Quote from: NARSES2 on September 26, 2024, 05:07:15 AM

Quote from: zenrat on September 26, 2024, 03:55:45 AMI believe in you mate...  

We all do     

Absolutely!  



Do you have any religious dogmas or relics for sale, perchance?

Push on to the finish line!!!!!

Quote from: Old Wombat on September 26, 2024, 07:53:22 AM

Quote from: NARSES2 on September 26, 2024, 05:07:15 AM

Quote from: zenrat on September 26, 2024, 03:55:45 AMI believe in you mate...  

We all do     

Absolutely!  

Indeed! 

Your unrelenting faith is actually somewhat helpful. Having spent most of the weekend at the cottage "autumning" (i.e preparing for winter) together with the not only smarter but also prettier half, I went for some varnish once back home, and maybe, the Danes are a step closer to completion after all. Just some loadouts and a little gloss black for sensor ports, and we're there.

Mentally though, I'm still at the Drakens, googling pictures and stuff. It would be fun actually building an earlier version, like a longtail J35A or a B. I might however have to buy some Pavla canopies as the old Revell kit is really old and not entirely compatible with the nice and modern Hasegawa kit. Nevertheless, conjuring a reasonable Sk35C out of the Revell and Heller kits will be doable, so that's maybe where to start, leaving the first generation Draken fighter for another time. Or - as there is an old and reasonably well built - if by design abominably incorrect - early Revell Draken in my cupboards and boxes - one could just do something with what there is. After all, not every model has to be flawless.

Speaking of buying. I might have to admit that I've relapsed in a phase where I'm buying faster than I'm building. Again. Not ideal as the size of my stash already is well beyond what I can ever hope to assemble. That said, it's hard to let go of bargains, and also to miss out on things where your current mojo sits.
Right now, there's a Polish reconnaissance bomber incoming, following a Viggen or two and that SAAB 105.

Well, well. At least there's plenty of lust, and once the Danes are firmly off the desk, maybe I should try to make a dash to complete one or two (or all three) of the Spartans mostly I built this summer?

Quote from: Pellson on September 29, 2024, 11:26:00 AM..Or - as there is an old and reasonably well built - if by design abominably incorrect - early Revell Draken in my cupboards and boxes - one could just do something with what there is. After all, not every model has to be flawless..

So - everyone thinking I chose the gloss black sensor window painting over embarking on a nigh on impossible reconstruction, trying to make a decent early Draken out of an early 1960's kit - raise a hand.

In my defence, having used a Hasegawa outer wing as a template, the old Revell wings became rather ok, at least in plan, and having shortened the exhaust cone a few mm, that too looks surprisingly good. So maybe, if I just am prepared to accept that the canopy always will be a not so small tad too short, if I can just reprofile the nose a bit..
Well, well. I've only given it half an hour building time so far.

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In your defence, embarking on the challenges of a new build is always more fun than detailing a nearly completed one ... Or that's what I tell myself sometimes, anyway.  

Trying to manage my day job in a way not to allow it to disturb my regular life in any higher degree than absolutely necessary (but with too limited success, I'm afraid), I've still found the opportunity to perform some minor reshaping of the old Revell J35A. And it's going surprisingly well, methinks. Having filed off the humpback in the original casting. carefully straightening the ridgeline, did wonders to the general appearance of the model, as did the shortening of the tail cone and reshaping of the wingtips. Next up is replacing the triangular ridge antenna (which is plain wrong), and then trying to find a solution for the absolutely ridiculous penguin nose that's in the kit. The radome is too long, tapers too quickly at the tip and is too narrow at the base. Crap! But I should be able to find something that can be modified into shape - or maybe even reshape the original radome somewhat with some PSR.
Also, I shall try to extend the brake chute housing - as can be seen above, it's hanging over a tad on top of the exhaust. I also probably should replace the three stall fences under each outer wing, but they're so small and fiddly.. 

Then, there's weapon pylons and loadout. One could go RW and adding AIM-9B's under the outer wings and then a standard Draken drop tank under the fuselage, but I might tweak it just a little bit. After all, that's what makes us tick in these quarters, right? In reality, the last J35A's were withdrawn (but stored for almost ten years!) in 1977. Interestingly, at that time, not only longtails were kept, but also the earlier short-tails. Avionically (I love English and the way you can create words like this ) they were obviously totally outdated, but say that they were kept, or recommissioned in 1979 when both Afghanistan and Iran happened, and most of the Soviet submarine activity in our neighborhood kicked off for real? Then they could possibly have been electronically upgraded to J35F standard. That would make no external difference but for the omitting the port cannon. And as there are no traces of any of the guns as is on the kit, I might just leave that out..
Then you could go further. The discussions and plans for an upgraded JA35 to bridge the gap between the AJ37 Viggens and the JAS39 Gripens were in full swing by then, meaning that the front missile rails later being implemented for the J35J very well could have been implemented already in the late 70's. Also the very good and useful Hughes IR seeker found under the nose of about 3/5 of the J35F's could be interesting. The main drawback of the early, short J35A vs the later long tailed A's and B's was lack of performance over 10 000 m, but not that noticeable difference on lower altitudes. The IR seeker was predominantly useful on low altitudes where the radar lacked efficiency due to ground clutter, and the difference between the J35F1 (without the IR seeker) and the J35F2 (with it) was so apparent that the ground based fighter controls developed a system to by callsign be able to differentiate between the two types. They were also mixed in the sqns to allow for mixed flights where one F2 could guide an F1 to a low flying target. So maybe also an IR seeker for the upgraded J35A3..  (J35A1 was the official but seldom used designation of the short-tails, whereas J35A2 was the longtails)
Another easier whif would be to counter the smaller fuel capacity of the earlier Drakens in comparison to the late F's and even worse, J's, by hanging a Danish 1200 litre drop tank under the belly, replacing the standard Swedish 530 litre one. I mean - they were there already in 1973 when the Danes flew off with them..

An argument against the above is that with all these modifications, why not just rebuild the old machines to full J35F standard and be done with it? Well - IRL that would be reasonable, but there were some serious internal differences between both long and short J35A's and even worse when compared to the later RM6C-engined J35D/F/J's. Also, the latter versions had about 400 litres more internally, plus hull changes to accommodate the twin underbelly hardpoints. Hence, "just" ripping out the existing electronics and replacing with other existing kit would be easier. Not replacing the fin would admittedly be cheap since they fit between the versions, but the old one is a bit distinctive, so why not just keep it?

Shape issues I won't fix in my model are mainly the front wings just behind the intakes. They're too thin in this kit, by far. But fixing that is not worth the effort - I'd rather try to transplant the tail cone  and intakes to an other kit. However, the plan form is quite there when looking from above or below, and from the side, the thickness is mostly camouflaged by the thickness of the fuselage itself. So bygones..
Also the canopy is too short behind the pilot, but that's really not that disturbing either, at least in my eyes. The top of the canopy is going to be painted anyway as only the sides behind the pilot should be transparent. and the main thing is the straight line of the ridge - and that's there alright.

Well, then there is all this proper work I should be doing.. 

Quote from: Pellson on October 02, 2024, 06:28:29 AM..and then trying to find a solution for the absolutely ridiculous penguin nose that's in the kit. The radome is too long, tapers too quickly at the tip and is too narrow at the base. Crap! But I should be able to find something that can be modified into shape - or maybe even reshape the original radome somewhat with some PSR.

I found an old Heller Mirage IIE radome in my spares bin, and that almost fit. It's maybe not that surprising - after all the Draken Thomson CSF Cyrano is the same basic set Dassault used in the MIII as well, so..
Anyway - It'll need a tad of PSR and then I think we'll be there.

EDIT: Having started shaping the nose, I managed to loosen the canopy. No damage done, luckily, and I took the opportunity to modify the kit seat (which is cast together with the pilot) and paint it up a bit, now being a significantly better version of a later Draken seat, as used in the F/J versions.

Pretty chuffed, I am! It is good fun just following your mojo, even if it pulls away far out in crapkit land.. 

 
Nothing wrong with venturing into CrapKitLand - there are some really nice builds using inmates from there... 

Almost on subject (there are no J35A's but rather B's), a very nice little film not only about early Drakens, but rather the entire Swedish air defence system back when it still included WVR air combat, i.e the 60's. This is the complete STRIL60 system featuring Bloodhound missile launches, ground controlled interceptors firing IR missiles and last but not least - what's being defended .
God, I miss summer...

Film >>HERE<<

I saw only what looks like a screenshot. Sounds interesting.

Quote from: kerick on October 03, 2024, 08:44:17 AMI saw only what looks like a screenshot. Sounds interesting.

Ditto.

Quote from: scooter on October 03, 2024, 11:31:53 AM

Quote from: kerick on October 03, 2024, 08:44:17 AMI saw only what looks like a screenshot. Sounds interesting.

Ditto.

Sorted, I think. Sorry.   

Quote from: Pellson on October 03, 2024, 01:24:38 PM

Quote from: scooter on October 03, 2024, 11:31:53 AM

Quote from: kerick on October 03, 2024, 08:44:17 AMI saw only what looks like a screenshot. Sounds interesting.

Ditto.

Sorted, I think. Sorry.   

It's sorted!   and well worth watching!      Exactly how does the charming young lady at the end of the video fit into Sweden's defence capabilities?

Quote from: Rheged on October 03, 2024, 01:39:32 PM

Quote from: Pellson on October 03, 2024, 01:24:38 PM

Quote from: scooter on October 03, 2024, 11:31:53 AM

Quote from: kerick on October 03, 2024, 08:44:17 AMI saw only what looks like a screenshot. Sounds interesting.

Ditto.

Sorted, I think. Sorry.   

It's sorted!   and well worth watching!      Exactly how does the charming young lady at the end of the video fit into Sweden's defence capabilities?

Gotta know what you're fighting for.