Sarcococca Posted April 17, 2016 Share Posted April 17, 2016 (edited) Kittyhawks amazing scale 48 GripenIt has been written a lot about Kittyhawks Gripen kit. Unfortunately, also of a lot of negative by which a wrong picture originates from this, actually, nice kit.One finds a really good one and one of the best Reviews I could explore, here:http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234941002-jas-39ac-gripen-148-kitty-hawk/?hl=%2Bsaab+%2Bgripen+%2Bkittyhawk It is a kit of the new generation, with the quite normal positive and negative points like all other new kits also. In the construction report I will mention the really relevant small mistakes I discovered.I have used the following books as references:Saab Gripen, Author: Gerard KeijsperJAS-39 Gripen Swedish Multirole Fighter, Author: Slavomir GoldemundSaab JAS 39 Gripen colours & markings, Author: Michal Ovčáčík, Karel Susa How with most kits for different versions are intended, should one not work strictly after constructriction manual. As by the construction of Ju 88 of Dragon, or by the construction of the Mosquito wings with separate wingtips of Tamiya, one must deviate from the construction manual to avoid unnecessary repairs.Also with the Gripen one should stick together the fuselage halves separately. As one can see, I have already cut out behind the cockpit the cover of the pressuration/air-conditioning unit. I can recommend the cockpit of Aires very much. The details are not only fine but also perfectly faithful. The seat belts are added as photoetched parts. On heating up the photoetched parts, the seatbelts can be brought very well in form. The avionic bays of Aires which should be accommodated later behind the fuselage nose. I like the bright colours with those the modern airplanes nowadays are painted. Please, do not surprise. . . .but I never work really strictly after construction manuals. Mostly I build complete sub-groups sometime occasionally. According to mood. . .as well as with the weapons.The Maverick missiles are from Eduard. Actually, already a model in the model. Two elegant and slender Iris-T missiles from the kit, got a 1mm light lens (AK-Interactive) in the nose built-in.And here is the first however small mistake which I found in the kit. There is only one anti-ship missile RB15S in the kit (but rather one, than none). Before fuselage halves are clued together, must be still built the inflight refueling pipe,the undercarriage and airbrake bays. In the meantime, fuselage halves have been glued, and the pressuration/air-conditioning unit have been built up from plastic sheet. One finds high-class photos in the second book of my abovementioned book list. Edited April 17, 2016 by Sarcococca 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary West Posted April 17, 2016 Share Posted April 17, 2016 Some lovely work there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted April 17, 2016 Share Posted April 17, 2016 Absolutely amazing work so far. Looking forward to the next instalment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breaker Posted April 17, 2016 Share Posted April 17, 2016 I'll be following this one, always a kit I've thought about doing. Your cockpit and photography is excellent as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForestFan Posted April 17, 2016 Share Posted April 17, 2016 Looking great, look forward to seeing it come together Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjorn Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 Looking fantastic! I will follow this with great interest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solo Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 Just beautiful work. Sarcococca, could you tell something about fitting this Aires cockpit inside the hull? How much is necessary to sand it before you can close the hull? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarcococca Posted April 18, 2016 Author Share Posted April 18, 2016 Just beautiful work. Sarcococca, could you tell something about fitting this Aires cockpit inside the hull? How much is necessary to sand it before you can close the hull? Hi Solo, the installation of that Aires Cockpit is as usual to pay with some additional work and the right quantity of patience . One must thin out the fuselage sidewalls approx. 1mm, and you are on the sure side if you also sand down the Aires cockpit on the left and on the right, as far as as possible. In addition, it is important to sanding the rear bulkhead of the Aires part so thinly as possible. More than I did!! Please compare with picture 3-5. I have left more material, because I needed it for the construction of the air-conditioning unit behind the cockpit. As for all detail sets also is valid here, dry fit......so often as possible. Greetings Dirk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jusjay Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 That cockpit looks incredible, great work there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solo Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 (edited) So, the Aires as usual... unfortunately...Thanks for info. Edited April 18, 2016 by Solo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batcode Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 fantastic looking cockpit and bays.. looks great so far.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James G Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Wow, very neat work indeed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomjw Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Excellent work so far. I'll follow with interest. Cheers, Tom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Looks great - I built this when it first came out, and I enjoyed the build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flarpen Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Hi Solo, the installation of that Aires Cockpit is as usual to pay with some additional work and the right quantity of patience . One must thin out the fuselage sidewalls approx. 1mm, and you are on the sure side if you also sand down the Aires cockpit on the left and on the right, as far as as possible. In addition, it is important to sanding the rear bulkhead of the Aires part so thinly as possible. More than I did!! Please compare with picture 3-5. I have left more material, because I needed it for the construction of the air-conditioning unit behind the cockpit. As for all detail sets also is valid here, dry fit......so often as possible. Greetings Dirk I have built this with the Aires pit as well. But I didn't find it necessary to grind down very much plastic. Fitted almost without any modifications to the parts (except for the coaming obviously that need removing) The biggest issue I had was to get the Aires cockpit and NLG to fit together. /Johan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarcococca Posted April 19, 2016 Author Share Posted April 19, 2016 I have built this with the Aires pit as well. But I didn't find it necessary to grind down very much plastic. Fitted almost without any modifications to the parts (except for the coaming obviously that need removing) The biggest issue I had was to get the Aires cockpit and NLG to fit together. /Johan Hi Johan, many thanks for your complementary comment. I agree to you. Above all your remark about the problems of cockpit and NFG assembly. I have forgotten this to mention, and it is really the biggest problem. I have removed a lot of plastic of both fuselage halves, what is maybe owed because I`ve also inserted the Aires avionik bays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calum Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 That cockpit is fantastic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 very nice start! hope to see more soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janremco Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 What a masterpiece your cockpit. Jan Remco. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabat Posted April 21, 2016 Share Posted April 21, 2016 Excellent work, I'm looking forward to seeing more of this great build and see how you fiond the Kitty Hawk Gripen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarcococca Posted April 24, 2016 Author Share Posted April 24, 2016 Gripen, 2. part Thx for all your nice compliments. The Kittyhawk APU Unit inserted into the left fuselage halve. This are very nice detailed kitparts, and only small additional refinements were made.I`ve fixed the upper wings meanwhile, to prevent unnecessary gaps on the wing fuselage connection. Left fuselage side with built-in avionic bay from Aires. Kit part E7 fits nearly perfect, only a gap had to be closed around the Aires wheel well. The airinlet FOD`s are made out of "Aves Apoxie Sculpt". The missing rivets in the rear were complemented with Rivet Detail Decals of "Micro Mark", available in three different scales. The finished main wheel well`s from Aires. I`ve used for most interior surfaces Aeromasters Overall Grey. Funny enough the Strut scissors at the Main landing gear are absent in the kit. Thus, then that one must build himself.The small Stencil Decals on ready painted landing gears come from airscale. There is on the left and on the right below the Canards, in each case a small air nozzle, don`t know which purpose they have. Here still unpainted. And finally a few other ready painted things. Bye for now Dirk 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LT Motta Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 I do like the seat belts! They look so real. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christer A Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 Those landing gears are a work of art! But so is the entire kit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flarpen Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 This is fantastic work. Whish I thought of assembling the kit the way you do, seems so much easier then following the instructions. I'll remember this when it's time to build the two seater. /Johan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James G Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 More great detail work there, looking forward to seeing it finished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now