Swedish Air Force Seaplanes

Maestro Models, 1/72 scale

S u m m a r y :
Catalogue Number and Description	Maestro Models Item No. MMD4808 - Swedish Air Force Seaplanes
Price:	Maestro decals available online from Maestro Models
Scale:	1/48 scale
Contents & Media:	Interesting subjects; high quality decals.
Review Type:	First Look.
Advantages:	An interesting selection of schemes from the Swedish Air Force
Disadvantages:	Instruction sheet could be more comprehensive.
Conclusion:	All of the subjects covered here by Maestro will look great in 1/48 scale. Highly recommended to anyone interested in Swedish military aviation or looking for an out of the ordinary 1/48 project.

Reviewed by Brad Fallen

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Maestro Models from Sweden manufactures a wide variety of Swedish-themed, aircraft-focused accessories including photo-etched and resin details, vacform canopies and decals.  The decals are produced in all four major scales with many 1/48 and 1/72 sets covering the same subjects.  This is the case with the 1/48 Swedish Air Force Seaplane decals being considered here, with the equivalent 1/72 set reviewed by Mick Drover earlier in 2015.

The 1/48 decals include the same subjects as the 1/72 set, namely:

• 12 Heinkel He 115 A-2s (T 2s in Swedish service) purchased from Germany in 1939 and operated until 1952.  These machines were camouflaged in olive drab or black green over light blue grey.

• Sweden’s sole Dornier Do 24 T (Tp 24), flown to the country by a defecting Luftwaffe mechanic in late 1944 before being formally purchased from Germany and operated between 1945 and 1951.  After a short time in unpainted metal, the aircraft was camouflaged in either olive drab or black green over light blue grey. This finish would make for a strikingly different-looking Do 24, although if you want one in 1/48 you’ll need to tackle the notoriously difficult Fonderie Miniature kit.

• Three PBV-1As (Tp 47s) operated between 1947 and 1966 in overall bare metal finish (with silver dope on fabric surfaces).  One of these aircraft, 47002/‘Black 02’ was shot down by a Soviet MiG-15 in 1952 while conducting a search-and-rescue operation over the Baltic Sea.

These aircraft are succinctly described on an A5 double-sided, full-colour instruction sheet that contains port views of three T 2s at different times in the type’s service, one Tp 47 and the single Tp 24.  Scrap wingtip views show the location of national insignia and – for the Tp 47s – dayglow markings on the floats.  The illustrations and accompanying brief text are adequate general guides for painting and decal placement, but I’d recommend you also seek out photos of the aircraft you are modelling which will give you a clearer idea of weathering and other details.

The instructions also include a table listing identification numbers for all T 2, Tp 47 and Tp 24 machines operated by Sweden.  The fate of a number of aircraft is also described.

The decals are provided on four sheets – two identical larger sheets holding two sizes and types of national insignia, and a number of different sized identification codes in black, yellow and white.  The two smaller sheets are also identical to each other, and repeat the largest codes from the other decal sheet.  This is a generous number of markings and will give you enough codes and insignia for several projects, at least.

The decals are crisply printed with good registration on the national insignia.  As Mick said in his review, it will be hard to assess the density of the yellow and white codes until these are on your model – if density is an issue, carefully doubling up the code letters could be a solution (there are enough on the sheet for you to do this).

Any of the subjects covered here by Maestro will look great in 1/48 scale.  All are big models in this scale, and their Swedish markings will make them stand out even further.  Highly recommended to anyone interested in Swedish military aviation or looking for an out of the ordinary 1/48 project.

Thanks to Maestro Models for the review sample..

Review Text and Images Copyright © 2015 by Brad Fallen
Page Created 17 April, 2015
Last updated 17 April, 2015

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