SCALE MODEL NEWS

THE SINGLE-ENGINE GRIPEN IS ONE OF our favourite combat jets, and has become a successful export for its Swedish manufacturer. SMN report: There's a good choice of kits out there, of which the Revell model shown in the video makes a good choice. Plenty of detail, with positionable air brakes and a decent choice of stores. Foreplanes and sideways-opening canopy provide plenty of interest for display purposes. Click here for more Saab Gripens at SMN. Amazon.co.uk Widgets

THE SAAB GRIPEN is our favourite fighter. We reckon it's the best of the so-called 'fourth generation' combat types out there, at least in cost/benefit terms. And now Kitty Hawk Models have a 1:48 scale kit on release. SMN report: The Kitty Hawk kit represents the two-seater version of the Swedish fighter. The kit features plenty of detail and features such as the swinging nose-cone )below) with radar antenna. The kit includes moveable control surfaces (below) including drooped flaps. The model needs some weight in the nose to ensure a solid sit on its four tyres. Earlier Gripen model (below) featured the single-seat version. Below, the air-to-air refuelling probe is shown in extended position, ready to gulp plenty of aviation fuel to extend the Gripen's combat range. Radar antenna (below) clearly revealed, as are the twin nose-wheels. The diorama base (below) is not provided in the kit, but it shouldn't be too difficult to make your own. A section of carefully weat...

SMN report Back in March Eurofighter released details of its proposed navalised Typhoon jet, and it looked really interesting, both as a concept and as an opportunity for a kit-bash. Now we’ve come across a similar proposal from Saab, with its single-engine Gripen multi-role fighter-attacker jet. Like the carrier-based Typhoon-N, Sea Gripen would not need a catapult for takeoff, instead being able to launch using a ski-jump - so it makes another, cheaper, competitor to the Lockheed Martin F-35, currently on order by the UK Royal Navy. The Gripen is designed to use rough strips - or at least, sections of Swedish highway - as wartime runways, so the lightweight aircraft seems to have the hard-working basics for seaborne ops already built in.  Easy conversion We show here Saab’s promo pix for the concept, and as is usually the case with sales material, the proposed differences are claimed to be minimal both technically and in cost - but that digital camouflage scheme is certainly a wi...