The black Saab Gripen(s)

Happiness is: after having made many failed attempts to mix a paint that would both be the correct shade and stick to your model, finding a picture of your subject matter that not only uses your available stencils, but presents an outlet to your frustrations in justifying the use of the widest brush and the largest tin of black paint.

I had a half-remembered recollection of an all-black Gripen that was featured in "Flygvapennytt" early in the flight test programme, that was being painted up that way in preparation for spin tests. I just couldn't remember the markings - there were a lot of prominent yellow stenciling, if I recall correctly, which was kind of the main draw to the whole affair. Besides the general sexiness of all-black fighter jets...

Since I couldn't get the color for the underside right, seeing as the tin I've got that comes closest is thin enough to be transparent, yet unusable in my pathetic excuse for an airbrush, I made a search for that black Gripen on Google, and turned up not one, not two or three, but four different black Gripens.

The first is of course the flight test aircraft - IIRC, that was either the number four or number six air vehicle. It's a very crappy pic - the only thing I can tell is that I can use the hi-vis roundels from the decal sheet (which I ideally wanted for the Viggen, but such is life.)

The second I've also seen before, as it toured the airshow circuit for Saab and BAe. It didn't carry a number where I could see it in the pictures, but it had a nice promo decal on the tailfin. Is this available in print? It doesn't carry the roundels, so that free them up anyway.

The third was new, and the lighting is wierd, but it carries a tail number, in red, of 11. For some reason, the pictures lead me to believe that it's painted in a lighter gray color on the underside, but I can't tell for sure. It too, I think, was on the airshow circuit - it might be the same as above but I'm not betting on it.

Number four is part of another wierd series of shots - I think the tail code was 03, also in red, against a background much too dark to be the normal topside color, but much too light to be black. At least that's what it looks like.

Can anyone tell me more about these babies? Right now it's almost certain I'll build the first one, since it lacks a tail code for me to dig for in these shots, and is apparently flying with no stencils apart from the intake warnings and the hi-vis national insignia. I'd very much appreciate seeing more photos of them.

Thanks in advance,

SP

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Sebastian Palm
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