He did.

Quote from: PR19_Kit on June 17, 2022, 08:12:04 AM
Hataka Dark Green.

..and of course Kit yoi have to rmember that the Gaelic people are far more poetic in theiir intrperetation of these things.

[Irish accent on]

It'll be the green of the moist, newly grown heather up on the south slopes of the Wicklow Mountains to be sure. That it is.

And Hataka Dark Green is the perfect match, an' all, an' all......

[Irish accent off]

I'm well used to putting decals on 1/144 scale airliners, and almost by definition they're quite large, a 1/144 737 being about the same size as 1/72 scale Hunter, but decaling a 1/144 scale fighter is a real PITA!

The decals are SO small, and they need some seriously accurate cutting with the 'two layer' system I have to use for these IAC Celtic Bosses.

First I have to cut out the white background, and it has to be accurately the correct diameter. The nose Bosses on the Gripen are 3.5 mm in dia......

Then the colour overlay produces the correct look, hopefully. So far I've done 3-4 decals on the Gripen, and that'll be enough for this evening, my eyes and my brain are on overload.

Here's the little thing so far, posed in the correct position relative to 'The Big Fellow' of course.

Looks Shamrock Green to me!  The Green you get in the early morning light after the night before the evenin' drinkin', if you know what I mean...

Quote from: PR19_Kit on June 17, 2022, 08:12:04 AM
...What other colour would you expect an IAC aircraft to be in, eh?...

Black with a creamy white head.

Quote from: zenrat on June 18, 2022, 05:13:54 AM

Quote from: PR19_Kit on June 17, 2022, 08:12:04 AM
...What other colour would you expect an IAC aircraft to be in, eh?...

Black with a creamy white head.

Hehehe, my 'hostess' here suggested that an IAC Gripen would actually run on the 'Black Stuff', and that 'The Big Fellow' would dispense it, by the gallon of course, via hose or boom as required. 

The Gripen's got all its tiny decals on now, not without a few swear words on my part too! But I didn't need to use any of the spares I always print off, which was a relief.

The big aux fuel tank is in place, and all four missiles are drying after a coat of Halford's Appliance White. The landing gear is a different matter though...........

The instructions are SO tiny I couldn't make head or tail of them, so I downloaded the instructions for the Revell 1/72 Gripen just to get some idea of what it was supposed to look like. Having figured it out I really can't see how the main gear leg's attachment will be strong enough, as it's a butt jointed, angled flat face only about 1 mm x 2.5 mm. And they expect that to take half the weight of the model?

I suspect copious amounts of gel superglue will be called for before much longer.

Here's the progress so far.



That's Kit's Scale Reference Thumb there to show you just small this thing is! 

 

Why is it that some manufacturers just can't seem to grasp the concept of 'fit'? 

In particular reference to making parts with pegs fit the parts with holes?

Almost invariably the holes just aren't  large enough, this has been the case with the AZ Attacker, the Xtrakit Swift, the Eastern Express MD-11 and the Mini Hobby Gripen. Every single hole on all four of those kits needed either drilling out or ignoring, and the pegs have to be cut off and the whole thing superglued together.

Putting the landing gear together on the Gripen has been a NIGHTMARE, not the least because the bits are so damn small they're almost impossible to hold, and under those circumstances you need to be able to slide the parts into position precisely, not have to wiggle and turn them, and eventually give and superglue the whole BLOODY thing together!

I would love to get my hands on one of the 1/144 Gripens, it's my favorite Gen4+ fighter. I did quite a few schemes for the little SAAB, both RL and Whiff(AU). Would love to put one out in 3D

Hands? You need VERY small ones, to match the kit!

Mine are about 50% too large to build it easily, the nose wheels are 2 mm dia...........

Quote from: PR19_Kit on June 18, 2022, 10:56:55 AM
Hands? You need VERY small ones, to match the kit!

Mine are about 50% too large to build it easily, the nose wheels are 2 mm dia...........

Kit, I build 1/144 fighters normally, lol! My hands are just the right size

Must be selective breeding. 

I build 1/144 scale airliners, so that's why my hands are larger I guess.

And the Gripen is done!

Never mind a 1 Week Build, this took less than two days from my posted starting time on here, but I've built easier models.

The gear doors are about a scale foot thick (perhaps it's Swedish armour?) and the nose doors don't look anything like any of the umpteen different nose gear arrangements on the RW Gripen! Seemingly each aircraft has a different arrangement.......

In this model's case the port nose gear door is impossible to fit as the gun fairing encroaches on the space needed for the door., so the IAC Gripens only had one side nose gear door. (Kit's 2nd Rule of Whiffing applies)



The standard 3/4 front view.




And the equally standard 3/4 rear view.




The underside showing the loadout, one big aux fuel tank, two 'winders and two radar guided AA missiles. Who knows if they're ex-RAF Skyflashes or AMRAAMs, in this scale they're about the same....




The nose, the side WITH a nose wheel door, and it reminds me that the nose wheel tyres need re-painting!
I should point out that this pic is about FOUR times life size!




The tail, and in the harsh light of the flash you can see I didn't quite get the white decal backgrounds large enough.




In operational position astern of The Big Fellow, used here as a Scale Reference Tanker of course.

I made in time for the GB's end and for tomorrow's Coventry Show.