A Swedish stopgap extended - the J34C Super Hunter

[Pellson]

As some of you might remember, a few years ago, I butchered a pair of old Airfix Hunters in order to make them a bit more fun. They became the >>Hunter PR.13 and FGA.15<<, respectively, and I think they came out alright. Having completed them, I subsequently went back to the concept, but for a Swedish version modified from the Hunter F.50, bought as a stopgap between the J29F Tunnan and the J35A Draken in the early 1950's. In real life, the Swedish J34 Hunters gave good service, once the annoying gun issue was solved, but they did always lack a bit of that vertical performance so in the swing back when the Russkies were supposed to attack from 60.000 ft plus. Looking a bit deeper into the matter, there were actually attempts to remedy this by adding an afterburner, and a Swedish Hunter was actually rebuilt and flown. As you can see, they modification necessitated taking the rearmost part of the fuselage off, leaving a somewhat ungainly rear instead of the very elegant tail of the original aircraft. But what will you not do for performance..



Unofficially dubbed the J34B, the performance was alright, if not exceptional, but the already limited fuel supply of the Hunter made the conversion all but useless as it basically turned into a fancy glider once at interception altitude. Also, the Draken production was now coming along nicely why further development was abandoned. However, as I've already ventured into the realm of keeping obsolescent Drakens in service well into the nineties, why not see if you can do something interesting also with a Swedish Hunter?

The British P.1100 would obviously be a good starting point, and by that, also my already built RAF versions. However, these being mainly intended for the strike/recce role, the main focus of the RSwAF has always been air superiority, and in Swedish service, the Hunter was never ever considered for anything but that. Hence, further optimisation towards even better performance would have to be necessary, as would, obviously, an armament not aimed at mudmoving but rather fly catching.
Having gotten that far, some plastic cutting and glueing commenced, but while I did find a reasonably balanced solution for the now radar equipped front end, the engine just didn't look right. SAAB did use the Avon 200's in the later Lansens, and while that would have done fine as an excuse to just carry over the Avon 211R from the RAF Super Hunters, that wouldn't have given performance enough to keep the aircraft viable much beyond 1970 as a fighter. And sure, I could have gone for the Avon 301R from the Lightning, but it was always mre intriguing to look at a Swedish Avon version, preferrably something from the later Drakens. That idea, however, wouldn't make it past the drawing board due to the large diameter of the Swedish EBK 67 in combination with the slender Hunter fuselage. Making that work looked as if I would have to cut the Hunter somewhere directly under the fin, really messing up the looks. And that didn't pull me at all.

However, for some reason, I came across the close-up below. That shows quite clearly that in real life, the rear fuselage was cut along that diagonal stringer, sometimes used as a paint demarcation towards the exhaust. And this opened up for a somewhat more reasonable installation of a bigger afterburner, even if the original looks quite miniscule.



Raiding the spares bin, I also found an exhaust from the old Heller TF-35 Draken from which I nicked the canopy etc to the Sk35 twoseater Drakens. While not immediately accurate, it's still a reasonable representation of the EBK 67, so onwards! The diagonal cut went over expectations (I am usually rather awful att sawing straight, but once in a while..) and adapting the new exhaust to the correct angle also came out OK. So now, I'm looking at a backstory while watching the glue of the new engine installation dry before painting...

[PR19_Kit]

In the RW, was the Swedish afterburner a Rolls Royce design or was it a locally produced item?

[Pellson]

In the RW, was the Swedish afterburner a Rolls Royce design or was it a locally produced item?

It was a local effort, designed by the same team that put a torch in the rear end of the DH Ghost engine for the J29F Tunnan. Nifty chaps..

[PR19_Kit]

Excellent stuff then. 

[Captain Canada]

If it turns out anything like the other pair.....go for it ! Those ones looked so right.

[kitbasher]

Odd, no pics showing on my lappy, Mr P.

[Pellson]

Odd, no pics showing on my lappy, Mr P.

I wish I could help. It seems to be some kind of local setting on your device.

[Gondor]

Odd, no pics showing on my lappy, Mr P.

I wish I could help. It seems to be some kind of local setting on your device.

I found the same thing at work, but at home I can see them. Both machines use different browsers. I can't remember what the work's machine uses, but at home I use Firefox and see them no problem, although sometimes I have to open something else.

[kitbasher]

Odd.  Popped into the site yesterday evening and there they were - visible on my phone, tablet and laptop.  I must assume the interpipes had been a bit clogged up.

[Pellson]

Current status:

You cannot view this attachment.

Ready for loadout, and in a similar scheme to the three early Drakens. Assigned to 92 fightersqn, F9 wing in Gothenburg, who actually IRL disbanded on the J34 in 1969. Currently, their old rock hangars are used by the amazing Aeroseum museum, which is very well worth a visit indeed!

The blue sqn badge on the nose is the unofficial 92 sqn badge, frequently displayed on the nose of the unit's previous mount, the J29F Tunnan, but never worn on Hunters. It features a running cartoon bulldog named "Bonzo", and even if this decal is somewhat on the large side for a low-vis scheme, I like it and I'll treat it as a temporary marking for an air show display.

There will be a backstory, eventually. Do stay tuned.

[Gondor]

That is looking very nice indeed.

[Dizzyfugu]

Oh, that modern livery suits the Hunter well.   
I did a J32E in a Gripen-esque livery and that worked surprisingly well, too!

[Pellson]

Oh, that modern livery suits the Hunter well.   
I did a J32E in a Gripen-esque livery and that worked surprisingly well, too!

Yes, I remember that one well. But AFAIK that was based on a Heller kit, right?       

[NARSES2]

Really suits that scheme 

[Old Wombat]