1/48 Saab B 17A by Tarangus - released

[flarpen]

30 minutes ago, Mike Esposito said:

Wow! I'm the same! That's why I want one! 😁

 

There's the B variant at Model hobbies. Wanted the A. 

Just bought the Dora J9 and the XA2D Skyshark! The wife won't like another 80USD purchase! 😓

The A and B kit plastic is the same with the addition of a resin engine in the B kit.
Other than that it's only decals that differ.

 

[Shorty84]

One has to consider that such subjects are quite niche products with a very limited potential customer base (domestic market + a few abroad). Let's be honest, how many modellers know what a Saab B 17 is? I guess even for most people on this forum, which is frequented by enthusiast modellers, it is quite an obscure subject.

For small manufacturers like Tarangus an injection molded kit is quite an outlay and they have to tightly calculate in order to make it viable. I'm sure they could have added more detail (an photo etched fret for the interior for example) but for sure this would have driven the price further up, limiting the customer base even more.

I guess this is the reason they provided the parts for the S 17BS and B 17C as add ons since the outlay for another full boxing could not be justified.

 

I simply cannot see any "big" manufacturer doing one in 1/48 (except maybe Hobby Boss, like they did with the Lansen) so for the foreseeable future it is Tarangus or nothing. Furthermore, I understand that price is an important factor for many and other kits may offer a better 'bang for the buck' but, in order to be able to offer such subjects at all, manufacturers sometimes have to make compromises.

 

That said, I have their B 17A, B 17B and S 17BS conversion and while pricy I'm grateful someone took the risk and decided to offer them in plastic and 1/48 👍

 

Cheers

Markus

 

 

[AaCee26]

12 hours ago, flarpen said:

BUT and that's a big but, it's the only way to build a SAAB 17 in 1/48 scale unless you want to scratch build one.

Was it Kingfisher which was used oooold days as a starting point for a converison? 

 

6 hours ago, New Tool said:

To me it seems strange that it is unique (is it?). 

At least Folland Gnat had similar air brakes to keep aircraft small and simple.

 

Cheers,

 

AaCee

[Rudolf_Filip]

Well. The Tarangus SAAB 17 is a typical shortrun kit. It certainly has its problems. Nothing that can't be fixed though. I felt that it was a fun kit to build. Probably one of the better ones from Tarangus. 

 

However, if you expect a Tamiya/Hasegawa kit that will build itself you're going to disappointed. 

If you, like me, love to build Classic Airframes kits you're going to love this one... 😀 

 

I competed with my SAAB B 17 in the C 4 Open contest in Malmö in October 2021. It did quite well. I got a bronze plaquet and an award for the best Tarangus build. 

I was surprised to find that there was another five (!) Tarangus B 17 in the same class that I competed in. 

I guess that it shows that the kit is not particulary "unbuildable"! 🙂 

 

Andreas

[Mike Esposito]

Nice work sir.

 

I used to build mostly CA kits about 25 years ago. Some were OK others went into the circular file; MS 406 for one! 🤨

Edited February 1, 2022 by Mike Esposito