Airfix | No. 07107 | 1:48 | Saab JA-37 Viggen
2020/21: OOB build of the '02 Airfix 1/48 kit.
Cleaning up, there are seamlines and injection holes everywhere.
I dislike old Airfix kits! In my opinion, they never 'sit' right. Especially when compared to a vintage Revell, Monogram or Italeri.
The rear is particularly bad. I could spend hours and hours here trying to make it perfect.
Mating wings to fuselage. Lolly sticks ensure glue cures with required tolerance of gaps correcting alignment to main body.
Ensuring correct 'push-up' on wings. Then cutting forward fuselage after glue has cured to allow (mild) heating and bending of main fuselage to get better alignment.
Getting somewhere now. Though still work to do...
Still fiddling, though as you can see it's beginning to line up better everywhere.
Filling more minor surface imperfections.
At this point I couldn't help myself and went back and sorted out many more errors in the kit manufacturing as it just looked bad with a coat of paint. I was hoping to make this a quicker build. Alas not to be!
Then some more filling, fiddling and sanding.
Back with Vallejo primer to get surface levels more even prior to wet & dry.
Masking for the Yellow on leading edges.
Fixing pod to underside.
Back again with Vallejo primer to get surface levels more even prior to wet & dry. Again! Arghh!
Adding blue shadow to leading edges to highlight the yellows.
Masking for yellow.
Painting yellow.
Touching up.
More yellow coats.
Repeated for underside.
Silver for wheel wells and touch ups.
I've added some shadows. It shouldn't really have any and of course the blue colour isn't historically accurate either - it's metallic, when it should be flat. But what the heck! It all adds character!
Decals are ok(ish)!
Spectacular disaster when attempting to use the decals on rear fin. So ended up masking and painting instead.
Rescued! Not great, but there was little option after the aged decals fell apart. I had to go heavy with the yellow here - aware of overlap.
Minor touches with brush. I've avoided a lot of pin/panel wash malarkey as of course this is another raised panel line kit and really it shouldn't look like it's carrier style dirty!
Undercarriage is all carefully hand painted. No masks. Same for cockpit. I like to leave the canopy loose to allow inspection of cockpit.
Comments
69 29 March 2021, 15:27
TreehuggerBtw, there are two tiny thingies at both end of the big wings. These are nav lights of sorts. Red on the left side, and blue on the right side, according to some paint chart I've seen recently.
14 August 2021, 20:06
NeilHi Treehugger ? kind of you to offer advice... Excellent build help indeed. Thanks for the tip ?
14 August 2021, 20:14
Robert PodkoΕskiViggen in yellow and blue!!! I love it! Watching with pleasure, Neil.
7 December 2021, 17:12
NeilHi all π I've finally got around to taking 'reveal' pictures for many of my previous build albums. I shall be updating each and including a few build notes in the description too - especially on the bits I messed up!
Here is my version of that 'Blu Petter' kit for the Airfix Saab Viggen completed in 2021. Excuses alert! It wasn't the best fitting kit, being an earlier Airfix effort.
Thanks to all who showed interest and liked, it's greatly appreciated π
16 February, 15:48
NeilHi Gary, Daniel and CaptGPF, thanks very much mates. Really appreciate you talented bunch commenting. I too love the kit colour scheme on this one and with hindsight; and an acceptance of some kit flaws, in my opinion it builds up into a pretty decent kit for an older Airfix one 👍 Thanks also to all those who've liked my efforts here too 🙂
20 February, 11:23
Album info
The Saab 37 Viggen (Swedish for "the bolt" or "the tufted duck") is a retired Swedish single-seat, single-engine, short-medium range combat aircraft.
One good example is the blue-painted JA-37 which was the star of static display at Air Show 2001 in Uppsala β a large and memorable event marking the 75th anniversary of the Swedish Air Force. The aircraft, called BlΓ₯ Petter (Blue Peter) became the object of vivid interest of many SwAF fans.
