Michael Phillips
Oooooh this is gonna be a fun one! 🙂

Soeren R.
I bet it will 😉 Count me in.

Martin Oostrom
If you're excited, so must we!

Stefan Fraundorfer
I love the Viggen, so I'm in too. I built the same kit in "The Show must go on"-version. The fit of the parts is good, so have much fun Michael. I'm looking forward to see more pics.

Maciej Bellos
Cool topic Michael! Will you paint it as depicted? That will be some impressive painting.

Mike Daniels
Looking forward to seeing what you make of this Michael. Following. I have only built one SH kit and I was I was well impressed.

Peter Jenssen
Hi Michael,
I will be following this one with interest. I have it on order together with a Pilot Replicas J29 Tunnan. (Lining up a SAAB fighter jets in 1:48 build queue) Will you be doing the splinter camo?

Spanjaard
i love the biggen, and i have the tarangus one in my stash... so i will not miss this one 🙂

Björn Svedberg
This looks like it's going to be interesting 🙂 Following!

Kerry COX
OHHHH.! ! ! :-O This will be spectacular if what you have blessed us with in the past is any indication Michael. 👍 🙂 🙂 🙂

Alexander Grivonev
Buckle up!

Bart Goesaert
i'm in...

Eugen P.
I will follow. I have it in my stash too, but I want to build the red „Ghost Viggen"

Kees Kleijwegt
I'm in! Will it be in splinter scheme?

Augie
Oo I am in

David Thor
Taking a seat!

Urban Gardini
Now this is indeed interesting to follow!

Michael Phillips
Welcome everyone! To answer a popular question, YES, this will be in the famous green splinter pattern. I have the DModel mask set, so hopefully that helps ease the pain of that undertaking. I will take pics of each step of the painting process.

Also, this will be an in-flight build. Hope you enjoy the show!

Kerry COX
I am seated with oxygen supply on, waiting with great anticipation. Ignition ON. "CONTACT". 🙂

Brian Wilton
taking a seat watching

Stephan Ryll
A crowded place here 😉 I'll take also a seat, love this bird and the camo - builded one a long long time ago aged 14 or 15 😄

Peter Jenssen
I did military service at F17 Kallinge in the 80s. The Viggen 'rotestart', (takeoff two-by-two) with afterburner is really cool to watch.
One of the pilots got a missile lock on the SR71 that used to fly over with such regularity that they used to call it 'the tram'. Cheeky response from the US; -a congratulations telegram!
A bit of playful game that seems to have gone on for a while:
theaviationgeekclub...71-mach-3-spy-plane/

Clifford Keesler
I'm in, one of my favorite Aircraft.

Spanjaard
cool information Peter . i always loved the Viggen, but knowing that they could intercept Blackbirds make them even more interesting 🙂

Kees Kleijwegt
Thanks for sharing the story Peter and link Peter. Very cool!

Maciej Bellos
Great link Peter, thanks!

Peter Jenssen
It happened that they were exceeding the official max altitude without pressure suit. Possible due to the positive pressure in the cabin -as long as the engine is running. High enough to see the sky blacken.
Also didn't pay much attention to minimum altitude, which was set to 20 meters. Still aircraft returned with spruce twigs underneath.. Pilot explanation: Was above minimum 20 meters above ground. Not my fault the trees are taller than that! :-D

Dan Cook
Very very very nice kit.

Bart Goesaert
lol Peter Jenssen, but in that time everything was possible... Someone told a story about a pilot who got suspended because he put the gear of his starfighter down and made a touch and go on the top of the shelter... with one wheel, just to prove it could be done...

Spanjaard
crazy pilots 🙂

Eugen P.
Interesting story Peter 👍

Maciej Bellos
Bart, that's really crazy, but then again the Starfighter could fly low, as long as its wings didn't hit the ground during a turn. Pretty contradicting with the name Starfighter, huh?

Bart Goesaert
Yeah, but the pilots could show off these days and perform crazy stunts without big consequences. There's a video of a Belgian starfighter doing a touch-roll-touch on a runway...

Konrad -
There is only one picture and a lot of very interesting stories! Whatever I'm in too !

Peter Jenssen
Cool! Have to look for Starfighter vids now.
Low altitude turns with the Viggen apparently took a bit of care; the roll axis is quite a bit above the wing plane, so the wing tips dip a bit lower than might be expected. A lot of the low flying was over the sea. The ground effect gets quite pronounced. With the wings so far back, this means the nose dips(!) When you have peactime rules, they can't get the feel for extreme situations. In a real fight it's not the time. Apparently the JAS 39 is a bit of a 'nanny' with the computers to a greater extent limiting the pilot's actions. Also, as Bart says, different culture those days. More culture of punishment now.
Although, not everything used to end well.
About 15 years ago, a Viggen pilot took off, -he did rotation, gear up and roll to the side (spreads the wake out for multiple takeoffs), all within the first seconds. Unfortunately , he ended up with too much nose up, at 2m altitude over a small grass hill where audience was standing. 8 people injured by shockwave and burns (afterburner exhaust is 1100°C up to 10m behind) one person was thrown 15m.
(sorry Michael, if I'm hijacking your thread?)

Clifford Keesler
We used to do all kinds of stuff, that my son says now would get us court-martiled. I got blown across the ramp at an airshow in Savanah GA. in 1984 by a Thunderbirds F-16, pilot applied a little to much power taxing out a blew me and a couple of other people across the ramp. Got an autographed picture out of the deal.

Michael Phillips
Welcome everyone!

Peter, no worries, great stories and I am glad you are here. I may have to ask you some questions as I go along as information and pics of the Viggen tend to be pretty sparse.

Working on the cockpit now, should have some pics this weekend!

Peter Jenssen
I'd be happy to help in any way I can, keeping in mind that 1987 is over 30 years ago..! :-o
..and I have sat in a Viggen cockpit exactly once. :-/

Spanjaard
Any good reference pictures?

Christian Ristits
Looking forward to this !

Spanjaard
this is what i have, (probably you have it all)
tarangus.se/all-new-..gallery-ja37-viggen/
SAAB AJ-37 Viggen by Marek Swiderski | Album by Marek Pl
Saab Viggen | Album by ScottieD (1:48)
ipmsstockholm.org/ma..ng_detail_viggen.htm
x-plane.org/home/urf..on/text/37viggen.htm
ipms.nl/walkarounds/..und-saab-viggen.html
osterlensflygmuseum.se/saab37viggen_foto.php
facebook.com/groups/saab37viggen

Peter Jenssen
Just be careful which pictures show which plane. There are differences. New vs old and different variants. I'm not 100% across it at the moment. But, for example for JA37, the fuselage was stretched to fit a more powerful engine, and an additional actuator was added to the flaps..

Spanjaard
thanks Peter, you certainly know a lot more than me 🙂

Spanjaard
this site has several ones.... at least each of them should be one specific plane (i hope)
cybermodeler.com/air..gen/viggen_all.shtml

Martin Oostrom
Got a couple of pictures from an AJSF37 here: Hermeskeil Western Jets | Album by Mahoo76 (1:1) Photo 180 and beyond.
Don't know if it remotely "fits" with Mike's plane.

Peter Jenssen
Interesting. This one seems to be painted in a fairly late scheme. Similar to JAS39 low visibility with some warning texts in English. Stationed in Luleå by the look of it.
This reconnaissance version would not have the same mods as the JA version.
Could be other mods though.
Spanjaard's links seem to be mostly AJ.
For me, I'm just starting to refresh myself on this after ordering this same kit.
-I started looking a little a few years ago after getting the Airfix/ESCI kit. (Didn't get very far before despairing over the accumulating number of inaccuracies found and put it back at the bottom of the stash)
Special Hobby/Tarangus looks a LOT better than Airfix, though it seems to still leave some for builders with cases of AMS to sink additional weekends into. 😉
Looking around the various reviews, it seems the Tarangus JA37 has an extra sprue with a fuselage extension plug, an alternative cockpit and the Oerlikon belly cannon, so the Special Hobby, being based of the same molds 'should' be able to represent an AJ37 fairly accurately.
(leaves a bit of a question mark around differing antennas, positional lights and such things though, but that may be AMS territory 😉 )

Michael Phillips
So much great information here, thanks everyone for the contributions! I definitely do not have AMS, so I won't be too worried about the little things that might be wrong with the kit. Heck, since I am doing this in flight, I need a pilot... I thought about him like a Swedish pilot. Inside the closed cockpit the difference won't be enough to bother me. The helmets are similar, as are the masks. I am ok with that. LOL

Michael Phillips
So for my first question, let's talk about the white or red day-glo numbers. I understand these are practice/exercise numbers? What is their significance? Is there a reason for red ones opposed to the white ones? I guess what I am getting at is, are there certain number ranges that I would need to stay within to be correct for an AJ Viggen, or can I basically pick any number/color? I really want to add these in red, as I think they look really cool.

Spanjaard
SCM Search: 1:48 swedish pilot*
but i believe they are hard to find now

Michael Phillips
Whoa, like a major portion of what I wrote disappeared concerning the pilot...

Anyway, I had written that I thought about buying a pilot, but I didn't feel like paying $15 or more on one, so I took one from my Tamiya F-16 kit and painted him like a Swedish pilot. Inside a closed cockpit the difference won't be too noticeable.

So odd that part disappeared lol.

Peter Jenssen
Just make sure the wing number matches the fin number and you will be alright. Maybe someone else can help with which ones would be suitable for red vs white? I'm not sure. I have mostly seen red.

Martin Oostrom
1 picture up and already 50+ comments. This is gonna be epic! 😎
Just raising the bar a bit Michael 😉

Holger Kranich
This looks like a project right for me! Count me in Michael. Cheers; )

Patrick Hagelstein
I'm just seeing this now. I'm in obviously! 🙂 Good luck on this next beauty!

Harry Eder
Oh a Viggen project! I´m in!

Michael Phillips
Thanks everyone and welcome to all!

So FINALLY I have uploaded some progress pics. I actually have made some decent progress, the cockpit and pilot are done. My not-Swedish "Swedish" pilot turned out pretty nice, I am happy enough with how he looks.

So far the fit of this kit is quite nice. I have no gaps so far to tend to and only some minor steps to even out. The plastic is rather soft, and it sands quite rapidly, which is both good and bad. Gotta be careful not to go far to quickly!

Konrad -
The pilot looks very cool! Pit too. 🙂

Clifford Keesler
The pilot looks very nice. I just watched a build review on that kit on You Tube.

Stephan Ryll
Nice progress so far Michael 👍

Urban Gardini
Great start mate!

David Thor
Promising start!

Maciej Bellos
The blond haired Swede in the office looks good (of course he has blond hair, he is from Sweden!).

Urban Gardini
I'm a Swede and I'm not blond... Anymore, now grey and quite a bit white in my beard...

Kerry COX
I do hope we will see some images of the cockpit and pilots assembly. 🙂

Holger Kranich
Hey Urban, we are all a bit white. .. In our beard. ..hair. ..back. ..😄

Urban Gardini
It sure comes with age...

Kerry COX
Says....All the old farts. hahahahaha 🙂 👍

Peter Jenssen
Looks great!
I spot a tiiny error in the kit, the hinges of the canopy should be showing slightly through the spine plates.
[img1]
Pilot colours look just right, usually they have document/map pads on their laps:
[img2]

Very nice start,

(Mine has not arrived yet :-/ )

Michael Phillips
Thanks Konrad, Clifford, Stephan, Urban, David, Maciej, Kerry, and Peter!

Kerry, unfortunately I did not take any pics as I assembled to cockpit, I need to get better at photodocumenting my work!

Peter, you have a great eye! I did not notice that! I am not sure I would have attempted to fix that with the canopy closed, but it is good to know there is an error there. I read a thread that pointed out some of the kit errors a while back, but I don't remember them all. Luckily I do not have AMS and most of them don't bother me much.

Erik Leijdens
Interesting project Michael!! Eager to see your progress in recreating this amazing camouflage! Succes mate 👍

Nice pics Peter, the Viggen on the first picture is the one which currently is in the Dutch aviation museum Aviodrome, looks like the photo is taken on it's final flight. Unfortunately it's out in the open and so the Dutch weather has it's effect on it.. He is repainted with very horrible colors...
waltervanbelphotogra..-the-Swedish-Viggen/

Peter Jenssen
The pictures are both links to the respective websites where I found them. Cut down the URL and you can read the story. Indeed the last flight to the Dutch museum, there is also the photo taken in the opposite direction... 🙂
This one should be pretty close to an AJ.

Spanjaard
pity they keep this beauty outside.... but of course, she is not alone there.

Michael Hickey
Great start Michael.

Michael Phillips
Thanks Erik and Michael!

Well, got the cockpit buttoned up and more of the fuselage assembled. Deviated from the instructions a bit to ensure a better fuselage fit, I will add the exhaust interior and aft section next.

So far the kit fits really nice for a limited run kit, however I do have a couple seams and steps to deal with still. But nothing major. Enjoying this one so far!

Peter Jenssen
Looks good.
From what I've seen in reviews, the Tarangus kit is missing the underside air intake support struts?

Patrick Hagelstein
Michael, are you keeping with the tan instrument panel shroud? When I look at those pictures the shroud seems faded black with the sun casting a golden sheen over it. In these pictures one could think it is tan where it should be actually 'black'.

Michael Phillips
Thanks Peter and Patrick!

Peter, I believe you are correct, there are no underside supports in the kit. Only the upper side ones.

Patrick, ya know, I looked more closely at pictures, and I think you are right... I had not noticed it before, the pic that Peter posted and I had actually used previously as a reference definitely looks tan, but now that I look at it after your observation I agree. I think that is severely faded black with sun glare causing it to look tan. Sigh, too late now as the windscreen is securely attached. Since this is an in-flight build, I will just say it's sun glare! LOL

Patrick Hagelstein
😄 I won't tell anybody! 😉

Clifford Keesler
Looking nice.

Peter Jenssen
Sun faded is probably fair enough. While it originally would have been black, on that picture the colour matches the tan part of the camouflage better than the black... 🙂
(received my kit yesterday, together with the Pilot Replicas J29 :-D)

Michael Phillips
Thanks Clifford!

Haha thanks Peter and Patrick for keeping this a secret between us, and, well everyone else on Scalemates.

Anyway, got some more construction work done tonight. So far I am very impressed with the fit of this kit. I have some cleaning up and evening out to do still, but no major gaps whatsoever. 🙂

She's starting to look like a Viggen!!!

Stephan Ryll
Nice progress so far Michael 👍

Konrad -
Very nice Michael!

Patrick Hagelstein
The kit has really nice surface details though!

Maciej Bellos
That's going fast!

Peter Jenssen
There is another error on the canard. A bit surprising as the instructions have it right(!)
photos.app.goo.gl/k5vxdqfMNA1wyqkT2

Clifford Keesler
Looking good Michael, looking forward to the camo job.

Patrick Hagelstein
I bet Michael doesn't!!! 😄

Michael Phillips
Thanks Stephan, Konrad, Maciej, James, and Clifford!

Peter, yeah, looks like they made quite a few small errors, but I am ok with that. Better than the ESCI kit!

Patrick, you couldn't be more correct. I started painting this on Friday night, and over the last 5 nights I have been masking, painting, masking, painting, masking, painting... you get the idea. Now, without these masks this job would be so difficult I wouldn't even attempt it. With them, it is only mind numbingly tedious! This makes the Blizzard F-16 Aggressor scheme look like child's play. I know that I don't have the masks completely correct in some areas, and I am going to have to touch up many many areas. But damn, I CANNOT WAIT to see what I have once I take the masks off! Only have the brown left to mask and paint!

Stay tuned!!!

Kerry COX
And now that your fingers are stuck together and blistered from applying so much tape, how did you find the time to write so descriptively about your efforts. ? 🙂
I would have 'lost it' on the first piece applied. 🙁
But looking great Michael, . But it helps when you have the patience of a saint I guess. 🙂 🙂 🙂
The end result will be, no doubt, an other MP of yours. 👍

Kees Kleijwegt
Great progress Michael, can't wait to see this great camo revealed 🙂👍

Spanjaard
oh... the wait.... 👍 go Michael go..... 🙂

Nikolaos Kouzinis
Nice job Michael

Roland Sachsenhofer
Very nice and interesting project!

Michael Phillips
Thanks Kerry, Kees, Spanjaard, Nikolaos, and Roland!

Well, the wait is over... The final unmasking is complete, and well, it turned out pretty decent! I have quite a few areas to touch up and a couple areas that need some serious adjustment, but overall I am pretty pleased with how it went. 🙂

Maciej Bellos
Fast and good work there Michael!

Björn Svedberg
That camouflage looks great! Well done indeed! 👍

Konrad -
Indeed the camo looks fantastic🙂

Christian Ristits
Wonderful!

Kerry COX
Out bloody standing Michael. Fully worth every second we had to wait for the result. SALUTE. 🙂 👍 👍 👍

Przemek Przybulewski
Interesting camo, wonderful paint job

Florent Thouret
Wonderfull !!! I like it !

Ronan
Very nice camo, Michael ! 🙂

Eelco Gregoire
Excellent job Michael.

Martien Lourens
Excellent work

Spanjaard
amazing job on that camo Michael! the puzzle-masking really paid off

Peter Jenssen
That's really cool! Must get one of those! 🙂
I believe all had the same pattern, so you can't go wrong.
(I have already masked a strv 103 using large quantities of Tamiya tape and hours of fiddling)
The result looks really great!

Patrick Hagelstein
Wow......

Pierre
Gorgeous result!

Burkhard D
Now that's an eyecatcher! 😎

Erik Leijdens
Well, that turned out fantastic Michael!!

Augie
Wow 🙂

Michael Hickey
Lots of patience, well done.👍

Stephan Ryll
The camo is looking awsome Michael 👍

Eugen P.
Awesome camo!

Olivier
Top notch camo !

Konrad -
Now I've watched your progress again and again and hell man it looks fantastic. Keep on going 🙂

Augie
Ohh man, great work on the paint!

Spanjaard
damn you Michel.... you made me order those masks 😄 😄 i am sure it will be as good as yours, but one day, i will try them on my Tarangus one 🙂

Michael Phillips
Thanks Maciej, James. Björn, Konrad, Christian, Kerry, Przemek, Florent, Ronan, Eelco, Martien, Spanjaard, Peter, Martin, Patrick, Pierre, Burkhard, Erik, Augie, Michael, Stephan, Eugen, and Olly! I am overwhelmed with the favorable response from you all! It makes the tedious work on this camo well worth it!

Spanjaard, I feel ya man! That kind of stuff happens to me all the time too. LOL But, if you ever plan on doing this scheme, the masks are an absolute must. Even with them it can be quite confusing where to put the masks; it is quite complicated. And over complex surfaces they don't like to stay down, hence all the random Tamiya tape as I went along. But in the end, all that pain is worth it. 🙂

Thomas K.
cool!!!🙂

Clifford Keesler
WOW!!! excellent paint job.

Spanjaard
thanks Michel 🙂 yes, i intend to do this scheme. although doing it also in MMF is a possibility... not only because it looks good, also to clear my conscience after doing the Esci Viggen 20+ years ago with a ton of humbrol silver paint 😄 I think i should be able to do a much better job today 🙂

Dan Cook
Great work as usual Mike. I love this scheme but for my Special Hobby Viggen I have copped out and am going for the red scheme.

Scott Dutton
Looks great, did one myself so appreciate your skill here

Murad ÖZER
Splendid splinter camo! 👍

Thomas Ehrensperger
Great work 🙂

Michael Phillips
Thanks Thomas, Clifford, Dan, Scorr, Murad, and Thomas!

Spanjaard, you can't go wrong either way, but the lure of the splinter is too great to not to at least have one in the collection!

Dan, it's all good, the red one is very cool too, and much less of a headache to do! 🙂

Scott, I remember your Viggen! I commented on it about my trepidation of doing this scheme, but seeing yours made me feel like I had to do one, it was just so awesome! So here I am now LOL

Michael Phillips
So I was able to clean up the splinter edges, add some trim painting, and paint the underside Gray. All there is left to do is to paint black around the intakes and freshen up the silver on the insides. That is going to be challenging because there is a black lip inside the intakes that I will freehand brush paint. Wish me luck! LOL

Tim Heimer
Michael you don't need luck with all the skill you have! But if you insist...Good luck!

Daniel Mysak
Nice paintjob 👍

Jos Jansen
Great paint job, awesome skills

Adam Gudynowski
Exellent camo Michael 👍

Patrick Hagelstein
Good luck with that trim! 👍👍s up on that!

Michael Phillips
Thanks Timothy, Daniel, Jos, Adam, and Patrick! I appreciate the very kind words.

So the trim painting did not go well, apparently my hand was not quite steady enough and I was not happy with the result. So I removed it, repainted the silver inside, and came up with an alternative plan that worked out perfectly... I used a black permanent marker! By angling the tip several degrees as I ran it around the rim of the intake, I could control how much black I was putting down inside, little by little. Perfectly straight! Sometimes when a plan goes wrong, and you have to improvise. Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much. This time was a win for me!

Michael Phillips
So I put the main decals on tonight, a combination of TwoBobs and Euro Decals for the Day-Glo numbers. I must say, I am a bit disappointed in the performance of the Euro Decals. First, I had to change the number I wanted to use because I destroyed the 3. These decals are by far the most delicate I have ever used and tore at even the slightest resistance on the model. The second issue was, by themselves, the numbers were too transparent! I could see the camo pattern through the decals. I had already ripped and pieced back together the 3 when I noticed this and tried to remove it to reuse, but it broke into about a million pieces with this maneuver. The sheet also include white numbers of the same size, so I put the white 45 (my new number choice) down, then put the day-glo 45 on top of it. It is then I realized that there were no white numbers on the sheet for the little numbers that go on the vertical tail. I went ahead and tried them thinking maybe the were a little more opaque, and sure enough, they were just like the wing numbers. So I decided to try the red tail numbers, since some AJ 37s used them according to the sheet, and they seemed to be backed by white. These looked much better, so in the end I am happy. But damn it was an adventure to get to that point!

Konrad -
Hey Michael, it seems to be a challenging build 😉. Especially the decals. But the red 45 looks great on the camo 👍

Kerry COX
The big red numbers seem to defeat the whole purpose of the cammo. !!!

Holger Kranich
I thought the same, Kerry! 😄

Bart Goesaert
Thought these were used in peacetime... just as the Egyptian mig-21's with the large orange surfaces: [img1]

Peter Jenssen
Looks really great!
Cool idea with the permanent marker. Must remember this.
As for the large wing numbers, they are indeed removable.
They are exercise numbers.
60cm(?) wide fluoro tape with a bit of varnish along the edges to keep them from starting to peel off from air friction.

Stephan Ryll
Looking nice so far Michael 👍

Erik Leijdens
Some nice work again Michael! And with the usual speed also!

Spanjaard
after all the masking for the camo, you could have easily do a mask for those numbers 😉

Olivier
Quite frankly I preferred before the 45

Clifford Keesler
Looking very nice Michael.

Michael Phillips
Thanks Konrad, Kerry, Peter, Stephan, Erik, and Clifford!

Olly, I completely understand your thoughts. I could see how the bright day-glo appearance against that camo can be off-putting, but that is also the exact reason why I used them. I love the contrast against the camo, and it is also part of what makes the Viggen (along with the wild splinter camo and unique aircraft shape) so iconic. I can see how that can be polarizing, but I could not imagine doing it any other way for myself. 🙂

Kerry COX
I guess it was all that effort you went to in creating that stunning cammo Michael. But as we all encourage each other to do. 'What ever you see, is fine by the rest of us', as it is your canvass and your representation of it. I do, most humbly apologise if I sounded like I was disbelieving or critical. I ask your forgiveness mate. 👍. It is a most stunning result in every way. 🙂

Michael Phillips
Kerry, there is no need for you or anyone to apologize! I took absolutely no offense to what you, Olly, or anyone said. Those numbers are shocking, I know! I can see how some might react to seeing them stand out so starkly, but that is indeed the point of those exercise numbers. Many would not put them on their own model, but for me I think they are way cool. :-D

Patrick Hagelstein
I concur with Michael, those dayglo excercise numbers are so iconic, they have to be on!

Kerry COX
Michael. Cheers for your welcome reply. 👍 🙂

Peter Jenssen
Whichever way you like is fine (unless you want to be really picky and show one specific individual at one specific point in time) Exercise numbers were often left on. When I used to do hanggliding, we were showing off a couple of our hanggliders and the Airforce parked a grey scheme Viggen next to us. I clearly remember it having exercise numbers, so strong day glow that it was reflecting onto the fuselage.
The camo pattern was always the same on every plane. However towards the end you could see parts swapped between grey and green individuals; green camo tail on a grey individual, grey intakes on a green.. In fact the Special Hobby markings has a scheme where the right intake is grey.. :-/

Peter Jenssen
Oh, and a Viggen sure looks like a huge monster next to a hangglider, though the hanggliders did have a greater wingspan. 🙂 Sadly, I did not bring a camera...

Michael Hickey
WoW, that paint job is amazing, you defiantly have more patience than I do, well done.👍

Martin Oostrom
Olly is respectfully giving an opinion, Michael gives a polite reply, Kerry offers apologies. You almost sound like adults 🙂
Seriously, a lot of people (including so-called world "leaders" ) should follow your example guys 👍
And the numbers, I like them.

Björn Leichsenring
Very nice camo. Excellent job with the small stripes.

Patrick Hagelstein
Well spoken Martin! 🙂

Spanjaard
Martin for president 🙂

Maciej Bellos
Great result Michael. The day glo numbers are a very nice touch! They may look strange but this practise is common. For example the Swiss F-5Es wore a day glo orange fuel tank under the belly. Click on the link below:

[img1]

Michael Phillips
Thanks Peter, Michael, Martin, Björn, Patrick, James, and Maciej!

Well, I got all the decals on, put on a wash, added some weathering, and applied the flat coat. I weathered the day glo numbers, but they are so bright that the camera doesnt pick it up! In person the weathering tones down the color a little bit, but that does not translate in the pics LOL.

Augie
Sweet work Michael, a stunner

Spanjaard
She is looking fantastic, even if not completely finished

Michael Phillips
Thanks Augie an Spanjaard!

So little update (but no pics yet)... I removed the canopy masking today, and I just couldn't get over the tan painted coaming. It bothered me soooo much! It was just in too prominent of a place for me to let go. So I took my hobby knife and slowly ran it along the mating surface of the windscreen to the fuselage... And voila! It came off! So now I am going to repaint that damn coaming black!

Erik Leijdens
Amazing work. Think your best so far Michael!

Ronan
I love this big 45 red on the wings, it's a lot less sad like that ! congrats Michael 😉

Patrick Hagelstein
Sorry Michael for pointing that out...

Michael Phillips
Thanks Erik and Ronan!

Patrick, no need to apologize, I am SO glad you mentioned it!!!

They say ignorance is bliss, but I would rather not be ignorant if at all possible (although it does happen haha). Most likely I would have noticed it much later when it definitely was too late, once someone else pointed it out, perhaps in a less constructive way. 🙂

Patrick Hagelstein
😄 Good! 🙂

Donald Dickson II
Just found this. I have to say, I like the orange numbers as well. I used them on my Drakken. I know they "ruin" the camo or gray scheme, but they are too screamingly fun not to.

great job with the camo by the way!

Roland Sachsenhofer
That´s fantastic and very impressive! Congratulations to that stunning beauty!

Peter Hardy
Looks Viggen fantastic Mick!

ForestFan
Great job

Patrick Hagelstein
The coaming looks nice Michael! I can't tell that the canopy was off too! 👍

Michael Phillips
Thanks Donald, Roland, Peter, Forest, and Patrick!

Patrick, thanks man! Actually, the canopy itself was never off, only the windscreen. Not sure how I managed to pulled that off, it was quite the happy accident. Also, in these pics the windscreen is not glued in, it is just wedged back in and fits like a glove. I will remove it and run some black along the attachment areas of the windscreen to make it blend in a little better to the fuselage. However, this maneuver was not without its issue. I noticed a small crack on the left side near the front of the windscreen that I will have to live with, and a little odd appearance on the right side of the windscreen at the very front. I might try to polish it out if I can... we shall see.

Anyway, for the most part the model itself is done. Added the clear parts, really all I have left to do is reattach the broken off vertical tail probe and then attach the pitot. Working on the weapons now. Going with two Bofors M/70 pods, two RB 75 (AGM-65 Maverick) missiles, and two RB 24J (AIM-9J Sidewinder) missiles.

After that it will be time to create the stand and base. I am going with a new setup for in-flight builds with this one, hopefully it will turn out nice. It will also be DIY like my last version.

Es-haq Khosravi
Great job!

Daniel Klink
Congrats Mate! Eyecatching beautiful finish!!!

Peter Jenssen
Looks really great!

Tom Griffin
Fantastic camo work Michael. It looks like it was tedious work but it looks great.

Spanjaard
fantastic looking Michael.

Adam Gudynowski
Excellent, as usual 👍

Manuel Schwarzenberger
Great Stuff, looking Awsome 👍

Clifford Keesler
Looking awesome sir.

Michael Phillips
Thanks Es-Haq,Daniel, Peter, Tom, Spanjaard, Adam, Manuel, and Clifford!

Yeah, Tom, it surely was tedious! I took it to the Quartely contest today, and it won first place in the them e category! 🙂

Which brings me to my next point... It's done! I will be uploading a new album shortly. Thanks for all your help, kind words, and encouragement along the way!

Kerry COX
A HUGE congratz Michael. Superb. 🙂

Patrick Hagelstein
Congratulations Michael!!!

Spanjaard
congratulations for the award Michel, fully deserved!!!

Maciej Bellos
Congrats Michael! It is a stunner despite not seeing the final pics.

Martin Oostrom
You can find it here: Special Hobby AJ 37 Viggen - Completed! | Album by Fighting 84 (1:48)

Daniel Klink
Congrats Michael....Well deserved 👍

Clifford Keesler
Beautiful as always Michael.

Michael Phillips
Thanks Kerry, Patrick, Spanjaard, Maciej, James, Martin, Daniel, and Clifford!

Thanks Martin for posting the link to the new album!

Donald Dickson II
Just absolutely superb!

Bill Frazier
Very nice build.

Gary Victory
That's one nice Viggen Michael. You gotta love that camo. Really top job Sir. 👍

CaptGPF
That camo job must have driven you crazy! But boy is it a beauty!

Clifford Keesler
OUTSTANDING, beautiful job sir.