Heller 1/72 scale SAAB J21 A

[yak face]

Heres my entry for the twin boom GB , the Heller SAAB j21a in 1/72 scale. This interesting little aircraft was saabs first fighter and was first conceived in 1941 . Developed during the next few years , it entered service in early 1946 and was highly regarded, eventually becoming one of only two aircraft types to make the transition from piston to jet power using largely the same airframe (the j21a became the j21r , the other one being the yak3 into the yak 15). The kit is a Heller offering from the 80's and is a lovely bit of moulding. Although it has raised panel lines , i dont mind them at all and the finesse of the moulding is excellent with razor sharp trailing edges , a nice crisp finish and a very reasonable cockpit . The only things i will be adding are some seat belts and ill probably drill out the prominent landing lights in the front of the booms. heres the rather battered box top shot and the sprues, cheers tony

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[Guest]

Hi Tony, Where do you find these aircraft from, look forward to following your ingenuity during the build. I was very impressed wiht thequality of the old Heller kit I used for my 'Where Eagles Dare' some time ago. Derek

[Ian M]

Looks an interesting one.

Ian M

[yak face]

Cheers chaps , im not going the whole hog with this one Derek , its going to be pretty much OOB , maybe just seatbelts to add. Its a very finely moulded kit and looks like it should go together with no problems , hopefully i can get some pics of my slow progress tomorrow, cheers tony

[Dave W]

That looks a nice little kit Tony.

[yak face]

bit more progress on the saab today. The cockpit is done , typical 1950's- black everywhere, nothing much added , just a bit of artistic licence on the side consoles and some belts made from tamiya tape. Ive assembled both the 3 part main undercarriage legs ,as these have to be trapped between the two halves of the booms , and glued the fuselage together - not forgetting a fair bit of nose weight!! One other thing ive done is to add some radiators in the wing recesses. The kit didnt supply anything meaning there was a bit of a see through effect , so using Romans tip ,i cut some strips off a packet of Ibuprofen tablets , which will give the effect of a mesh radiator when painted black and dry brushed with gunmetal grey. cheers tony

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[yambam26]

Nice progress Tony,

Really liking the little details you've added,Ive got to try making some seat belts when i come to do some of my aircraft kits

Cheers,Ben

[papa 695]

A very nice start Tony the office looks realy good as do the radiators

[mossiepilot]

Nice office Tony, good start mate.

Tony.

[colin m]

Great office Tony.

According to Top Gear, people who drive Saab's have above average intelligence - I don't know where I'm going with this one, I just appeared from my dodgy memory !!

[yak face]

Are you sure it wasnt ' people who BUILD Saabs'? LOL

[Ian M]

Cant be people that drive them- I have lost count of the dozy sods in Saab that have carved me up. I also knew a woman that had a 99turbo. And I assure you her IQ was not even close to the mark of her car....

Ian M

[Dave W]

Can't be the people that build them either.They went out of business because they spent far more money building them than they made in sales.The build is looking good Tony.

[Guest]

Really cool looking bird Tony ,not seen that one modelled before. Looking forward to the next update!

[yak face]

A bit more done yesterday on the Saab. The bottom wing is on and after dry brushing to highlight the radiators, the top wings followed a while after. The fit was very nice with maybe only a wipe of vallejo putty being required at the joint . The seams on the fuselage have been sanded with the unavoidable loss of a few panel lines. As the surface detail (albeit raised) on this kit is so delicate and fine I think it looks great . so i re-instated the lost sections with thin fishing line carefully attached with superglue , i think it looks ok and should be indistinguishable under a coat of paint. The booms have also been glued and sanded ready for attaching when ive finished fettling the wings. The fit and fine detail of this kit is excellent , the only slight snag ive had is that the plastic is quite soft so wherever ive removed parts from the sprue it has left a little mark that needs a touch of filler (see the white blobs on the fuselage top) apart from that its been a real pleasure to assemble , if you ever see one of these kits and fancy doing something swedish i'd totally recommend it. anyway here are a few update pics , cheers tony

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