SPECIAL HOBBY VIGGEN RE-ISSUE
First released in 2019, the 1/72 SAAB Viggen from Special Hobby – co-produced with Tarangus – delighted fast jet fans. Now it’s back with new colour schemes…
Before Special Hobby released its 1/72 Viggen, the pickings were slim if you wanted a quality kit of this impossibly cool aircraft. The choice lay in models from Hasegawa, Airfix/Heller and Matchbox, but all could definitely be considered ‘vintage’ and lacking in detail.
Special Hobby’s effort, however, produced in concert with Swedish manufacturer Tarangus, broke the mould (pardon the pun) as it possessed very fine features such as engraved panel lines, beautifully moulded instrument panels, undercarriage, ejection seats and other items… and a generally splendid replica will be the result given the requisite care and attention in building and finishing.
Above: Special Hobby’s Viggens benefit from finely engraved parts, such as this one-piece lower wing.
Special Hobby has now deemed the time right to re-issue the Viggen as the AJ 37 ‘Strike Fighter’, which portrays the ground-attack variant and comes with decals for three new colour schemes, which are:
• 37023, F7 Wing, Sätenäs July 1973. This overall metal airfame sports ‘418’ participation numbers leftover from its Paris Air Show appearance the previous month. While refuelling at Leeuwarden in the Netherlands on return from France, Dutch personnel ‘zapped’ the Viggen’s vertical tail with a 323 Squadron RNLAF badge
• 37029, F7 Wing, Sätenäs, July 1975. This jet wears two different Luftwaffe squadron ‘zaps’, after its appearance at the September 1973 air show at Buchel, West Germany. Overall metal finish
• 37035, F6 Wing, Karlsborg, September, 1984. Swedish Air Force ‘splinter’ camouflage
Special Hobby offers other Viggen kits in this scale but all are priced at 27.50 Euros; there is a full range of bespoke aftermarket accessories too. For further details visit: www.specialhobby.eu and www.cmkkits.com
