The SAAF Forum

A gripen without canards just doesn't look right.

She's gonna look good. How's the fit? Any major issues?

The fit is a bit kak, from what I remember when I started.
Detail in some areas is really kaka.
Resin slats made for this kit, were too short, wtf????
Colour photo etch is very good, if you know how to work it.

Some one else is also put off by the plastic.
With some work, and patience, it is buildable.

At least this kit has a drop tank, K.H. kit has non.

The windscreen and canopy are meeting in the right place.
However the windscreen is about 1,5 mm short of where it should start in relation to the fuselage, and 2mm gap at the rear of the canopy to fuselage.
When will this B.S. end???
I put it away for now.

Sorry to hear that, it will go easier when you go back to it in the future.

I won't let it sit for too long, it is an operational requirement to get this done, have come a long way, taken far toooo long.
This build and the Academy Migs are time consuming, perhaps I'm being too fussy.
I think another member was wise to put these particular kits (Mig-29A and Gripen D) aside, less pain in life.

So, Italeri's decals are going on to the Gripen D.
The decal colours look about right on the tail.



But the four cookie cutter decals on the fuselage and wings, the grey they used should be a darker grey like the squadron emblem?



It is one thing after another with this kit.

I'm calling this one done. That is almost a year.
Recap of sets in this build, click below. (It has been a long time).
http://www.saairforce.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=6161&start=30#p73988

The resin set had a lot of shitty fitting parts. I used the APU parts, air brakes flaps & ailerons. Lot of undersize parts, I cut the leading edge slats, the resin ones were so short, I could not hide it, luckily I could refit the ones I cut out in the dropped position with great ease.

The photo etch worked very well, the seats are kit seats with photo etch that really made a difference, plus the colour seat belts. The kit joy sticks were what you would get in a Gripen A/B, the C/D has very short sticks. See here.http://www.saairforce.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=6161&start=30#p75163
I liked the photo etch exhaust, finicky, but gave great pleasure. http://www.saairforce.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=6161&start=30#p75252

The tracking pod, Iris-T and GBU-12 are resin items.
Robed drop tank from my Gripen A kit, and made the one in the center.

I thought the kit was rather poor for a relatively modern kit, fit and errors. This build was a real pain getting the plastic to fit properly, hide their stuff ups, the the resin added to the nightmare.
The photo etch worked well for what I wanted, cockpit and exhaust. I ended up adding pieces to the undercarriage / wheelbays.

I toned down some of the decals with a thinned out light grey.
The cookie cutter decals are there, I thin Italeri made the too light, they shoud have been similar to the squadron badge colour.

Very nice neat build Jnic, despite all the problems you made a great job of it

The pic of the Gripen with one wheel on the paint tin immediately made me think of a dog taking a "leak"

I think you should give yourself a pat on the back. The Gripen looks great.

_________________
I love the smell of cyano in the morning.

I know the pain you went through to beat that beast of a kit into submission and turning out a darn good model mate. Well done

Jeffrey, once again that came out very nice. Sadly, it seems both the Italeri and Kitty Hawk kits have their issues, and I guess it is too much to hope that a third company would give the Gripen a go in 1/48th scale. Nevertheless, the final result of the Kitty Hawk kit is quite impressive.

I can't believe Kitty Hawk didn't include at least a centre line tank for the Gripen - it almost never flies without that tank.

Just a small remark about the decals (obviously not your fault): The number "01" on the tail, as far as I can recall, was always in dark grey. The light grey, unfortunately, stands out for me a bit. I remember after delivery we made a few changes, but I don't remember the "01" ever changing to light grey. It stands out for me on all the Italeri builds of the Gripen that make use of the kit decals. In general, I think the greys they used on the SAAF decals were too light, and that is why your cookie-cutter decals also don't show up the way they should. In fact, the cookie-cutters, the squadron badge background and the aircraft number should all be a considerably darker grey than the dark grey of the camouflage.

Sorry for the criticism on the kit/decals: The build itself and the final effect is truly beautiful.

Very attractive outcome there JN. Well done.

Nice build!



I agree with the above,

Also what is VERY strange to me is when I designed the F1CZ ( Le Spectere) called by some, was that the camo pattern was supposed to have been seem from both upper and underside,but then,suppose you can't blame the Swedes as the can only fly one side up!

But eish!,mara!

Rant off sorry!

Thanks for the kind comments folks, I appreciate it.

That is what I think every time I take a picture, propping the model on something.

I had wondered a number of times what your experience was with your kit.

I failed to notice that the 01 should have been darker and not lighter than the diamond grey, I was so focused on the cookie cutter and other decals that just vanished in the light grey. I'm guessing the sqn badge, 01, cookie cutters are all the same grey?
I toned down the SA flag as it was too bright.
The other thing I noticed with 01, in some picture the diamond's grey does not cover the canopy frame, and on others it does?
No Mfezi, it is constructive talk about facts, I do not take it in a negative way. I wondered how MAV decals product compares?

AT6C, I was looking forward to painting the diamond on the underside, was surprised this was missed, surprised the SAAF never rectified this. Can't be that hard?

In the end, I don't have much affection for this build. It now stands next to one of my favorite builds, my Eduard Mirage III BZ.

Now if only the SAAF will come up with a nice cheetah scheme as per 2 sqn for a Gripen C so I can build my Gripen C. I have the Eduard colour photo etch for the cockpit, left over resin exhaust from CMK, beyond that I will keep it simple.