1/72 IMPS Austria Kit Saab J-29 Tunnan

by Juergen Klinglhuber

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This is my second entry to the ARC gallery and my second model of an airplane from the Saab Company.  It’s the Saab J-29 Tunnan (“flying barrel”).  The kit was a limited resin kit made by the Austrian branch of the IPMS.  The model I built shows a fighter-bomber of the 1st echelon at the Airbase Wien-Schwechat, which is close to Vienna, Austria.  It served from 1961 until 1969. 

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The Saab 29 is a turbo-jet-engine powered military aircraft right from the post-WWII era. The Swedish nick name Tunnan arises from the appearance of the plane, because in some perspectives it seems to be a flying ton/tube/barrel.  This plane was the first serial manufactured jet fighter in  Western Europe after the war. When the war ended in May 1945, the aerodynamic knowledge of the German scientists on back-swept wings (like the Me-262) becomes generally known.  On labyrinthine trails some of the German documents made their way to hands of Swedish engineers very quickly.  For that reason Sweden was the first country to realize that knowledge, which results in a single seat, mid-wing airplane, made totally out of metal and having swept-back wings, a turbo-jet-engine, retractable landing-gears and automatic slats (that increased slow flight quality).  The Saab 29 design shows big analogy to the design of the Eastern European Mig-15 and to the US F-86 fighter.  The first flight of the Saab J-29 took place on September 1st, 1948.  In 1954 the Tunnan established a world record: The aircraft was the first to accomplish a 500km distance with an average flight speed of 977km/h.  Overall a total of 224 planes were manufactured.  Only 30 of them were sold to a foreign countries.  The Austrian Airforce bought them in 1960 and had the J-29 in service until 1973.

The model-kit from the IMPS Austria is made of resin.  The parts are easy to work with; they have good engravings of panel lines and the fit is perfect.  The kit box came along with photo-etched parts, two vacuum formed canopies and appropriate masking film for painting.  The box includes decals with markings for all planes in Austrian service and in addition you are able to build 4 different Swedish aircraft. The construction manual is extensive, in colours and with a bunch of pictures of walkarounds that make building this kit a real pleasure. 

Enjoy - greetings 

Juergen

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Photos and text © by Juergen Klinglhuber