✈️ Gripen (Sweden): step-by-step build

A small, nimble Swedish delta jet with canards and blue-and-yellow tips.

The JAS 39 Gripen is a small, light fighter jet from Sweden that can take off from ordinary roads. This is a Technic-parts model inspired by it, not a real jet: grey beams make the body, little canards sit by the cockpit, and blue and yellow beams borrow the colours of the Swedish flag.

• Level 2 of 5 (easy)
• About 35 minutes
• 22 steps, 67 parts
• Powered by: Push
• Series: Aircraft from 21 Countries

What you will learn

• Pins: Grippy or Smooth: Pins join beams together — some hold tight, some let things swing.
• Triangles Are Strong: A triangle cannot be squished — a square can.
• Axles & Wheels: A wheel on an axle turns dragging into rolling.

Parts you need

• 1 × Beam 15
• 24 × Black pin (grippy)
• 3 × Beam 9
• 13 × Blue long pin
• 6 × Beam 3
• 3 × L-beam 3×5
• 4 × L-beam 2×4
• 1 × Beam 11
• 1 × Boomerang beam 3×7
• 3 × Beam 5
• 2 × Beam 7
• 1 × Axle 6
• 3 × Train wheel
• 1 × Axle 3
• 1 × Bush

Steps

1. Lay the floor of the fuselage: take a light grey 15-hole beam, then push 2 black pins in and press a light grey 9-hole beam onto them.
2. Lay the floor of the fuselage: push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a dark grey 3-hole beam (the pointed nose) onto them.
3. Lay the floor of the fuselage: push 2 blue long pins in and press a light grey 3×5 L-beam (short leg down: the nose-wheel leg) onto them.
4. Add the roots of the wings and tailplanes: push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a dark grey 2×4 L-beam (short leg up) onto them.
5. Add the roots of the wings and tailplanes: push 2 blue long pins in and press a dark grey 2×4 L-beam (short leg up) onto them.
6. Add the roots of the wings and tailplanes: push 2 blue long pins in and press a dark grey 3×5 L-beam (short leg down: a landing-gear leg) onto them.
7. Add the roots of the wings and tailplanes: push 2 blue long pins in and press a dark grey 3×5 L-beam (short leg down: a landing-gear leg) onto them, then slide a dark grey 2×4 L-beam (short leg up) onto the blue pins that stick out.
8. Add the roots of the wings and tailplanes: push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a dark grey 2×4 L-beam (short leg up) onto them.
9. Build the spine, the cockpit and the tail: push 2 black pins in and press a light grey 11-hole beam onto them.
10. Build the spine, the cockpit and the tail: push 2 black pins in and press a blue boomerang beam (its bent end leans back: the tail fin) onto them.
11. Build the spine, the cockpit and the tail: push 2 black pins in and press a clear 5-hole beam (the bubble canopy) onto them.
12. Build the spine, the cockpit and the tail: push 2 black pins in and press a yellow 3-hole beam leaning back along the fin onto them.
13. Add the canards (the little front wings): push 1 black pin in and press a blue 3-hole beam onto them.
14. Add the canards (the little front wings): push 2 black pins in and press a blue 3-hole beam onto them.
15. Build the wings: slide a light grey 9-hole beam onto the blue pins that stick out, then slide a light grey 9-hole beam onto the blue pins that stick out.
16. Build the wings: push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a light grey 7-hole beam onto them.
17. Build the wings: push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a light grey 7-hole beam onto them.
18. Build the wings: push 1 black pin in and press a blue 5-hole beam onto them, then push 1 black pin in and press a blue 5-hole beam onto them.
19. Build the wings: push 2 black pins in and press a yellow 3-hole beam onto them.
20. Build the wings: push 2 black pins in and press a yellow 3-hole beam onto them.
21. Put on the wheels: push a 6-long axle through both legs and put a wheel on each end.
22. Put on the wheels: push a 3-long axle through the leg, with a wheel on one side and a bush on the other.

Play time

Push the jet along the floor to taxi it, then swoop it round the room in your hand!

Real-world inspiration

Saab JAS 39 Gripen, the Swedish single-engine delta-canard fighter.

Credited demonstrations and component sources

• Saab JAS 39 Gripen — Wikipedia: Public reference for the real aircraft's shape and colours; this is a Technic-parts model inspired by it, not a flying or tested replica.