RF-35 Danish Recce Draken, Hasegawa 1/48

[Mark V]

In the summer of 1985, while I was stationed at Spangdahlem AB, Germany, my squadron hosted members of the Danish ESK-729 RF-35 Draken unit.  They brought several jets to Spang.  I almost got a ride in a 2 seater but the weather that day was below their weather minimums.  Hey, it was Germany, not California.  A couple of weeks later I was lucky enough to take one of our F-4Es to Karup AB, Denmark and spend 2 weeks there.  I think we took 6 jets and 10 crews, plus a maintenance unit.  Good times...

Since then I have wanted to build a model of the RF-35.  Hasegawa is the only option in 1/48th, and it's a pretty good kit.  Great detail, nice fit but not perfect, the right parts for a Danish Draken (mostly).  I started the kit about 7 years ago then got stuck on what shade of Green to paint it.  I looked at a build review on Modelling Madness, compared photos, tried various shades of Testors Model Master and Tamiya.  Then it was time to move from Houston, Tx to the Portland, Oregon area, so the kit went into the box and sat for 4 years.  I finally pulled it out last month and pressed on. 

My memory of the Drakens on 1985 was that they were an olive drab, very glossy, and very clean.  Airliners.net has some excellent phots that show several different shades of green, depending on the lighting and camera settings.  I ended up going 50/50 Testors Model Master enamel Green Drab 34086 and Olive Drab 34087.  I think it looks about right from my memories and available photos.  Of course I always kick myself for not having a decent camera then and taking more pictures.  I have none of the exchange visit.

To try to make the kit a bit more accurate I bought a set of Eduard resin Danish Draken pylons.  The kit pylons are incorrect for the Danish jet. I used kit decals except for the "slime light" formation light strips.  Almost all kit decals have these as a bright yellow.  They are a dull yellow.  I have a very old decal sheet from Detail & Scale that has light strips, in 1/48, for several US jets of the 80s, and a 4 x 4 inch section of solid formation light color.  I was able to use this to cut out the Draken wingtip light decals.  I also used the Master brass pitot and AoA probe.  Apparently I made a mistake when ordering these since I ended up with a 1/72nd scale set.  It took over 1 month to get them from an online shop so I used them anyway.  The AoA probe is probably the same part in all of the sets and the pitot boom is maybe slightly short, but it looks ok as is.  For all but the forward looking angled camera windows I used Micro Kristal Klear (white glue) to make the camera windows after all painting was done.  

I had one near disaster when attempting a panel line wash, but fixed that problem, mostly, and pressed on.  I'm happy to have this kit completed and joining my other 1/48th kits on the shelf.

Hope you like it, I haven't seen many of these very cool-looking jets on the model forums.

 

 

 

[Jens]

Very nice job! The national markings on the lower wings are too far out. The should be on the panel behind the MLGs. The Hasegawa instructions are incorrect here, so I take it you followed those.
I remember seeing pictures of SP Phantoms at Karup AB. I visited that base now and then as a kid because my dad was in ESK725. 

 

Jens

[Mark V]

1 hour ago, Jens said:

Very nice job! The national markings on the lower wings are too far out. The should be on the panel behind the MLGs. The Hasegawa instructions are incorrect here, so I take it you followed those.
I remember seeing pictures of SP Phantoms at Karup AB. I visited that base now and then as a kid because my dad was in ESK725. 

 

Jens

Bummer for me about the marking location. I did follow the kit directions with a slight modification for the pylons. I couldn’t find any pictures showing the underside so went with what looked right. 😕

[SAT69]

Beautiful build! One of my supervisors, on coming back from a TDY to Denmark that took F-105 Wild Weasels there, told me the hangar floors were so clean you could eat off of them and their airplanes were maintained in immaculate condition. He commented, and was only half jesting, that you could have eaten off the lower surfaces of a Draken engine bay. Your model replicates the outstanding maintenance and appearance of those beautiful jets.

[tonyot]

Lovely,..... I remember seeing these flying while on exercise in Denmark and they were awesome. The green scheme suits the type so well and you have it off to a tee,.... nice one.

[Marcin Wojciechowski]

I like Drakens ! Very nice work !

[Britman]

Lovely job straight out of the paint shop! The Danes somehow managed to get both extremes of aircraft finish on the flight line at the same time, pristine and downright washed out. Trying the latter is not to be taken lightly. That green is special too. Thank you for sharing with us.

 

Keith

[Jens]

8 hours ago, Mark V said:

Bummer for me about the marking location. I did follow the kit directions with a slight modification for the pylons. I couldn’t find any pictures showing the underside so went with what looked right. 😕

It's on the lower surfaces and out of sight normally, so it does not distract from the lovely model you have built.

Jens

[exdraken]

wow!

 

great Draken!

very shiny

 

the Danish Draken look very special

 

you could also add some weapons (bombs, rocket pods), that would distinguish it even more from a "normal" Draken

[F-32]

Sorry cool, I've always loved that scheme, I remember seeing them at airshows now and again and they always caught my eye!

 

Draken by tony_inkster, on Flickr

[PhantomLover]

Lovely Draken, that kit is high on my 'I want to build that-list'.. Remember seeing those jets in the '80's at airshows in the Netherlands, UK, Belgium, Germany. Also there was a squadron exchange of Esk725 with 315 sqn at Twente in 1987 where I saw them.. A great jet, and you made a very nice model of it..

 

Kind regards, 

Gerben