Tarangus 1/72 SAAB JA37 Viggen

[TommyKillander]

Hey Guys!

I have waited a long time to build a SAAB Viggen in 1/72 scale and now it is finally going to happen !

The individual I'm thinking of is this one, the 37378 (F4-38):


It entered service in 1984 at Frösön and was later moved to the missile test range at Vidsel, up north in Sweden. It still stands there on display.


I made a review of the Tarangus kit on my YouTube channel, so check that out if you want more detailed information.

Boxart:


Sprues:






Assembly instructions (with Errata sheet)


Paint and decal callout, Decals and clear parts.


I had some aftermarket for the old Heller kit that I'm considering to use on this kit....




Tommy

[Twokidsnosleep]

Nice nice...and you are keeping with your 2019 plan

[TommyKillander]

Nice nice...and you are keeping with your 2019 plan

Yeah, so far so good...




Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Okey Guys!

I've done some thinking.... My idea was to reuse all the aftermarket that I bought for the old Heller kit... But on second thought I will not do that

Look at the difference in size between the kit part and the PE...




....and the bangseat


I have a couple of resin BOY 401 chaff/flare launchers, but they where fitted to the Viggens at the end of the service-period so I will leave them out as well.

I will probably only use the turned metal pitot tubes and the masking sets as it looks right now

The kit parts look great by the way, so I'm not too worried about making a "almost" OOB-build...


Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Let's begin the build!


...and put the sprue-cutter into action


The radar-handle is Tiiiiny....




Added the sidepanels in the fuselage


And I started to dryfit the air intake funnels

It looked better than I thought it would do actually...

I will continue checking the rest of the fuselage tomorrow


Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Hello,

I have continued with some more dryfitting today.

The fit is not Tamiya-grade, but the parts will fit together nicely with some TET and clamps.


The JA37 version of the Viggen was 13 cm longer than the other versions due to the increased length of the RM8B engine. And since Tarangus wants to reuse the toolings for upcoming versions, there is a 2mm "ring" that fits between the front and rear part of the fuselage.

Read the instructions so you use the right one - both parts are included in the kit

Wings looks nice and it is quite easy to cut the elevons and make them drooped.






It sure looks like a Viggen



Tommy

[Twokidsnosleep]

You are smoking along on this build
Great work, tiny pieces!!!

[Kevthemodeller]

Looking forward to this, I do like the pre 90s jets

[TommyKillander]

You are smoking along on this build
Great work, tiny pieces!!!

Looking forward to this, I do like the pre 90s jets

Thanks guys!


Tommy

[Tomcat64]

I love the Viggen (and the Draken) and have been so tempted to pick up one of these.

Really looking forward to seeing you work you magic on it Tommy

[TommyKillander]

I love the Viggen (and the Draken) and have been so tempted to pick up one of these.

Really looking forward to seeing you work you magic on it Tommy

Thanks Neil

If you want to build in 1/72 scale this is the Viggen kit you want to get. For a Draken the Hasegawa kit is the best option.
Same goes for 1/48, but if you can get your hands on an Eduard Draken, don't hesitate - great value for money with all the aftermarket that is included and it has a boxart to kill for

I know that I kinda tagged this one for the Scandinavia SIG but one of my IPMS fellows started a 1/48 Tarangus JA37 and I got seduced...
I'm sure that I can come up with something else if the Scand SIG goes live


Tommy

[Tomcat64]

I love the Viggen (and the Draken) and have been so tempted to pick up one of these.

Really looking forward to seeing you work you magic on it Tommy

Thanks Neil

If you want to build in 1/72 scale this is the Viggen kit you want to get. For a Draken the Hasegawa kit is the best option.
Same goes for 1/48, but if you can get your hands on an Eduard Draken, don't hesitate - great value for money with all the aftermarket that is included and it has a boxart to kill for

I know that I kinda tagged this one for the Scandinavia SIG but one of my IPMS fellows started a 1/48 Tarangus JA37 and I got seduced...
I'm sure that I can come up with something else if the Scand SIG goes live


Tommy

Thanks Tommy I've got the Eduard Draken lurking in the stash so I'm definitely going to try and get the Scandinavia SiG off the ground for the second half of the year

[TommyKillander]

I love the Viggen (and the Draken) and have been so tempted to pick up one of these.

Really looking forward to seeing you work you magic on it Tommy

Thanks Neil

If you want to build in 1/72 scale this is the Viggen kit you want to get. For a Draken the Hasegawa kit is the best option.
Same goes for 1/48, but if you can get your hands on an Eduard Draken, don't hesitate - great value for money with all the aftermarket that is included and it has a boxart to kill for

I know that I kinda tagged this one for the Scandinavia SIG but one of my IPMS fellows started a 1/48 Tarangus JA37 and I got seduced...
I'm sure that I can come up with something else if the Scand SIG goes live


Tommy

Thanks Tommy I've got the Eduard Draken lurking in the stash so I'm definitely going to try and get the Scandinavia SiG off the ground for the second half of the year

Lucky Lad I remember now, I think you have mentioned before that you have one in the stash.


Okay... weekend... lots of stuff to do that didn't happen during the weekdays and also prepare for next week

But I got some quality time at the bench today, go figure...


First of all, primer on!


Now.... what colour should I choose for the cockpit. Paint callout says H308, but I think it has too much blue...




Decided to go for the XF-80. I think it looks better




Let's put som paint on the bang seat






I decided to skip the PE seatbelts and make my own from thin strips of Tamiya masking tape




Now it's time for the tricky part.... painting the details on the sidewalls and IP.... There is no decals in the kit for the IP, unfortunately.


The details for the knobs and dials was so small so I basically had to drybrush the details using black paint.... I couldn't pick out the details - even if I was using a 000 brush. Hopefully the washes will hide the lousy paintjob

Finally I drilled some holes for the fuselage pylons and a "rat-hole" for the RAT (ram air turbine). In contrast to many other aircraft, the RAT is always released during landing so a Viggen on the ground should have the RAT deployed.



Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Hey Guys!

I had a thought about painting the MFDs, but masking and spraying a 2x2mm square seems ridiculous.. So I took some left-over decals and cut out a couple of black squares.


I also added some stencils with white text for the black HUD projector housing.


Weathered the cockpit parts...






...and glued it in place


Next up is the air intake funnels. There a a couple of ejection pin marks to take care of




There are also some release-marks on the inside


But after som sanding the fit is acceptable; but it will require some filler and sanding anyway


So let's glue them together



Tommy

[TommyKillander]

[DRUMS01]

Love this airplane and its camouflage. Doing well so far, nice cockpit. Can't wait for the next update.

Ben

[Kevthemodeller]

Very nice detail work there mate

[TommyKillander]

Love this airplane and its camouflage. Doing well so far, nice cockpit. Can't wait for the next update.

Ben

Thanks, yeah it's a great looking aircraft

Very nice detail work there mate

Thanks Kev!


Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Oki-doki...

Short update today

I have sanded the intake funnel now until I got a decent result. The final work needs to be done after the airscoops have been fitted, because there will be a couple of seams to deal with there too...


Speaking about the airscoops... They have a couple of small supports that I have decided to add as extra detailing.


I have drilled a 0.38 mm hole and I'm using guitar-wire (gauge #009).





Stay tuned

Tommy

[Tomcat64]

Stunning work as always Tommy - I never cease to be amazed how much detail you can cram into a 1/72 cockpit!

[TommyKillander]

Stunning work as always Tommy - I never cease to be amazed how much detail you can cram into a 1/72 cockpit!

Thanks Neil, you're very kind

The office is basically OOB - kit is really nice and it has some really nice details, so I haven't done much improvements.


Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Hello!

It's been a lot of activity at the bench this weekend - great stuff!

Some primer on the stuff that needs to go into the fuselage before we can glue it together


Some metal shades


The wheel wells has some parts painted in olive green




The RAT-nest




The inside of the "extension-ring" need to be painted as well... bummer, I missed that




Done!


Ok... let's have a look at the rear end of the aircraft...

Thrust reverser and reheat chamber


The guys at Tarangus have done some funky engineering here...


The rear end of the afterburner has some variable geometry "feathers" but the moulding is quite weak, so I will try to improve them.


The feathers are cut from 0.25 mm styrene sheet using my Silhouette Portrait


Hope I can pull this off.... Wish me good luck


Tommy

[Kevthemodeller]

Superb attention to detail Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Superb attention to detail Tommy

Thanks Kev

Ok... million dollar question... what the heck is this!?

It's nothing that belongs on a Viggen... that's for sure

Let's fill the cavity with sprue-goo and let it rest for a couple of days, before I sand it flush.


After fiddling with those tiny pieces of plasticard for a while, I decided to cut a strip that I will use as the first layer.


But, before I can proceed with that delicate stuff I had to do some more radical work with a saw...




...and while doing that I realised that I forgot to add the extra actuators for the elevons that the JA37 has





....yeah, I should have done that before I cut the control plane

Ok, I thing we are back on track again...

Let's add some details to the IP cover - defrosting pipe for the windshield and an optic sensor to adjust the brightness of the HUD






And we have the glass of the HUD-projector and the HUD itself




Next step is the windscreen and masking






I think we are ready to close up the front fuselage now!


Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Okey... short update;

Glued the front fuselage together... it was as easy I thought it would be - I basically had to hold 4 pieces and apply pressure while applying glue

I couldn't get rid of the seams, so there will be some filling and sanding work






But I also managed to glue some random stuff together...



I will let the nose cone and centerline tank cure for a day before I start sanding and polishing.


Tommy

[Twokidsnosleep]

Nice details Tommy
She is looking great

[Tomcat64]

Wow that's come along nicely since the last time I had chance to drop in.

Stunning attention to detail as always Tommy - great to watch it come together.

[TommyKillander]

Nice details Tommy
She is looking great

Thanks Scott

Wow that's come along nicely since the last time I had chance to drop in.

Stunning attention to detail as always Tommy - great to watch it come together.

Thank you Neil


Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Ok!

I spend most of yesterday in bed with a flu, but today I feel better an I was able to get some stuff done...

I have added the details for the variable geometry nozzle in the afterburner










I have also sanded down and polished the strange detail on the outside of the thust reverser

And glued the two lower thrust reverser petals in place The top one will be hanging down

Painted some Pale Burnt Metal tones as a basecoat for the weathering.





Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Hello!

I did some testing weathering the Burnt Pale Metal and it was too light, so I decided to spray another coat with a darker tone:


I also did some experimenting with masking sprue goo





I have no idea if this will work - but if it does it will make sanding and rescribing much easier...


Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Hello!

Weathering of the engine and trustreverser parts done and everything is sealed with flatcoat.




And the sprue goo adventure continues....



Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Hello!

Weathering of the engine and trustreverser parts done and everything is sealed with flatcoat.




And the sprue goo adventure continues....



Tommy

[jmurphy18]

That looks great so far Tommy! Nice fit. Now if it just takes tape for the build I am your man after all the taping I have done over the last 2 days

[TommyKillander]

That looks great so far Tommy! Nice fit. Now if it just takes tape for the build I am your man after all the taping I have done over the last 2 days

Thanks
I sometimes consume insane amounts of masking tape for my builds, but if thats the only way to make sure that I don't destroy my paintwork with overspray - so be it

I'll get in contact with you when it's time to mask the splinter cammo


Tommy

[JonMW]

Looking really nice so far!

[jmurphy18]

That looks great so far Tommy! Nice fit. Now if it just takes tape for the build I am your man after all the taping I have done over the last 2 days

Thanks
I sometimes consume insane amounts of masking tape for my builds, but if thats the only way to make sure that I don't destroy my paintwork with overspray - so be it

I'll get in contact with you when it's time to mask the splinter cammo


Tommy

I do understand I have some tape I do need to throw away as it does not seal right but I just cannot bring myself to do so as I just bought it. It was a “bargain” on Amazon when I could not get the Tamiya for 5 weeks.
My wife caught me taping brake rotors so I could paint them 3 different colors. They are the size of a nickel or ~ 2.5 cm

LOL on your taping. Just have some fresh coffee

[TommyKillander]

Looking really nice so far!

Thanks Jon!

Congrats to your prize for your beautiful Volvo at the 08 Open show - great job!

I do understand I have some tape I do need to throw away as it does not seal right but I just cannot bring myself to do so as I just bought it. It was a “bargain” on Amazon when I could not get the Tamiya for 5 weeks.
My wife caught me taping brake rotors so I could paint them 3 different colors. They are the size of a nickel or ~ 2.5 cm

LOL on your taping. Just have some fresh coffee

I'm like that too... I'll be damned if I even have to consider to throw away stuff that I have bought for my hard earned money...


Tommy

[jmurphy18]

thanks

[bfrd]

Wonderful work Tommy!

[TommyKillander]

Wonderful work Tommy!

Thank you very much, Matt

Okey... I have been concentrating on the main wheel wells today - I was planning to leadwires and stuff but then I remembered that the gear bay doors are almost closed on the ground, so I skipped that

The compartment are painted in different metal shades and olive green.










(yes, I suck at brushpainting....)

I also decided to remove the strange triangle-shapes on the outside of the thustreverser.



Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Hey Guys!

Short update

I have weathered the main wheel bays and flat-coated them.
It's the first time I used GX-113 and it performed perfectly (I thinned it with MLT)




...and I glued the rear part of the fuselage and main wing together



Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Hey Guys!

Time for a vlog update!



Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Hello!

Did some small stuff to get some variation from all the filling sanding and buffing that is going on right now...




Added the AoA-probe and some noseweight - instructions says 5g but this is probably more than that






Back to the saltmines of scale modelling - filling and sanding

Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Hey Guys,

It's been a while since I sat down at the bench - been travelling and working and fixing stuff in the house the last weeks

But now I'm back

OK, the airbrakes on the Viggen are only extended when they are used. Unfortunately the fit is really bad...


So we have to add a couple of shims to add more material






Decided to paint the inside of the airscoops/funnels - it's not a perfect job - but it will have to do


The navigation lights are really tiny and it is difficult to position them. So I took another approach - I used CA-glue as a filler and sanded and polished it into shape









Tommy

[chief5437]

very nice work so far Tommy! looking good

[TommyKillander]

very nice work so far Tommy! looking good

Thanks Chief, it's good to be back at the bench again

Let's glue the fuselage together




Airbrakes for the underside - kit or PE ?


Think I go for the PE; not looking forward to drill out all those holes




Bits and bobs on the fuselage







Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Hey Guys!

I decided to make a new gunbarrel from a hypodermic needle, so I ordered a set with different dimensions




Fitted the Oerlikon KCA 30mm gun pod.


I might have to trim the tip of the gunbarrel a bit



Tommy

[TommyKillander]

Hey Guys,

Got some more done this weekend

Adjusted the gunbarrel a bit and also fitted the navlights on the top and bottom of the fuselage


Drilled out the vents on the side of the fuselage




I will replace the pitot tube on the tail fin with a turned metal part


It's looking more and more like a Viggen






I decided to scratchbuild the rear radar warning receiver from a bit of the sprue-tree and some 0.75 mm styrene rod






Now it's time so clean up all the small parts left in the kit and prepare them for painting




The plastic nipper is perfect for cleanup like this




Unfortunately one of the torsion links got damaged



Tommy

[Tomcat64]

Awesome work Tommy - absolutely loving all the extras you're packing into this

[TommyKillander]

Awesome work Tommy - absolutely loving all the extras you're packing into this

Thanks Neil

I got some inspiration from a couple of Swedish build-threads where they went "all-in" on the detailing. Those where 1/48 scale builds but some of it are easy to transfer to the 1/72 scale.

It's a bit sad but there is not many preserved JA37 Jakt-Viggen, so it's really hard to find good walkaround photos.


Tommy