Special Hobby Saab AJ-37 Viggen (SH48148) UPDATED

[Mike]

Saab AJ-37 Viggen (SH48148)

1:48 Special Hobby

 

 

The Viggen was Sweden's later Cold War fighter that took over from the equally unusual Saab Draken, as part of their long-standing preference for ploughing their own way through modernising their Flygvapnet, the Swedish Air Force. It began service in the early 1970s with the AJ variant, which was primarily a ground attack aircraft that could also perform the fighter role if necessary. It was slightly shorter than the later JA, with a slightly different cockpit arrangement and a less powerful engine. Over a hundred were built, with roughly half of them converted to AJS standard at the end of the 90s with improved avionics and software. The last of these upgraded AJs were taken out of service in 2005, with the similarly home-grown Gripen taking over its roles.

 

 

 

The Kit

We reviewed the original issue of this model in 2015 here, but Special Hobby haven't rested on their laurels and are back with an updated version for those that are still in the market.  An additional sprue has been included, which is coincidentally to be found in the recent two-seater Electronic Warfare version we reviewed here, recently.  The kit arrives in a similar box with the same painting on the front, but the words "Updated Edition" and "contains new sprue" added to quickly differentiate between boxings.

 

The new sprue is numbered differently from the main run of sprues, which are simply sequentially numbered from beginning to end of the build on the instructions, and while the sprue is labelled M, this isn't carried through to the instructions, but when you see numbers that are vastly different from those around them you should be tipped-off to pull the parts from the new sprue.  There are seven sprues in grey styrene, one in clear, a sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) nickel-plated brass, decal sheet and revised instruction booklet in the box, with the colour profiles and decal guides printed in colour on the inner back pages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Sprue

 

 

Construction is almost identical to the previous edition, with detailed cockpit, full-depth intakes and exhaust openings, and with additional small supports added to the intake parts on the underside of the fuselage, which were missing in the original edition.  There is a choice of two new tail fins, re-designed canards with their control flaps, and behind the nose gear bay, a set of intakes or a single central intake that merges with the centreline pylon are added, depending on which decal option you are modelling.  A new longer centreline pylon is used for two of the decal options too, which extends all the way back to the belly strake, which was in the original kit, but has an optional part now with a higher rear end for one decal option.  Finally, the Ram Air Turbine that drops out of the lower fuselage whenever the Viggen is on the ground has been tooled, although here the part numbers have been swapped about.  Part 17 should read 20, 20 should read 17, and 15 should be 17.  All clear?!?!  Overall, you'll be able to create a more accurate replica of the Viggen, with the smaller parts that make a model that's that bit closer to the real thing, and you'll also have some additional spares for other projects if many Viggens are on your horizon.

 

Markings

There are three decal options in this boxing, with the sheet being a straight-forward reprint of the original with no changes that I can discern.  It is in good register, sharp, and as far as I can tell the yellow borders have been underprinted with white to retain their colour over dark paint.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

• 37062 "Gustav 62", F7 Wing, Satyenas, 1990s. Splinter scheme with red 62 on the tail.
• 37022 "Gustav 22", F7 Wing, Satenas 1973 – bare metal with squadron on fuselage and tail for an airshow in Germany.
• 37051 F15 Wing, Soderhamn 1978 – Splinter scheme with unpainted starboard intake in bare metal.

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

It's good to see Special Hobby continuing to work on their kits after initial release, and the end result is well worth the effort.  They are listening, and long may it continue to be the case.  The best Viggen in 1:48 available by miles.

 

Highly recommended.

 

Review sample courtesy of

[Paramedic]

Oh, didn´t know they put out an updated box with that very nice new sprue, great!