The Lansen restoration project (3 x Heller 1/72)

[Pellson]

It seems this should have gotten a thread of it's own some time ago, but hey - better late than never!

The Swedish SAAB 32 Lansen has always been a favourite of mine. As a kid, I can remember the occasional flyby only - they went out of active service already when I was eight - but I can remember a sudden, low swoop-over by what must have been strike pack practising antiship attack out somewhere in the Baltic. They came from the west, four of them in a not so tight formation of two plus two. Low, fast and in a split second, they were gone eastwards towards "Superpower Yellow", as we said back then in a Potterish way of never saying the Devil's name out loud.  Quite an experience for a young boy, and it stays with me despite having seen  Draken and Viggen fighters practice at least a thousand times since, as we're living just on the edge of one of the old training areas over the sea.
Also, the two fighter types were seen as "hotter" back then, being Mach 2 capable and all, so the first Swedish Air Force fighter I built myself was a Revell J35A. Simple, cool and very "playable" once done, so really liked, despite it's lack of missiles.

However, fast forward a few years, and we're looking at a somewhat more experienced, if still rather young modeller, even having a small budget of his own, and enter the Heller Lansen. A lovely kit, but annoyingly totally lacking weapons or associated pylons. However, you could build it OOB as an in-service S32C reconnaissance Lansen, and so I did. No interior painting as I didn't really care, but the outside got a reasonably good green-over-light-blue camouflage, as per the instructions, and then kit decals.
Somewhere around then, I think my dad built a similar kit, but as an attack A32A. Same camouflage, but spare decals that, for some reason (availability, I think) placed it in an interceptor wing. And still no weapons.
Even later still, and now we;re talking maybe thirty years ago, I sourced another Heller kit to build an attack Lansen of my own. This time, I scratched pylons but not the so distinctive conformal belly tank, but despite that, it became a much cooler model, featuring the Rb04 missiles scavenged from an Airfix Viggen kit.

A few years ago when we lost my dad, I took over most of his models. At the time, I just packed them away, but looking for that J35 Mod 4 build we spoke about here on th forum a few months ago, I stumbled on the three Lansens and got a hint of mojo. So out they came, and looking things over, one can for sure say that time definitely not is a healer as far as models go. And the old RW schemes seemed quite dated as well, some decals flaking, so I thounght - why not do something fun with them instead?

And here we are.
As you know, I took the opportunity to visit the not that far off F11 reconnaissance museum, having a good look at the only complete S32C left, and later also the main Air Force museum, spending some time with an A32A, missiles and all. Scanning the webz for inspiration ahead of those visits, I found this lovely shot, taken in the mid-1960's over the archipelago, most likely just a tad north of where I am:

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As for the models, so far, I've stripped them of paint and decals, managed to break my way into cockpits to actually do paint some interior (as much as can be reached) and also rebuilt the exhausts to match the RM6C engine variant, i.e the same engine that was put in the later Draken versions, giving a significant boost to the otherwise somewhat underpowered early Lansens. I;ve also - as I always do - tucked in the landing gear of dad's old attack Lansen and in the process decided to repurpose it into an EW bird, adding relevant antennae - and then some! Progress! 
Next step is camouflage, and - also as you already know - my main headache has been deciding on what camouflage to paint. The famous, mid-1970's splinter camouflage, or the ten years older blue/green Draken scheme. Having gotten started on a backstory, I think that the Draken camo will fit better, and actually it's something of a relief - the splinter is a proper pain to paint!

Looking at loadouts, I've sourced three belly tanks, courtesy of Maestro Models, and they make a massive difference in appearance! Going further, I will need some BOZ chaff canisters as well as, at least or the recce and the EW birds, a few ECM pods as well. These are also available from Maestro, and I even think I have the odd pod already, so I'll have a run through the depths of the Stash^TM and see what I can find before ordering new/more.

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So. There we are. 

[Dizzyfugu]

Lansens are cool - go for it, esp. when there are personal memories involved in the work. 

I also have a Heller Lansen left in The Stash™, and only the vague plan to hang some Rb04s under it for a dedicated maritime strike/recce variant (an SH 32F, maybe?), but the jury is still out.

[Pellson]

Lansens are cool - go for it, esp. when there are personal memories involved in the work. 

I also have a Heller Lansen left in The Stash™, and only the vague plan to hang some Rb04s under it for a dedicated maritime strike/recce variant (an SH 32F, maybe?), but the jury is still out.

They do have a certain appeal with their long, blunt noses, don't they? 

I'm sure you're aware the RW Lansen did fly with the Rb04 for almost 20 years.



However, taking off, fully fueled up, including 600 l in that preggo belly and with two 600 kg (and rather draggy) missiles was an adventure each and every time, considering the severe lack of thrust. Following the development of the slightly up-engined J32B interceptor variant, a corresponding A32B was considered, as was actually the A32D variant I'm at, where the Draken engine, afterburner and all, was replacing the old RM5A Avon Mk 21. So far, all true story! 

[PR19_Kit]

I also have a Heller Lansen left in The Stash™, and only the vague plan to hang some Rb04s under it for a dedicated maritime strike/recce variant (an SH 32F, maybe?), but the jury is still out.

I have one in The Loft too, and some vacform Rb04s and a belly tank, to try and produce that lovely pic almost exactly! 

[Pellson]

I have one in The Loft too, and some vacform Rb04s and a belly tank, to try and produce that lovely pic almost exactly! 

I am rather certain I sent you a few Rb04's a few years back, Kit.. 

[The Wooksta!]

You really need a Messerschmitt Me P.1110 to go with them.

[The Rat]

Love the Lansen! One of those aircraft that doesn't look beautiful, like the Hunter, but is best described as looking 'purposeful,' and their purpose was to mess up some enemy's day! 

[PR19_Kit]

I have one in The Loft too, and some vacform Rb04s and a belly tank, to try and produce that lovely pic almost exactly! 

I am rather certain I sent you a few Rb04's a few years back, Kit.. 

Ah that makes sense, and thanks so much. The Rb04 is THE Swedish missile to my mind. 

[Dizzyfugu]

I'm sure you're aware the RW Lansen did fly with the Rb04 for almost 20 years.

Yes, sure. I just thought about an upgraded/specialized A32 A, but your idea with an uprated Draken engine with afterburner for some more oomph sounds very compelling, I did not think that far yet.  I am also not certain about a paint scheme - you mentioned an all-blue Lansen a while ago, and there were IIRC experiments with S32 Cs with a kinda "striped" scheme in two tones (blue/green and/or green/green), which appears quite attractive. We'll see.

[Pellson]

I'm sure you're aware the RW Lansen did fly with the Rb04 for almost 20 years.

Yes, sure. I just thought about an upgraded/specialized A32 A, but your idea with an uprated Draken engine with afterburner for some more oomph sounds very compelling, I did not think that far yet.  I am also not certain about a paint scheme - you mentioned an all-blue Lansen a while ago, and there were IIRC experiments with S32 Cs with a kinda "striped" scheme in two tones (blue/green and/or green/green), which appears quite attractive. We'll see.

The Draken engined A32D Lansen was the real SAAB fallback project, should the Viggen project go tits up, so I can't take any credits for that idea, unfortunately.

Tunnan from the F3 wing and Tunnans and Lansens from the F11 wing participated in camouflage trials in the early 60's. The scheme to be replaced was the olive green over light bluegrey or natural metal worn by most Swedish fighters up till then, and the alternatives explored was:

- green and black over light grey (forest scheme)

- green and dark blue over light grey (sea scheme)

- all dark blue over light grey (only maritime reconnaissance S32C Lansens).

Eventually, the Sea Scheme was preferred, but the green altered from the old Green 325 to a slightly greener Green 328, and while all Drakens were repainted/delivered in the new scheme, the only Tunnans ever camouflaged were the trials machines, and most of the Lansens remained in their old green over grey all the way to retirement in 1978.

That much for real world events.

My plan, however, is to use the Draken/Sea camo on at least the strike A32D's and EW J32E's (note: not RW J32E's but my, Draken engined one) and possibly the alll dark blue scheme on the MR S32D.

Nevertheless looking much forward to your take on the matter as well. 

[Dizzyfugu]

Well, I guess "my" Lansen project will not materialize quickly, but I favor a blue livery, too, even though I am not certain about the S32 Cs' uniform camouflage - looks certainly odd. The tricolor scheme I applied to my recent Swedish photo recce Hunter (found on a real Lansen target tug) is an attractive option, but I do not want to repeat myself, and it might not be maritime enough. Maybe two shades of blue and a dark olive drab/green, though...? 

[Pellson]

Having gotten a bit stuck on a painting issue, I'm contemplating a quick splash 'n dash to the museum tomorrow.

The problem is as follows:
The Avon engine was started by a small auxiliary turbine, run on a special, chemically rather aggressive fuel. This fuel obviously leaked a little, often cleaning all paint off the rear belly of the aircraft.

In the Drakens and also the J32B/D/E versions, the Air Force just left a good chunk of said area unpainted, as can be seen in the two pics below

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The top pick shows the later, D/E scheme while the lower, despite being applied on an E, shows the earlier interceptor scheme (and ditto pylons, actually)

However - look at these shots and tell me whether you can  decide if there's any paint down below or not..

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And while you mull on that, I'll let you in on the fact that the last shot is of the same version as the first one in this post. Tricky, eh?

Well - there's a strike Lansen at the museum, so just a matter of getting there.

[The Wooksta!]

Is it me, or does it look like a Swift from some angles?

[The Rat]

Is it me, or does it look like a Swift from some angles?

Agree, certainly looks a bit 'chubby'. But, unlike the reason for a corpulent Swift, it was designed from the outset around an axial flow engine. First was the indigenous STAL Dovern, before switching to the license built RR Avon. So I have no idea why the design peeps went with a rotund fuselage, unless there was fuel storage around the engine. Anyone got a cutaway view?

It wound up looking better than the Swift, nowhere near as pretty as the Hunter, but still manages to look like it's built with a purpose. Lovely aircraft, IMHO.

[Dizzyfugu]