HASAGAWA 1:72 SAAB DRAKEN

Reviewer: Derreck Winters  (rec.models.scale) - kit built November 1998

In 1949, when European supersonic aircraft were all research types, Sweden asked its aircraft industry for an interceptor possessing supersonic performance, an exceptional climb rate and the ability to operate from dispersed sites such as short lengths of road.  Saab came up with its remarkable single-engined Draken (Dragon) of double-delta design offering large fuel capacity with minimal drag, and capable of the same performance as the twin-engined EE Lightning.  In March 1985 Austria placed an order for 24 overhauled ex-Swedish J35D Drakens.  These replaced ageing Saab 105's in the Austrian inventory as the air defence aircraft for the future.

This kit will allow one to build the Austrian variant of the Saab Draken rather than any Swedish examples.  This kit differs slightly to the normal run of the mill Draken in that there are no weapons or infra-red seekers supplied that you would need to construct a version from Sweden or Denmark.  This kit will be a bit of a downer for anyone wanting to produce a version other than from Austria.  In the box you have two sprues of nicely injected molded parts with engraved panel lines and quite a reasonable amount of detail.  No flash encumbers the parts and the canopy looks nice and clear.

Construction starts with cockpit that is fairly sparse and you are only supplied instrument panel (with decal), seat and base unit from which to use as detail, I gave it a medium sea grey wash.  The fuselage halves are split horizontally and I assembled my cockpit unit in the lower half after ensuring correct placement with dry testing the top half as cover.

The fuselage section went together rather well but the nose cone was quite resistant in complying for a good fit.  I had to sand the nose area (with weight inside) and trim the connector pins just slightly to mate the parts together.  The nose is slightly out of alignment and the resultant sanding was necessary to smooth it out.  Attaching the engine section also presented similar problems as the engine did not want to go into the housing at all.  It's important to note that the exhaust faces upwards out the back of the aircraft and it seems Hasegawa may have thought otherwise if the fit is any indication.  Getting the exhaust section onto the back of the aircraft required a bit of attention and afterward some trusty filler.

Wing section assembled without any real problems but the separate air intakes were for some reason larger than they should be.  To make matters worse they are see through so a bit of well placed putty deep inside is called for to blacken the interior out.   I also sanded the intakes down a little so that they had a smoother join with the wing. 

Undercarriage went together without any real hassle and is replicated quite nicely.   The unique tail wheel housing was a bit of a bugger to construct properly but if the right care is taken it is not too difficult to overcome.  I added on the nose probe, fin and other small fairings on the oustide of the fuselage body.  The canopy also went on and looks nice.

For stores you are simply provided with underwing fuel tanks, nothing else - there are no other weapons, such as air-to-air missiles supplied.  This is probably very good because it means Hasegawa did their homework - at the time this kit was engineered, international law prohibited Austrian aircraft from carrying air-to-air missiles!   However, when the Saab Drakens were shipped, so were some AIM-9B Sidewinders in case the law changed.  That's a relatively unknown fact that even I didn't know of until recently myself.  I assume, however, that things are different nowadays as that law was in force in the mid-eighties.  In that case I would check more recent reference work to see if Austrian aircraft now in fact carry missiles, if they do, grab some sidewinders out of your spares and stick them on.  In the meantime, I will have my aircraft in clean configuration.

To finish the model off in I chose the two tone grey colour scheme similar to that suggested by the kit.  Its reminiscent of modern day F-16's with a dark grey main section with forward, aft and fin sections in US Gull Grey - the undersides were painted in light aircraft grey.  The decals, as usual with Hasegawa kits, were quite good but I gave up on the striped nose probe decal and opted to paint yellow stripes over the black probe instead.  As mentioned only Austrian decals are provided but I note that there are no large fluorescent numbers for the wings.  My understanding, along with the absence of missiles on the aircraft, is that these numbers are required by law on Austrian aircraft for recognition reasons. 

The kit is not bad at all and is better than the Airfix release by a long shot as well as the better but still inaccurate offering from Revell.  It still suffers some flaws of inaccuracy itself and the kit is certainly not up to usual Hasegawan standard with fits and so forth.  Nevertheless it is quite a decent kit and is recommended for intermediate and up modellers looking to get their hands on an Austrian Draken.  Give it a miss if you are after one to depict in Swedish or Danish colours because this kit quite rightly omits some relevant pieces.  I assume that their J-35F & J-35J kits are of similar molding and are therefore suggested if you want a version other than in Austrian colours - in the latter kit's case I know that is Swedish.

Related Reviews:    Airfix 1/72 Saab 35 Draken 

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