Viggen (Egyptian) by Zactoman & JHM

[John Howling Mouse]

Fantastic art/concept by Zactoman: just hope I can do it justice!  Will be using an Esci 1:48 Viggen.

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

"Yeahhh Baby !"

Ian

[Radish]

Dude, it'll be good.

[John Howling Mouse]

Finally managed to snag the Viggen kits I'll need for these Profile builds.  Okay, so I had a couple of Viggens in the stash already but they are destined for real world Swedish builds (honestly, they are).

[John Howling Mouse]

I snagged an Egyptian roundel and fin-flash flag from the 'net; modified the flag to suit Zactoman's size and proportions (not to the standard of the Egyptian flag).  I created the intake warning from scratch and, although I was able to trick MS Word into supplying me the required Arabic numerals (7542), I found they did not look the same as Zactoman's profile, either.  So I hand-drew them in Corel and re-sized as close as I could get with my own capabilities.  I'm really looking forward to printing these out and having a painted model to apply them on!

Here is a test-fit of the graphics I will be turning into decals.  Just hope I remember to paint the white backgrounds first!  I suppose I could use white decal film sheets for the flags and roundels, too.  You'll notice I had to swap a tailfin from other kits for the correct version.  I'm going to do my best to do justice to Zactoman's fantastic profile by copying every detail as closely as I can (except mine will be on the ground with wheels down).

[John Howling Mouse]

An extension...my kingdom for an extension!

Man, these Heller kits truly suck.  No locator pins/holes, seats don't fit their own cockpit tubs, cockpits don't fit the fuselage...yet some of the shapes fit together perfectly.  It's as though the kit was engineered specifically to drive you nuts until you're just about to give up and then, teasingly, something actually seems to fit together.  Then, the next parts you put on require another half tube of putty.  Oh well.  Some PSR shots in various stages of preparation for paint.

[Radish]

Ooooooooo

[Brian da Basher]

Go, Mr Howling Mouse, go! Beat that kit into submission!

Brian da Basher

[Mossie]

Wot no kitbashing???  Promises to be good Baz, I guess the second one in the pic will be the real world bird?

[sotoolslinger]

Well JHM  look at the bright side , at least they don't suck as much putty as one of your kitbashes Looking really cool though  Thanks for the warning on what kits not to buy

[ysi_maniac]

An extension...my kingdom for an extension!

Man, these Heller kits truly suck.

I also need an extension.  As usual

Heller? or Esci?

[cthulhu77]

Holy cow ! That is a much glazing putty as an Anigrand requires !  Man, you are really into self mutilation.

[Mossie]

Heller? or Esci?

I'm guessing Baz means the ESCI & Airfix kits?  As far as I know, the ESCI kit is the only Viggen released in 1/48 & Airfix re-boxed it after ESCI folded.  I don't think Heller did one in that scale (I might be wrong), but they're quite well known for their 1/72 incarnations.

[Weaver]

Heller? or Esci?

I'm guessing Baz means the ESCI & Airfix kits?  As far as I know, the ESCI kit is the only Viggen released in 1/48 & Airfix re-boxed it after ESCI folded.  I don't think Heller did one in that scale (I might be wrong), but they're quite well known for their 1/72 incarnations.

Heller did indeed do one and I built it back in the day. Nice kit, with LOTS of options: twin or single seat, radar or recce nose etc... everything except a JA IIRC, since the kit predated it.

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

Great work, Barry. Keep the faith, baby !

Ian