Search the Community

I’ve been a big fan of this unique aircraft for decades. So you can easily imagine my enthusiasm when Tarangus released their new 1/48 scale kit roughly a year ago. Finnish Air Force purchased two second hand examples in 1959 from a Swedish company called Svensk Flygtjänst AB. It was a private company that provided target towing services for Swedish armed forces. During the post war years FINAF used few war-weary Bristol Blenheims and Fokker C.X.s for target towing. Imagine yourself in the cockpit of a Folland Gnat F.1 fighter in a shallow dive and ready to shoot the target sleeve towed by a biplane originating from the 30s! When the last Fokker crashed FINAF was left without a target tug. The air force wanted something like a Canberra or a Sea Fury to replace the old Fokkers and Blenheims, but there was only one slight problem: money. So two SAABs were purchased instead. They were given serials SH-1 and SH-2 (SH for SAAB Hinauskone, SAAB target tug). SH-2 arrived in Finland in early 1960 and was written off in August the same year; after only six months of service. SH-1 wasn’t much luckier as it was destroyed in May 1961. This photo clearly shows the scratch built fairings covering the Type B Mark II winch and the small, four bladed propeller driving the winch. The winch was modified in Sweden. The brake was enhanced and the diameter of the propeller decreased. Note also the cable outlet, opened cowl flaps and new surface details on the rear fuselage. The details I'm most pleased with: the cowl flaps (from a Monogram P-61), the tread pattern of the tires and the propeller hub and spinner, all scratch built items. I also had to create my own decals, as there isn't any commercial ones available. Printed with HP 8600 inkjet and then Microscale Liquid Decal solution applied with a soft Leonard brush. I decided to represent all latches with home made decals. Over 20 of them were needed, but they really add interest in the model. A scratch built ADF teardrop antenna was attached on the belly. All panel lines were re-scribed using photos as a reference, as the kit wasn't especially accurate in this area. The dirt was created with Caran D'Ache crayons; first grinded into powder and then applied with a cotton swab. A small chisel and great nerves were needed when I carved the tread pattern. It is very prominent in photographs and a visible feature of the tires made by Trelleborg rubber company. The ribs inside the spats were made of Plasticard and brake lines out of thin copper wire. Here are my B17s: a Marivox 1/72 scale model built in the 1990s and the Tarangus model. Shape wise the Tarangus kit is far more accurate. All modifications now complete the model is ready for some paint. One nasty thing is the nose which was out of shape. Luckily the plastic was very thick so I was able to sand the top side into right shape. However after that the cowling was too large and Milliput had to be applied on the lower fuselage to make the cowling fit. Small details were added into the pilot's cockpit, like throttle, compressor gear and mixture levers. Instruments came from Airscale sheet. In the early 1990s I worked together with three senior FINAF pilots and of course interviewed them, as they had all flown SAAB 17s. I asked about the cockpit colour and one of the guys said that he thinks it was green (Tarangus gives aluminium). This is all there is left of the two planes. A close examination showed some green paint on the inner surfaces of the canopy framing. I was able to identify the green as NCS S7010-G70Y. A mix of Humbrol 75, 92 and 100 gave me an exact match. The yellow is NCS S2070-Y10R and as such very close to Humbrol 24. I only had to add a few drops of chocolate brown to get an exact match. The fuselage interiors nearly complete. All military equipment removed and a scratch built winch added. And finally, the winch, painted with bright grey-green (Eau de Nil, perhaps). I used the cockpit of a Hurricane at the Air Force Museum for colour comparison to get an exact match. Enjoy the pictures and Stay Safe🙂 Cheers, Antti