Fredrik Strom
Stockholm, Sweden
“I grew up with Swedish air force Viggens taking off over my parents’ house, and I have wanted to build one all my life. I love its shape and odd camouflage,” Fredrik says. A second-hand SK37 conversion from NeOmega Resin prompted him to chase a kit, settling on Airfix’s 1/48 scale model. Then he went to town, adding: nose cone, intakes, foreplanes, vertical stabilizer, and rudder from Two Mikes Resin; air brakes, landing gear, wheels, and a boarding ladder from Maestro Models; plus an Eduard Brassin F-16 engine that he modified. Scratchbuilt parts include an emergency generator, Plexiglas cover in the rear cockpit, mirrors in the front cockpit, and ejection-seat handles. After “a lot of masking and some painting” with Gunze Sangyo and Vallejo colors, he applied JA37 Viggen decals from TwoBobs and Saab 37 markings from Euro Decals, and other decals he made himself for unit markings on the stabilizer and numbering on the landing gear. Heavy weathering with AK Interactive products finished the fighter. “It took me half a year,” Fredrik says, “but I enjoyed every minute.”