Reviewed by Tom Stuart

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The history of the ESCI / Airfix Viggen is well documented.  It shows its age and it lacks the accuracy or finesse of more recent toolings.  Until Trumpeter or one of the other mainstream manufacturers decides the Viggen is deserving of their energies it is the best we have.  

Then along come Two Mikes Resin Accessories and we now have a reason to get those kits out of the loft and create some more accurate renditions of a much neglected jet.

Two Mikes venture seeks to correct some of the more obvious errors in the basic kit.  While we wait for a whole raft of resin to create that winning model, here are three of their newly released resin sets to get your mouth watering.

The accuracy of drawings of the Viggen is questionable and I have not attempted to measure things against the few profiles I possess because of this.  All my considerable photographic references do however show that these sets more accurately capture and represent the aircraft.  A search on the Internet will uncover a wealth of references.

All the sets are packed in sturdy clear plastic cases.  Each set is accompaniek by a full colour guide with colour details of the real aircraft for reference.

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48-010 Saab Viggen Intake Covers

The Intake covers are produced in brittle red resin with no air bubbles (All three sets have no air bubbles).  They are thick and have a strong bracket on the rear which also enables them to be easily set into the intakes. Each intake cover is handed and is clearly marked ‘R’ or ‘L’ for ease of placement. The resin set fits snugly into both the original kit intakes and the more accurate updated resin intakes from Two Mikes.

48-016 Saab JA/AJ/37 Viggen Corrected Nose

The corrected nose is produced in grey resin and addresses the issue of the nose profile being too long and too sharp.  Two Mikes have reduced the length by 3mm and the front end has a rounder taper.  The resin insert will fit into the kit with little work other than filling and sanding the joint and the addition of a more correctly scribed diagonal joint between resin and kit.  The surface on my sample is rather rough in places and will need some sanding and finishing creating a smooth radome surface.

48-017 Saab JA/AJ-37 Viggen Corrected Intakes

The corrected intakes are the finest and most delicate of the three updates.  Again produced in grey resin the intakes are a good scale representation and are a significant improvement on the very inaccurate kit parts.
The Viggen intake is a complex shape and Two Mikes have sought to correct all the errors: shortening the length by 3mm; adding fine engraved detail (no one, in my view, is going to do all these amendments to the kit without re-scribing the rest of the model); adding the ‘slime lights’; altering the ‘splitter plate’ to include a more accurate profile and adding the small notch to the inner lower section.   Two Mikes have also included the connecting strakes (upper and lower) which connect the intakes to the fuselage. All of these strakes and their bullet fairings are not represented in the kit parts.  As final flourish reinforcement plates at the leading edge of the wing fillets add to the accuracy of this set.  These are a prominent feature and are well represented with their heavy rivets.

The resin intakes will have to be removed with care from their moulding block as there is little between them and the blocks.  A fine razor saw will do the job.  The intakes have good locating pins to connect them to the fuselage.  The joint will need filling and sanding.  The transition from intakes to fuselage is smooth with no step.

All these update sets will be welcomed by Viggen enthusiasts around the globe.  They will go a long way to help creating a very accurate and attractive representation of the jet.  I look forward to the additions that Two Miles have planned for the Viggen:  Corrected fin and rudder; new foreplanes with separate control surfaces; new weapons pylons; new wing flaps; new wheel wells; new wheels; new thrust reversers and engine fan section; new RAT and a vac former a new canopy and windscreen.

Will there be much of the kit left after all this?

Thanks to Mike Reeves from Two Mikes Resin for the images and information

Two Mikes Resin Accessories are available from their website

Text Copyright © 2009 by Tom Stuart
Images Copyright © 2009 by Tom Stuart
Page Created 4 February, 2009
Last updated 5 February, 2009

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