Bjorn

Released: https://www.facebook.com/421205504739060/posts/1905751789617750/ This must become a bestseller! Although I have left 1/72 scale, I surely will by this one. I guess that I sm not alone.

The picture is taken during the first half of the 70s, since the Drakens have the early "Fara" (danger) sign at the air intakes, larger roundels on the nose and other differences regarding the stencils. The large white wing numbers were applied from 1982-83 and the years that followed.

True. But there are better ways for that: https://www.super-hobby.se/products/J35A-C-Draken-early-tail-cone.html

The Danish scheme is just a joke. Black radome, IR probe, non-painted wing/fin edges, Swedish "Danger" decal at the air intakes, Swedish-style antenna on the spine, etc, etc... Besides that, the "AR" marking on the fin indicates a recce version, which this is not. Actually, I can't see why MisterCraft is bothering releasing this old kit, pretending it can be used to build this decal schemes. The only version that can be built from that kit is early Swedish J 35A. Although there are several errors on that too. Even worse, is that they are promoting these releases with photos of a 1/48 Hasegawa Draken. https://mistercraft.eu/en/strona-glowna/282-d-88-f-35j-draken-swedish-af-172.html And to answer the initial question: Hasegawa is the ONLY choice. Airfix has several errors, already mentioned in this thread, plus a mis-shaped nose. MisterCraft/Aeroplast are based on the more than 60 years old Revell kit and could not be recommended in any way at all. Skale Wings TF-35 has plenty of errors too, bad fit and bad research. The only thing to do with these kits is to forget them. The only alternative that one could consider is the old Heller kit. Shapes are OK and it contains parts for many versions. But raised panel lines, poor interior, over-sized nose wheel and more makes the 70s origin too obvious. Besides that, it is almost impossible to find. But if so, it can be built into a reasonable model, this is my build from the Heller GB last year. Almost OOB, although the recce nose is modified a little (the kit contains a Danish recce nose), and aftermarket decals:

1/32 Draken!?! I must be dreaming!!! Regarding that Hasegawa Draken was a - at least what I have heard - success, this is not only good news, but it might also be a good opportunity for Infinlty Models to earn some money. At least they will get my money,

The Draken release is a little strange. I thought that this version and decal option was in their current catalogue already.

Thanks! You bet they were - especially since these were based in Kiruna in northern Lapland in the winter of 1942 - onet of the coldest winters in Sweden during the 20th century! Here is a picture: http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/images/j11_5.jpg These were later painted in winter camouflage like this: http://img.wp.scn.ru/camms/ar/123/pics/90_6.jpg

After my Swedish Vampire follows another perhaps pretty odd Swedish Air Force subject. During the late 30s, SwAF were desperately seeking for new fighters to replace the ageing Gloster Gladiators. Vultee Vanguards and Seversky EP-1s were on order, but most of the Severskys and all Vanguards were were cancelled after the breakout of the war. The only country willing to sell fighters were Italy. And so, the Gladiators were replaced by another biplane; The Fiat CR.42 (J 11 in Swedish service). This one was based at F 9 Wing in Gothenburg, sporting the fighting wasp, the symbol of the 3rd division. Just a few years later, the Fiats were replaced by more modern fighters, such as the Reggiane Re.2000, and, especially, the Swedish "Wooden Wonder" FFVS J 22. And just ten years after the introduction of the Fiats, these pilots were flying De Havilland Vampires! The model is built almost OOB. I just had to modify the air intake below the propeller a little and added seatbelts and some details on the engine. Having built the 1/72 edition, I found this more difficult. The upper wing was a nightmare, but after hours of fettling and dry-fitting I made it. On the contrary, rigging was perhaps the simpliest possible for a biplane! I painted it with the wonderful Mr. Paint colours. Wonderful to use, but a challenge to get the right colour match. For instance, the Italian yellow looked far too yellow and had to be mixed with German Sandgelb. But after all, a fun build of a seldom seen WWII fighter, and a nice colour spot in my collection!

Thanks! Although I am not Tony, I'd love such a container!

Sweden was one of the largest foreign Vampire operators - maybe the largest of them all with more than 400 examples doing service for over 20 years until the last one was retired in 1967. They formed the backbone of the Swedish Air Force in the early 50s until they were replaced by Saab Tunnan, but continued as a trainer for many years (that is the reason that there is no Tunnan trainer version). The FB.50 version used in Sweden was identical to the FB.5, and all necessary parts were found in the Airfix boxing. My example suffered a little from the infamous warped top fuselage, but it was nothing that caused any major problems, and the problem was solved when the fuselage parts were united using superglue. I used Mr Paint colours for the underside and Gunze (easier to chip) for the top surfaces. Decals from Moose Republic Decals were of excellent quality as always. The original aircraft flew at F 9 wing in Gothenburg. The prominent devil was the badge of the 1st Division. I added seatbelts and a scratch-built seat back cushion in the cockpit. The rest is almost invisible anyway - and kit detailing was good enough for me. Although I am aware of that flaps seldom were opened on parked aircraft, I decided to expose them in open position anyway. Just to add some interest and show the nice detailing. The worst parts were the position lights. They did not fit at all. No major issue, just a little strange, they fit is so bad that I somtimes wondered if I used the wrong parts. But apart from that, fit was excellent, especially the important boom construction was a pleasure to assemble. An enjoyable build, I would gladly build more of these. Thanks Airfix for finally bringing us a decent model of this legendary aircraft.

What a co-incidence! And thanks!

Very nice, great work, and I think that you nailed the colours! I like the subtle weathering and the variations in the dark grey camouflage. Excellent!

Thank you, all! Some of you mentioned the cockpit. As I mentioned, fit was very poor, but details are great. So this is how it looked like after painting. Highly recommended anyway, be prepared of some struggle, but it is definitely worth the extra work.

Ooooh! This was the my second model build when I was a child! (the first was Airfix's SA.330 Puma). Really nice to see it again, built just the way the six-year-old me dreamed of!

Thanks! And no problems at all! Since my Phantom knowledge is more than poor, I am happy that it was not worse! However, I used this picture as reference: https://www.airfighters.com/photo/242186/M/UK-Air-Force/McDonnell-Douglas-Phantom-FGR2-F-4M/XV469/ Now I can see that the rails are missing - luckliy (for me, at least... ) pylons are not removed. And thanks for your suggestions, however, I thinkt that removing the rails is good enough for me this time.