Special Hobby Saab AJ-37 Viggen "Strike Fighter" (SH48216) 1:48 Special Hobby

[Julien]

Saab AJ-37 Viggen "Strike Fighter" (SH48216)

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

This is Special Hobby's boxing of the kit in co-operation with Tarangus.  The kit arrives in a large box adorned with a painting of an early NMF Viggen. Inside there are eight sprues in grey styrene, one in clear, a sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) nickel-plated brass, decal sheet and aninstruction booklet in the box, with the colour profiles and decal guides printed in colour on the inner back pages. This boxing includes the extra sprue which was tooled for later boxings of the kit. Construction begins with the front fuselage, and the cockpit in particular. The ejection seat, which is a Raketstol 37, is made from two parts for the outer shell, and has the head-cushion moulded in, so you will need to deal with the seam there before you install the single piece cushion in the lower half and the head-box top above it. The ejection gun and lateral supports are inserted in the hollow back of the chair, a full set of PE belts and harnesses are provided. The cockpit tub is one piece with integrated side consoled that have raised detail moulded in, to which you add the rudder pedals, control column and the main instrument panel. The panel has what looks like an MFD in the middle, but it was in fact an old-fashioned CRT screen, which was quite advanced at the time in an aircraft. PE is provided for the instrument panel and side consoles.  Another two small levers are added to the right side console to finish off the cockpit nicely. The front fuselage is split horizontally, and has moulded-in recesses into which the sidewall detail parts are placed before the cockpit tub is added from below. Before the front fuselage can be closed up however, the intake trunking must be built up. The two trunks are moulded together and split top and bottom to ensure correct line-up, being held apart with bracing struts and outer flanges that hold them neatly within the fuselage. A bulkhead with twin oval openings covers the rear end. The  nose gear bay is added, a front bulkhead to close off the nose behind the radome is installed over the front of that. The upper fuselage with the spine moulded in is then sat on top and glued in place, at which point you will need to ensure a good fit between the two halves, an important part at this point is to drill out the holes in the lower section for the bely pylons if needed. 

 

 

The rear fuselage splits vertically to allow a realistic rendition of the area-rule curving fuselage that surrounds the Volvo motor. In order to join the halves, you need to build the engine's rear, which is made from just two parts, but has superb detail incorporated. The main part is a wide tube with the rear engine face and afterburner ring moulded-in with stunning sharpness, plus ribbing along the length of the exhaust, and fluted edges that are commendably thin. The reverser section is added next, which is again a single part that mates with the lip in three points, leaving three large gaps for the reversed engine gases to exit. The thrust-reversing petals are each separate, and can be posed either fully open for normal running, closed for "reversing", or with the bottom two open and the top one drooping down due to the bleed-off of hydraulic pressure following engine shut-down. The latter will be the most normally seen on a parked aircraft, but you at least have options now! The tail cone fits over the petals, and the completed (and painted) assembly is trapped between the aft fuselage halves, and then mated with the forward half. Most of the upper join will be hidden by the spine of the front fuselage, which is always a boon to the modeller.

Work then moves to the large cranked "double-delta" wings, starting with adding the well detailed shallow main gear bays to the single piece lower wing. A few holes are drilled for additional flap-actuator fairings (IIRC, this additional actuator wasn't present on early variants), and fuselage then the two upper wing halves are added, butting up against each other. Plenty of test fitting should ensure the best joint, but don't forget that wing-fairings are often not the best fitting, so check your references, and if it looks right, leave the lid on the putty. The flying surfaces are moulded integrally, so other than adding the aforementioned flap fairings and a pair of small wingtip lights on each wing, that's them done.

At the front end of the fuselage, your Viggen will be looking a little blunt until you add the two part nose cone, which is split vertically, and the engine intakes, which have been cleverly designed to take up only one part each. These are slim and delicate, but if you want to achieve better scale accuracy, you might consider slimming the lips down a little more, such are the limits of styrene injection moulding. The small aerodynamic bracing struts that fit between the inner edge of the intake and the fuselage are separate parts, and are shown in both the installed position and as part of the exploded construction diagram to assist with correct placement. A scrap diagram from the front would have helped further, but instead check your references, as there are plenty of head-on pics out there. The two canards are installed later on a pair of attachment lugs, and each one is a single piece, with moulded-in flaps and a single vortex generator on the top of the winglet. I would have preferred the flaps separate, as the aircraft looks good with them down, and they often taxi in with them down after using them to improve lift on landings, as well as on take-off. The big vertical fin is separate, and has an insert on the port spine to cater for other earlier variants down the line. Various auxiliary intakes and exhausts are added down the fuselage and spine into recesses, and the small T-shaped air-brakes are added forward of the reverser outlets on each side, with another two under the fuselage. 

 

 

 

 

The gear bays have been nicely detailed from the box, and with the addition of the landing gear should suffice for most modellers' needs. The nose gear leg fits into a recess in the rear of the bay, and has a separate strut and oleo-scissor link. The bay doors each have hinge-points and a separate retractor link, and there are two clear landing light parts added inside the bay, angled slightly down. The main gear bays are each single parts, but have been detailed sufficiently with moulded-in shapes to give a good impression. The inner main doors are usually closed on the ground anyway, so most of it will be hidden. The Viggen was unusual in having a pair of inline wheels on a horizontal leg, which rotated around the end of the main leg, offering better rough-field performance. This has been replicated faithfully using eleven parts for each leg and its retraction mechanism, plus another two for the stub-axles that hold the two-part wheels in place. The wheels are nice, but they're not the strongest part of the kit, and could bear replacing with some aftermarket if they come around. The same could be said of the twin nose-wheels, which are each single parts, but all would be improved by the addition of a flat-spot to simulate the aircraft's weight, so if you're keeping them, get your sanding sticks out. The outer bay doors are captive to the gear leg, and have hinge points to give them a good chance of remaining in place during handling or travel to shows.

Under the fuselage there are different options for the centreline pylon and other parts depending on your chosen decal option so consult the instructions carefully on this.  A large centre line tank is provided because all fighters are always short of fuel. The tank is made of two halves split vertically, and has four separate stabilising fins that fit into slots in the body. Sadly for anyone wishing to load up their Viggen from the box contents, there are no weapons available in the kit. A forward bay and Ram Air Turbine are included if you want to model this open. 

 

 

 

 

The last act involves the canopy, which can be posed open or closed using the same two parts. The windscreen will need fairing in for a little extra realism, and the canopy can be fitted open or closed by inserting the hinge tabs in at the appropriate angle. A clear HUD glass is also provided for the coaming, which is incidentally moulded into the fuselage halves, so will need the seam hiding before you paint. PE Canopy mirrors are provided for the main frame. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Markings

There are three decal options in this boxing, two in NMF finish and the last in the famous splinter scheme. From the box you can build one of the following:

 

• 37023/7-23 / 418 - Wing F7, Satena, Seen at the Paris Air Show in 1973. Aircraft was Zapped by RNLAF personnel of 323 Sqn at Leeuwarden on the way back to Sweden (NMF).
• 37029/7-29, Wing F7, Satena July 1975 Still showing markings applied for an airshow in Germany in 1973 (NMF)
• 37035/6-35, Wing F6, Karlsborg, 1984 (Splinter camo).

 

 

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.  The best Viggen in 1:48 available by miles. Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of

[bentwaters81tfw]

Gotta love a Viggen. One for the list.

[Christer A]

Note that the 4-fin tank were only used on JA-37. 

3-finned tanks are also included in the kit, so just make sure to use the correct one!