Tarangus Saab 91 Safir B/C/D 1:48

[Mike]

Saab 91 Safir B/C/D
1:48 Tarangus

The Safir debuted following the end of WWII, and was a successful trainer used by many of the Nordic countries to train pilots. Initially fitted with a de Havilland engine, later models were equipped with four or six cylindered Lycoming engines developing between 180-190hp. Built in Sweden and the Netherlands, over 300 airframes were completed, with an additional seat added to the C and D variants to increase crew compliment to four.

Once retired from service with their initial military users, many continued to be used either privately, or in the service of a number of civilian airlines. They can still be seen flying today in military or civilian liveries, and could be compared to the Bücker Bü 181, which was also designed by AJ Andersson, or the British Chipmunk, with which it shares some features.

The Kit
A new release from Tarangus, the Safir (Sapphire) has never been kitted before in this scale, so if you've been wanting to build one, now's your chance! The kit arrives in and end-opening box with a photo of a real Safir in Swedish trainer livery, and inside is one sprue of parts, plus two spruelets containing the fuselage halves, and a small clear sprue, which is bagged separately for safety. The decal sheet is large for the size of the kit, and the final item in the box is an A5 instruction booklet.

The plastic and instructions are of the same style used by MPM, so my guess is that they or someone similar were involved in tooling the sprues. This is a limited edition model, and although it could be construed as short-run, it is of high quality, so you could say "medium-run" instead. The tooling is neat, detail is more than adequate, sprue gates are small and sensibly placed, as are the ejector pin marks, while only one small sink-mark on the outside of the cockpit wall can be seen on first inspection, which is most easily rectified before construction starts. Construction starts with the instrument panel, which had plenty of raised detail under a coaming, with separate rudder pedals glued to the back of the panel.

The engine is next, and this is only included to give an indication of content once the cowling is on, so it's not really worth doing anything about the 6-cylinder block that is moulded in relief to the lower bulkhead if you are building the 4-cylinder D model, as nothing will be seen. The reduction bell-housing and radiator front are installed at the front, and then it is put to one side while the cockpit floor is built up with gear bay details on the underside, before it is flipped over to have 3 or 4 seats added. The two pilot seats have sticks each, while the rear seats are moulded as a two-part bench-seat with separate cushions, the narrow one on the left being cut off for the earlier B model which had three seats. The rear bulkhead is blank for the B, while the C and D have a curved cut-out behind the seats, which was presumably used for stowage. You'll need to black out your fuselage interior to prevent a see-through effect, or you could check your references and build what's behind if you're feeling brave.

With that, the fuselage can be closed up around the cockpit engine and instrument panel, with the lip of the cowling being a separate part to give a good edge and prevent any stepped seams. Once you've cleaned up the seams on the fuselage, the wings are added, with a single lower and two upper halves, to which the ailerons and landing lights are added. The fuselage drops into the gap, and hopefully the fit will be good without much in the way of fettling. Test fitting is essential, and any gap could be reduced by the use of rod to spread the fuselage, or by adding thin shims to the wing root before installation. The big canopy is supplied as a single part, to which a small central frame is added running fore to aft. An optional aerial is added on top, and a small bump is added to the fuselage rear of the canopy if you are building a Finnish airframe. You also have a choice of props with and without spinner, the former again being for a Finnish example. Tail planes are single parts that are added to their roots with the usual slot and tab, with an angle of 90^o recommended by the instructions. A simple tail skid prevents damage to the rear of the aircraft in the event of an over-enthusiastic pupil bouncing on take-off or landing. A choice of trimmings under the engine cowling are supplied with the Finnish aircraft having shrouds around the exhaust stacks and an extra bracing strut behind the single part nose-wheel. The nose-wheel has a mud-guard moulded in, which might upset some, but with careful painting and a shadow lined in between tyre and guard, most people won't even notice! The main wheels are moulded in halves with their hubs integral, and once glued together they are added to the main gear legs, which are both single parts with moulded in oleo-scissor links.

Markings
Colour depictions of the three decal options are given on the back of the box, while stencils are shown on the rear page of the instruction booklet in black and white. From the box you can build one of the following options:

• Swedish 91B No.25 S/no. 50025 – F5 wing, Ljungbyhed – all over yellow with olive drab glare panel and step on wing root.
• Ethiopian Airforce 91C No.132 S/No. 91385 – all over silver with black glare panel.
• Finnish Airforce 91D SF-24 Soumen Ilmavoimat – All over silver with fluorescent orange lower cowling, fin and wing tip leading edges, and black glare panel.
  

Decals are nicely printed with good colour density, register and crispness, although the black is a little variable in places, with minor tiny bleeding and smears in places that are mainly visible under magnification. The carrier film is satin finish and cropped very close to each decal, so shouldn't cause any issue once overpainted with some clear gloss. Given the concentric circles evident on two of the decal options, there doesn't appear to be any offsetting on my copy, and the Finnish roundels are as good as they could be.

Conclusion
Tarangus continue to give us unusual kits of subjects often overlooked by other manufacturers, and are remaining true to their local aircraft manufacturer with this release. It is a nice looking model, and should build up well with few in the ways of issues that I can see from looking at it in the box, and until everyone has one, is something unusual for your cabinet or show table.

Highly recommended.

Available soon from all good model shops.

Review sample courtesy of

[Tiger331]

Mike,

NICE review and echo's my own thoughts…This aircraft would not normally have come onto my 'radar' but a privately owned example, base at Sola-Stavanger Airport and sporting a full RNoAF color scheme and markings, regularly flies over my house on the island so I just had to buy one of these to add to my growing collection of basic trainers……I think it will look good alongside a Chipmunk or Bulldog and provide a nice contrast. Now all I have to do is wait for Vingtor to produce a decal sheet of RNoAF examples !.

Thanks for sharing this with us and Tarangus deserve to do well with this and their other unique subjects….

Mark

[Mike]

Thanks - I quite fancy a Swedish camo example myself

[Vingtor]

Now all I have to do is wait for Vingtor to produce a decal sheet of RNoAF examples !.

The artwork is done and the decals will be printed early September

Nils

[Tiger331]

The artwork is done and the decals will be printed early September

Nils

Nils

Tusen Takk !

Mark

[Bjorn]

Thanks - I quite fancy a Swedish camo example myself

So do I. Thanks for a good review!