Special Hobby Saab SK.37 Viggen Trainer (SH48209) 1:48

[Mike]

Saab SK.37 Viggen Trainer (SH48209)

1:48 Special Hobby

 

 

The Viggen is a rugged fighter/interceptor that was designed to fulfil a need during the deep Cold War to defend Swedish airspace in the event of an incursion by the Soviet Bloc, and to continue the fight from hidden bases near roadways, which the aircraft could use as makeshift landing strips. It was to replace both the Lansen and Draken, and did so extremely well, endearing itself to aviation enthusiasts as it did so due to its unusual double-delta/canard configuration. It was fitted with a single Volvo RM8, a licence-built P&W JT8D with an afterburner to give it the performance needed to propel this large aircraft fast enough to accomplish short take-offs. Short landings were made possible by the inclusion of a set of large thrust reversing petals that dropped into the exhaust trunking and expelled the gases forward from slots in the side of the fuselage.

 

The initial AJ37 variant was declared operational in 1972, and required the addition of a trainer variant, dubbed the SK37, which had an additional cockpit placed high above the original, displacing some fuel tankage in the process. The final JA37 variant was brought into service in 1980 with new computer systems, improved radar and engine, as well as other systems and the strength of the airframe, which already utilised titanium to reduce weight. The SK-37E was developed from a group of 10 airframes that were converted from trainers to Electronic Warfare trainers in the late 1990s, but were phased out after a relatively short service life in 2007.  The last of the operational Viggens (Thunderbolt) were retired in 2005, replaced by the impressive JAS39 Gripen (Griffon). Several Viggens are on display in museums – notably Newark in the UK, but the Swedes have retained one in flying condition that can sometimes be seen at British airshows along with a Draken, Lansen and even the Tunnan. If only every country was conscientious in preservation of its aviation history.

 

 

The Kit

The original tooling that this kit originated from is the collaborative effort between Special Hobby and Tarangus in 2014, which has been re-issued a few times over the years in single- and two-seat guise, either with new decals or additional parts to represent other variants. The sprues include another cockpit tub and instrument panel, with appropriate glazing parts included on a small clear sprue.  In the box you get nine sprues of grey styrene, two of clear parts, a fret of nickel-plated and pre-painted Photo-Etch (PE) brass, a sheet of decals and a glossy colour printed instruction booklet with integrated colour and markings guide at the rear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the two ejection seats, and here there are a few small PE parts and a set of painted PE seatbelts for the crew, plus the anti-flail projections from the sides of the seat box that are folded over.  The two cockpit tubs are identical in terms of detail, but have slightly different shapes due to their location in the fuselage, and build up with either the moulded-in console detail, or the PE replacements, which are also pre-painted, for which you must scrape and sand off the moulded-in detail.  The same applies to the instrument panels, only they have a substantially different structure, with a large projection at the top of the panel, and a limited set of dials due to a lack of available space.  The control columns and rudder pedals are fitted in both tubs, with PE replacements for the rudder pedals if you remove some of the detail from the originals.  Before the cockpits are installed, the interior of the fuselage insert is painted and sidewall detail is attached to the two stations, with a short blast screen fitted to the front of the rear aperture.  The cockpits in their fuselage segment are then set to the side while the lower nose is prepared with the nose gear bay, the APU bay installed with painting diagram, and the intake trunks with front engine face is built up from the split trunking that separates horizontally, joining just in front of the engine against a bulkhead, with the engine face buried deep in the fuselage, and probably only just visible.  Whether you hide the seams between the two halves of the trunking is entirely up to you, but after the first kink very little will be seen.  If you're a bit obsessive about that sort of thing, there is an aftermarket resin replacement set available somewhere.

 

 

 

The trunking is applied to the bottom fuselage half, and the upper fuselage with cockpits is fixed to the top, with a bulkhead inserted at the nose end for structural strength.  Attention turns to the rear fuselage, which must have the substantial exhaust trunk, thrust reversing petals, and rear engine face built up and painted first.  The first section is a single part with the engine and burner ring moulded-in, to which you fit another ring that holds the three thrust-reversing petals, the top-most of which is usually seen drooped into the airway on a parked aircraft due to the bleed-away of hydraulic pressure.  They can be posed open or closed, and the instructions mention the droop, while a scrap diagram shows the correct orientation of the burner in the fuselage, then with the reversers installed the exterior cowling is added at the rear.   This forms the aft section of the fuselage once it is integrated in the rear fuselage, which closes around it and is then mated to the front section, with the full-width wing lowers also added to the underside after the main gear bays are inserted.  The upper wings are separate parts, as is the tail fin, of which there are three variants on the sprues, so be sure to choose the correct one.  The nose cone is built from two parts and glued into place noting that if you plan to use aftermarket, some nose-weight may be required, while the crisply moulded intakes are each a single part, to which a strut is added to brace them against the fuselage side.  Clear nav lights are fixed outboard of the bullet-faring after the last sweep change, plus another on the wing tips, and another is added to the spine, with a small insert near the tail glued into place at the same time.  You now have an almost complete airframe, so by now you'll realise that the Viggen was no small aircraft.

 

 

The nose gear is built up from several parts that give a good account of the detail there, with separate oleo-scissors and retraction struts, twin wheels, bay doors and their retraction mechanisms, and those large rough-field ready main gear legs that seem to have struts all over the place.  The main wheels are made from two halves each, and the complete assemblies are added to the bays over two pages of the instructions, shown with the captive main bay door added at this point.  The inner bay doors have their jacks too, and the completed main gear area is shown in another diagram to confirm everything's position in situ.  The inner bay doors can be shown retracted by cutting off the attachment lugs, so check your references and decide which pose you'd prefer.  The small air-brakes on the underside are added closed, but you can leave them open, but you would need to add some extra detail so it's best to leave them closed as they would be that way on the ground for much of the time unless you buy the resin detail set.  Your Viggen wouldn't look much like a Christmas tree without the canards up front, and these have separate flaps to the rear like the real thing, which can be posed at an angle, or in line with the airflow at your whim.  Whilst you're still looking at the underside, some intakes, centre pylons and additional fuel tanks are added, with little else needed, as this variant wasn't flown on operational missions.

 

On the topside, several vents, intakes, more airbrakes, and aerials finish off the topside, and the APU is fitted to the open bay, captive to the door.  Unless you are planning on modelling your Viggen in flight, you will want this dangling freely in the breeze, as it deploys automatically on the ground.  The canopies are the last parts of the saga, and of course there are three parts; the fixed windscreen and two openers, which can be posed open or closed.  A pair of rear-view mirrors are supplied on the PE sheet for the windscreen, as is a PE HUD frame, which you'll need to add your own acetate to, although you are at least given the sizing in another scrap diagram.  At the bottom of that final page of instructions, you can find a small advert for the resin crew sets available from their CMK brand, which includes ground crew and pilots to give your model a more candid appearance.  There’s another advert down the side of the back page showing the other options such as the rocket pods, seats, wheels, air-brakes and control surfaces that are also available.

 

 

Markings

There are three options available from the decal sheet, which are grey, silver and splinter camouflage.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

• 15-52 (37817) Wing F4, Ӧstersund-Frösön, 1999
• 7-66 (37804) Wing F7, Satenäs, 1973
• 15-58 (37811), Wing F4, Ӧstersund-Frösön, 1998

 

 

The decals appear to be printed by Eduard and are in good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas.  I mention Eduard because from 2021, the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film.  It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain.

 

The easy options are the grey and silver aircraft, but the most impressive is the splinter scheme, which I believe you can obtain masks for from a company somewhere.  I have an old set knocking about, but as they're for a single-seater, I'll be weighing my options.  There's still lots of opportunity for weathering, as the aircraft were often seen needing a good wash, with plenty of patina to whet your appetite for painting and weathering effects.

 

 

Conclusion

The Viggen is a huge, impressive Cold War warrior that has a special place in my heart.  The 2-seater kit fills my need that was unsatisfied for many years before the first release.  Detail is good, the inclusion of a large sheet of PE and excellent decals into the bargain makes this a must-have as far as I'm concerned.  If you like Viggens too, then make sure you get one.

 

Very highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of

[Marlin]

Thanks for the review Mike.

One more kit to the stash.

 

/Bosse

[-Ian-]

I said it when this boxing first appeared in Rumourmonger but worth saying again, that box art is brilliant,

 

If Special Hobby every saw fit to release it as a print I'd definitely buy it.

[Shalako]

How can anyone resist this triple-bottom line temptation??? Double-cockpit (double the pleasure!), 1/48 scale, and a splinter scheme!!!!