and a pair of odd-looking (but essentially correct) rudder pedals, complete with a PE skin to the textured pedal face. The short HOTAS stick sits on a raised base between the pilot's knees, and the instrument panel fixes in a slot just in front, having a pair of decals applied over the raised details to depict the mostly glass cockpit of this modern fighter jet. The rear deck has a couple of avionics boxes on top, which just need their connecting cables adding, which can be seen in any reference pictures of the cockpit. The sidewalls attach to the side consoles, and a small bulkhead fits into a slot in the back of the tub to complete the job. It's noteworthy that Kitty Hawk have chosen not to provide PE instrument panels or side consoles in this kit, but have included a set of PE seat harnesses, which are more crisp and detailed than previous efforts. To close up the nose section you need to build the nose gear bay, which is a central tub with add-on sides, and at the front of the wheel well, you might well find another small sink-mark, again due to the thickness of the styrene here, with the same simple fix. The landing gear is made up from a two-part leg, with separate oleo-scissor and perpendicular bar to the rear, with two wheels made up from halves with nicely moulded in hub detail. You should be able to add the gear leg later if you are concerned about knocking it off, but check that the base will fit through the bay opening before leaving it off. Having built a Jaguar with the same pre-installation of the gear legs however, apart from a bit of extra masking, I've not found it to be much of a problem. Once installed along with the cockpit, the nose section can be closed up, the coaming and clear HUD are added, and you can then choose to install the nose cone and pitot, or leave it off and show off the radar installation that is provided in the kit. Either way, you're going to need 9g of weight according to Kitty Hawk, so plan ahead, as too much is better than too little. I've often wondered whether this "build the nose and fuselage, then attach them together" process was the best idea, electing to attach the nose halves to the fuselage with my Jaguar build, but the Gripen is broken down in such a way that apart from a small section under the nose/fuselage there is very little in the way of seam. Do some test fitting before you start the build, and make up your own mind here, as apart from maybe getting a better joint with the cockpit/spine interface, there's not too much that could go wrong. I'll have a quick test fit myself once I've taken the sprue pictures, and if there are any concerns I'll report back. As mentioned earlier, a full rendition of the Volvo built GE engine is supplied, from the initial compressor face through the afterburner to the exhaust trunking. There aren't many parts, but as most of the motor will be hidden away, that's not exactly bad news anyway. The casing is in two halves, into which you glue the two-part compressor blade/stator vane assembly, the afterburner ring, and a PE trunking inner face. You'll need to roll the trunking part to fit snugly with the tube of the engine, but it will be worth the effort, as it is covered with nicely done fine surface detail. On the fuselage halves, a pair of inserts are added either side of the jet exhaust in readiness for the air-brakes, a bay detail part for the in-flight refuelling probe is added to the upper port intake area, and a pair of small recessed bays on the rear of the port wing root for the APU, both of which have PE sidewalls which project out of the fuselage to portray the outward opening doors. A bit of masking will be needed to keep things tidy, and alternative closed bay parts would have been welcomed, rather than having to resort to making plugs from styrene sheet. At this point the fuselage can be closed up around the engine, as the main gear bays are attached to the lower wing, which is good news for anyone that can't wait to close up the fuselage during a build. The main gear bays are next, and these have some good detail moulded in, with five extra parts added to further improve them, plus a bulkhead at the front. Again, the main gear is added at this stage, made up from three parts plus a clear landing light, and the tyre in two halves that again has some nice detail moulded into the hub. They are offered up to the lower wing, locating on two pegs each that pass through corresponding holes in the bay. The mating surface is large, so some liquid cement flooded into the area and then firm pressure should result in a good strong joint. The upper wings can then be added, and have spacers to keep them at the correct separation so they meet up with the wing root on the upper surface. The leading-edge dog-tooth is added once the wings are together, and the flying surfaces are added to the rear edge, and can be offset to give a more candid appearance to the aircraft's pose. The fuselage is dropped into the gap between the upper wing halves, and if all has gone well, should fit neatly into the slot with minimal clean-up. The missing portion of the lower fuselage between the nose and wing section is added from a single flat part, and the gear bay doors are shown added at this point too, although it's a wiser modeller that will leave them off until later. With careful alignment and test-fitting, the join-lines should require little clean-up, and I've never had problems with KH kits before, so fingers crossed. The tail has some sensors built into the leading edge, one of which is rather fragile and likely to get knocked off during construction. The rudder is separate and can be posed offset if you wish, and there are a couple of PE antennas on either side of the tail bullet, as well as some more on the aircraft's spine. The air-brakes have been engineered to fit only in the open position, although they should fit flush if you'd like a cleaner look to your model. At this stage you fit the four underwing pylons, of which two types are included, one having a more organic shape and more detail. The two wing-tip mounted rails, centreline pylon starboard rail under the intake are then added, at which time the nose is installed between the as-yet uninstalled intakes. The rear cockpit fairing slides over the fuselage around 5cm, and has a very large mating surface, resulting in a good join, and very little chance of your nose falling off in the future. The intakes are C-chaped profile parts that mate to the flat splitter-plates, and inside them you will find a few ejector pin marks that should be removed if you're not adding FOD guards. These fit against the fuselage on a long slot, and if you test-fit them should need little work, as the join falls on a panel line. The three doors on the nose gear bay are added, the front one having a pair of retraction arms, and a clear part for the landing light. The canards fit into a small hole in the sides of the intake trunk, and can be angled to suit your references, as they are often angled downwards to act as an airbrake, particularly during short-field landings. At the rear, a nicely detailed single part exhaust is fitted, with individual petals engraved on inner and outer faces. There is evidence of a slight sink-mark on the inner face, but this is right inside the exhaust tube, unlikely to be seen and painting will disguise it well. The canopy of the Gripen is side-opening with a fixed windscreen, and this is how it is supplied in the kit. The winscreen fixes to the space around the coaming, and the canopy is shown either closed, or posed open by the use of a small PE hinge that is bent to shape. It's nice that they have included this, as quite often kit manufacturers give no thought how to pose a side-opening canopy. The opening canopy has a moulded in frame on the top, which is a little too prominent, and would benefit from sanding back. I suspect that is should be inside the canopy anyway, so it could be removed completely, re-polished and a length of rod used to more accurately depict it. It won't bother too many people however, but the detail hounds may want to consider it. A set of PE rear-view mirrors are included, as is the prominent cross-brace that joins the two canopy rails together. A long PE part is placed around the inside of the canopy's front lip, just behind the rear-view mirrors, the reason for which I can't quite make out on my reference photos. The canopy interior is black anyway, so paint it a very dark grey, and hope no-one asks if you don't know what it is either. There are three sprues of weapons, two of which are from the Mirage F.1 kit, the other is specific to the Gripen, and of these three sprues, you can use the following: DWS 39 Mjölner sub-munitions dispenser (no longer carried) AGM-65 Maverick x 2 Python IV air-to-air missile x 2 RV-15S anti-ship missile AIM-120 AMRAAM x 2 AIM-9L Sidewinder x 2 IRIS-T air-to-air missile x 2 GBU-12 Paveway II 500 bomb x 2 The Mjölner sub-munitions dispenser was prohibited from use by the Swedish Flygvapnet in 2010 after they signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions in May 2008, and the Python IV is named "Phyton" in the instructions due to a typo that made it through. You should have plenty of weapons for the parts bin after completion of your model, and to help you along, KH have included a diagram showing which weapons are carried on which stations on the last page of the instructions. Nothing is shown on the port shoulder station however, which is where you will sometimes find a targeting pod such as the LITENING pod with some operators. Stencils are included on the decal sheet, and the front inner cover has a full page devoted to their painting and markings, which is good to see. Markings Four options are included with the kit, and although a little light on Swedish subjects, represents the other operators well, as follows: Swedish Flygvapnet Meteor test aircraft 101 Medium Sea Grey over FS36622 with low-viz markings and a griffon (gripen) on the tail in grey. Czech Air Force aircraft 9237 Medium Sea Grey over FS36622 with low-viz markings and sepia tint tiger motif on the tail and the digits 211. Hungarian Air Force 59th TFW ident 30 Medium Sea Grey over FS36622 with hi-viz markings. South African Air Force ident. 11 Medium Sea Grey over FS36622 with low-viz markings. SA flag in colour on the tail. Each set of markings is given either a separate page (options 3 & 4) or a double-page spread (1 & 2), with both sides, top and bottom views sized so that they can be viewed easily. This has clearly increased the cost of printing the booklet, but it is most definitely worth the effort from the modeller's point of view, so to be applauded. It's a shame however that for the Meteor test marking option, that the pylon and missile weren't included. Dr Pepper resin offer a pair for a reasonable sum, but it would have been nice if KH could have included one in each kit, which probably wouldn't have broken the bank if tooling one in styrene was out of the question. The decals are printed by an unknown printer, but appear to be of good quality. There is a slight off-set of the white printing however, as seems to be a case with a lot of KH decals, but the impact should be minimal, as there are only a few decals carrying white backgrounds. The printing of the sepia-tinted tiger is excellent, as are the full-colour tail flags, which are all on the smaller sheet. Also on the smaller sheet is the decal for the instrument panel, which as well as being very nicely printed depicts the panel fully active, with instruments and maps visible on each of the three MFD screens. If you're going into full pedant mode, these should be switched off and a dark shade of green if the aircraft is parked up, but if you dial back the pedantry a little, they will add valuable extra life to the cockpit when complete. Don't forget to use plenty of setting solution to enable the decals to settle down over the raised bezels of the MFDs and the instruments moulded into the area under the HUD. Conclusion A very nicely tooled kit of the Gripen. There are a few ejector pin marks here and there that will need removing, including a few on missiles, but they have generally been well hidden. The large ejector-towers within the fuselage and engine halves are a momentary distraction, and are easily nipped off and made good, but without those few seconds of work, you'll wonder why the halves won't go together. Apart from the omission of the Meteor missile from the kit, the weapons provided are many, with plenty of the spares collection, which will be very useful if you have some French aircraft in the stash. As usual with Kitty Hawk's design ethos, the emphasis is on surface detail and opened panels, so if you want to portray your Gripen clean, or with wheels up, you'll need to put a little work in. It'd be a shame to hide away most of the detail though, although I'd seriously consider closing up the APU vents and possibly also the air-brake to accentuate the comparatively slim rump of this single-engined power-house. Highly recommended. My completed build can be found here. Available from all good model shops. Review sample courtesy of
1/72 - Saab 37 Viggen by Special Hobby
172flogger posted a topic in The Rumourmonger
Special Hobby working on SAAB VIGGEN scaled down to 1/72 metal mould made with 3D CAD-CAM CNC technology like Vampire, Gnat, Mirage etc.
Saab SH-37 Viggen - Completed
trickyrich posted a topic in The Specialists GB
I have been waiting a while for this build to finally come up as it's a chance to build something I have been wanting to for a long time. I had previously built 2 Viggens some 30+ years ago (Matchbox & Esci) both in splinter camouflage with varying success, so hopefully 3rdtime lucky. I'll be building Tarangus's lovely SH/SF-37 Viggen ….. …..with a swag of Maestro extras thrown in…... …… plus some bits from Phase hanger….. ….finally some teeny bits from Master Model. …and finally to top it all off some masks from Maestro! I have no idea of the painting order for the masks, this should be interesting! The scheme/model will be the SH-37 Maritime Recon/Strike version fitted with Rb04E Anti-Ship missiles. The build should be simple and straight forward, the painting…….hmm!! Luckily Mr. Paint have a range of acrylic lacquers just for this aircraft so that'll be a huge help with the paint job. I have 4 other possibilities for this GB which may make an appearance depending on how this build goes (F3D-2 Skyknight, Hs-129B3, Su-25K, KaJaPo).
Heller SAAB A 21A-3
Orso posted a topic in Work in Progress - Aircraft
I got a Heller SAAB J 21A out from the stash. I decide to try another approach attaching wings to the fuselage. The wings are three parts, one large bottom and two parts for the top so I started by building them together as I always done before. But when I got to the fuselage I only glued the part in front of the cockpit and let it set. Then I glued the fuselage to the wing assembly leaving the rear of the fuselage unglued. This way I could press the fuselage out to the wings leaving no gap to be filled. When the glue had set I glued the top of the rear fuselage together. Now I had to add a small wedge of plastic card under the rear fuselage but I find this easier to sand after I add filler to it than to fill and sand a fuselage-wing joint. I have made holes in the front of the booms for landing lights. With the booms still off I can build landing light inserts an mount them from behind. I have also made a hole on the left wing for a new pitot tube. I am building a late version and the tube was moved from the right wing to the left. I managed to break of the gun in the nose an while looking at pictures I noticed that the gun isn't mounted exactly in the centre so I'll fix that when I build a new gun. I sanded away the structure on the aileron's as I'm building one with ailerons made of metal. A bomb pylon is built using a F-18 pylon as a base and wing tip tanks leftover from the Broplan J 21R conversion set. The air intake on the fuselage side has been drilled out a bit .Guns are replaced with brass tubing. I had to add some filler to the boom/wing joint but the big problem with this kit is to build the canopy trying to fit the parts together. I have added some rocket mounts that was leftover from a Special Hobby J 21R. I found an easy way to fill the landing light holes to get something to glue the lights to. My first thought was to add some plastic card but to get it in the right shape and size would be tricky and then to get it in place. Instead I inserted a ball of Magic Sculp (two component clay) from behind. Then I sanded a piece of sprue to a square shape that fits the hole and pressed the clay back so I get some space and a flat surface for the light. I also found some left over seat belts from a Lansen build that I used. Not correct but hardly visible.
Special Hobby SK-37E Stör-Viggen Electronic Warfare Aggressor (SH48150)
SK-37E Stör-Viggen Electronic Warfare Aggressor (SH48150) 1:48 Special Hobby The Viggen is a rugged fighter/interceptor that was designed to fulfil a need during the deep Cold War to defend Swedish airspace in the event of an incursion by the Soviet Bloc, and to continue the fight from hidden bases near roadways, which the aircraft could use as makeshift landing strips. It was to replace both the Lansen and Draken, and did so extremely well, endearing itself to aviation enthusiasts as it did so due to its unusual double-delta/canard configuration. It was fitted with a single Volvo license built P&W JT8D with an afterburner to give it the performance needed to propel this large aircraft fast enough to accomplish short take-offs. Short landings were made possible by the inclusion of a set of large thrust reversing petals that dropped into the exhaust trunking and expelled the gases forward from slots in the side of the fuselage. The initial AJ37 variant was declared operational in 1972, and required the addition of a trainer variant, dubbed the SK37, which had an additional cockpit placed high above the original, displacing some fuel tankage in the process. The final JA37 variant was brought into service in 1980 with new computer systems, improved radar and engine, as well as other systems and the strength of the airframe, which already utilised titanium to reduce weight. The SK-37E was developed from a group of 10 airframes that were converted from trainers to Electronic Warfare trainers in the late 1990s, but were phased out after a relatively short service life in 2007. The last of the operational Viggens (Thunderbolt) were retired in 2005, replaced by the impressive JAS39 Gripen (Griffon). A number of Viggens are on display in museums – notably Newark in the UK, but the Swedes have retained one in flying condition that can sometimes be seen at British airshows along with a Draken, Lansen and even the Tunnan. If only every country was conscientious in preservation of its aviation history. The Kit The main tooling that this kit originated from is the collaborative effort between Special Hobby and Tarangus in 2014, which has been re-issued a few times over the years in single-seat guise, either with new decals or additional parts to represent other variants. This is the first major additional tooling from them, and thanks to their efforts, we now have a genuine 2-seater with no scratch-building involved. Marvellous! I do love the Viggen, in case you didn't know. The new parts include a new fuselage insert that replaces the single-seat part, which is also still on the sprues due to being surrounded by common parts. Another cockpit tub and instrument panel are also on the sprue, with appropriate glazing parts included on a small clear sprue. In the box you get nine sprues of grey styrene, two of clear parts, a fret of pre-painted Photo-Etch (PE) brass that has also been nickel-plates, a sheet of decals and a glossy colour printed instruction booklet with integrated colour and markings guide at the rear. The original tooling has been picked over ad infinitum in the intervening years, and although it has a few minor issues, they're by no means a deal breaker, and when you consider the alternatives… well there are none in this scale if you want two seats! With one seat, you have the ancient Airfix ESCI mould that is a blank canvas with some serious shape issues and almost no detail out of the box. The inclusion of Photo-Etch parts in the box is great news, even though the moulded-in cockpit detail is good, you can always improve on it with resin or PE. Even removing my rose tinted Viggen love spectacles, I'm still very happy with what's in the box. Construction begins with the ejection seats, which you build two of (unsurprisingly), and here there are a few small PE parts and a set of painted PE seatbelts for the crew, plus the anti-flail projections from the sides of the seat box. The two cockpit tubs are identical in terms of detail, but have slightly different shapes due to their location in the fuselage, and build up with either the moulded-in console detail, or the PE replacements, which are also pre-painted, for which you have to scrape and sand off the moulded-in detail. The same applies to the instrument panels, only they have a substantially different structure, due to the rear seat being the Electronic Warfare equipment, with a large projection at the top of the panel, and a limited set of dials due to a lack of available real-estate. The control columns and rudder pedals are fitted in both tubs, with PE replacements for the rudder pedals if you remove some of the detail from the originals. Before the cockpits are installed, the interior of the fuselage insert is painted and sidewall detail is attached to the pilot's (front) station, with a short blast screen fitted to the front of the rear aperture. The cockpits in their fuselage part are then set to the side while the lower nose is prepared with the nose gear bay, the APU bay installed, and the intake trunks with front engine face is built up from the split trunking that separates horizontally, joining just in front of the engine against a bulkhead, with the engine face buried deep in the fuselage, and probably only just visible. Whether you hide the seams between the two halves of the trunking is entirely up to you, but after the first kink very little will be seen. If you're a bit obsessive about that sort of thing, someone has already done a resin replacement set anyway. The trunking is applied to the bottom fuselage half, and the upper fuselage with cockpits is fixed to the top, with a bulkhead inserted at the nose end for structural strength. Attention turns to the rear fuselage, which must have the substantial exhaust trunk, thrust reversing petals and rear engine face built up and painted first. The first section is a single part with the engine and burner ring moulded-in, to which you fit another ring that holds the three thrust-reversing petals, the top-most of which is usually seen drooped into the airway on a parked aircraft due to the bleed-away of hydraulic pressure. They can be posed open or closed, and the instructions mention the droop perhaps a little late in the process. A scrap diagram shows the correct orientation of the burner in the fuselage, and with the reversers installer the exterior cowling is added at the rear. This forms the aft section of the fuselage once it is integrated in the rear fuselage, which closes up around it and is then mated to the front section, with the full-width wing lowers also added to the underside after the main gear bays are inserted. The upper wings are separate parts, as is the tail fin, of which there are quite a number of variants on the sprues, so be sure to choose the correct one. The nose cone is built from two parts and added, while the intakes are each a single part, which has a strut added to brace them against the fuselage side. Clear nav lights are fitted outboard of the last sweep change and on the wing tips, and another is added to the spine, with a small insert near the tail glued into place at the same time. You now have an almost complete airframe, so by now you'll realise that the Viggen was no small aircraft. The landing gear is built up from a number of parts that give a good account of the detail there, with separate oleo-scissors and retraction struts, separate wheels, bay doors and their retraction mechanisms, and those large rough-field ready main gear legs that seem to have struts all over the place. The main wheels are made from two halves each, and the complete assemblies are added to the bays in great detail on the instructions, shown with the captive main bay door added at this point. The inner bay doors have their jacks too, and the completed main gear area is shown in another diagram to confirm everything's position in situ. The inner bay doors can be shown retracted by cutting off the attachment lugs, so check your references and decide which pose you'd prefer. The small air-brakes on the underside are added closed, but you can leave them open, but you would need to add some extra detail so it's best to leave them closed as they would be that way on the ground for much of the time unless you buy the resin detail set. You Viggen wouldn't look much like a Christmas tree without the canards up front, and these have separate flaps to the rear like the real thing, which can be posed at an angle, or in line with airflow at your whim. Whilst you're still looking at the underside, some intakes, centre pylons and additional fuel tanks are added, with little else needed, as this variant wasn't flown as a fighter-bomber. On the topside, a number of vents, intakes, more airbrakes and aerials finish off the topside, and the APU is fitted to the open bay, captive to the door. Unless you are planning on modelling your Viggen in flight, you will want this dangling freely in the breeze, as it would deploy automatically on the ground. The canopies are the last parts of the saga, and of course there are now three parts; the fixed windscreen and two openers, which can be posed open or closed. A pair of rear-view mirrors are supplied on the PE sheet for the windscreen, as is a PE HUD frame, which you'll need to add your own acetate to, although you are at least given the sizing in another scrap diagram. At the bottom of that final page of instructions, you can find a small advert for the resin aftermarket sets available from their CMK brand, which includes M/70 rocket pods, ejection seats, thrust reverser petals, air-brakes and their bays, as well as resin wheels. They all look VERY tempting. Markings There are four decal options available from the decal sheet, which are split equally between grey and splinter camouflage. Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. The profiles on the first page of the decal instructions throw a little confusion on the subject, as the red lightning bolt on the tail of red 73 has been left off. SK-37E Viggen 21-73 (37811) 1 Div./Wing F21 Lulea-Kallax 2005 SK-37E Viggen FC-09 (37809) Försökcentralen (Centre of Experimental Research) Malmen Airbase 2005-7 SK-37E Viggen 4-70 (37807) TIS/TK Grupp (Type Conversion /Electronic Warfare Group), Wing F4, Östersund 2004 SK-37E Viggen 4-74 (37811) TIS/TK Grupp Wing F4 Östersund 2000 The easy options are the grey ones, but the most impressive are the splinter patterns, which I believe you can obtain masks for from a company somewhere. I have an old set knocking about, but as they're for a single-seater, I'll be painting this one grey. There's still lots of opportunity for weathering, as the aircraft were often see needing a good wash, with plenty of patina to whet your appetite for painting and weathering effects. You might have noticed that option A has a panel on the spine that has clearly been taken from a splinter camouflaged aircraft, and hasn't yet been repainted. Conclusion The Viggen is a huge, impressive-looking Cold War warrior that has a special place in my heart. The new 2-seater kit fills my need that has been previously unsatisfied for many years. Detail is good, the inclusion of a large sheet of PE and excellent decals into the bargain makes this a must-have as far as I'm concerned. If you like Viggens too, then make sure you get one. Very very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
A Tunnan, a Dodge and a pair of Ray-Bans...
Rudolf_Filip posted a topic in Work in Progress - Aircraft
I've started a new build with something that has always interested me. I'm a bit stunned that there is now not only modelkits of these objects but they are also very, very good! I might warn you that this build might sound like a commercial for the company Pilot Replicas but I don't work for them, unfortunatly... These are the kits I'm going to try and do something nice with: I was going to start this topic a few weeks ago but I couldn't resist building instead. I've started the J 29 Tunnan and I'm loving it. I have been building models for the last 30 years but I have never seen this quality in a "mainstream kit"! The parts fit together like a dream and the sharpness of the detail is great. The whole package just screams quality! As I said... I'm sorry but it's a great kit and I'm very happy. The J 29 is my absolute favourite aircraft of all time. As some of you might already know I have a full scale one to play with! Stay tuned! I will post more pictures of the build as soon as can upload them to Photobucket. Andreas / Rudolf_Filip
Tunnan
Saab 29 Tunnan
Julien posted a topic in Jet & Rocket engined Aircraft
Saab 29 Tunnan, pics mine taken at Midland Air Museum.
Mini SAAB Tunnan
Orso posted a topic in Ready for Inspection - Aircraft
I had a Minitunnan going: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235024842-scrambled-eggs/ It has been finished. I decided to cut the front of the Tunnan canopy and combine it with the Lancaster radom. Decals are from a Revell issue of the Matchbox kit. I had to replace the roundels as they now was to big for this plane. I gave up on the thought of adding landing gears and put it on a Matchbox stand as I thought it looked better "flying".
Eggplane
Your Airfix top (REALISTIC) future releases?
dpm1did1 posted a topic in The Rumourmonger
As a side topic to the 'what should Airfix be making' and the inevitable 'why?' and 'why not' posts that follow can you list your personal wishlists in 3 categories: Near term - those you feel are likely to come to fruition in a year or two, even if you won't be buying it Medium term - within say 5 years, and can include those models You want to see that are a faintly realistic proposition. Long term - when you will be planning a release from your cryogenic chamber. (note: whilst the long term plans may include unlikely makes or marks, or even a corrected version of a current bestseller please try keep them fairly realistic - I doubt Airfix will be making a Tibetan homemade glider at any point despite the clamouring for one) .... Ok I'll start off (and I'll try to keep it as new kits only not rereleases) Near: Single seat Vamps P-47 (razor and bubble) D3A Val (extending the pacific WW2 niche) Buccaneer (a big UK seller and the old one is aged) Meteors (including at least 1 each T & NF) 2 seat Lightning (so many fighters, needs a matching trainer) Medium: Whirlwind (the forgotten WW2 fighter) DH106 Comet (4s please, RAF & Dan Air schemes) Victor (much demanded to replace the aging Matchbox) F-4 Phantoms (a European sized hole will persist unless FujiGawa get cheaper, or Revell add to their F) Panther/Cougar - (expanding the USN theme in to post war) Long: Vulcan (old mould is creaking) Wellesley (Forgotten type, fits with a WW2 desert theme) Gazelle (hard to find, simply needs updating to modern standards) Wasp/Scout (a missing link so long oop) Viggan (actually pretry much any Saab as the reborn Heller seen reluctant to mass market, and non-Gripens aren't commonplace) *I reserve the right to change my mind if I think of new options (and given time I could extend to top 100s!)
1/72 Saab A 36, Broplan vacform
Bjorn posted a topic in Ready for Inspection - Aircraft
Most of you that have not seen my WIP are probably not familiar with this one. It was a never-realised project from the late fifties to create an attack-/bomber aircraft to carry the projected (but later cancelled) Swedish nuclear bomb. See more in the WIP thread. The whole project was cancelled since it would have become too expensive, and instead Saab started working on what became Viggen. But this is the missing "36" between Saab 35 Draken and Saab 37 Viggen. I used RBD Decals for Saab A 32 Lansen. This individual is portraited as it would have looked like in about 1969. The camouflage pattern is inspired by a suggestion for Viggen, before the classic splinter camouflage was created. Main landing gear and wheels are modified F-14 Tomcat ones. The front leg is a modified 1/48 Starfighter leg. Wing tanks are from a F-16. A nice fighting face! Finally a duo that could have been...
Special Hobby Saab AJS-37 Viggen "The Show Must Go On"
Julien posted a topic in Kits
Saab AJS-37 Viggen "The Show Must Go On" 1:48 Special Hobby The Viggen was Sweden's Cold War fighter, which began service in the early 1970s with the AJ variant, which was primarily a ground attack aircraft that could also perform the fighter role if necessary. It was a tad shorter than the later JA, with a slightly different cockpit arrangement and a less powerful engine. Over a hundred were built, with roughly half of them converted to AJS standard at the end of the 90s with improved avionics and software. The last of these upgraded AJs were taken out of service in 2005. The Kit The initial Tarangus release of the JA-37 was a collaboration with MPM the parent company of Special Hobby. This latest boxing gives us an eye catching all over Red Paint scheme. The initial release was well received for the most part, but like all model kits, some issues have been pointed out with varying degrees of hysteria, and as this is ostensibly the same moulding, many of those issues will apply to this kit. It is still a modern and mainly accurate tooling of an important Swedish aircraft, and should give any modeller plenty of enjoyment during the build, and it will of course look great in your cabinet. Inside the box it is almost the same plastic as the Tarangus edition, with only the gun-pack sprue missing, which also included the extension tube for the JA and the cockpit for that version. There are six sprues of mid-grey styrene, plus one of clear parts, a small Photo-Etch (PE) fret that is also pre-painted, and a decal sheet. The A4 instruction booklet is printed on thin glossy paper in full colour, which is rather helpful during construction, and the large size of the construction steps is welcome to this modeller and his failing eyesight. As construction is almost identical to that of the JA, which you can follow here I won't go over it all again, as aside from the lack of extension ring and the different cockpit tub and panel, it's near identical. I will however remind you that the detail in the main areas of interest is very good for injection moulded styrene, and the engine rear is superb. The cockpit is the recipient of the majority of the additional PE, which is decked out with a pre-painted instrument panel, side consoles and seatbelts, plus additional detail on the side of the seat, a pair of replacement rudder pedals and additional sidewall details. A trio of rear-view mirrors are also provided for the canopy when it is fitted later in the build. The gear bays are all well detailed, and as the inner main bay doors are usually closed when on the ground, no additional detail would be seen without the aid of a torch and the risk of a sore neck. The only items available in the box that you can hang from any of the pylons are a choice of centreline tank with either three or four fins, which fit to a stubby pylon just aft of a centreline intake fairing. It would have been nice to have some additional weapons included, but as the Viggen was often seen with just tankage, it's not a major thing. Decals The re-release gives markings for one certainly eye catching all over red scheme to commemorate the Viggen leaving service to be replaced by the JAS-39 Gripen. There are large white Ghosts for the top & undersides of the wings and smaller ones for the tail, along with the white text for the sides. The decals are well printed, with good register, colour density and sharpness,they are printed by aviprint with a small sheet for the very limited other markings this aircraft carried. Conclusion Another welcome kit of this superb Cold War Warrior, and with the addition of some PE to detail up the cockpit coupled with a reduction in price, it deserves to sell well. For the detail and accuracy minded, check the forums for information about the corrections needed to improve the kit further. Highly recommended if you want a different looking Viggen. Review sample courtesy of
SAAB Lansen
For the 50 year anniversary of the first flight of the Viggen I built two Lansen's used in the test program. First out is a A 32A Lansen "Gamma" used for tests of the Radar and some electronics. It is a Heller 1/72 kit with "Gamma" parts from Maestro Models and decals from Moose Republic (ex. RBD decals) Next is a J 32B used for ejection seat tests. Also a Heller kit that was converted to the Fighter variant J 32B using the conversion set from Maestro Models. I had to scratch build a new canopy and the fairing behind the cockpit and also the camera pods on the wing tips. The decals are the J 32 prototype decals from Moose Republic and some of my own,
1/48 Saab RF-35 Draken "Danish Dynamite 6-1"
Sid de Koning posted a topic in Ready for Inspection - Aircraft
Well, it's finished! A most coulorful addition to my cabinet.. For the build look over here:
Hasegawa 1/48 RF-35 Saab Draken "Danish Dynamite"
Sid de Koning posted a topic in Work in Progress - Aircraft
My new project is a bit more colorful.. Maestro, I decided not to use this.. life's all about choices.. easy, this one.. although I ended up using a Quickboost seat with belts already fitted.. not the correct IP for a Danish RF-35.. a piece of plastic to allow better fit.. XMM Air intakes with Fan, just because one can.. Seat in Alclad 101.. Eduard Color Self Adhesive PE.. tainted to a darker and better looking dark green FS34079.. first colors.. seat is finished.. cockpit is now dull.. with some scratched cameras inside.. droptanks in progress.. resin intakes, a moderate amount of TLC required.. this antenna was not on a Danish RF, another one was, supplied by Hasegawa too.. the gun bay inserts didnt quite fit, probably because of the resin intakes or my fault.. extra work.. a shear-out lock made from copper wire.. the wing can be made to fit very nicely! the vertical stabilizer doesnt quite fit perfectly.. typical RF nose with 6 scratched cameras.. I love this shape! I dropped the nose on the floor.. the hardest to reach cameras needed to be glued again..l I broke open the nose carefully.. good, this will fit later.. WIP.. some additional work on the gear.. you get the picture.. made from brass wire this time.. et voila.. still not to my liking.. neither are the gun bay inserts.. after some CA glue/talcon powder and TLC..better!..
Viggen prototypes
I have been building Viggen prototypes The first one is the full scale wooden mock up that SAAB built before the actual prototypes. 37-0 Airfix 1/72 conversion. Next is the first prototype 37-1 Also an Airfix kit. Built with the canards pointing upward like they were initially. Second prototype 37-2 Also an Airfix kit. Canards in the normal position. The first two Viggens had green cockpits and since the Airfix kit was bare I made some paper cockpits for them. Frontal view of 37-1 and 37-2 Next is the fifth prototype, 37-5 A converted Hasegawa kit. It got the modified wings with a "sawtooth" and moved radar warning so I had to convert the wings. The first prototype after modifications. As it looked with modified wings and the raised spine in front of the fin. During spin tests it got a bit more colourful. Built from a Matchbox kit. 37800 the two seat prototype. Matchbox kit with the low fin from a Heller kit. The twin seater got an higher fin but Matchbox didn't do this correct so I decided to build the prototype in it's initial form with the lower fin.
SAAB Viggen 50 years
Yesterday it was 50 years since the first flight of the Viggen so I built myself another viggen to commemorate this. Heller 1/72 SAAB AJ 37 in early configuration. It means using the small twin intakes in front of the external fuel tank and the larger fin under the tail. Same as the two seater. Armament are two Rb 05 missiles and two 30mm gun pods.
1/72 Saab J35J Draken (Revell/ Hasegawa)
mack posted a topic in Ready for Inspection - Aircraft
Hello, The one and only kit I've managed to finish this year. 1/72 Saab J35J Draken: kit by Revell, photoetched by Eduard, Maestro Models pitot tube, Vallejo paints. Decals are from the kit with the exception of the large numbers on wings that were painted with home made masks. Thanks for your comments.
Sratch built 1/32 Saab 210 'Lilldraken'
Derek B posted a topic in Work in Progress - Aircraft
Scratch built 1/32 Saab 210 'Lilldraken' Derek
Saab S-32C Lansen, Tarangus 1/48
Exterminatus posted a topic in Ready for Inspection - Aircraft
Hi guys, i'd like to show you my new Lansen from Tarangus. Not exactly an user-friendly kit and finally after 8 months i call it done. Phew ( WIP thread in czech language here: http://modelari.org/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=994 ) Thanks for looking. Br from Prague. Andrew
1/72 SAAB Draken from Airfix
Ending 2016 with another Draken Since it was an US boxing from MPC I decided to build it American. I rescribed the panel lines drilled out some air intakes and tried to make the kit look a little more modern without adding any extra money into it. I have been tinkering with paper cockpits for my Viggens and decided to draw one for the Draken as well.
JAS-39D upgrade sets for Revell kit - 1:72 Eduard
Paul A H posted a topic in Aftermarket (updates/conversions)
JAS-39D upgrade sets for Revell kit 1:72 Eduard Whilst not quite as prolific as they once were, Revell are still capable of producing fine kits. Their recent JAS-39C/D Gripen is one such example. Now, just as Revell followed the release of their JAS-39C with the two-seater D model, Eduard have released a set of photo etched parts for the trainer variant. In usual Eduard style, the first set is divided into two frets. The first is a self-adhesive, pre-painted jobbie that focuses mainly on the cockpit, while the second is a plain brass fret. Amongst the items on the first fret are lots of extra details for the kit's ejector seats, including seat cushions, harnesses, pull handles and details for the head box. Also included on this fret are one-piece instrument panels as well as details for the side consoles and rudder pedals. On the unpainted fret are parts for the rest of the airframe, including a range of details for the main and nose landing gear bays, doors, and parts for the landing gear itself such as brake lines and scissor links. The flame holder for the engine afterburner is included too, as is a new lining for the inside of the jet exhaust. Also included are bits and bobs for the airbrakes, missile rails and IFR probe. Nice bonus features include FOD guards for the engine intakes and a hinge for the cockpit canopy. Conclusion These are neat sets from Eduard which will make a noticeable difference to the basic kit. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of
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