#9 JonMW 1/48 SAAB A36 Vargen

Post by **JonMW** » Mon Apr 30, 2018 7:10 pm

My plan for this GB is to build the SAAB A36 Vargen nuclear bomber. There are no kits of this plane in 1/48, only one vac-formed in 1/72 and it's not of the version I want to do. So the plan is to scratch build most of it and borrow some parts from other models. The good this is that no planes where ever build only a couple of wind tunnel models as the Swedish nuclear program was cancelled so there was no need for a nuclear bomb plane.

This is the wind tunnel model of the plane I'm planning to build.

Looking at the wind tunnel model it looks like SAAB reused some parts from some of their other planes. Which would make since as this was still in the early stages and they where looking at a few different layouts. The ailerons looks a lot like the ones on the J35 Draken and the tail planes and fin looks like they came off a Lansen. And I plan to do something similar. So on Saturday I stopped by a hobby shop here in Stockholm that is run by the same guy that owns Tarangus to ask him for some parts to use for this build. He gave me a Lansen fuselage, tail planes and seat plus a Viggen cockpit and main landing gear bays. I might use the Viggen parts or maybe try to find some Draken ones in the stash. The bigger parts like the fuselage, wings and engines will be 3d printed and the sanded and detailed. At least that's the plan will have to see how that goes.

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Mon Apr 30, 2018 7:39 pm

Oh man, how cool is that!!!

Really looking forward to see your process on this one

Thanks for joining in and welcome to the sig

Scott

Post by **ElCapitan** » Mon Apr 30, 2018 8:23 pm

Great idea! I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Post by **sheppsea** » Tue May 01, 2018 7:37 am

Will certainly keep an eye on this!

Post by **Les0012** » Tue May 01, 2018 12:29 pm

I agree with the others, what a choice of subject.

Will watch this one come together.

Good Luck, Les

Post by **gaz45** » Tue May 01, 2018 4:36 pm

Very nice choice mate looking forward to this one coming together

Post by **JonMW** » Tue May 01, 2018 10:06 pm

Thanks, hopefully this will turn out good as I have never tried to scratch build a project this big before.

I have spend a few hours in front of the computer today playing with CAD trying to get the basic shape of the fuselage right. I think I'm pretty close, but there is still a few places to smooth out and the wing profile needs more work. But it's a decent start.

Also did a quick print of it to get a better feel for the size and shape of the plane. It can be hard to tell how big something is in CAD, so it's good to get a real object to look at.

Post by **Stokesy44** » Sat May 05, 2018 9:42 am

You definitely win the prize for having the most ambition! Very best of luck with the build Sir

Post by **TommyKillander** » Wed May 09, 2018 9:23 pm

Wow!

Amazing stuff - this will be awesome!

Tommy

Post by **pourquoi61** » Wed May 09, 2018 9:28 pm

This is the future.
Nice.

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Mon May 14, 2018 6:40 pm

Door prize draw coming up this weekend

Post by **Johno** » Tue May 15, 2018 1:31 am

This is on a whole other level, is this an engineering forum or a modelling forum. super excited to see how this tuns out, lookin crazy cool so far.

Post by **JonMW** » Tue May 15, 2018 1:49 pm

Thanks for the comments. Work has been a bit slow so far, it's a lot of work infront of the computer (I've done most of it at work trying to hide it from the boss

) but I'm making some progress. I'm pretty happy with the look of the fuselage, but the wings on the first draft was too thick, so I've been focusing on getting a better wing profile and I'm pretty happy now. Next step will be to try to fit the cockpit and front landing gear bay and then move to the main gear bays.

YouTube · Post by **OlaHansson** » Wed May 16, 2018 6:27 am

Cool!
Diden't know about this plane, lloking forward to see the progress!

Post by **Les0012** » Fri May 18, 2018 9:33 am

Oh now this a bit different, you're putting a lot of work into this. Looking forward to more progress.

Les

Post by **pourquoi61** » Sun May 20, 2018 5:47 pm

Nice.

Post by **JonMW** » Sat Jul 21, 2018 9:07 pm

It's been far too long without any updates on this one. I haven't stopped working on it, it's just been a lot of work in front of the computer screen playing around with shapes and trying to figure out how to split everything to make it easy to assemble. And the big thing that has slowed down the work is what to do with the landing gear, it's a bit tight to fit the main gear bays, the front one is easier but would require some work as well. So to solve this I decided to get a resin pilot and build it in flight, I know it's cheating but I want to get it done as well. This is what it looks like now with all the final part printed, so now I can finally start the actual building. I ended up using the Tarangus J32 Lansen fin, stabilizer, seat and exhaust nozzle, Special Hobby SK37 Viggen rear cockpit and nose cone and Aires Me262 exhaust cones as intake cones. Next up is to scratch build the side and back walls of the cockpit and a lot of filler and sanding on the fuselage.

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Sun Jul 22, 2018 4:14 pm

Not cheating at all, it is an intelligent solution

Bedazzled and amazed by what you have done here, incredible skill set

Post by **digger303** » Mon Jul 23, 2018 12:24 am

Stokesy44 wrote: Sat May 05, 2018 9:42 am You definitely win the prize for having the most ambition! Very best of luck with the build Sir

Heartily agree with that

Post by **chief5437** » Tue Jul 24, 2018 10:25 pm

this is looking mint! cool subject, but the effort youve put in is amazing. cant wait to see this one done! good luck with the rest of it buddy

Post by **TommyKillander** » Thu Jul 26, 2018 12:33 am

Fantastic work, Jon!

This is such a novel object and your approach to reproduce it in 1/48 looks really solid!

Tommy

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Wed Aug 01, 2018 7:58 pm

One month to go for the sig

viewtopic.php?f=660&t=25285

Post by **JonMW** » Thu Aug 02, 2018 10:45 pm

Thanks for the comments guys!

Have been working on the cockpit so that I can glue the fuselage together and start on the final sanding. The cockpit tub is the rear cockpit from a Special Hobby Sk 37 Viggen with a new back wall, the instrument panel is from the SH AJ 37 Viggen as is the switch panel on the right side of the cockpit, seat is from a Tarangus A32 Lansen with the ejection rail from a SH Viggen. I used the cowling from the Sk 37 as a base and then extended it with plasticard to make it fit the opening. The resin pilot by pure chance fits the Lansen seat perfectly and both hands fits the throttle and control stick that where just placed where they looked good, I was sure I would need to cut up the arms to make them fit, but luckily not.

Have also made it to a major milestone in the build, the first parts are painted! Did a quick paint job of the cockpit, still need to do a bit more detail painting, plus add a couple of random PE parts and a wire or two on the back wall. And maybe add a little bit of light weathering.

Post by **Stokesy44** » Sat Aug 18, 2018 9:13 am

Cracking work on the cockpit, pilot looks superb too.

Post by **JonMW** » Mon Aug 20, 2018 8:01 pm

Thanks!

Time is starting to tun out so it's time to start working a bit harder now. I've got most of the plane together, filled and sanded. There are still a couple of small marks to fix, but I hope to be able to start scribing panel lines the next couple of days so that I maybe can start painting during next weekend.

Since it will be in flight it needs a base. So I made a 3D model of the Swedish Airforce logo of the three crowns and then 3D printed it.

Post by **Tomcat64** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 9:38 am

Awesome work Jon!

Can I ask where you got the pilot from please? I've got the Eduard Draken in the stash and thinking of adding a pilot to that if he'll fit.

Post by **JonMW** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 11:09 am

Tomcat64 wrote: Tue Aug 21, 2018 9:38 am Awesome work Jon!

Can I ask where you got the pilot from please? I've got the Eduard Draken in the stash and thinking of adding a pilot to that if he'll fit.

Thanks.

It's a PJ Productions 1960s NATO pilot, sadly it's a bit too big for the Draken cockpit and also the angle of the back doesn't fit the seat. I tried to fit it in the Hasegawa and Aires cockpits with the Hasegawa, Eduard and Aires seats and no combo works. The problem with finding a pilot for the Draken is that the cockpit is tiny, the pilots used to say that you don't sit in a Draken cockpit, you wear it. Possibly the pilot from a Academy F4 Phantom might fit, I have a few laying around so can test fit it later if you want.

Post by **alextheblue** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 1:47 pm

That is looking breath-takingly good Jon. incredible work!

If there's any kit manufacturers out there watching your build, they really should be giving you a call about going into production with this one!

Post by **Tomcat64** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 1:53 pm

JonMW wrote: Tue Aug 21, 2018 11:09 am
Tomcat64 wrote: Tue Aug 21, 2018 9:38 am Can I ask where you got the pilot from please? I've got the Eduard Draken in the stash and thinking of adding a pilot to that if he'll fit.
It's a PJ Productions 1960s NATO pilot, sadly it's a bit too big for the Draken cockpit and also the angle of the back doesn't fit the seat. I tried to fit it in the Hasegawa and Aires cockpits with the Hasegawa, Eduard and Aires seats and no combo works. The problem with finding a pilot for the Draken is that the cockpit is tiny, the pilots used to say that you don't sit in a Draken cockpit, you wear it. Possibly the pilot from a Academy F4 Phantom might fit, I have a few laying around so can test fit it later if you want.

Thanks for the info Jon - I hadn't realised just how tight and laid back the Draken tub was. If you get chance with the Academy F4 pilot it'd really be appreciated but there's no rush on it.

Post by **JonMW** » Thu Aug 23, 2018 9:45 pm

Finally got the last coat of Mr Surfacer 500 on the A36, so now all the major sanding is done and the scribing can begin. I'm trying to figure out how the layout of the panels should look. To get a start I've started with drawing the panel lines on with a pencil. I think I'm happy with how it looks now, still need to do the bottom.

Post by **TommyKillander** » Thu Aug 23, 2018 9:59 pm

That looks awesome!

Keep up the good work!

Tommy

Post by **JonMW** » Sun Aug 26, 2018 8:27 pm

Thanks!

It's getting closer, I've been scribing all the panel lines for the past couple of days. I'm pretty happy with how it looks and the layout of all the panels. I made a circular cutting wheel to make a start for the panel lines and then went after with a normal scriber to deepen the lines. Finally added a coat of Ultimate black primer, there is a couple of spots that needs some sanding but I should be able to get some paint on it tomorrow.

Also did a bit of work on the engines. I turned a couple of thin walled aluminium tubes that fits outside the Academy F4 turbine blades and inside the Tarangus Lansen Nozzles.

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Sun Aug 26, 2018 10:00 pm

Wow, those cans wil look cool

Post by **JonMW** » Mon Aug 27, 2018 7:16 pm

Thanks!

Time for today's small update, managed to get some paint on the top side. I decided to paint it in the J35 Draken scheme with oliv drab and dark blue, the Viggen splinter scheme would have looked good but would take too long to be able to get it done in time. There is a couple of spots that I need to clean up and then paint the bottom tomorrow.

I have also started on the canopy. I 3d printed a plug and sanded it smooth, primered it and gave it a polish. For the framing I cut a thin strip of 0.3 mm styrene and super glued it on. Will need to get some clear sheets so I can vac-form the canopy.

Post by **JonMW** » Wed Aug 29, 2018 12:54 pm

I'm starting to realize that this will not be done before the deadline. If I just pushed ahead I could probably do it, but I also want to do it right. So instead of rushing it to meet the deadline I'm going to spend a couple of extra days to make sure I'm happy with the result.

Post by **TommyKillander** » Fri Aug 31, 2018 8:42 pm

I fully understand that; with all that effort and invested time rushing the build seems wrong!

Good luck with the rest of the build, buddy!

.....and keep the buildthread alive

Tommy

Post by **JonMW** » Sun Sep 02, 2018 10:39 pm

Small update, finished painting the camo colors. So next up is the decals.

Post by **JonMW** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:48 pm

Managed to do a bit more work and got all the decals on. As a Stockholm guy I decided to go with markings from the Tulling Airbase F18 in south Stockholm and 08 is the area code for Stockholm. Most of the decals are from different sheets of Viggen decals from Tarangus and The Moose Republic. Now all that is left is to add a bit of weathering and finish the canopy. Hope to have it done before the weekend, only one week late.

Post by **Twokidsnosleep** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:55 pm

Looks great Jon

Keep at it, we are following along

Post by **Johno** » Thu Sep 06, 2018 2:23 am

Looks amazing, thoroughly impressed with all the work you put into this, can't wait to see the finished product!

Post by **JonMW** » Fri Sep 07, 2018 1:39 pm

Thanks guys!

Managed to get it done, just one week late! viewtopic.php?f=662&t=25589