The Saab 37 Viggen was an aircraft ahead of its time. Its designers used an unorthodox construction which enabled the plane to meet all requirements which had been laid on it and in some parameters even surpass them. The Swedish Air Force ordered several various versions of the Viggen jet fighter, its basic design formed a universal platform which, using specialized equipment, enabled the plane to be used for different roles. The first prototype machine took off for its maiden flight on 8 February 1967 with E. Dalström at the controls. The aircraft was powered by a Volvo RM8 turbofan, a license-built variant of the Pratt & Whitney JT8D with an afterburner and thrust reverser which, in addition to the double-delta wing design, enhanced the plane’s performance the takeoffs and landings on short airstrips. The avionics of the Viggen was state-of-the-art at the time, the Viggen was the first type to be equipped with a computer with integrated circuits.

This is the Scale Aircraft Conversions (SAC) white metal landing gear replacement option for the Wingnut Wings 1/32 LVG C.VI kit. If you have built in 1/32 scale you have probably wondered at some point if kit provided plastic landing gear will adequately support the model’s weight. These SAC items are primarily intended to address strength concerns but there are two other major advantages to using their white metal landing gear: First, it is possible to very slightly bend the strut pieces and attached wheels into perfect alignment once installed – to fine tune your alignment after gluing. With plastic, “once glued you’re screwed” so to speak. A second advantage of SAC landing gear is that oleos in white metal (although not applicable for this set) can be fine sanded to a very shiny and realistic finish – so no fiddling with bare metal foil or painting is necessary for SAC oleos.

Eduard’s new dual combo Reichsverteidigung (Defense of the Reich) profipack combo set is the newest way for Eduard to show off their new tool Fw-190A and Bf-109G kits. This dual combo is a perfect way to experience the new tooling and as a bonus you get an Eduard print of an fw190 racing away from a pursuing p-51.

The Vietnamese operated the AD-6/A-1H Skyraiders alongside their US counterparts. The Spad, or Sandy, was actually developed in the waning hours of WWII. It saw service in Korea and Vietnam. Capable of carrying a variety of ordnance and still having long loiter times the Spad was a vital part of the Air Rescue operations of the US and Vietnamese. Close air support was the name of the game and the Vietnamese were sold Skyraiders and they used them as effectively as their US counterparts.

The Vietnamese deployed the Skyraider in a variety of paint schemes. This first sheet covers the Skyraiders from 1962 all the way up to 1971 with some really colorful schemes.

Eduard Models has repacked the very good AvantGarde AMK L-29 in 1/48 scale. Eduard provides a striking Tiger finish, with decals for each stripe. It also offers a photoetch fret and masks, but these add-ons are not part of the original Weekend box. They are items FE903 and EX596. I had the opportunity to review the extra items together with the Weekend box, so I went ahead and review them all together.

I really like that Eduard now is offering PE and Masks in the same month that they release a Weekend item. That truly allows the modeler to customize the level of detail he or she wants to use in finishing the model.

In the box you find 4 sprues (one clear) of the recently released 1/48 AMK L-29. You find what you can expect of a brand new mold: no flash, sharp panel lines, small sprue gates, firm but not brittle plastic.