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Hi all!
As there is a lot of non-constructive chatting in lugnet.technic I figured I'd
tell all what I'm planning.
Here's the story:
Back in 2000 I started on a big scale project, a Hercules in scale 1:20. It got
"finished" in April the 8th 2001.
http://www.lotek.nu/creations/hercules/index.html
To build this beast I had a plastic model kit in scale 1:72 that I never got
around to glue together. I measured the parts in the kit and recalculated all
values to 1:20, such as wheel diameters etc.. I also drew a template of the
wing, tail, fin and fuselage onto paper in scale 1:20 and built the frame on
top of that.
In late 2001 a Swedish AFOL, Mattias Mårtensson, requested that we Swedes
should build Swedish stuff and asked, "Who will be first with an X2000, Gripen,
Volvo S80 or whatever". (See the message here, in Swedish:
http://news.lugnet.com/loc/se/?n=1003 ). At the time I liked the idea of
building a Gripen in LEGO but was still somewhat sick of airplane building
after the Hercules.
It's a good candidate though since I own two copies of the 1:72 plastic model
kit, one assembled and one still in its box.
Then something happened, TLC released the <set:10030> Imperial Star Destroyer,
an absolute ton of grey plates and 1 x 16 Technic beams. It screams to me; "Buy
me, build me, tear me down, convert me into a Gripen!"
So I started scanning the net after good pictures and found this site:
http://www.gripen.com
And also this picture:
http://klu.tigerteam-security.net/images/Saab_JAS-39_Gripen_0.jpg
I had decided to build it in 1:20 so I printed the above photo and glued four
A3 papers together creating my own A1 and drew out the size of the thing. I had
planned to draw another template but decided to make it in a computer and then
print the template on an A1 CAD plotter. So I started making the lines of the
photo into vector graphic for easy scaling, it proved difficult since the
resolution of the picture is horrible.
Then my memory caught up with me, I had forgot about the plastic kits but
realized the instructions almost always have good schematics for
painting/putting on decals. So I got the instructions from my parent’s house
and scanned them at 600DPI (that's what my scanner can do). I then planned to
use the 1-3MB+ GIF-files and draw vector graphic on top of that, but when I
loaded them into my graphics program I noticed that they in fact were bigger
then an A1 paper and had to be scaled down, not up. So I scrapped the vector
idea and went with the GIF's directly. I still have to print them but wait
until I've settled in into the new apartment so I wont need to move two A1
drawings as well :)
Here are the two gif's scaled down to Online compatible sizes:
Profile:
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/4905354/Misc/Gripen/profilsmall.gif
Top:
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/4905354/Misc/Gripen/topsmall.gif
The next major challenge is to save enough money to acquire an ISD, I'm aiming
for June/July but it might be sooner.
I will start making bit's and pieces in multicolour until I can get a hold on
the parts needed. I also just acquired a Visa card so I can start placing
orders on Bricklink, something I've never done previously.
The major concern at this moment is making a nice canopy for the cockpit; the
glass itself needs to be 13 x 5 cm (5 x 2"). A few options are available:
1) Building it LEGOLAND style with transparent bricks, ugly.
2) Only making the frame and pretend the glass is there, OK
3) Make a custom glass canopy in plastic, nice but non-LEGO
I will likely make both #2 and #3; I don't like how a wall of transparent
bricks are non-transparent.
It might be possible to construct a canopy of windshields etc. but I doubt it
will look anything close to real.
As Steve Lane said when we chatted the other day, the nose cone is also hard to
build with LEGO, in fact all the shapes of a modern fighter jet like this
should prove quite challenging.
I will make several version of the plane though.
The first alpha version will be multicoloured, testing the sizes, shapes and
internal gadgets. I am writing this mainly in lugnet.technic after all. It will
have retractable landing gears, rudders, opening canopy, maybe an working
ejection seat etc. etc. I will try to add as many functions as possible into
the beast. The fuselage will be almost 75 cm (~30") so it should be possible to
fit a lot of functions. Still, the wings are very thin so not much can be
fitted inside them and the body has curves. The alpha version will mostly be a
frame, perhaps with some nose ideas and curves.
Next come the beta version, this is when the ISD has collected dust for some
time (it's a nice model after all). I will rebuild the alpha version into the
correct colour scheme, try to improve all functions and add body panels etc.
Most likely everything will be built Studs on top. This is somewhere in
July/August by my current schedule.
After the beta version has rested some time it's time to improve on it as much
as possible, creating beta 2. Ordering parts from Bricklink, testing SNOT etc..
Making more improvements on the functions, perhaps add more as the installed
ones shrink.
Then it's time for the first real version, tearing beta 2 and rebuilding
everything from scratch (practically it will be more of a total make over from
one side to the other.
This is a totally new way of building for me and I hope keeping lugnet.technic
updated on the projects status will help me keep the motivation to go forward.
If the inspiration fails I will let the whole thing rest and build something
completely different from my pipeline, so other MOC's will likely get finished
before Gripen. I hope to reach version 1.0 before 2004 though :)
Parts wise I'm also considering a complete Santa Fe train with a lot of wagons,
there are some nice grey parts in those!
Best regards,
/Tobbe
http://www.lotek.nu
(remove SPAM when e-mailing)
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: SAAB JAS 39 Gripen, step 1 - planning.
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| "Tobbe Arnesson" <StPnAtM@lotek.nu> skrev i meddelandet news:HAnHM3.AA7@lugnet.com... (...) the (...) Buy a Duplo Easter Egg and carefully slice the transparent part in two halves :-) BTW, you should be careful with all that Lego planning, buying (...) (21 years ago, 21-Feb-03, to lugnet.technic)
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