maestro models have produced resin undercarriage bays for the Heller 1/72 Saab Viggen, one of the most distinctive shapes seen in the skies of northern Europe.

Contents:

Inside the re sealable clear plastic bag is:
-1 x one piece undercarriage bay.
-2 x main undercarriage bays.
-1 x set of instructions.

The cream coloured resin parts have some really fine detail cast with them. The nose gear bay has some delicate ribs cast onto the side walls as well as hydraulic lines, canisters and bottles in the ceiling of the bay. There is a hole in the resin bay to accept the undercarriage leg. The front undercarriage bay is attached to a casting block that will need a fine saw to remove. The instructions suggest that the opening for the bay on the kit needs opening up a tad. A case of cutting a little at a time and plenty of dry fitting.
The main gear bays have equally good detail cast onto them. The hydraulic lines are worth mentioning as parts of them show daylight between the bay walls. Evidence of some very good master building and casting. I was a little puzzled to see no detail for the bay that extends into the fuselage, but a quick Google search reveals that the inner gear doors on the Viggen were generally closed on the ground. The bays are lightly attached to their casting blocks. Each bay is marked “V” vänster or left and “H” höger or right if my Swedish translator is correct, so no excuses for mixing them up. There are holes in the resin to accept the undercarriage legs. The instructions suggests there is a lot of work in cutting away the kits side walls and also reducing the thickness of the kits plastic and the resin parts. Both upper and lower inner wings need some significant amounts of plastic sanding away to fit the parts. Again a lot of dry fitting is necessary in order to achieve a good fit.
The instructions are very good indeed explaining the fitting process in good clear English and also with photo images of the Heller kit and the resin parts. There is no colour guidance notes with this release.

Conclusions:

There is some very fine resin casting on show here and I like the extensive construction notes included with this release. As there is a lot of adjustment in the way of sanding and cutting to the Heller kit, this is a product for the more experienced modelers. This is an excellent update for the Heller Viggen an as Maestro Models say “Have Fun”.