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37-1 Viggen prototype in 1:48


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Hej allihop!

Finally I'm allowed to start building...

Here is my plan...

I'm going to build the horrible Esci 1:48 kit of the AJ 37 Viggen. This kit will be converted into the early version of the first prototype.

This is what I have to do:

-Remove the prominent "hump" on the spine in front of the fin.

-Remove the dog tooth on the leading edges of the wings.

-Move the radarwarning devices down to a seperate pylon. These are the pointy things on the dog tooths.

-Replace the nose pitot tube with a huge test version.

-Use the early twin intakes on the belly instead of the production version with a single intake on the center pylon.

-Scratchbuild an instrument panel.

-Backdate the ejection seat.

-Make my own decals.

On top of this I'm going to try and fix some of the MANY errors of the Esci kit.

-Fix the odd look of the top of the fin.

-Replace the wheels with aftermarket ones.

-Detail the cockpit with the Neomega set.

-Replace the airbrakes with etched ones from Maestro.

-Replace the entire rear end with afterburner and reversing gear with Maestro resin parts.

I will probably be very busy on this one.

I'd better start building then... :-)

This is the kit. I'm going to use some parts from the JA 37 as well since I noticed that my AJ 37 was damaged and are missing some parts.

006-1.jpg

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I'm having problems with Photobucket today.

But here is some more pics to show what I have to work with.

005-2.jpg

The fuselage parts.

This kit was started by me about 15 years ago. All I've done is to remove the hatch for the emergency generator.

The hump on the spine will be removed. The left fuselage part was damaged with a huge crack.

013-4.jpg

Big part of the wing missing. I haven't decided if I'll repair it or just use the wing from the JA 37 kit.

The good news is that I have plenty of references on the Viggen!

003-1.jpg

Plus I have unlimited access to the AJSF 37 at the local museum where I work as a volunteer...

Andreas

Edited by Rudolf_Filip
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The aftermarket stuff have arrived! All of these goodies comes from Maestro.

I'm not sure that I'm going to use them all. We'll see...

002-4.jpg

The airbrake set. I'm going to build them closed but the detail on the underside brakes is very nice.

014-3.jpg

The resin rear end is not so great however. I'm going to use it but I don't think that it will be an easy fit. The shape is somewhat distorted. Perhaps some hot water will fix it?

018.jpg

019.jpg

The RAM turbine is a must on any Viggen kit as it always deploys at the same time as the landing gear.

016-1.jpg

The wheels look very nice.

010-3.jpg

I've started building on this rather big project but I don't have the energy right now to upload the pics. Maybe tomorrow?

Andreas

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I have been working on this kit lately. I spent many late hours building this weekend after a modelling contest here in Sweden.

Unfortunatly I forgot to bring my camera so I had to use my mobile phone. I'm sorry for the lousy quality of the pictures but I hope that you still can see what I've done.

046.jpg

Here is the RAM turbine (Maestro). I had to remove some plastic to make it fit in the fuselage.

048.jpg

I've added some missing wires. Sorry for the bad pic!

050.jpg

I tried to remove as much as possible from the weird looking "belly" from the Esci kit. That bulge is not present on the real aircraft...

051.jpg

The intakes were opened up. I'm going to add some basic trunking and a fan from the spares box.

While doing this I managed to slice a deep cut into my finger! Ouch!

056-1.jpg

One good thing when building the prototype is that the intakes don't need any modification as Esci (and all other Viggen kits!) represent the earliest prototype version... :-)

052-1.jpg

The wings are now modified by cutting of the "dog tooth" leeding edge and the radarwarning devices.

The rudders are also removed since I wanted mine to droop.

057.jpg

I've begun fixing the fin. The upper rudder hinge line is not correct.

I have more pictures but Photobucket and I don't get along at all at the moment... I'll try again later!

Andreas

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  • 2 weeks later...

Puh!

This is hard work! The Esci kit is definatly something for the "collector" and not for the "builder".

Unfortunatly this kit is the only Viggen in 1:48 so far.

I have high expectations on the new Tarangus kit...

Here is an example of the "detail" on this kit.

781.jpg

The mainwheel on the real thing.

011-6.jpg

Maestro resin.

009-2.jpg

The Esci version... Need I say more? :banghead:

Enough with the whining! Back to the workbench!

Andreas

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It seems like non of the wheels are right for the prototype. Esci have the number of holes right (10) for the prototype but it look wrong. page 4 on this folder show the wheels but you can probably find better pics

http://www.saabgroup.com/Global/Documents%20and%20Images/About%20Saab/Saab%20History/Productfolders/Saab%2037%20Viggen.pdf

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