Special Hobby 1/48 SAAB AJ 37 Viggen by Steve Pritchard

Special Hobby's 1/48 scale

Saab AJ 37 Viggen
Updated Edition

by Steve Pritchard

Saab AJ 37 Viggen Updated Edition

Summary

Special Hobby 1/48 Saab AJ 37 Viggen Updated Edition

Aftermarket Accessories:

None used.

Paints Used:

Tamiya Lacquer paints LP-11 Silver and LP-38 Aluminium. Various other Tamiya shades for detail painting and Mr. Color C308 Gray for the cockpit and seat.

Thumbnail panels:

Construction

I was a bit concerned that the rather complicated breakdown of the main components would cause fit issues as the build progressed. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find nearly everything fitted very well.

The only real issue was with the canards – I fitted these after painting, but wish I had done so before as they did need some Tamiya putty. It didn’t help that I had cut off two of the locating tabs, not realising that was what they were.

Other than a little Mr. Surfacer 500 along the wing roots and intakes, no other problems were encountered. The location of some parts is a little vague, cockpit side panels, undercarriage legs and thrust reversers in particular.

I added some rivet detail based on photos on the web - my attempt is not 100% accurate, but I am quite pleased with the look.

Painting and Markings

The kit plastic has a slight roughness to it – I am sure it could be sanded smooth but would take a bit of effort. I decided to ignore it, despite intending to paint the aircraft in a bare metal finish.

I used lots of photos of the Swedish Airforce Historic Flight AJS 37 Viggen as a guide to this. These show a multi-tone finish which I tried to replicate by first spraying LP-11 Silver, then masking off various panels and lines of rivets. I then followed up with LP-38 Aluminium, and finally the same colour with a little black added.

The decals appeared a little thin on the sheet, but the colours are good and I was impressed with how they went on and settled into the surface detail.

I finished with Mr. Color GX 114 flat clear, but lightly polished some panels with a soft cloth to impart a little sheen for contrast.

Conclusion

I have wanted a model of the Viggen for my collection for ages, and online reviews suggested the Special Hobby kit was worth the effort, especially with the subject otherwise so poorly represented by most mainstream kit manufacturers. This kit does the subject justice and with care it can produce a nice result.

Steve Pritchard

Christchurch

New Zealand

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