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1/72 Italeri JAS 39 Gripen


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Hi all! Here's my one and only entrant to this GB: Italeri 1/72 JAS 39 Gripen. Bought this kit a little while ago (probably 2 years ago, maybe more). Been wanting to build this but kept getting distracted by other "projects"! :woot.gif: So, this GB is the perfect avenue to start working on this kit!

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I'm thinking of building this kit in-flight. But, that means I can't use the centreline. Hmmm.... Let's see how I go.

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Welcome to the GB! Do not miss the striped centerline! Why not putting the model stand into the exhaust?

Gripen...seldom to see in special colors, so I look forward to your build!

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Why not putting the model stand into the exhaust?

Because I tried looking for acrylic rods where I live but could not. I could buy 'em in bulk online, but I had to buy LOTS. I've been using mini tripod and off-the-shelf display stands.

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I put together the wing sub-assembly, then dry-fitted it with the fuselage halves... Doesn't look too bad. Might actually fit quite well with minimal putty.

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I also sanded the molding line down the middle of the canopy, polished, then dipped into Pascoe's LongLife last week. Pretty happy with the result.

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A bit pissed off at Italeri. There's a small part supposed to be molded as 8B (I think), to be glued on the inside of the fuselage for the square hole pictured below, which was not on the sprue tree - oh, the part number is there, and the sprue anchor is there, but nothing at the end of the sprue anchor.

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So, I decided to cover up the square hole with styrene strips...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Putty... sand... putty... sand... :woot.gif:

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At first I was really upset when I accidentally broke the small fin antenna just behind the large one on the spine, but then when I checked the pics online, I noticed that the only antenna on the spine should be just that big one. So, I ended up cutting off the other small one just to the front of the vertical stabiliser.

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Joined the wings and fuselage assemblies. Very nice fit. No gaps at all.

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Unfortunately, same can't be said for the canopy.... Dry fitted the canopy and noticed it's a bit too wide. Even after shaving some off, still a fraction of a mm too wide.

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  • 1 month later...

Alrighty... Time to face up to reality. I will not be able to finish this in time. Italeri gave me the impression that they might actually be casting replacement part for me. That was about 2 weeks ago. Still waiting for further update from them.

I might start a different in progress thread outside of this GB to keep y'all in the loop.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sebastijan, yes I'm thinking about it. But I ran out of steam on this one, unfortunately. If/When I get my mojo back, I'll start another thread in the normal WIP forum.

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