Enzo the Magnificent Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 (edited) Here we go with the Heller Viggen, built to represent an SH-37 maritime attack aircraft. Decals are from Flying Colors, namely Sheet 72-109. Resin includes three sets from Maestro Models: K7218: cockpit K7219: Intakes K7250: Wheel bays. I will almost certainly add to the resin, as I intend to use the wheel replacement set and some stores from Maestro. The model will be finished in the iconic splinter scheme. It's a very scary scheme to paint so - being a tremendous coward - I've taken the easy way out. The white sheets you see in the background are masks from Gator's Mask. So... here are the kit parts. These really are the Heller parts, I promise you! And the resin Wish me luck! I'm going in... Edited October 22, 2012 by Enzo Matrix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudolf_Filip Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Hej Enzo! I think that something is very wrong with this picture!!! I'm confused. You say that you're going to build the Heller kit and provide a pic of the Heller box. BUT, the pictures of the plastic parts are not the Heller kit!!! That kit is the ancient Hasegawa/Frog tooling! If you're going to build that one as a SH 37 you'll have some trouble. It represents the early prototype like the one I'm building. Andreas 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 Hej Enzo! I think that something is very wrong with this picture!!! I'm confused. You say that you're going to build the Heller kit and provide a pic of the Heller box. BUT, the pictures of the plastic parts are not the Heller kit!!! That kit is the ancient Hasegawa/Frog tooling! <Captain Mainwaring> Yes, I wondered when someone was going to notice that. </Captain Mainwaring> The plastic parts are actually from the Airfix kit. I already had the photos on my hard disk and just assumed that they were the correct ones. I'll take photos of the real parts tonight and amend my post. But. it will provide an interesting comparison between the two kits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z Aviator Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 The plastic parts are actually from the Airfix kit. I already had the photos on my hard disk and just assumed that they were the correct ones. I'll take photos of the real parts tonight and amend my post. But. it will provide an interesting comparison between the two kits. It certainly will! The Heller kit is way better than anything else ever released (in any scale for that matter). I'm a bit surprised that no company has made a new Viggen in 1/72. We'll see if the new one in 48 scale will be scaled down perhaps.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wizball Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 (edited) We'll see if the new one in 48 scale What? Where? How? When? Edit: Ah, you're talking about the Tarangus one? Edited October 22, 2012 by Wizball Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 Okay... I've edited my first post with real pictures of the Heller kit. For those who are wondering what Andreas was on about, it turns out that I inadvertently posted pictures of the Airfix kit. Andreas is quite right - the kit simply cannot represent a production standard Viggen without a lot of work. . But just for information, here are the pictures of the Airfix parts which I originally posted. And a couple of photos comparing the Airfix and Heller kit parts. As you can see, the Airfix fuselage does not have the area ruling or the bulged spine. It may be possible to build a production standard aircraft using left over parts from the Heller kit. I will have suitable parts of the T-Bird Viggen left over, but that's a project for another day - maybe the Obsolete Kit GB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 Interesting stuff! Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z Aviator Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 (edited) Edit: Ah, you're talking about the Tarangus one? Yes! The Airfix kit has one thing that the original packing (ie NOT the JA37 version) of Heller's Viggen was lacking.. The pylons under the air intake! That's about the only thing the only thing that makes the Airfix kit worth buying.. Edited October 25, 2012 by Z Aviator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shalako Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Enzo, this look like a very promising build. But, I was wondering, how long did it take you to gather all these parts? decals, model kit, aftermarket accessories, considering the fact that all of them are quite rare to find. Sernak 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted October 28, 2012 Author Share Posted October 28, 2012 The panel lines are raised so the first thing to do is to rescribe the wings. My rescribing is slightly simplified. I'm still honing my scribing skills. The one piece wing undersurfaces have also been rescribed. The undercarriage bays have been enlarged somewhat to allow the resin bays to fit in. The wing is very thin so the usual method of thinning the wings wouldn't work. Maestro have therefore gone for the novel method of having you cut the bay edges away so that the resin bay fits through. You can then fill the ragged edges and sand them flush with the lowersurfaces of the wing. At least that's the plan! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted October 28, 2012 Author Share Posted October 28, 2012 But, I was wondering, how long did it take you to gather all these parts? decals, model kit, aftermarket accessories, considering the fact that all of them are quite rare to find. I though so too, but it turned out that they parts weren't all that difficult to find. I got the resin from Rebell Hobby in Sweden. The original Heller Viggen is next to impossible to find but it was pointed out to me that although the current kit is a JaktViggen, it can still be build as the ground attack version. There are plenty of Heller JaktViggens available and no doubt it will be re-released again soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldhouse Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Nice Choice !! will follow this build with interest !! Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shalako Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Hi Enzo, Well, it's not just the fact that you can't find those kits (Airfix and Heller) in 1/48 scale but also, in 1/72.!! Let's hope that they will re-release it. Cheers Sernak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted November 25, 2012 Author Share Posted November 25, 2012 Okay... I've decided to exercise the right I claimed at the start of the build - that of chucking in some more resin. In this case it is the RAT bay from Maestro Models. Here are the interior parts ready to be painted. I was a bit enthusiastic when I removed the nosewheel bay from its slab and ended up breaking through the bay roof in the forward area. So I trimmed the damage and replaced the roof with a piece of plastic card. The gear bay walls in the fuselage halves have been rimmed bay drastically to allow the bay to fit. And here are the parts painted and ready to be installed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted December 2, 2012 Author Share Posted December 2, 2012 (edited) Not much to report this week. The airframe is complete. The intakes are resin from Maestro. The flaps on the canards have been drooped by scoring them with a blade and bending them sightly. Lots of filler involved to fair in the nose, which was a dreadful fit! Next job - priming and cleanup so I can start on the interesting stuff next weekend. Edited December 2, 2012 by Enzo Matrix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted December 9, 2012 Author Share Posted December 9, 2012 Primed and sprayed with Xtracrylix XA1117 Interior Green Now for the fun bit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted December 10, 2012 Author Share Posted December 10, 2012 First set of masks applied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Jumbo Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 My word, it is a beautiful beastie isn't it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McYellowbelly Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Watching this one with interest Swedish splinter camo always looks good, but what a challenge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted December 22, 2012 Author Share Posted December 22, 2012 All the masks have now been removed. During the painting process I was starting to get a bit concerned as it seemed that the masks were not particularly low tack and I thought there would be some problems in removing them. I was right. In some cases the masks came off but left a residue on adhesive on the paint. In others, the masks came off but took various levels of paint with them - in some cases right down to the plastic! :yike: In yet others, the masks steadfastly refused to come off at all and had to be sliced off with a very sharp blade. What you see below is the model in the process of being touched up. I originally tried touching up with a hairy stick, but the light green touchups stood out like a sore thumb. So now I will mask off the relevant bits and respray. I reckon it will take me as long to mask and respray as it would have done if I had masked freehand with Tamiya tape. On balance I really can't recommend these masks. I certainly wouldn't use them again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theplasticsurgeon Posted December 22, 2012 Share Posted December 22, 2012 Let me congratulate you Enzo, that's really looking very good. Hopefully you're enthusiastic enough to take us thru to the finish line. I painted my first Viggen in splinter - by hand what a task ! Hence I used a really simple scheme for my recent Viggen - and thanks for the gunpack 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted December 22, 2012 Author Share Posted December 22, 2012 I painted my first Viggen in splinter - by hand what a task ! Yerst... I did the same with a Matchbox Viggen, many many years ago. It was hard work, but it was worth it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roland Pulfrew Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Nice job Enzo. I always loved the splinter scheme, even if it is a complete pain for the modeller. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted December 27, 2012 Author Share Posted December 27, 2012 Nice job Enzo. I always loved the splinter scheme, even if it is a complete pain for the modeller. Complete pain = challenge! I once heard about an interview with an author. The interviewer asked "Do you enjoy writing?" The author replied "well... I enjoy having written..." I think the Viggen splinter cam is a similar concept. I nightmare to paint but - ohhhhhhh - it looks good having been painted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roland Pulfrew Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 I once heard about an interview with an author. The interviewer asked "Do you enjoy writing?" The author replied "well... I enjoy having written..." I think the Viggen splinter cam is a similar concept. I nightmare to paint but - ohhhhhhh - it looks good having been painted! Bit like me and going for a run; hate the thought of going for a run but "I enjoy having run..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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