Rudolf_Filip

I worn out two blades of my knife already and I'm not finished carving yet! Thanks for the comments! Well, I noticed that part about the rear cockpit as well. I haven't decided if I'm going to do something about it though... I still haven't found any pics of how the "32-gamma" looked like in the cockpit. I guess there should be some sort of radar screen or something. I might get away with a little cheating in that area since there seem to be some kind of fabric covering the rear cockpit in the pic I included i my first post. Back to the carving and drilling! Andreas

Here is my latest project! It's the new Tarangus Lansen in 1:48. Mine is going to be just a little different... The "32-gamma" was used as a testbed for the Viggen radar. It's nose really destroys the good looks of the normal Lansen. But.. I still like the birdlike look and the odd colour scheme. So here we go! Picture from the excellent book "Kronmärkt". It was marked up with "God jul!" (Merry Cristmas!) for a X-mas card in 1974. I'm using the Maestro decals which have decals for this machine. I'm also planning to use the "correct Viggen nose" from Pisco. Hopefully this will be a rather quick build. I've already spent the last two days opening up all the small vents and intakes that Tarangus have missed. The airbrakes were always open on the ground. I'm going to build these myself although I'm told that Maestro will do these later on. It's quite annoying that these weren't included in the first place since this is an expensive kit. You shouldn't have to buy a lot of aftermarket stuff for this. Wish me luck! Andreas Samuelsson

That Lansen is going to be a real good looking SAAB! I love what you've done with the intakes. When the kit came out I decided that it was way to expensive for me... Yesterday I came home with one anyway! When the museum I work at sold them cheap I just couldn't resist one. Mine is going to be more or less built straight from the box. But I'm going to keep an close eye at your build for any hints or pitfalls. Have you decided which Lansen your building yet? I think it's sad that they didn't include any weapons to hang underneath all those pylons. A pair of Rb 04s would look fantastic! Keep up the good work! Andreas Samuelsson, Helsingborg Sweden

Excellent! That was exactly what I was looking for! Thanks! Now, what about the colour scheme? I've been looking through all my books on the subject but I can't seem to find anything. Did she have Medium Green blotches on upper surfaces or just plain weathered Olive Drab? On the crappy pictures I have its so hard to tell. My model will probably be without the blotches... Am I right in assuming the tailfins are painted in silver and black on their outsides? Does anyone know where I can find decals for US stars and bars that have red outlines in 1:48? They should also be in white and not in the "greyed out version". "Princess" seems to have had all of them in the same smaller size. I guess that they won't be to difficult to make but it would be a lot easier to buy them... Andreas

I'm working on the excellent 1:48 Revell/Monogram B-24D. I'm enjoying every minute of this build so far. How come one rarely see these getting built? My main interest are the many "foreign" planes that ended up in Sweden during WW2. I'm building as many of them as a can in 1:48. This one will become "Princess" (42-63962 of 44BG, 506BS) that landed at Bulltofta airport in Sweden in May 1944. I've ran into some trouble during the painting process. It's a rather well known machine and Hasegawa had this plane as an option in their first issue of their 1:72 kit. My big problem is that these decals doesn't exist inte larger scale. So I decided to print some of my own. Unfortunatly it's not just to scale up the Hasegawa decals since they depict the machine much earlier in its career. All is not lost however since I have lots of pictures of the plane after its landing in Sweden. What I need now is someone who can translate it into correct colours. The eightball insignia on the nose for example. What colours should that be in? I also would like to know wether it had Medium Green blotches on the upper surfaces since it's a rather early plane? Here is some pictures... Andreas Samuelsson "Rudolf Filip"

Wow! You're a brave man! I really wish that I could say that it looks nice... but it doesn't... :-) But I can see the potential, that will eventually become a very attractive JAS 39. There is one thing that I think you should correct though. The small fins on the fuselage behind the canard wings are in the wrong place. They should be much lower and pointing outwards. See my pic. Useful shot? Keep up the good work! Andreas

Some more JAS 39 pictures... Please remember that this is a JAS 39A so the APU exhausts are different from the JAS 39C. She lacks her engine and some items in cockpit but she is otherwise intact. If anyone would like to meet her you are very welcome to the museum in Ängelholm at former F 10 airbase. We also have FFVS J22, J29 F Tunnan, J35 J Draken, AJSF 37 Viggen, HKP3 (AB 204), SAAB Safir and a SK 60 (SAAB 105). Andreas Samuelsson, Helsingborg Sweden

Hej! Alva is about 1,5 years old and love aeroplanes as much as I do... She liked the JAS 39 more than the J35 Draken. There was more buttons to play with in the Gripen! About that Viggen with the folded tail. That is a standard feature on all Viggens. SAAB designed the Viggen like that so that they would fit in all Swedish Air Force hangars, even the old WW2 ones. Andreas Samuelsson, Helsingborg Sweden

Ooooh! Very nice. I'd love to see that one finished! I love the JAS 39. It's a very attractive aircraft. Let me know if you need any information or pictures. I have full access to the real thing. Unfortunatly it's a JAS 39A but it's almost right since it's a test plane with many JAS 39C upgrades. I think it may help that "my plane" is painted in the same scheme as the test JAS 39C in your decal sheet. I'm working on the same kit myself but I'm naturally doing the JAS 39A from the decal sheet. Here are a few pics. I only give my daughter the most expensive toys... Andreas Samuelsson, Helsingborg Sweden

Thank you for your help! Unfortunatly I can't seem to get access to the "experten-site". I've just signed up as a member so maybe I'll just have to wait and see... Here is some pics that I had in my computer. These are bad scans from a "Luftwaffe in Sweden" book. I've heard rumours that some parts of this wreck still exists in the nearby barns. I've spoken to someone who claimes to have the engines and the instrument panel hidden away! I didn't believe it until someone actually showed me one of the Heinkels magnetoes. Here is what I started with a couple of years ago. Roden fuselage, Italeri wings and Italeri Ju86 engines. I'll try to take some new pics of the current status later. I can't seem to find that picture that is in front of the model anymore. I know it was from an old magazine but I don't know which one... By the way! Here is an excellent site that covers some of the many planes that ended up in Sweden during the war. http://www.forcedlandingcollection.se/index.html Andreas Samuelsson Helsingborg Sweden

I've actually used the Italeri Ju86 engines on my project! Maybe I should tell a little more about my model so far? I started out with the Roden Heinkel He111C airliner and soon discovered that it wasn't a very nice kit... The wings were replaced with straight leading edge ones from an Italeri He111 H-6 kit. I managed to use the nicely detailed landing gear bays from the Roden kit. To my surpice the Italeri wings fitted better to the Roden fuselage than the original Roden ones... My main problem right now is how the engines should fit to the wings and how the exhausts should look like. I'm going to try and use some of the leftover parts from the Junkers Ju86 and build up the rest with plasticard and filler. I'll try to post some pictures later of my Heinkel. Andreas

I've been researching and (very slowly) building the somewhat odd Heinkel He111 G-3 (former D-ACBS "Augsburg" of Lufthansa) . I think I've come quite a long way but the Roden kit is giving me a hard time... Here is the story that caught my interest a couple of years ago: Taken from the book "German emergency landings 1939-1945" by Bo Widfeldt. "Early in the morning a German aircraft was observed passing over southern Helsingborg. Five warningshots and sixteen direct fires was shot from different AA stations in Helsingborg. The aircraft was hit in the tail and crasched at Djuremossa and from the wreckage a shaken Danish fugutive named Per Hiul crawled out. He had served as a flightmechanic at Kastrup airport, where the Blindflying school B34 was based. The aircraft was of an elderly type that was delivered to Lufthansa as D-ACBS, named Augsburg. In contrary to other versions of this aircraft this one was equipped with BMW 132H radial engines. In 1940 the Luftwaffe took over it and used it as a training aircraft. In cover of darkness, Per Hiul could sneak into the aircraft when the engines was warming up. Before the German mechanics knew what happened, Hiul jumped out and removed the chocks and then suceeded to take off. He had no flying experience whatsoever! At a low altitude over the sea he set his direction towards Sweden. When the aircraft was hit with Swedish AA fire the control cables in the tail was damaged and thus he lost the control of the aircraft. In a last desperate try to save himself from the unavoidable crash, he crawled all the way back as far he could into the tailsection. That probably saved his life, he was relative unharmed when the Swedish soldiers pulled him out of the wreckage... Hiul remained in Sweden until the war ended and Denmarks liberation. He spent the rest of the war helping fugutives to cross the strait from Denmark. He later perished in a drowning accident. The aircraft was later sold as scrap while a few minor parts was shipped back to German authority in Denmark.In excange a few American aviators could return to their units in England". I have some good pics of the wreck as is was found in Sweden. I also have some lousy pics of it in Lufthansa pre-war scheme. There are a few similar sidewiews on the web of this plane. It was marked "CE+NX" with two yellow bands around the fuselage. I saw that someone actually have built this model on Hyperscale some time ago. What I really need is good pictures or drawings showing how the engine cowlings looked like. I've been working on this project on and off for the last 15 years. It would be nice to finally finish this one... Í 've spoken to one of the AA-crews that shot the plane down and I also have a few parts from this machine so it's personal. The plan is to display the model in the Beredskapsmuseet which actually is situated right were the plane came down. Puh... Long post but I hope that someone knows something. Andreas Samuelsson, Helsingborg Sweden

I'm trying to build the Italeri kit (1:48) of the nice looking Arado Ar196. It's a nice kit and it's such an easy build. I've heard a lot of bad things about this kit but I really like it! I've read a lot lately about the capture of the HMS Seal submarine and the part that some Arados played in that incident. I was inspired and started my Italeri kit. However I got stuck since I can't find any pictures of how these 196 looked like. I guess they were in standard 72/73/65 camouflage but were there any other colours? I did a quick search the web but all I could find that they belonged to either 5/196 or Kustenfliegergruppe 706. I have no clue what this means and how they were marked. Recently I found out that one of the German crewmembers (pilot?) of one of the planes is buried not far from were I live. His plane crashed (shot down?) out to sea and his body ended up on the beach here in Sweden. Now I definatly would like to build his plane! I'm planning to give the finished model to the local museum. It was an Arado Ar196 wnr 0075 and was marked "6W+RN". His name was Gunther Mehrens. Any help you could give me would be great!!! Andreas Samuelsson, Helsingborg Sweden

Excellent! You've been most helpful! All I have to do now is to take a look at the IPMS Stockholm site to see what those Italian words mean... I have a few more questions though. The spinner, is it black and white? I've been thinking about the canopy as well. In all other pics I've seen of the Macchi MC.202 the canopy is hinged on the other side. How did it work? Could it be opened on both sides? I'm very confused... Andreas

I'm trying to build some of the planes that made forced landings in Sweden during the war. It's for the museum at F 10 airbase at Ängelholm, Sweden. The F 10 wing was based at Malmö airport (Bulltofta) between 1940-1945 and many allied and German aircraft ended up there. It's not always easy to figure out how to paint these models since I'm definatly not an expert on "foreign aircraft". The Swedish ones on the other hand... My question is... What are the correct colours on this one? It's a Macchi MC.202 (MM9697 "black 16") from a Luftwaffe fighterschool (from the Nuremberg area?). The pilot escaped to Sweden and made a belly landing at Tommelilla in the south of Sweden in October 1944. I have no idea how to paint it. Is it still in Italian colour scheme or is it painted in RLM colours? There must be someone who knows these things better than me. Or maybe someone with a good guess...? I have built the Hasegawa 1:72 kit and all I have to do now is to paint the lovely little thing. Thanks. Andreas

I would like to thank you all for helping me! The prop bosses are now red. Here are some more pics from F 10 at Bulltofta airport during the war. The J 20 was the fighter that F 10 used for the most part of the war. "Princess" landed on Bulltofta at the same day as "Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby". This is the subject of Hasegawa 1:72 B-24D. "Lovely Ladys Avenger", no brakes... Who took a bite of that tail? Hmmm...I think we might have a oil leak... I like the action in this shot. Swedish soldier guarding a B-17. Love the atmosphere in this one! The B-24 is a big aircraft. What do you think? I've been working on some decals for some of these "stragglers". Do you think there is a market for them? Andreas Samuelsson

Hold it! If you're not in a hurry you should probably wait just a little. Maestro have a conversion for a 2-seater in the works. I wouldn't recommend the Heller kit. Well, unless you happen to find a really early kit. The forms wore out quickly on this kit and there are huge sink marks allover the wings and the "inner wings". There are also some shape issues. The canopy looks odd. It's a bit pointy. It doesn't help that Heller managed to make the inner frames of the canopy on the OUTSIDE... :-) A Polish firm called Top gun did a resin conversion for the Hasegawa kit a couple of years ago. It was pretty much copies of the Heller bits. Nice seats though. The canopy was a vacform copy of Hellers complete with the framing on the outside so it was impossible to remove them. The fit was awful as well. This seet is hard to find nowadays. http://www.tradera.com/Topgun-1-72-resinko...80904_128629135 So... My recommendation is to either wait for the Maestro conversion or get a Heller kit and try to combine the 2-seat bits to the Hasegawa kit. Remember, if you want to do a Swedish 2-seater you still have to get the early fin, short tail and intakes from Maestro. If you're building a Danish one you must get the tail with hook and the fin and wingtips used by Denmark. So, it's not easy. Well, I personally think it might be worth all the fuss since the Sk 35C is just the nicest plane ever! Good luck! Andreas Samuelsson

I guess you're right. I've been looking at my pictures and it looks like the chin turret is painted grey. I suspected this was the case. It would make more sence to use up the stocks instead of stripping already painted turrets. Thanks for the help! Andreas Samuelsson

I'm building my Monogram B-17 as this rather well known machine. I'm trying to build a collection of some of the planes that made emergency landings here in Sweden during the war. It's for the F 10 airbase museum. F 10 were based at Bulltoft airport in Malmö during the war and many allied and german aircraft landed there. F 10 was a fighter wing equipped with the J 20 (Reggianne 2000). It was a rather fast (by Swedish standards) but of lousy Italian quality. Late in war many American bombers ended up at Bulltofta after being damaged during raids over Germany. I'm trying to fill a huge display case with some of these planes in 1:48. I have the Superscale decal sheet for Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby and I also have full access to the photo archive at F 10. I can tell you there are some really nice pics there! Well... The question is: What is the colour of the propeller hubs on this plane? Could it be red? When studying my pics I've noticed some details that aren't mentioned in the decal instructions. For example, the top turret seems to be in OD. Tell me what you think! Here are some pics from Bulltofta of a J 20 escorting a B-17. Andreas Samuelsson

Wow! I never get tired of that bird! Congrats to a very nice build! There is one minor thing to correct if you're interested. You might want to paint a little more on the canopy frame. The Draken pilots never had such good view... Here is a pic to show what I mean. I hope that you wont get upset cause I really like your Draken! Now I would like to see a blue and a red one, please... Andreas

I love it!!! That is truly magnificent! It looks very much like a J 29. I should know because I've spent hundreds of hours working on the real thing! We have a close relative to that machine in our museum at former Swedish air force base F 10 at Ängelholm. It's currently undergoing a slow renovation for static display after spending about 30 years outside... Your cockpit looks great! I wish I someday could reach your high standard. It's somewhat easier to get that finish in full scale... To bad about the light nose. Our J 29 does that too when you remove the guns! It has weights instead of guns because it's a target tug. Yours shouldn't have guns either to be really accurate. It was converted to a target tug, just like ours. We are reconverting our to a figher again. Anyway, I still think it's fantastic to see that you've tamed that kit. It's late and I feel that my English is very rusty so I hope that I've made any sence at all... Congrats to a stunning build! Andreas