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Hi. I've not been able to build anything since May because of a complete renovation of our apartment. We've been evacuated since September, and in two week we'll return to our "new" apartment. And when we've returned and all our belongings have been unpacked it's time to get back to building model airplanes. I plan to have my work table set up for new years. And in 2023 Sweden will celebrate its 500th anniversary as an independent nation. In 1523 Gustaf Wasa was elected as King of Sweden and Sweden seceded from the Union of Kalmar that has been in place since the 13th century uniting Denmark, Norway and Sweden as a single country under a Danish monarch. So to celebrate this anniversary I'll build mostly aircrafts that has served in the Swedish Armed Forces. I've set a rather high goal for my self with 9 kits. And the players are: SK2 Friedrichshafen FF33E - Marivox. 20221031_190706 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr Casa C.212 in the Swedish Coast Guards colours, and this will be the only build in 1/72 - Special Hobby. 20221031_190724 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr SAAB Safir SK50 - Tarangus. 20221031_190740 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr SAAB SK60/105 - Pilot Replica 20221031_190757 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr SAAB B17 - Tarangus 20221031_190812 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr Supermarine Spitfire S31 - Airfix 20221031_190840 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr SAAB J32B Lansen - Tarangus, borrowed picture, since my kit came without box, decals and instruction. SAAB J35J Draken - Hasegawa (Will be a part of the upcoming Draken STGB) 20221031_190922 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr SAAB 37 (version not yet decided - Tarangus. 20221031_190903 by Bosse Persson, on Flickr I'll be adding lots of resin and PE to much of my builds, what and to which aircraft will be reveled when I come to start each build. Depending on how my progress will be I might add or detract some of the kits. And I've not yet set a build order, but I think I'll start with the SK2 Friedrichshafen FF33E since I reckon that this will be the most time consuming build. I've not built a bi-winged aircraft for at least 40 years, and that time I used sewing thread I "borrowed" from my mother. This time around I plan to use something more appropriate for the rigging. If I get my bench up before new years I've got several stalled builds to continue on, including a Swedish Air Force A32A Lansen, to keep me busy until New Years. /Bosse

I see this is a popular subject, as the Tarangus/Special Hobby kits are being built in both 1/72 and 1/48. Time for someone to go retro. The previous Viggen kits I built were from Airfix and Matchbox, which will probably come as no surprise. I have 4 of this kit in the stash for a long time, including the JA 37 version with extra parts. One kit was bought in 1993, the others about 10 years later. I have held off building any of them for two reasons: One is the mega-complex paint scheme used on all three versions included in the original release. Another is the nagging suspicion that this may be a far from easy build. But there's only one way to find out. Artwork from the first two boxings. Unfortunately, I never got either of these. The black-edged box style dating from the late 1970s is a particular favourite of mine. This is the box style for my kit: Parts and instructions. This particular kit had the extra JA sprue included by mistake, not that I'm complaining. All spare parts gratefully received.

A couple of days ago I got this kit at my local hobby shop. We have all been waiting a long time for this one to finally arrive. I hope that this kit will be worth the wait. I know one thing though... It wont be any worse than the other 1:48 Viggen on the market. The Esci kit is and have always been a very lousy kit... Since I'm from Sweden I've grown up with this mighty aircraft and have seen them (and heard them!) around at my local Swedish Air Force base and on more airshows than I can count. A couple of years ago it was retired and replaced by the beautiful JAS 39. I do like the nimble Gripen, but she lacks the brutality of the SAAB 37 Viggen. Fortunatly the Swedish Air Force Historic Flight have managed to get one of the old AJ 37s back in the air again. "Gustav 52" is a very welcome sight on airshows. I served as a firefighter in the air force back in the 90s. Being an aircraft enthusiast this was heaven... One can never get enough of Drakens and Viggens! Nowadays I'm on an museum at former air force base F 10 at Ängelholm. I get to "play" with our beautiful Draken, Viggen and Gripen as much as I want. :-) Let's get on with the kit... Nice full box packed with plastic. Stunning boxart made by artist Tor Karlsson. Very nice looking decals. Four options. Two grey, one camoflaged and one in bare metal. Stencils. The plastic parts. Some of the JA 37 specific parts. Here is the gun pack and the fuselage extension. The engine exhaust is a wonderful piece of plastic. The nosewheels not so much... :-) Two seats included! MPM is going to release the SK 37-version of this kit later on. Main gear bay details. Unfortunatly most of this will be hidden since the inner doors are closed on the ground. Finally correct intakes! This is the first time we see this in a Viggen kit. This is also a first in a Viggen kit. Intake channels. The layout of parts is a bit odd but the Viggen is an odd shape... :-) Note that there is an AJ 37 fin included. As a matter of fact all the parts needed for an AJ 37 is on the sprues. Hmmm... The landing gear looks complicated. There is a error in the instructions. The periscopes for the two seater is shown here. They should definatly not be used on a fighter version! Don't worry. One can't place them there anyway since they are not even included on the sprues... I have already started building and so far I'm very happy with the kit. I'm going to post more pics later when I have something to show. Andreas / Rudolf_Filip