DONE @ p.8 +++ Saab J31B, Flygvapnet F1 Västmanland Flygflottilj, late Fifties

[Dizzyfugu]

I kick off this build with a "live thread", more or less, because it's a journey into the unknown, unfolding as the project makes progress. This will become a (fictional) Swedish all-weather fighter, spawned in a recent discussion with fellow board member Pellson and exchange about Swedish Air Force whifs - and the topic of an early jet-powered all-weather fighter came up, including Saab designs. One of these was a quite bulky aircraft, powered by a pair of Ghost/RM2 centrifugal flow engines in the rear fuselage, and that made me wonder about a whiffy "alternative" with Fifties look and technology, something that would have replaced the J 30 Mosquitoes or had been designed indigenously instead of procuring the J 33 (Venom night fighters)? A radar would have been bulky and heavy, so that the aircraft would have been quite large - and it would require two engines. The more I thought about the options the more I decided to turn that into hardware...

I have to admit that I have already used the J 31 designation for a what-if build, a Meteor night fighter in Swedish colors (what was actually considered, but it became the Venom and later the J 32B Lansen for that role), but since it had already been given to the Spitfire PR.XIXs as "S 31" a triple use would not be wrong - it would be the only number that would actually fit for the intended time and procurement frame.

Work started with a donor and parts safari, and it became clear quite quickly that "designing" an appropriate aircraft would not be easy - at least if it should convey a certain Fifties vibe.
For the fuselage I remembered an old Matchbox F3D Skyknight kit in The Stash - bought MANY moons ago, theoretically complete at first sight, but with a fundamental problem... 


1:72 SAAB J 31B 'Val'; 'Blue T/Blå Tore (s/n 31014)' of the Swedish Air Force (Flygvapnet) F 1 Västmanland Flygflottilj 2nd Squadron; Hässlö AB, Västerås (Central Sweden), 1956 (What-if/kitbashing) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Never had THIS sprue mess with a Matchbox kit, and that error made the kit unbuildable, so it was earmarked for the donor bank (one of the stabilizers had already gone elsewhere  ). However, the fuselage and the clear parts were mostly intact, even though the cockpit was missing and had to be improvised.

Work started with "cleaning" the fuselage. Even though the F3D's original engine nacelles are just grafted onto/under the hull, I had already decided that the engines of the J 31 would go under the wings in separate nacelles. That meant that the OOB engine attachment points and the intake/exhaust placeholders had to disappear, for a clean body. This measure was the first major PSR mess, but it showed the F3D's clean lines under its bulky shape, almost a perfect teardrop!


1:72 SAAB J 31B 'Val'; 'Blue T/Blå Tore (s/n 31014)' of the Swedish Air Force (Flygvapnet) F 1 Västmanland Flygflottilj 2nd Squadron; Hässlö AB, Västerås (Central Sweden), 1956 (What-if/kitbashing) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Speaking of the engines and their respective nacelles, this became the next source of guessing and headaches! Representing a centrifugal engine means bulky/round nacelles, which either had to be scratched or transplanted. The initial plan was to use the engines from an Airfix Gloster Meteor F.3 (I stunt I had done before), but was not really happy with that. Bigger/longer nacelles from a Matchbox Metor NF.14 were considered, too, until I stumbled upon a leftover pair of (utterly wrong and poor) Su-25 engines from a Hobbycraft kit. While they were too narrow I liked their boxy shape and their suitably narrow exhaust end - and was lucky to find leftover air intakes from a Matchbox Metor NF.14 in the spares box, together with a pair of intake cones from a Trumpeter Il-28. Enough material to tinker "something new" together that would fit - but blending the parts would mean another PSR mess...


1:72 SAAB J 31B 'Val'; 'Blue T/Blå Tore (s/n 31014)' of the Swedish Air Force (Flygvapnet) F 1 Västmanland Flygflottilj 2nd Squadron; Hässlö AB, Västerås (Central Sweden), 1956 (What-if/kitbashing) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

More coming soon.

[PR19_Kit]

We can have more than one 'Alternate Timeline' here in WhiffWorld Thomas, so having two different Swedish AF J31s is totally allowable. 

[Pellson]

Liking things so far. 

Quick reminder, though. There's NEVER a blank step between the "function" letter and the serial number on Swedish AF aircraft. J32B, J35F JA37 and JAS39E, for instance. And J31 in this case. 

[Dizzyfugu]

Ah, O.K. It's pretty inconsistent in literature, so it will be the J31B! 

[Dizzyfugu]

By the way, more things to show, and work has come to an unexpected halt.

In the meantime I was able to find a solution for the missing cockpit - while browsing through the spares bin I cama across something of which I thought "Well, this could work quite easily", and that cockpit tub turned out to be the remains of my first ever built Matchbox F3D from the early Nineties, then built as a Vietnam era EF-10. Seats were missing but could be replaced by MB seats, which are a bit modern for the aircraft, but better than the simple buckets that come OOB. The dashboard could be replaced by a donor from an Italeri Tornado. I shot a pic, but somehow the camera did not save it? Interior has been oainted - inspired by pics from a J29 cockpit - in a greyish green.

In parallel, work on the Meteor/Su-25 hybrid engine nacelles made progress. The original intakes (with a flat "plate" just 4mm indide, there is no real duct!) were cut off and the round Meteor intakes glued over the squere openings. From the following pic you might guess the challenge of finding a suitable shape...


1:72 SAAB J 31B 'Val'; 'Blue T/Blå Tore (s/n 31014)' of the Swedish Air Force (Flygvapnet) F 1 Västmanland Flygflottilj 2nd Squadron; Hässlö AB, Västerås (Central Sweden), 1956 (What-if/kitbashing) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

...and after a while things looked like this:

1:72 SAAB J 31B 'Val'; 'Blue T/Blå Tore (s/n 31014)' of the Swedish Air Force (Flygvapnet) F 1 Västmanland Flygflottilj 2nd Squadron; Hässlö AB, Västerås (Central Sweden), 1956 (What-if/kitbashing) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The fin comes from an Academy/Minicraft B-1B in 1:144 - the swept shape works IMHO quite well, and since I wanted a cruciform tail, the fairing for the stabilizers is a welcome bonus.

You might have already asked: "Where does the landing gear go?", and this had altready been taken into consideration: it will be a tandem layout, similar to the SO.4050 Vautour with twin wheels fore and aft, plus small outriggers that will somehow be fitted under/in the engine pods. The front wheel well will be taken over, the rear/main leg received a new well. Wheels and struts wil come from a VEB Plasticart 1:100 Tu-20/95 bomber!

1:72 SAAB J 31B 'Val'; 'Blue T/Blå Tore (s/n 31014)' of the Swedish Air Force (Flygvapnet) F 1 Västmanland Flygflottilj 2nd Squadron; Hässlö AB, Västerås (Central Sweden), 1956 (What-if/kitbashing) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

What slowed progress down considerably is the choice of wings. I have a specific idea of what I want to add: only slightly swept, less that a J29 Tunnan. However, finding something suitable in shape and size in the donor bank turned out to be VERY difficult. One plan was to use the wings from a 1:48 Hasegawa J7W Shinden, but these turned out to be too deep and thick, even though the shape is good. I also considered A-6 wings, but they simply do not fit and are too deep, too. In desperation I even tried to use the wing tips from the crude VEB Plasticart Tu-20, but they turned out to be bent as well as swept too much, so that I am at a loss. However, I know what I might try: the wings from the shaggy Mistercraft 1:144 S.E. Caravelle, because they look good in size and shape - but, after the market had been flooded with several variants of this cheap (and poor) kit, you cannot find it anywhere anymore? WTF?

So, I am currently screening parts and options, including the wings from an Airfix HS125 (nice, but too small), a 1:48 Me 262 and even a vintage Lindberg 1:96 H.P. Victor (Revell boxing, though). No convincing solution found yet, and it might take some time until I actually have hardware at hand... 

Stay tuned, though.

[zenrat]

Hasegawa 1/72 Lockheed Viking wings?

Here seen on an A6.

Trespasser WIP 18-08-2021 01 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr

[Dizzyfugu]

Might be an option, has been considered, too, but I do not have a Viking in The Stash to check. Could work, though. I currently favor the wings from Revell's vintage 1:113 B-47 kit! 

[Spino]

Might be an option, has been considered, too, but I do not have a Viking in The Stash to check. Could work, though. I currently favor the wings from Revell's vintage 1:113 B-47 kit! 

Those would be some looong and thin wings...

[PR19_Kit]

Those would be some looong and thin wings...

And that's wrong because..............................? 

[Spino]

Those would be some looong and thin wings...

And that's wrong because..............................? 

Oh, right, Kit's Rule 1  (never said it was wrong though)

The long part doesn't bother me, the thin part might.  But that's just me.  It would certainly have an interesting look about it though.

[Weaver]

You could have saved yourself SO much trouble with the engine/undercarriage pods from an IL-28 Beagle, Dizzy...

The Caravelle was a good idea: maybe have a look at other cheap, small-scale airliner kits: a 737 would seem about the right shape and has blended engine pods instead of pylons too.

[Dizzyfugu]

A 1:144 DC-9 or BAC 111 would probably also be good wing donors, but these are expensive. IIRC, there were 1:120 DC-9s from Revell (probably re-boxed) that would offer more "massive wings". But, again: vintage, and pointlessly expensive these days. But finding that special type/shape of wing in a proper size turns out to be the biggest bottleneck - I had thought the engine pods were "tougher", but I am happy with my current home-brew solution (pics with WiP status to follow soon).

Concerning Il-28 engines: THAT would have been the (too) simple way, and having some 1:72 engines as benchmark I must say: they are too large/bulky for the J31, the Il-28 is much bigger than the F3D. I also checked 1:100 engines (have a Tamiya Il-28 in The Stash), but these are simply too small to represent cetrifugal 1:72 engines. It's not so easy, at least with my ambitions to build "something plausible"... 

[PR19_Kit]

IIRC, there were 1:120 DC-9s from Revell (probably re-boxed) that would offer more "massive wings". But, again: vintage, and pointlessly expensive these days.

Yes, that's right.

It came in umpteen different airline schemes and was re-popped by numerous other companies too. No good at all for the 'serious' airliner modeller but excellent Whiff fodder if they weren't going for STUPID prices these days! 

[Gondor]

A 1:144 DC-9 or BAC 111 would probably also be good wing donors, but these are expensive.

I may have a BAC 1-11 that I could donate to the cause, if you're interested Dizzy.

[Pellson]

Concerning Il-28 engines: THAT would have been the (too) simple way, and having some 1:72 engines as benchmark I must say: they are too large/bulky for the J31, the Il-28 is much bigger than the F3D. I also checked 1:100 engines (have a Tamiya Il-28 in The Stash), but these are simply too small to represent cetrifugal 1:72 engines. It's not so easy, at least with my ambitions to build "something plausible"... 

As a matter of fact, the Il-28 used RR Tay copies, and I believe those would have been rather appropriate. But it'll be interesting to see where you end up.