stevej60 Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 Hi Folk's,a little fun build of Heller's 70's era Saab J-21,I often grab a little cheapie when I order from King Kit usually what's on offer around a fiver or less and to be honest most end up in the bin for one reason or another.This kit was a joy right till the decal's self destructed hence the bogus I.D. made from spare's and then the awful canopy so don't look too close,thank's for looking in! 35 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightersweep Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 Nice job Sir! Looks fantastic and a kit we don't see built very often. I've got a couple of the "black box" renditions in the stash, and it's looks to be quite a nice kit for it's age, as a lot of those 70s Heller kits did. Think I picked mine up from Kingkit too come to think of it. Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted May 7, 2019 Author Share Posted May 7, 2019 18 minutes ago, fightersweep said: Nice job Sir! Looks fantastic and a kit we don't see built very often. I've got a couple of the "black box" renditions in the stash, and it's looks to be quite a nice kit for it's age, as a lot of those 70s Heller kits did. Think I picked mine up from Kingkit too come to think of it. Steve Thank's Steve,thinking about it I should point out the "awful" in respect of the canopy refers to my painting,yes it's a bit odd in construction but with care look's very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire31 Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 Really neat rendition of this Heller classic! The J 21A itself was not a great classic as a dogfighter, if truth be told. The rear-placed prop also meant that there was no airflow over the radiators in the leading edge of the wings. As a result, the coolant would start to boil during ground run-up and taxing. You would often see mechanics with portable, hand pumped fire extinguishers spraying water into the radiator openings. On the other hand, the J 21 was one of the first series produced planes in the world equipped with an ejection seat (I think that the He 219 might have been the first). It's easy to understand why an ejection seat was a good idea, looking at the position of that massive VDM prop, driven by a DB 605… Nice modelling, Steve! Kind regards, Joachim 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jean Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 Hi Steve, this kit looks great, ad you could have fooled me (correction: you did fool me!) with these bogus decals... What you don't know cannot hurt you...? Anyway, another splendid rendition of a very special plane! Congrats JR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobo Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 Love the old Heller kits! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vultures1 Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 Really neat build of a seldom seen type - nice work! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 I do like the look of that Steve, one of those "I'd like one of them one day" kits & seeing your build isn't changing my thoughts on that at all. Steve. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapam Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 Very nice rendition of an interesting subject. Proof that older kits can often make good replicas, in the hands of a skilled builder (such as yourself). Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre B Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 (edited) As a Swede with an real life 1/1 SAAB 21 not far away I would say you ended up with an rather good looking J-21. Think this is the first time I see an "Yellow C"... And the Heller J-21 is till an wery good kit. Often seen at IPMS Stockholm. https://www.ipmsstockholm.se/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10658 Cheers / André Edited May 8, 2019 by Andre B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sturmovik Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 17 hours ago, stevej60 said: decal's self destructed Were this the Heller decals? If so, did they look completely flat, without the sheen of the protective varnish? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 Classic Heller! Classic Steve! Well done, you've produced a beauty there! Hoping to see at least one of these in next year's Classic Heller GB... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Law Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 That's something a little different. Nice build as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted May 8, 2019 Author Share Posted May 8, 2019 Many thank's for the comment's folk's and info on the real thing! 4 hours ago, Sturmovik said: Were this the Heller decals? If so, did they look completely flat, without the sheen of the protective varnish? Hi Sturmovik all but the yellow C's are the original Heller decal's which were great only the tail ID letter's broke up for some reason. 3 hours ago, Wez said: Hoping to see at least one of these in next year's Classic Heller GB... Well there's still plenty out there Wez I think even new boxing's before Heller's recent woes,should be a great GB next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattheCat Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 I just can't believe it's an Heller oldie. What a great job. Congrats. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savenosouls Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 Looks good - I have the Heller Kit in the "to do" pile - fortunately I have some nice new decals to use with it 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 Very nice build, and as the others have commented, not a kit seen built very often. I have both the prop and jet versions, and hope when the time comes, I can do as good a job as you have. Heller sure turned out some very nice kits back in the day, many of which have never been redone- with a little extra effort like you have put in, they can be made into very nice models. Well done! Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr T Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 Nice build of a less common subject. Built one in the Nurses Home at St James's in Leeds in the early eighties when I was a student nurse. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted May 9, 2019 Share Posted May 9, 2019 Ah, that's very nice, Steve. Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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