Big Bolt - JA-37 Viggen

[Parrahs]

So in my ItPsv 90 build thread I mumbled about possibly going for multiple entries in this group build, and as I hoped something did show up in the mail a little while ago.

 

 

Now I do seem to be a pretty quick builder overall, but being my first 1/32 kit ever and clearly being a Project™ of the likes I haven't been involved with with since I built Revell's Vasa (including hand painting every nail head along the hull sides) I haven't really got a clue if it'll be done by Christmas or not. Oh well, if not I'll just have to do the jaunt of limited glory over to the regular WIP board (where we already have a build ongoing, saving me from being the first to walk into the potential minefield of this kit).

 

Building basically only 1/72 and 1/700, this is one massive bird.

 

 

Just over twice the size of a 1/72 one, imagine that...

The box had clearly not been treated very gently in transport, but looking through things it seems the onyl damage suffered was possibly a bit to the tow bar (which I have no itnent of using anyway) and the apparently customary broken wingtip.

 

 

A clean break luckily, and I found the missing piece in the box, so easy enough to just glue back on.

 

As per my own habit I started out with the ordnance. The gas tank halves appeared to have flattened a bit from perfectly round, and unfortunately 90° out of phase with each other. Matched up on one side the called for a good bit of putty on the other.

 

 

No retail nearby so puttying and sanding could be done with impunity. The 3D printed fins got a quick bit of sanding to remove the layering texture before being glued on. Next, missiles. These have resin bodies with printed bums and for the Rb74 also printed noses. As I was chopping away to separate the casting blocks I noticed a bit of an air bubble just under the skin on one, holding it up to the light...

 

 

Oh dear. On removing the casting... flange this then turned into an actual hole, and attempts were made to fill it in with relatively runny filler, but as it turns out that softened up the thin edges around it and now it'll be a relatively involved job to fix it all. Add in the extra chunks of resin you can see on top of the main body over to the right, which are also present on the other three to various degrees, and I've simply gone and ordered some Eduard replacements (they're largely license built AIM-9L) and downgraded the kits ones to plan B. The clear nose parts on those also seem very cool, so that's a plus. A quick comparison of parts vs shipping cost had me toss in some AIM-7E as well in case they'd just happen to be better looking but otherwise interchangeable than the Rb71 (aka license built Skyflash) in the kit.

 

Front fuselage's next. I decided to look into any major sanding/carving/filling jobs there first before getting started on the cockpit. Some initial scouting showed first some peculiar creases in places.

 

 

Luckily they're all ridges extending out form the surface and with the 1/32 sized detailing means it's easy to sand off. (The same appears to hold largely true for most of the 3D-printing texture found here and there on the piece.( Let's just hope it isn't a sign of massive internal stress that'll rip everything apart in a few years.

Looking inside the intake trunking has tabs that should slide into slots in the fuselage. Looking at those slots and the general intake area of the main fuselage part...

 

 

This won't be a shake-n-bake. Also, I've noticed that the inner wall wee see there at the rear of the cockpit and kinda rear of the wheel well, well, I dunno if it's also where they had the master split in two or if it's just that the wall in question shrank a bit much after casting but around the lower half of the fuselage we have a bit of a general depression on the outside centred around a pretty clear line just outside of the wall.

 

 

Good thing I got a new tube of filler recently. Time to start making dust.

 

[modelling minion]

Now I believe this will be a very popular build, and rightly so as the Viggen is a wonderful aircraft.

It looks like it will be a very involved build but to get a 1/32 Viggen I think it will be worth it.

Shouldn't be long before our Rich ( @trickyrich ) turns up as I know he has one of these on the way.

[trickyrich]

 

I am sooooo jealous!!!!  Mine hasn't been sent yet, I got one of the last ones available in the 1st release, so after a re-do on a couple of parts they reckon early Nov for mine. But I saw right at the front for the 2nd one! 

 

I have seen some reviews and have been following a build as well, it's nice to see some proper closeup shots of the finish. The reviews I've seen have either glossed over things like you mentioned or just ignored them.

 

She is pretty much a I have expected from the photos you've posted, not Fisher Model & Pattern (there'll never be the like of them again unfortunately), but still very nice. 

 

Tamiya Extra Strong CA cement  is the trick for the bubbles, it'll take 2 or 3 goes with it (used some accelerator if you have it) , it'll fill it nicely and give it strength as well. Plus for something like this I'd also try using their Epoxy filler (the 2 part stuff), a member of my local club has been using the stuff with amazing results. Much better than the started plastic fillers.

 

will be really following this one with interest.

 

Plus JetMADS today just announced that they will be releasing a 1/32nd J-35 Draken to go with the Viggen!!!      Guess I know what I'll be buying next   ....can probably get rid of my 1/48th Draken now!!  

[Parrahs]

16 minutes ago, trickyrich said:

I got one of the last ones available in the 1st release, so after a re-do on a couple of parts they reckon early Nov for mine.

I was actually a bit later than that, ie too late, but then I got a mail form them that they had decided to reduce some of the multiple kit orders from stores so that various new customers could have one each and so I got #167.

 

Draken isn't quite so precious to me as Viggen and thus that kit's a bit much shelf space for me. I'm really glad to see it regardless though, it suggests Jetmads has a decent amount of faith in Swedish subjects (whatever could have given them that idea...) and if it sells anywhere near as well as Viggen did (Finns, Danes and Austrians, you know what to do) then perhaps they'll consider something a bit more modern some day.

 

 

4 hours ago, modelling minion said:

It looks like it will be a very involved build but to get a 1/32 Viggen I think it will be worth it.

For Viggen I'll do a lot.

[modelling minion]

9 hours ago, trickyrich said:

....can probably get rid of my 1/48th Draken now!!

That has to be your lamest excuse for not finishing your Draken yet, the fact that there is going to be a bigger one at some time in the future, unbelievable!

[exdraken]

Wow, what an entry!

Looks you will be able to fix the defective, modelling after all! ( I usually introduce such types of defects into kits  myself in order get some more challenge...

 

[PattheCat]

Wow! This beast should be about half a meter long.

Saab planes are really "sexy".

Not my scale nor medium so I still wish for a 1/48 mainstream styrene kit (I hope Pilot Replicas will give us one).

Good luck with your build.

[Bertie McBoatface]

On 10/29/2021 at 4:59 PM, Parrahs said:

Just over twice the size of a 1/72 one

 

In a linear sense yes, but as we tend to judge size by volume, you have (two and a bit)³ which is approximately equal to 'enormous'.

[Paramedic]

Wonderful to see one of these birds here!   Mine is in the second batch, high up, so I can see you do all the errors so I won´t make them.. (j(k)

 

I have three fav aircraft above all else - Thunderbolts, Thunderbolt IIs and Viggens (which also means "Thunderbolt"!).. So this will be a treat..

[Parrahs]

So some progress has occurred.

 

First I decided to Czech out some Rb74 alternatives.

 

 

The kit ones weren't exactly bad, but Eduard certainly does 'em better. And so all thought of fixing the odd one in the kit is dropped.

 

 

Assorted filler work on the front fuselage. Both the line noted in my previous post and the intake-fuselage side joint. As you won't reach in between them to fill and and with everything in place without some very dedicated tools I went with putting some filler on the fuselage, some oil on the intakes, then pressing the latter into a good position to shape the filler. The full-sized file has proven useful in general for getting rid of casting-messes on mating surfaces, both since it takes care of a lot in one go but also since its size helps ensure things get reasonably straight over longer distances.

 

Since they'll be a bother to paint attached the intakes and inner trunking were painted up at this point. The afterburner bits got to come along as well since the airbrush was up and running. For the front bits I went with Alclad white aluminium over gloss black, naturally this ended up showing some flaws in the surface prep on one intake. Sand down that, repaint, and then varnish it all for a quick wash. The solvent in the varnish buggered up the Alclad, so sand and repaint again, this time both intakes. Apply a different varnish, a bit of a wash and finally it's ready to be glued on.

 

 

Focus here was put on getting the outer intake-fuselage joint to join up, along with the filler work earlier that and the upper side joints ended up pretty ok. The need for filler could be met with just some Mr Surfacer 1200. (Let's not speak of the lower side joints.) A bit of Mr surfacer can also be seen further back along the fuselage where it has been used to help deal with a bit of 3D-print texture. While I was at it the other bits of front trunking as well as the aterburner bits were all painted up.

 

 

A pretty large ugly flaw in the rear turbine plate there, but some fiddling around with all the other rear plumbing bits and I can say that won't be visible once everything's assembled.

Finally the drop tank was painted up, gloss coated, given a bit of a wash, given some touch-up painting since I did the varnishing at the same time as the second pass on the intakes and the different varnish took a lot longer to dry than my usual fare, and finally given a mate-ish finally varnish.

 

 

Here shown with an entire 1/72 jet for scale. Though admittedly "entire" may be a rather large a word for a Gnat.

 

Now all this done I'm left wondering, is the AIM-7E (that Eduard makes) and the Skyflash (that Viggen carried) supposed to have external differences? The Eduard and Kit missiles here look mostly the same, and I think the differences might be explainable by just different makers, but the length of the nose cone tip-to-first-panel-line is a bit much for me to be entirely comfortable with that approach. Like with the Rb74 the kit missiles aren't awful, but the Eduard ones are definitely a step up.

 

 

Edited November 13, 2021 by Parrahs
Forgot a bit.

[reini]

Nice to see the big Viggen started - what a huge beast!

[trickyrich]

I'm still waiting for mine to be sent out..... I got one of the last available from the 1st run.

 

Interesting to see the build, I think you did the right thing with the missiles.

 

 

[helios16v]

Ooh, how did I miss this thread?  

[coneheadff]

Great start! I will be definitely following...my box is waiting to be opened 😁 

[Paramedic]

That extra tank looks funny - and great, alongside the Gnat!

[exdraken]

On 11/18/2021 at 6:13 PM, Paramedic said:

That extra tank looks funny - and great, alongside the Gnat!

looks a bit like Blue Steel....  sure you can put it below a 1/48 Vulcan! (or 1/72? I don't know...)