JetMads 1/32 Viggen

[GusMac]

Made the first start on this yesterday by washing all the main resin parts in soapy water in case of any residual releasing agent.

Aaannddd....

The first problem becomes apparent. The leading edge of the port wing has been broken in transit. However it looks a pretty clean break through the gear bay, so I'm hoping that it should be fixable using the 5-minute epoxy. Failing that the JetMads after sales service seems decent so I may contact them if it's not resolvable.

 

[Peterpools]

Gus

Great choice for your next build and I guess being 3D printed, the parts are more prone to breakage in shipping. Fingers crossed you can fix the offending part without needing to contact Jetmads customer service.

Will be following all the way. 

[GusMac]

First progress with this. Removed the first set of printed parts for priming. Thankfully the supports come away very easily but you have to keep your eyes peeled not to inadvertently remove some of the detail as well. The resolution of some of the detail is amazing.

First bit of Dremel action as well - cleaning up the inside of the resin trunking so that the printed pieces fit nicely. Not sure I'm a fan of having to wear my respirator for assembly as well as painting but it's better than breathing the dust. 

Hopefully get this all primed tomorrow as long as the household task list isn't extended!

[Bomber_County]

Looking good Gus, you would almost need a clean room environment to properly deal with all the dust………one reason the small amount of resin I do can be submerged in a bowl of water………….

[Peterpools]

Gus

Nice progress and completely agree, the detail is amazing. These days, I take no chances and when cutting or sanding resin parts, I wet sand and wear my respirator. 

I'm actually not so sure breathing in 'styrene' dust when sanding isn't harmful as well. Every day they find out something we thought was safe, isn't. 

 

[GusMac]

First parts primed, painted and ready for assembly.

Trunking and fan in Tamiya X-2 and Xtreme Metals steel. The detail on the 3D prints is amazing.

Rear trunking in X-2. Just noticed the hair in the photo, but it's so far back into the interior that I'm just gonna leave it. There's a support of some sort across the bottom of trunks which isn't much thicker than a hair - the quality of the 3D prints just makes me laugh. I know JetMads get some stick about print layers on some stuff, especially the Stiletto, but the detail is just lovely.

Front intakes done in X-2 then masked and the anterior portions done in Xtreme Metals aluminium. It's hard to see if this correct in pictures of real airframes but it seems to be the consensus in other previous builds, so I'm not gonna argue!

Rear wall of the cockpit done in aluminium as well.

Have ordered Mr Paint colours for this build as they seem to be the best match to the Swedish colours. Haven't used them before but always seem to get a good write up and the 'no thinning' should hopefully make it a pleasant experience I hope. Paint is coming from Poland as none of the UK stockists had the necessary colours, so probably going to take a couple of weeks to get here. Plenty to get on with in the meantime....

[Peterpools]

Gus

Awesome progress on the Viggen. The detail just keeps getting better and better and looking mighty good.

I'm assuming you are going to be using Mr Paint - MRP Lacquer. It's been my go-to paint for years and it is amazing. I also use MRP Primer, gray or black. Paints and primers are pre thinned and I shoot them straight from the bottle with absolutely no thinning. Results: smooth as silk and strong as steel. You're going to love the paints.

I use Self Leveling Thinners when changing colors during a session and regular lacquer thinner to clean the air after painting is done for the day. I always wear a respirator and use my spray booth. 

 

 

[GusMac]

Thanks Peter, looking forward to trying the Mr Paint. My only concern is how strongly they might smell as my wife is quite sensitive to anything too noxious.

Bit more progress tonight.

Intake trunking glued in place. You can see that very fine support I was talking about quite nicely in these photos - just amazed at what they can achieve with the 3D printing.

Turbine fan glued in place at the back of the trunking. I haven't glued this to the back of the intake trunks as a bit of dry fitting showing that the RAT housing will have to be fitted first as the fit is extremely tight and I'd rather avoid the cursing and chances of breaking bits.

Speaking of which, here is the RAT housing painted in Xtreme Metals Steel and the 2 parts (don't know what they are) that go inside ready for detail painting. The coils appear to be a strange greeny-gold colour so I've made an eyeball mix of Titan Gold and Park Green. I'll see how it looks tomorrow after it's dry.

[Peterpools]

Gus

Nice progress and I'm a mazed as you with the level of detail in 3D molded kits.

MRP paints do have an order/smell to them, pretty much equal to Tamiya Lacquer paints and a lot less them My Color.  If you use a paint booth and let is run a while after the paint session is over, I don't think there will be an objectional odor.  Better test to be sure.  

 

[GusMac]

Sounds good Peter. my wife is okay with the Tamiya Lacquers so hopefully this'll be fine too. I always use my respirator and paint booth, so fingers crossed!

[Peterpools]

🤞

[GusMac]

Bit more progress today.

Got the RAT painted up and installed. A lot of the detail is hidden once it's in place but it might all be invisible once the door and the actual turbine are added.

Also got the base colours on the front wheel bay, so detail painting on that will be next.

[DocRob]

This is coming out nicely Gus. Your way adapting to the 3D technology seems to successful. So far, I used only smaller portions of 3D-printed parts with kits and liked them a lot. I have a Dekno Gee Bee Racer in 48 scale in stash, which is completely printed. I´m eager too see, how this works out, but there are small traces of printing lines visible.
Anyway, I can´t wait to see your Viggen in Swedish splinter, which I like a lot, but would be too much of a coward to attempt.

Cheers Rob 

[Peterpools]

Gus

The Rat detailing looks spot on the money and hopefully it will be visible when the Viggen is completed. 

I've only played around with a few 3D printed parts, treated them as the same as resin and all seems to work well ... CCA and I do wear a mask when cutting and sanding if needed. 

 

[GusMac]

The 3D printed stuff certainly produces great detail but it is very brittle. When you're cutting off the print supports there are pieces pinging everywhere, just hopefully none of the detail with it.

Got the rear trunking and turbine attached and the pieces which support and align the join to the rear fuselage section added. I've already spotted an issue from a quick test fit as the cast walls of the upper section of the rear piece are quite asymmetric and don't align correctly. More action with the Dremel ahead! This is only about 1/4 of the final airframe but it's already quite a weighty chunk - I think my arms will get a good workout by the end of this.

Started on detail painting the front wheel well which should keep me busy until the Mr Paint arrives and I can continue on with the cockpit. I really should be attaching the intakes but they are going to require quite a bit of filling and sanding and I'm putting it off for the moment until the inspiration strikes.

[Peterpools]

Gus

Not completely sure of what I'm seeing but it does seem as if JetMads design approach of stacking parts inside parts can cause fit issues if the tolerances are exceeded and that seems to be the case shown in the photograph.  Looks as if a lot of gentle sanding is needed to ensure parts fit together.

Some nice progress on what surely is a kit that will test a builder's skills. and my money is riding on you.

 

 

[GusMac]

Hi Peter, you can see the issue in this picture.

Looks like the mould might have slipped slightly or something similar but as you can see the left side wall of the upper spine is at least twice as thick. From test fitting it looks like I might need to take off about a couple of millimetres to get it to fit. Only needs to go back about 5 millimetres for the joint support, so hopefully it won't take too long.

[Peterpools]

Gus

Thank you for the photo - it does illustrate very clearly the corrections you have to do. I guess on this type of limited production kit, this is to be expected.

 

[GusMac]

It's certainly different to anything I've done before but I'm enjoying it at the moment.

[Peterpools]

Gus

Glad it's still an enjoyable build which helps keep the juices flowing and eager to spend quality bench time on the project.

 

[GusMac]

Got the front wheel well done. Pictures with flash make the weathering look a bit heavier than it does to the naked eye.

The package from Poland with the Mr Paint should arrive tomorrow so hopefully can get on with the cockpit painting again.

[BlrwestSiR]

Wow, that looks great. 

[PanzerWomble]

Nice work, I ignored all the Vegan frenzy last year , it's nice to get a good close look at one. 

[Peterpools]

Gus

Wheel wells look so nicely done and all the fine brush painting, highlights and helps the details jump out. Looking mighty good.  

[GusMac]

Thanks all. I've got the intakes on with the BSI 5 minute epoxy and filler in all the gaps, so now on to the tedious sanding, priming, checking, refilling, etc cycle. I'll post pics once I have something I'm happy with.