Constructive masochism - Heller 1/72 A32A Lansen

[Parrahs]

So I have Gripen, Viggen, Draken and Tunnan standing in the cabinet, so time for probably the least well known of SAAB's famous(?) five: Aircraft 32 Lansen. The plane itself is probably the most normal and conservative of the five, and to the ebst of my knowledge didn't really push any cutting edge technology or go for some original solution to things. Created in the late 40's and early 50's to replace a range of WW2 vintage aircraft (SAAB 18 and 21, Mosquito) the first version to show up was the A32A attack/strike aircraft. This as followed by the J32B, an all-weather fighter with new engine, guns and avionics, and then the S32C which a recon version of the A32A, swapping the guns for cameras. Later on a number of J32B were rebuilt to J32D target tugs and J32E electronic warfare aircraft.

 

For this build I had a bit of a dilemma. Available kits in my preferred scale was a not quite fresh A32A/S32C Heller kit showing its age in more ways than just the raised panel lines, and the much newer but reportedly still not all that brilliant Tarangus more-or-less-short-run J32B kit. The latter did seem like a better idea, but I'd rather build an A32A. I could probably mostly fix the nose, but the engine was probably a bit much for me. Then as I was flopping around with other aircraft I kept having the idea that I really should get some solid panel line re-scribing practice in. And so I think you see where this is going, Heller it is. The whole thing arrived in a bag, with the staples holding the card top in place being heavily rusted. What am I doing to myself...

 

A first check of the fuselage

Oh dear. But it should be workable even without the bench vice if I just take it section by section.

 

The canopy seems quite clear, once I buffed out the scratches from banging about in the bag for a decade or three. It's tank armour thick though, so no reason to bother all too much with the cockpit (which has details, though quite soft and faint such). A quick additionw as amde though, as these will be bright reed pieces sitting right under the canopy and their absence thus easily missed.

 

 

A quick cockpit paint-job later (I guess I should point a camera in there at some point before the canopy goes on) and the part by part gluing gets going. Starting with the upper rear.

 

 

That done I glued the wings (single underside and separate uppers) together and dry fitted some assorted bits together.

 

 

Well, that's an aircraft. Now if only the gaps were as benign as it looks in the photo.

[Orso]

Nice to see one built.  I built five in a rather short time span and found it rather easy to build. The last one took eight days from start to finish, but by then I begun to know the kit rather well.

Looking forward to see which scheme you have chosen for it.

 

[RidgeRunner]

An interesting build. Different and unusual - what I love!

 

Martin

[Andre B]

Green or blue fin?

 

Cheers / André

[Parrahs]

10 hours ago, Orso said:

I built five in a rather short time span and found it rather easy to build.

It's a bit of a mixed bag for me so far. Apart from the fuselage warping and its effects things are going quite well, the cockpit and engine slotted into place very nicely. The fuselage has done more than just bend apart though, resulting in a good deal of filler being needed here and there. As I'm writing I'm realizing that adding a bunch of plasticard tabs to help the rare few locating pegs would probably have been a good idea.

 

32 minutes ago, Andre B said:

Green or blue fin?

I'll be going with a later paint scheme, so that's one mess I won't have to step in.

[Andre B]

Mmm...

 

I had one Heller AJ 37 warped beyond what was buildable. After that I always take a look at Heller kits before buying them.

But this is the first time I've heard of an warped Heller Lansen.

 

But your build looks good...

 

Cheers / André

 

Edited August 25, 2019 by Andre B

[Andwil]

Watching closely as I have one of these in the stash for a planned series of SAAB fighters.

 

AW

[Terry1954]

Watching this one also. I quite like the Lansen in all its forms and I do have a 1/72 Tarangus J32B in the stash, but that is a long way off on the starting list.

 

Very interested to see you tackle the scribing. I have started to do small amounts and will have to master it to tackle some of the other older kits available (especially the F-84F!)

 

Good start so far, good luck as you push on!

 

Terry

[Parrahs]

I suspect the nose didn't end up entirely straight, and as a result the under-nose bit that decides if it's an A32A or an S32C (the latter supplied as a clear part) didn't end up fitting very well. (Wings somewhat dry-fitted here).

 

 

With the inner curvature this ended up being the worst part for filler and sanding. Otherwise filling in various gaps was pretty quick and easy since I didn't need to worry about preserving surface detail. There's also some sinkage here and there, such as by the tail.

 

 

And as promised above, a quick look at the cockpit.

 

 

Not a terrible lot going on, but slap on the glass...

 

 

and I think that's about what's needed. Adding the red bit to the seats seems like it was a good idea though, since those are very visible. Also note the square studs along the fuselage aft of the cockpit. Being raised those seemed like the bit of surface detail I'd have a bother keeping around, but looking at various photos I can't find them on real aircraft. That simplifies things.

Anyway, with all that sorted it's time for scribing.

 

 

I've gotten started somewhat, mostly using a Tamiya scriber followed by some PE saw blades. I'm mostly using Dymo marking tape, the thick kind to be embossed, for guidance, with some regular Tamiya flexible masking tape for the more complex curves. Given how little I know what I'm doing I guess it's going ok-ish, though a number of foul language generators have had to be filled in with Mr Surfacer already.

 

 

 

 

[RAGATIGER]

Hi there

 

Well the Lansen is one of my favorites jets, so there is something missing on the Heller kit, and that is the ventral fuel tank in 1/72  scale

And it happen that I have cast a master of that so if you interested in one or some resin fuel tank contact me

 

 

at [email protected]

 

Best modelling

 

Armando

[Parrahs]

On 06/06/2019 at 05:07, RAGATIGER said:

 

Well the Lansen is one of my favorites jets, so there is something missing on the Heller kit, and that is the ventral fuel tank in 1/72  scale

With the fuel tank being somewhat optional and perhaps not the most graceful bit of equipment I'll make do without. The complete lack of ordnance and pylons for the same is a bit worse in my eyes, and will be taken care of to varying degrees.

[Terry1954]

The scribing looks good so far. I think your approach is sound. She will really look the part. Re the ordnance - are you planning to get any aftermarket stuff like that produced by Maestro models, or make your own somehow?

 

Terry

[RAGATIGER]

19 hours ago, Parrahs said:

With the fuel tank being somewhat optional and perhaps not the most graceful bit of equipment I'll make do without. The complete lack of ordnance and pylons for the same is a bit worse in my eyes, and will be taken care of to varying degrees.

Well Parrahs

 

My intention was only being a bit of helpful, so many fellow Britmodeller been kind and helpful with me that it was a bit of luck to do so, I never doubt you can do the pylons and dress the modell

 

Cheers

 

Armando

 

[Parrahs]

Having passed through grading season and some time away from everything, a bit of progress has happened.

 

First the scribing was finalized and just about everything from the kit was glued in place, followed by the expected filling and whatnot. Not a lot more to see there beyond the previously dry-fitted photos though, so moving on to the bombs. These were sawn off from the casting blocks and then sanded down the last bit. Quite carefully, given the ring at the end of them.

 

 

 

The pylons have also been, hm, approximated might be a suitably diplomatic way of putting it.

 

 

 

Thankfully the glue bit into things very well so they attached with a minimum of fuzz. I then slobbered on some black primer, and have now gotten so far as to mottle up the to-be-green bits.

 

 

We'll see how much of what contrast there is remains once the top coat is on, I may go and mottle over the alternate under-colour parts first to have less contrasts in the amount of contrast so to say, as well as the XF-62 covers it's probably challenge enough to not have it just fully cover the main areas without having to worry about blending in those panels to a suitable amount form the current look.

 

[SpeedyGonzales]

Lansen is a very handome jet. Belongs to ages when jets looked like '57 Chevy. And you are doing a very fine job on it.

[Andre B]

How did it end up?

 

My own Lansen still waiting for some green paint. The fin is of course painted blue...

 

 

Cheers / André

[Parrahs]

On 25/08/2019 at 10:58, Andre B said:

How did it end up?

Well, apart form somewhat delayed...

 

 

Main coat of paint on, as well as some sprayed on fading.

 

Decals, panel lining, a bit of tank style oil streaks&fading all went quite well. Decals were mostly from Moose Republic (the roundel supplied with the kit being absolutely horrendous, thus saving me from finding out how well they had stood the test of time) with an extra sharkmouth and numerals from Maestro Models.  Then it was time for a gloss varnish. In a few spots that decided not so much to turn frosty as it dried, but rather to turn into milk the moment it hit the model. By and large this led to some re-painting which all in all may not have been the worst thing as it helped bring about a more patchwork look, but sadly one of the wing roundels also got affected a bit. In the end, this is where it ended up:

 

 

The sharkmouth (maybe more of a boar with those teeth?) is pretty unique on Swedish aircraft, the air force has been extremely restrictive about such things by and large since WW2 ended. It was apparently found underneath the regular paintjob when the plane came in for repainting, and permission was given to restore it as long as it was then painted over again before the aircraft left the hangar. It's also only on the right side, nothing on the left.

 

[Gondor44]

Now that looks good 👍

 

Gondor

[AdrianMF]

Oooh nice. It's a good looking jet!

 

Regards,

Adrian