The J-29 Tunan was a remarkable aircraft. The first Swedish jet designed from scratch, and one of the first successful jet fighters of modern design in Europe. Having both a Matchbox and Heller release, I inadvertently combine a bit of both in this build and review.

The kit itself is one of Heller’s older molds, so it retains a simple design. This means the kit is extremely easy to make, and is perfect for a newer modeller (or those who just prefer a simple build). Combined with the simple sheer silver aliminium paint scheme…well, it doesn’t get more basic than this!

That’s not to say that this kit lacks any complexity however. With it’s UN colour scheme, you can make a much more complicated scheme than the Swedish design if you so desire. With multiple colours in a squiggly pattern, it’s an unusual subject.

Lacking from Heller’s boxing, however, are Austrian markings. In my instance that wasn’t a big deal, however, it’s a shame that they aren’t included given they did an Austrian release in 1981 and the Die Geschichte der Österreichischen Luftstreitkräfte / Bundesheer 50 Jahre Sicherheit set from 2005. It really would help make this kit stand out against the competition!

For my build I decided to make one of the Flying Barrels display team of the Swedish airforce. This was part of a series of builds so that I could see the history of Sweden’s main display teams in the one true scale.

The Kit

The kit itself was remarkably simple. Made a of relatively nice plastic it goes together easily. It’s got a low part count and relatively low detail. Whilst a more experianced modeller will definately be put off and prefer to look at Tarangus, for the majority of people (or those who enjoy scratch building) this would be a really simple and lovely kit.

I had no issues with fit and filling was only required at the wing-fusealage join (which is standard in most old kits). I am remarkably shocked with how easy this kit was to build. Even if you didn’t have instructions, one could probably manage to make this kit.

The Decals

The decals I had were, I thought, aftermarket. But after completing the build and, indeed, the video on the build it turns out these were Matchbox decals (or a replica of them). One of the issues I had is that the insignia for flying team was just a copied decal. Rather than being a decal for port and starboard sides, it was just two of the same decals. So this meant I had to end up painting a lot of the decal instead. Unfortunate, but it allowed me to get something complete.

Of course, I also didn’t have instructions. So I used a lot of reference pictures from online in order to try and get something that at least looked semi-right. Is it perfect? No, but that’s just life sometimes!

I used decals from Flying Colours as they seemed to look right for the model. The Heller decals were fine, but there was just something about the colouring that seemed richer and more ‘right’ on the Flying Colours set that I’d acquired. I really want to stress that you’d not struggle using the Heller ones at all- I just personally preferred the look of the other set.

Painting

This was my last model painted almost entirely with Revell Aquacolor. I’ve been a massive fan of Aquacolor for years now and I don’t dislike them. As a brand I have found them reliable, and relatively inexpensive. In the UK, more importantly, they’ve been easily accesible as they are sold at Hobbycraft (the UK’s largest hobby and modelling chain). Nowadays they sell Tamiya paints too, but I would still say there’s a massive difference in technique and I personally have never renjoyed Tamiay paints even though I’m sure they’re brilliant.

I used Allininium for the main colorus, and tarrschwartz and regular black for the black sections. Steel was used for the landing gear, and that’s pretty much it. This was an extremely straightforward and simple for a paint scheme. In fact, it was perfect for me as I was doing it whilst I had a broken rib and struggling to even exist!

Once the whole model was finished I coated the model in gloss varnish and removed the masking fliod from the clear parts. It was finally finished.

Buy or Fly?

If we were talking simply about the kit itself, and not the decals or the scheme I wanted to do then it’s an easy buy. It’s a straightforward kit with easy to follow instructions (even if not super modern), and will only take even the newest modeller a few evenings to slay.

It’s a lovely little kit for this unique and barrel shaped piece of history!

And hey, if you want a super unique viewing…why not get the Austrian boxing …or send it to me…you know, whichever haha.