IPMS Kit Review: Hasegawa 1/48 Saab J35F/J Draken

Part 1: First Look

MSRP: $54.95
Supplied by Hobbylink Japan: www.hlj.com

EXTREME thanks go to Hobbylink for providing this Hasegawa kit. It's companies like Hobbylink that ensure we have the best items available in this country at the best prices.

Anyone who thinks the plastic kit industry is dead has not had an opportunity to build some of the new kits sprouting on the shelves. This new model is an example of the marvels which can be made from simple injection molding. As an "old guy", I am constantly amazed at what is being cranked out. Example: I recently built a "childhood memory" model, an original 1958 Monogram F-105 with bomb drop and ejecting pilot. I used some new decals, and built it straight from the box. I saved the decal sheet because it was only two months younger than I am; April 1958. I also saved the box; it had a painting of the pilot ejecting from the (bare) cockpit of an F-105, with a second F-105 peeling off to starboard. True 1950's modeling bliss.

Why does this matter? The kit in question had the proverbial baseball rivets, but it fit extremely well for an older kit. It looks like an F-105. Somewhat. But when compared to the Draken, it's like comparing a siege engine to a howitzer.

History time: I've been remiss here in the past … bear with me. From "Wikipedia"®:

"The Saab 35 Draken ("Draken" is Swedish for "The Kite", but also sounds like "Dragon") is a fighter aircraft manufactured by Saab between 1955 and 1974. The Draken was built to replace the Saab J 29 Tunnan and, later, the fighter variant (J 32B) of the Saab 32 Lansen. The indigenous J35 was an effective supersonic Cold War fighter that was also successful as an export product. Although out of service today, the Draken was influential as the first in a line of highly-sophisticated Saab fighters."

If you care to read more, pull up the net and read the Wikipedia background; it's an interesting tome! Airliners.net also has a lot of pictures for reference.

On to the model stuff. First, this shall be a quick build ala' my previous build of Eduard's Hellcat. I shall only add a harness to the ejection seat, and external stores as noted below. That's how complete this kit is.

Hasegawa scores yet again with the Draken. I do not know if it is pantographed up from their 1/72 version, having not built it. Included in the large format box are 107 standard Hasegawa gray styrene parts, 10 clear parts, and an impressive decal sheet. The last item is notable in that the white is opaque and truly white, not ivory, and the red/orange day glow numbers for one of the marking options is appropriately colored. All elements are in register and readable. No aftermarket required! Four aircraft can be modeled; three green/Indigo blue (yes, that is what it is) over gray/natural aluminum with large white letters on one, or the newer gray over gray with day glow orange/red numbers on the wing upper surfaces.

First observations: Subtle engraved details, clean moldings, and logical engineering.

Two drop tanks are included; you'll need Hasegawa's X48-3 weapon set if you intend to use AIM-9's and AIM-4's, as they are not included. The unguided rocket packs used on early Drakens are not included in this issue; parts breakdown indicate other versions may be forthcoming. Different leading edges to the strakes are provided, one set with gun ports, and one set without. The tail bumper two-wheeled bogie is a discrete item with separate wheel/tire assemblies. Also included is a deployed Ram Air Turbine (RAT) for visual interest. The canopy may be posed open or closed.

The intakes are about 1" in depth, which is ok because you can't see much further back on the real thing. I started by painting these with Tamiya "Silver Leaf" spray; (I'm getting smarter; rattle cans from Tamiya work great, and I only airbrush when colors not available are required or I have a camouflage pattern to do). When dry, I took an "O" brush loaded with gloss black and painted the aft bulkhead of the intakes. It provides sufficient depth. The cockpit is painted (according to the instructions) 34079 green. I sprayed all cockpit components with Tamiya Dark German Green instead; it's close enough for me. After letting the paint dry, I applied the decals to the instrument panel and cockpit sidewalls/coaming. These decals look good and, with a bit of Solvaset, snuggled down in place. A shot of Tamiya Flat clear, five minutes in assembly, and the basic cockpit is done. I must note this: A throttle lever is included … something missing in other kits. The instrument panel and side panels all had appropriately raised details; the decals make it easy to have a realistic cockpit in this scale, as they seem to fit perfectly with the details on the panels.

At this point I assembled the upper and lower fuselage halves. Do NOT forget to drill out the pylon and IRST mounting holes in the lower fuselage halves if you intend to use them. Hasegawa's plastic is not as translucent as some other company's plastic, and a strong light may not be good enough to shine through to light the hole locations if you forget.

I spent about three hours carefully assembling the basic airframe. I used just a little bit of typing fluid around the intakes and the nose radome; I find these areas are always difficult on any kit, but the fit was almost perfect, so the effort did not require hard-core putty buildup like so many other kits. Of course, it could have been my ham-fisted nature, but hey … I remembered to place a couple of fishing sinkers in the nose; I also drilled out the pitot tube receptacle and installed a length of stainless steel wire. Looking at most Draken's, the pitot is almost a straight tube, without aerodynamic features as seen on many other fighters, so it looks acceptable to me. The plastic kit item would not have lasted long in my hands. Guess I should invest in some microtubing, but not for today's build.

I went ahead and assembled the four-piece ejection seat. The instructions call for a bare metal frame with black headrest and Khaki seat rest; I went ahead and painted the back portion Khaki as well. The harness is not included; I had an Eduard set from previous Mirage III build, which looks good to me.

An engineering note: The afterburner section is a four-part affair with a flameholder grid appropriately located to block off any see-through effect. What's really cool is this does not have to be installed until after the model is complete. Makes one's life easier when painting and decaling, as you can "impale" the model on a dowel or stick to hold it and not get paint all over yourself. Nice …

Almost ready for painting … that will be next.

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