Airfix Model World
{70}www.airfixmodelworld.com {71}
Airfix Model World
http://www.airfixmodelworld.comBASIC BUILD
SAAB JAS-39C GRIPENBASIC BUILD
SAAB JAS-39C GRIPEN{71}
Airfix Model World
http://www.airfixmodelworld.com“The engineering
of the kit was really
very impressive”
panel shroud was added; this was
slightly narrow, so after it was
glued in place, Micro Kristal Klear
was used to fill the gaps, before
being neatened with damp cotton
buds and resprayed. The seams
were primed with Tamiya XF-64
NATO Black and once everything
looked acceptable, this was
rubbed off with 1,000-grade Wet
and Dry paper.Two shades of grey
After finding two photographs
of the 2014 Czech Tiger MeetGripen in rather clean condition,
an un-weathered paint job
was the initial objective.
Undersurfaces were sprayed
with a mix of approximately one
part XF-80 Royal Light Grey and
two parts white. After masking
areas where overspray would
be inevitable, the upper grey
was sprayed freehand with one
part XF-66 Light Grey and two
parts white. Once complete,
the gear bays and tail/spine
were masked and sprayed with
off-white and XF-18 Semi-GlossBlack respectively. The rear end/
exhaust was painted separately
before attachment; it received
XF-60 Dark Yellow internally and
Alclad Dull Aluminium over gloss
black externally, in addition to
the camouflage colours. After
glossing the airframe with Klear,
on went the decals and, despite
being matt in appearance, they
performed well with Micro Set
and Sol. Sadly, the formation
lights and missile colour bands
were noticeably ‘dotty’ so these
were replaced with after-marketofferings. Also, a large amount
of trimming was necessary to
get the canard and tail graphics
to fit. A heavy amount of gloss
was needed to cover the matt
decal finish, but once dry all was
well. Weathering began with an
oil wash mixed from lamp black
and titanium white for a suitable
grey shade on the airframe, while
a grubbier brown-grey mix was
used over the gear legs, doors
and wheel wells. The wheel
hubs received a darker mix
than the other undercarriageThe upper surfaces of
the canards were semi-
gloss black, which was
vital considering the
trimming needed on the
edges of the decals.A stark wash wasn’t
desirable, so a suitable
grey was mixed from
black and white oil paint. Some of the panel lines were soft, so the wash couldn’t grip; a 2B pencil was used
later to provide the lost emphasis. After a very thin 2-1 mix of Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black and XF-64 Red Brown was used for
post-shading panel lines and other appropriate areas, paint touch-ups began with a thin
and slightly lightened mix of the original grey. A careful mottle was also applied.68-72_Gripen.CC.indd 71 17/03/2015 14:43