I’ve been away from model building for at least 19 years. As a teenager I built quite a few models but growing up other things had priority. I build mostly 1:72 military aircraft since these are my passion. I’ve always asked myself why I haven’t continued building and now finally the first step has been taken! Well, it sure get’s the fire burning again.
In the early 90’s I read a column in FSM about what to do when the hobby get’s stale and no projects get finished. One tip was to go to the hobby shop and see what rings your bell and just build it, no fancy stuff, just do it for the passion, with no pressure, just to get things started. Sounds good to me.
Well, that time has come! I’m not sure if it’s lasting but it sure is fun! Fun is the main thing in all this.
Here’s what I did.
I went to my local hobby shop to see what could bring my attention. Going in, I was looking for a 1/48 scale military aircraft, I’ve used to build 1/72 scale but I wanted something more “beefy”.
Being a Swede I opted for the Italeri JAS 39 Gripen Twin Seater.
My aim was to build it over the weekend, not painting it, just assembling it, keeping it very basic. No paint, no fancy stuff, just like in the old days using what you have. Coming home, I checked my supplies, sprue cutter, X-acto knife, liquid glue, a sandpaper stick, that’s it. Just the basics to get the job done. I decided to not paint the aircraft since this goes beyond my goal.
The goal was to build the complete model over the course of this weekend. So here we go, I’m almost done and I have taken pictures of the proceedings, pictures I will post in this thread.
Anyone interested? If for nothing else it could serve as a template for how well (or bad) the Italeri JAS 39 goes together. I’ll update this thread soon with pictures and descriptions. Stay tuned!
Welcome back to the hobbie and glad you found your passion again. Sometimes its good to just blast out a kit like we used to do when we were new to the hobby.
Latest update: The model is now finished! Well, some decaling needs to be finished, but I will now resize the photos and take some final pictures. Tomorrow, I hope to be able to show it all off, because it’s been a fun ride!
Alright, you’ve waited long enough, the pictures are available. I wanted to make it into a review, eventually I will, but I didn’t want you to wait so long so for now here’s an image gallery of the comeback build!
Link: http://www.vicendo.net/
Thanks! Well, there actually is a fingerprint and it’s located on the front windshield. I was holding the clear part and applied a bit to much glue and when I removed my fingers there it was, quite a smudge. I think you can see it if you watch closely. Ah, well…what do you do when you’ve got no Crystal Kleer, right?
First off, [#welcome] back home… I really like how your Gripen turned out… Every time I go to my Local Hobby Shop, I check out this kit but never seem to buy it… Well I think times have changed…!!
Over all kit looks really good and the fit seems to be good as well… Any issues w/ this build that you can recall?
Butz, there were a few places that needed extra attention. I wanted to have the airbrakes open, since this is an option, but the fit was difficult, the hinge had very little contact with the aircraft body and the placement seemed to be off. The air intakes need some work, some putty and sanding. I would guess that with some fine trimming of the edges you can get a nice fit without too much filing and puttying. Also the front canards wings are affected by this and shows some gaps. One option is to mount the canards at an angle like when the plane is on the ground or during landing.
The seam in the upper fuselage near the back seat of the cockpit shows a gap that is hard to clamp when glueing, this probably need some filling and sanding. The undercarriage doors have little contact points, only three small pegs and the way I mounted them was to put the pegs in the little dents in the body, but the plastic is so thin that the glue just melted them to stumps. Perhaps the doors should be placed more on the inside of the gear wells so that the pegs just bring a little support. This also goes for the front undercarriage doors.
The cockpit is very easy to assemble, everything just falls into place. The decals used for the panels are a bit long or a bit short depending on panel. In my case, the instrument decal in the backseat was to high and would need to be shortened to not push the decal too high up in the “hood”.
These are no show stoppers whatsoever, the kit was a joy to put together and the fit of most parts are outstanding. The undercarriage parts are very well made and fits like a glove. The front undercarriage with the intricate “cage” is quite fiddly but comes together nicely. This was the perfect weekend project and is highly recommended.
Most likely I’ll build a couple more models in this way and then slowly start to expand. I’ll probably also look into other areas like tanks and cars…whatever fancies me at the time.
very nice… i have that onein the stash, will be awhile till I get to it… I do like the idea of just putting something together… I am also a “comeback” to the hobby returnee, so welcome aboard!
