Sten Ekedahl

Just to make the list complete, add the Heller Bobcat (snap tite) HAR T.4.

A scaled down version to God's scale , i.e. 1/72, would be very nice since the legs in the Trumpeter kit are much too short.

Could very well be. I has the same fault (front of the windscreen beeing too wide) as the IPMS Austria kit.

IPMS Austria produced a limited 1/48 resin kit of the SAAB J 29 some 18 months ago. It is(was?) rather expensive and I don't know if it is still avaiable. A good kit, albeit with a few minor shape issues.

Derek, There is an excellent resin seat for the J 29 made by Pavla (they also make a complete resin cockpit). It is available from Hannants, search for PAVS7240. BTW, Pavla also does a vacformed canopy for the J 29, although it is intended for the Heller kit it will probably fit the Matchbox kit too. I don't know how far you intend to go in detailing your model, but a few points regarding the real J-29: When parked the airbrakes, situated just behind the main wheel bays, were normally extended due to the fall of hydraulic pressure. Secondly, don't use the shiny side of the kitchen foil. J 29's never were that shiny. You can find a few good referece pics of the J 29 here.

Maybe a bit OT, but to me, for what I know, there seems to be may similarities between the TSR.2 "issue" in the UK and the CF-105 "issue" roughly at the same time in Canada. I might just have opened another can of worms...

This is a nice kit and it builds into a good looking model. However there is one serious inaccuracy in the Airfix kit. In order to fit the afterburners on Mk.8 and 9, the rear fuselage was enlarged, starting at the trailing edge of the wing. This is NOT incorporated in the kit, rather it retains the fuselage shape for the engines without reheat. Therefore the new rear end piece in the kit, including the jet pipes, is much under scale. (Airfix cut the corners here when re-tooling it from the earlier T.3 version.) The Airfix jet pipes are only 10 mm in diameter but the correct diameter should be 12.3 mm; that is a difference of 165 mm or 6½ inches in full scale! However there is a fairly easy way to overcome this. Cut off the rear end of the fuselage at the wing trailing edge. Substitute with the corresponding section cut from the old Frog/Novo kit of the Javelin which is practically spot on in this area. If you want to be completely correct the jet pipes should also be modified so they are slightly canted inwards instead of parallel with each other. As an insipration for your Javelin project, here are two pics of an F.4 I built many years ago, using a Heller T.3 and a resin conversion set from Maintrack and an Aeroclub canopy. The raised panel lines were rescribed. Decals are a mix of Heller, Frog, Modeldecal and the squadron insignia came from a sheet that was included in an eary issue of Scale Aircraft Modelling. Not the easiest project since the shape of the resin front fuselage had to be corrected with quite a bit of filler and also it did not fit too well. Maybe I made it a just little bit too glossy. However Javelins, as can be seen in several photos, were very glossy, and this particular squadron, 151 Sqn., received brand new aircraft and was then renumbered after only six months, so in this livery they never became very weathered. Still, I think the model is just a little too shiny.

I plead guilty on all accounts, except the Xtradecal sheets.

At the time I bought mine, they were sold in plastic bags...

Oh, the ignorace of today's youth!

Very interesting! I knew about the Mustang Mk.X and have started building, but not finished, the High Planes kit. However the existance of the other two versions was totally new to me. If you don't look at the wings, it is very difficult to trace the Mustang heritage!

I have never primed photoetched parts prior to using them and have never had any problems doing so. I use either superglue, Humbrol Clearfix or varnish for gluing parts, and enamels for painting.

This thread inspired me to dig out the original issue of this kit from my stash. If the re-released kit hasn't been updated - and it certainly does not look like it from the sprue shots - quite a lot of work will be needed. Lots of joints and sink marks to be filled (and sanded), missing details added, sparse cockpit interior needs more detail, and most of all, the mix of mostly raised and a few engraved lines (and some missing completely) have to be dealt with; aileron and airbrake contoures are raised lines, and the elevator hinge line is raised on one side of the tailplanes and engraved on the other side!

I would also recommend substituting the whole cockpit tub since any of the resin ones - Pavla or CMK - is a vast improvment of the kit part which bears just a passing reseblance of the original (I've sat in it at Duxford!). Let's face it; the cockpit(s) is(are) the main focal point of an aircraft model so it's worth some effort! And as Geoff said, it is a lot more work to fit two resin seats in the Airdix tub, than to fit a complete resin tub inside the Airfix fuselage. Personally I'm using the Pavla pit since I bought it before the release of the CMK version. However I find the difference between the two marginal.

Brings out some memories! I have one of these kits bougth in the mideval age, but I never built it since it quickly became outdated by other kits (read: Hasegawa and Itaeleri). But it's been a good source for conversion parts for other projects. However I distinctly remember that the solid outer wing on one side was very much thicker than on the other!

I suceeded in finding an old Profile Publication on the Hayford a couple of years ago. Bought it from King Kit. Usual type of PP content; text, photos (many good ones) and colour profiles, but also a nice cut-away side view. Well worth getting if you can find it.

It is at times like theese I find my complete collection of Modeldecal sheets (with two of each for about two thirds of them!) very helpful.

Of course not! Since it's a French aircraft it must be wine barrels!

There is a very good complete resin cockpit for this kit made by Obscureco. There is also a vac canopy from Aeroclub. These two additions will greatly improve the area where this kit really shows its age.

There are two posts in the Hyperscale Gallery that might be helpful when building a Victor. First there's Bill Dye's B.Mk2 and then Jan Forsgren's awardwinning K.2. I have seen, and also judged, the latter and it is a masterpiece!

A resin turret for the twin Browning guns is available in one of the Paragon resin sets for 100 Group aircraft. The turret is to the lower right in the picture and the corresponding clear part at the top. The set, PAR72041, is available from Hannants at £ 7.25.

Well, that is certainly a topic for discussion... For a starter check the recent E-2C build in the WIP forum. The finished result, as can be seen in the RFI section, is beautiful. But the road to get there was aparantly both lengthy and full of big obstacles.

If you have questions about the SwAF Viggens, or any other SwAF aircraft for that matter, I'd recomend the Enlish language forum at the IPMS Stockholm site. There are a couple of members there that have worked on the Viggen in the SwAF and they'd be able to answer almost any question about it.

The gray recce Viggens belonged to SWAFRAP (Swedish Air Force Rapid Reaction Force), a rediness recce sqn earmarked for the international community (i.e. UN or EU) for peace support or peace enforcement missions should the need arise, hence the English stenciling. Today this sqn is equiped with the latest version of the JAS 39 Gripen. BTW, this sqadron just arrived back at their base in Luleå in the north of Sweden last weekend, after having taken part in the latest RED FLAG execise in the US.

If you're still thinking about building another E-2C, I suggest you hold your breath for a while. On one of the photos from the US Nationals shown the ARC site today is the box top art of a Hasegawa E-2C in 1/72 scale with a sign that says 4th quarter 2008 release.