Roll Out The Barrel - SAAB J-29 *Finished*

[Andwil]

My second entry will be this 1/72 Heller SAAB Tunnan:

 

 

Sprues:

 

 

Some aftermarket goodies:

 

 

The Aries wheels and paint masks set came sans paint masks .

 

Print Scale decals, I will be doing the second one, with the black tail.

 

 

Incidentally, and some of you will know this, the J-29 had no official name, “Tunnan” Swedish for barrel, was a nick name bestowed on the aircraft due to its, shall we say portly, appearance.  Seems that SAAB were not impressed and all their subsequent fighters were given suitable names to avoid any repeats.

 

Hopefully I can make a start on this tomorrow.

 

AW

Edited December 9, 2021 by Andwil

[Andwil]

Made a start on the cockpit and glued the wings together.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[PattheCat]

Happy to see another Tunnan here.

Have fun with it.

 

Cheers.

Pat.

[reini]

Good start  Cockpit looks pretty basic but those PE parts should spice it up nicely.

 

On the other hand, these bit older kits are nice change with their limited parts count - compared to the sometimes over-complicated modern kits.

[Andwil]

19 hours ago, reini said:

Good start  Cockpit looks pretty basic but those PE parts should spice it up nicely.

 

On the other hand, these bit older kits are nice change with their limited parts count - compared to the sometimes over-complicated modern kits.

Only 40 parts and one of those is an alternate  recce nose, so should make for a nice, quick straight forward build.

 

The kit cockpit is certainly simple, the PE will improve it, but I think not much will be visible anyway, especially wth the side walls on:

 

 

Nice IP:

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

 

 

[Andwil]

I decided to pull off the etch side walls as they fouled the fit of the tub to the fuselage and they don’t add much to the model as they can’t really be seen due to the small opening and the rounded sides of the cockpit.   Anyway, here is the completed cockpit:

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[Andwil]

I got the fuselage closed up today, which was not without its dramas as the IP is too small to fit the cockpit width and required a plastic card support to hold it in place.  The tub fitted nicely but it was tricky to keep in place in one half as the locating tab is very small, but once trapped between the two halves there is no issue.  The lower nose part went on easily, after some weights were glued in place.  No gaps to speak of, but the seams needed some rubbing down.

 

 

As expectEd, not a lot of the cockpit detail will be seen.  I may pose the canopy open on this one.

 

 

Wings and tailplane dry-fitted, looks like these will go with no gaps.

 

 

The pitots have been cut off and will be replaced with the far superior Master turned brass ones.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[Andwil]

Wings have been glued on, holes drilled for the pitots, windscreen and etched wing fences attached and the little barrel is ready for paint.

 

Maybe someone with more knowledge than me can comment, but I seem to recall a “Luft ‘46” jet that looks rather like this (I don’t have all my references with me at the moment).

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[PattheCat]

As early swept wing jets are believed to be based on German researches and designs/prototypes, the Messerschmitt P.1101 or Focke-Wulf Ta.183 is most certainly the one you're thinking of.

[Col.]

Good work AW, this one is taking shape nicely.

[Andwil]

11 hours ago, PattheCat said:

As early swept wing jets are believed to be based on German researches and designs/prototypes, the Messerschmitt P.1101 or Focke-Wulf Ta.183 is most certainly the one you're thinking of.

Messerschmitt p.1101, that’s the one I was thinking of.

 

AW

 

[Andwil]

Looking at some other builds of this kit on line while researching which panels were darker or lighter aluminium tones I realised that this opening behind the nose gear well is fictitious:

 

 

I have no idea what it is meant to be.  So I cut a rectangle of fairly thick plastic card and filed chamfers on the edges and filled the hole:

 

 

I’ll leave this harden overnight and will sand it down and blend it in.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[PattheCat]

This opening is also present on Pilot Replicas kit where it's represented by a clear part of the same shape. It's there on preserved Austrian  SC29/J29F and the J29F of the Swedish Air Force historical flight, Also visible on some pictures of Swedish J29B and J29F in use. Maybe it wasn't present on all planes or removed at some point,

 

As for the various metal shades, I find it real difficult to be sure without a pic of the actual plane you're representing (different pics/planes = different shades). I found no image for the scheme/plane I chose, so for me it will be hit and miss.

 

 

Nice job on the barrel.

 

Cheers.

 

Pat.

[Andwil]

@PattheCat looks like it might be a camera aperture?

 

Canopy masked.  The sliding section temporarily stuck on with pva as it will be displayed open.

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[trickyrich]

another great choice, and with AM bits as well!!! 

 

Great to see there's no wasting time, straight into it. That cockpit does look nice....even if most of it will be hidden. I would have thought with such a "portly" size the cockpit would have been a bit more spacious....

 

I suspect next update will involve painting?

[Andwil]

Thanks Rich, I was beginning to wonder if the host would ever notice my builds!  The cockpit is reasonably spacious, but the opening is quite small.

 

Paint indeed, a gloss black primer in preparation for the natural metal.  Vallejo gloss black primer, a light coat followed by a heavier wet coat.

 

Rubbish photo but you get the idea.

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[Andwil]

The model received an overall coat of Vallejo Metal Colour Aluminium.  Next I will mask off a few panels for some different shades for some variation.  The tail has been masked off as it will remain in the gloss black. 

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[JeroenS]

You got that alu paint on quite nicely.

[John Masters]

Looking very shiny.  And well built, as is your habit.  An iconic aircraft for sure.  I like the Heller kit too.  I built one of the UN African aircraft a while back.  Perhaps I should build another.

[Andwil]

11 hours ago, John Masters said:

And well built, as is your habit.

Still plenty of scope for me to muck it up!

 

A few panels sprayed in different shades of aluminium for variation.  It’s subtle but I like how it turned out.  Masks off and the nose ring, which was previously painted yellow over a white base coat, attached.  She’s ready for decals.

 

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[PattheCat]

Great work on the different shades on metal. It really adds a little something that tips a "plain" NMF into the next level.

Like it.

 

Pat. 

[Andwil]

Decals:

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[reini]

@Andwil Wow... I mean obviously not as nice as blue & white roundels but gotta admit that 'tre kronor' is looking pretty awesome on the metallic surface  And your paintjob looks flawless so good job on that 

[Andwil]

Thanks @reini I appreciate the support.  The Swedish markings are nice and colourful, which I like.

 

Got the undercarriage and the Master pitots fitted, although the port side ones needs a little gentle bending to sit at the correct angle.  Only a few more bits to do and it will be finished.

 

 

I have also carefully prised off the canopy and will reattach it in the open position as the last thing.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[Torbjorn]

On 11/27/2021 at 11:16 PM, Andwil said:

Messerschmitt p.1101, that’s the one I was thinking of.

 

AW

 

Saab’s project leader flew to Switzerland in 1945 and acquired drawings of that plane from defected Messerschmitt engineers. So in away Tunnan was a sister or at least distant cousin of the M-15 it occasionally encountered over the Baltic.