Double deltas - SAAB J35A/B Draken (Refurbished plus NOS 1957 Revell kits)

[NARSES2]

I'm quite often glad that with most of my builds being pre 1946 I'm only faced with 7.92/20/30mm when it comes to air to air armament 

[Pellson]

Given above, this does shine some new light on the Draken armament. In whif-world, it's not entirely unthinkable that even better engines increase burntime and thereby range towards 25, maybe even 30 km's, meaning not full BVR, but almost. Also, better explosives could theoretically at least partially offset the small warhead charge.
IRL, Sweden chose the larger GAR-11A/AIM-26B rather than the smaller GAR-3A, but as the only 1/72 GAR-11's in the market are annoyingly expensive and even more annoyingly fiddly resin/PE aftermarket stuff, whereas I already have quite a few GAR-3A's of reasonable shape and size, both from old Airfix Drakens and more recent Hasegawa weapons sets, maybe I should consider the smaller, lighter and less draggy GAR-3A in an evolved form as the main SARH option for the Draken after all? The Skyflash will always be a better option given warhead size and range, but it does look a bit hefty under te nimble Draken, and one actually wonders whether the small radar in the Draken, even in an evolved form, would possess the capacity to track a fighter sized target much further than 30km anyway?

Reading up a bit on the Swedish procurement of the AIM-4/-26's, an engineer involved at the time states that the smaller GAR-3A actually was the preferred SARH option, but it was one third more expensive than a de-nuclearised GAR-11. Hence the choice of the bigger/fatter missile. Again, this does speak for using my existing GAR-3A's on my Draken builds rather than the Skyflash, but I'd better get on with my new pylons, making trial fitting an actual possibility.

As today's visit to the missile museum gave me another mojo boost, focused on the Drakens, then this might actually happen in a not too distant future, but I have to admit I'm also rather keen on getting my Heller/Revell kitbashes of the J35B (all but similar externally) and the Sk35C going. The plan is to use the Revell front with the Heller rear on the J35B and vice versa on the Sk35C. Probably a bit more complicated than it sounds when I say it, but definitely worth a good try. But hopefully, I can sort that damned pylon thing on the J35A first. 

[Pellson]

..I have to admit I'm also rather keen on getting my Heller/Revell kitbashes of the J35B (all but similar externally) and the Sk35C going. The plan is to use the Revell front with the Heller rear on the J35B and vice versa on the Sk35C. Probably a bit more complicated than it sounds when I say it, but definitely worth a good try.

Having brought out the two Draken kits, this plan seems to be falling apart somewhat. The Heller fuselage is significantly wider than the old Revell kit, meaning the diameter of the fuselages won't match and as a consequence, neither will the wing span. Digging out a built Hasegawa S35E reconnaissance Draken and an old Airfix J35F for further comparison, it seems the Hasegawa, Revell and Airfix kits are dimensionally reasonably close whereas again, the Heller kit is a good bit too wide. There is however another interesting discrepancy as well, where the Heller and Airfix long rear fuselages, covering the afterburners, are circular whereas the Hasegawa - and the real aircraft - are somewhat flattened top and bottom, creating a slightly ogival shape. 

So - what to do? Well, given that the Airfix is scrap and spares already, and that its rear fuselage likely will match the Revell fuselage, maybe I can try to build the J35B by combining the nose and cockpit of the Revell with the rear fuselage of the Airfix. Obviously, I would also have to either modify the Airfix fin or replace it with the Revell one, given that the fin tops are different. Another, but likely more complicated option would be to replace the rearmost parts of the Revell kit with a corresponding Airfix section, but given that I would need to carry over also the spur wheel fairing, this seems to be a more difficult operation than cutting and joining up ahead. In any case, I wouldn't bother with the lack of ogivalness of the outlet fairing.

The Sk35C trainer will be a more complicated task to complete, however. The easy way out would be to just sell off the Heller kit and instead buy another Hasegawa kit and a Maestro Models conversion set. These can be found, but they would set me back at least £70, so rather expensive indeed. The result, however, would be impeccable. Then again, an impeccable result might not always be what you're primarily after, rather looking for an enjoyable build, so maybe I should look closer into replacing the rearmost piece of the Heller kit with the Revell exhaust. That would also mean omitting the spur wheel fairing, but since the resulting area shall blend into the otherwise reasonably flat belly, that shouldn't be the big challenge in this, whereas matching the two different fuselage diameters likely will. Up front, the air intakes would need to be shortened a bit, but that's minor stuff.

I'll mull on this for a bit and perhaps start with the J35B for the time being.

[PR19_Kit]

Nothing like a bit of mulling in such situations. 

[steelpillow]

Note that the Revell fin is by contrast oversize (at least compared to the Heller). So if you go that road you may want to trim it down a bit.

Meanwhile, my old Revell build is too small, so I went and got a Heller for my stash but that's apparently too wide.
Any chance I can kitbash the two to make one  accurate beast? Fuselage from one, wings from the other, or whatever?

[Pellson]

Note that the Revell fin is by contrast oversize (at least compared to the Heller). So if you go that road you may want to trim it down a bit.

Meanwhile, my old Revell build is too small, so I went and got a Heller for my stash but that's apparently too wide.
Any chance I can kitbash the two to make one  accurate beast? Fuselage from one, wings from the other, or whatever?

Actually, I think the Revell kit is better overall from a dimensional perspective, but that said - if you don't have anyhing to compare with, it's not that awful. The main quirks with the Heller kit are:

• wing tips. The outermost wingtips shall be rather triangular with a sharp(ish) tip. Look at photos
• the aforementioned exhaust fairing, being circular rather than ogival. Don't bother
• the canopy and windshield being too high. Also the windshield has two strakes that it shouldn't have. Hard to correct, but there are vac form options if you care.

[steelpillow]

You're talking me into a Hasegawa kit for the real thing and TWO whiffs now, aren't you?

A VTOL one - and I've always had a yen for the project with flip-out canard moustache.

[Pellson]

You're talking me into a Hasegawa kit for the real thing and TWO whiffs now, aren't you?

A VTOL one - and I've always had a yen for the project with flip-out canard moustache.

If you really want to build an accurate Draken, then the Hasegawa kit is the only way, I'm, afraid.

*************

Re my own Drakens, I've started up the J35B build. However, looking at the thickness of the forward wing, or rather the difference in thickness of this part between the Airfix and the revell kits, I decided to cut and join at the back rather than at the front. An added benefit, apart from a less troublesome joint to PSR, is that the J35A (Short) I already have will be rather similar to the J35B, as they should.
Anyway - both fuselages are cut and I have begun to prepare the Revell front fuselage for the joint by painting the cockpit innards etc. Pics might follow later.

I also renamed this thread, not to have to start another one for the J35B 

[Pellson]

Officially being the worst person ever to handle a saw, I had to shim in a 3mm piece of styrene in order to make the joint work at all. Also, this way I could guarantee that the fuselage length will be correct. Or rather - matching the all-Revell J35A model.

Anyway, it's been a rather cumbersome cutting experience and an even worse joining, but now, it's left to set for a bit before I get on with the PSR of the joint.

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I've decided to use the Revell wings and fin, thereby again ensuring as much commonality between these two models as possible. Generally, I would otherwise say that the Airfix' wings are better from the start, but they'll eventually come in handy for some other build anyway.

For the Sk35C, I will probably have to go the expensive way, but that will be for another day.

[NARSES2]

The shot of the wingless Draken is making me think of a swing wing version

Do I spot RAF C type and RDAF drinks mats in the background then ? 

[Old Wombat]

Do I spot RAF C type and RDAF drinks mats in the background then ? 

You noticed them, too, eh!

[Rick Lowe]

Sure they're not Rosettes from the last Show? 

[Pellson]

The shot of the wingless Draken is making me think of a swing wing version

Do I spot RAF C type and RDAF drinks mats in the background then ? 

Yeah, couldn't help myself back in the day when the kids were at it..
I have been contemplating trying one Swedish too, but the crowns may be tricky to get correctly centered.

[NARSES2]

Do I spot RAF C type and RDAF drinks mats in the background then ? 

Yeah, couldn't help myself back in the day when the kids were at it..
I have been contemplating trying one Swedish too, but the crowns may be tricky to get correctly centered.

You made them ? Impressive   

Sure they're not Rosettes from the last Show? 

 

[Pellson]

Given recent development, i.e the ongoing and so far successful construction not only of the J35A Short, but also of its slightly younger sister, the J35B, it seems this backstory deserves a revisit.

The long life of the early J35 Drakens
Already within a year after the first flight of the SAAB 29 Tunnan in 1948, the next generation of jet fighter was being put into development. While the Tunnan certainly was a major leap ahead in comparison to the Vampires they were to replace, the Royal Swedish Air Force was sorely aware that much more challenging opponents were in the curtains.
The target for the engineering team at SAAB was an entirely new aircraft, forming the airborne part of a new, semiautomatic combat control system, the STRIL60, that was to be able to defeat fast, high flying opponents in all weathers and at all times during the day and year. To reach these targets, the new fighter would have to be solidly supersonic and equipped with a radar to, regardless of weather or lighting conditions, be able to independently complete the intercept once vectored into the general vicinity of the opponent. On top of this, the emerging threats from the new cold war meant that the new aircraft would have to be independent of big air bases, rather optimised to disperse and operate from remote road bases and small airfields for an extended period of time. To make this even remotely possible from a Swedish financial perspective, the aircraft would have to be relatively small, manned by a single aircrew and also be maintainable by a relatively small team of conscript technicians, lead by a single professional technical officer or NCO.

The design team, lead by aeronautical engineer Erik Bratt, started from research by the German engineer Alexander Lippisch on delta wings, and from 1951, one of Lippisch's students, Hermann Behrbohm, was attached to the project team. In 1955, the first prototype of the new SAAB 35 took to the air and in 1959, the first serially produced aircraft rolled out of the SAAB factory in Linköping. Within a year, the first squadron at the F13 Wing in nearby Norrköping was converting from the J29A Tunnan to the new J35A Draken. Tactical testing and development commenced at F13, but soon it was found that performance was severely restricted above 13 000 m. The reason was some lack of thrust from the existing RM6B/EBK65 combination (a slightly improved RR Avon Mk48A paired with a locally designed afterburner) and lead to the development of a new, longer afterburner, causing an extension of the tailcone and necessitating the characteristic spur wheel installation of the later Drakens.

During 1960-1961, 90 J35A's were built, and this new afterburner, the EBK 66, was introduced in production from serial no 35066, giving significantly more thrust and less supersonic drag, in particular at high altitudes. The first 65 airframes weren't rebuilt, however, and officially, these two physically different variants were designated J35A1 and J35A2, but in service, they were referred to as J35A "short" and "long", respectively.
Of these, serial no's 35008-35040 were delivered without radar as the planned, domestically developed radar wasn't ready. Instead they featured the same reflection gunsight as the J29 Tunnan. From 35041, however, a somewhat simpler radar than originally specified was installed, bought from Thomson CSF in France. This was basically a somewhat glorified gun ranging radar, but it could also be used to assist in targeting the IR missile in worse weather, but not to search for targets independently.
As the STRIL communications link also wasn't ready in time, all J35A's would lack the voiceless command link, instead having to rely on verbal communication via radio from the combat control centers, dug deep in the Swedish bedrock.

In the meantime, missile development was ongoing and a prototype missile, the Rb321, was tested from groundbased launchers. The progress was however not quite as desired, so eventually, an offer from the US for AIM-9B Sidewinders was received and accepted, leading to the termination of the Rb321 development before any air launches were made. However, integration of the AIM-9B would come first during 1963, so in the meantime, the two fixed Aden cannons was the only armament available.
The only store to be carried in the meantime was a single 530 litre drop tank on a centerline pylon. Once the Sidewinders were available, however, either two of them could be carried, one under each outer wing in combination with the drop tank, or two more missiles could replace the tank on an inverted Y pylon on the centerline. Also, six pairs of 13,5 cm Bofors attack rockets could be fitted on rails under the outer wings, giving a rudimentary if effective strike capability.

25 early short and radarless Drakens were taken back by SAAB already during 1961 for modification to unarmed two seater trainers. This was an afterthought by the RSwAF. The old and experienced test pilots at SAAB had deemed the flight characteristics of the new fighter good enough for "any reasonably trained fighter pilot" to handle solo, but the Air Force soon found that to be somewhat optimistic in practice. The unarmed twoseater was dubbed Sk35C (the "B" denomination already being occupied by the properly radar equipped follow-on to the "A" already in progress) and designed to easily be reconfigured back into a J35A armed fighter, should the need arise. 
In 1963, following the missile integration, some radar installations where such was missing, and some other minor upgrades, all remaining J35A's were reassigned from F13 to F16, in Uppsala north of Stockholm, as F13 were taking on newbuilt J35B's. The J35A's would remain at F16, together with the Sk35C-equipped OCU, until replaced in 1977 by the final newbuild Draken version, the J35F. By then, they had gained a small forward looking IR camera under the nose that integrated into the sight, improving night fighter capability. When phased out, most of the remaining A's were put in storage.

In the mean time, also the J35B had been delivered, first to F16 but soon also to F18, just south of Stockholm.  The B was very much similar to the long A, but featured the Swedish radar finally ready for installation. Another difference was that the B got the STRIL60 controlled interception data link to facilitate radio silent ground controlled interception, a first outside the USA and something none of the A's got in their early years.
The B's in Uppsala didn't stay for long, however. After only a year there, as the A's from F13 were delivered, about one half of the F16's J35B's went to F18 Wing. The other half went to F10 in sourthernmost Sweden, equipping one sqn while the F10 wings other two sqn's soldiered on with the J34 Hawker Hunter for a few years more until they converted to the next Draken fighter mark, the J35D. The second hand B's did however start the Scanian wings long association with the SAAB double delta.  Interestingly, this version was again pioneered by the F13 Wing in Norrköping.The J35D featured a more powerful engine/afterburner combination, the RM6C/EBK67, requiring more fuel but also reworked and extended air intakes. More important was the new radar giving better interception capabilities than before. Finally, the fin was changed somewhat as the pitot previously located just ahead/below the tip now was moved all the way up.
The J35B's however would stay at F18 until the disbandment of this wing in 1974.

During the 1960's and 1970's, the European peace movement had been heavily infiltrated by KGB and the Soviet support had activated several European left extremist terror groups, such as the Rote Armee Fraktion in West Germany and the Brigata Rossi in Italy. Also, regular spy activities were high and in several countries bordering the Baltic, Soviet incursions were made by small submersibles, possibly landing and recovering agents and sabotage teams. Following the end of the Vietnam war in 1975 and then the fall of the Shah in Iran and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, the Soviets, apparently encouraged by their successes, went on an offensive across the board. Large, aggresive Warsaw pact exercises were held, at least yearly, and in the early 1980's, these tended to include practice large air assaults across the Baltic sea, targeting not only the NATO countries, but also Sweden.

These events in combination with the generally more unruly situation between the superpowers led to Sweden reconsidering the military cutbacks decided during the 1970's, instead rapidly rearming itself. As a consequence, several air force fighter wings were reestablished, and older aircraft were taken out of storage to fill out the new squadrons. Upgrades were considered as the J35A, B and D lacked radar controlled missiles, and while modernising the D's to the later F standard was a rather straightforward affair given that they were the same in all but radar and missile systems, the older A's and B's were different, having less powerful engines and significantly less advanced electronics. Of these, the long A's and B's, of which 71 airframes were stored in more or less good repair, were first to be taken in hand, mainly due to their significantly better high altitude performance due to their better aerodynamics and more powerful afterburners. On reactivation, these aircraft were upgraded with the improved radar of the J35F and sights, thereby not only finally getting fully integrated in the combat control system, but also gaining the capability for collision course intercepts with the Rb27/28 SARH/IR Falcon missiles in addition to Sidewinders. Also, they gained the Hughes IRST unit from the J35F2, as these had proven very well working, in particular against low flying targets. However, these older Drakens still only had three hardpoints, of which one usually was occupied by a new larger drop tank, now containing 1200 litres and borrowed from the Danish SAAB 35XD design. Also, like their J35F sisters, they lost the port cannon to make room for the new missile control electronics.

As the upgrade was decided and budgeted, someone suggested looking at the 23 remaining short A's as well, given that development of technology and tooling already was paid for, and as it was found that adding these aircraft to the main programme only would increase the total budget with about 6%, the decision to go ahead was given, despite their somewhat lower performance, and hence, the remaining 23 short A's were similarly upgraded. 
As an afterthought, also the 21 Sk35C's were given the same upgrade, giving them equal capability to the short A's, but for the Aden cannon as that space already was used for fuel. While less useful for peacetime patrols due to the lack of cannons, they would be able to form an emergency fighter sqn in wartime.

The short A's went back to their former home in Uppsala, joining their technically very similar Sk35C's at the J35 OCU and forming the 161st fighter sqn, F16 Wing, flying alongside the J35F's of the 162nd and 163rd sqns. Having reached operational status, they were assigned to the low altitude air defence of the greater Stockholm area, and in wartime, they would have been accompanied by the Sk35C's, who got a similar system upgrade and would have formed the 164th sqn in time of war. The remaining long J35A's joined the after upgrading very similar J35B's at the reestablished F18 Wing, south of Stockholm, where they equipped four peacetime sqns, the 181 through 184 sqn. In case of an attack from the east (in reality the only scenario trained for) however, it was anticipated that at least one of these sqns would be flown over the Gulf of Bothnia and handed over to the Finnish Ilvoimaat, reinforcing the six J35B's already operational there. In preparation for this, the Finns throughout the Cold War always trained about twice the amount of pilots needed to operate their Drakens.

A few years later, when it became apparent that the JAS39 development was running very late indeed, a larger upgrade programme for the Drakens was rolled out. This retrofit was primarily intended for the J35D/F models, creating the J35J interceptor and included significantly better radars and electronics but also some extra fuel capacity by making the outer wing pylons wet. Also, an extra hardpoint for an AIM-9 missile was added under each air intake, increasing the possible missile armament by one third, or allowing for significantly better time on station when carrying four drop tanks while still fielding missiles. While not extending the full rebuild to the old J35A's and B's, these extra missile stations were carried over also to the older Drakens still in service, finally providing a credible second attack capability.
However, as the first Gripens finally entered service in the late 1990's, these the least capable and now forty-year-old Drakens were the first to go, being replaced initially by slightly younger J35J sisters inherited from sqns converting to the JAS39, and later by new Gripens, as they became available.

Right. That would cater for the Bravo (or Bertil, in Swedish) version as well.

Still, however, I'm not entirely satisfied with armament. The backstory would only give the upgraded Drakens the rather shortlegged Falcon missiles, and as I've found that the later Ericsson PS011/A radar of the J35J could track and provide fire solutions up to about 65 km, the just above 20 km range of the Rb27/GAR-11 missile seems a tad on the short side. I shall return to this.

On the construction side, things are actually moving forwards as well. Most of the fuselage PSR is completed, and wings and fin attached. Some minor tip sculpting remains as well as to putty in the new nose, also carried over from the old Airfix corpse.

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But that, and more, is for another day.