Some years ago I received the Rareliners 1/144 Swearingen Metro II limited-run kit as a freebie with a large online auction purchase. The kit was missing its landing gear parts, and the decals were pretty brown with age, but I’m a fan of uncommon stuff, so I was happy to have it. And I had a particular color scheme in mind, so the bad decals weren’t an issue.
After a half-hearted start at gathering references for the project I had in mind…I moved onto another project, and the kit was committed to the stash and (more or less) forgotten.
I pulled it out recently and decided the time had come.. The scheme I had in mind was the Tp88c (militarized Swearingen/Fairchild Metro III) used by the Swedish Air Force for tests of the Ericsson Erieye side-looking airborne radar (SLAR) AEW system in the ‘80s and ‘90s. This version had a “canoe” containing the radar mounted atop the a/c fuselage, and an auxiliary power unit mounted in a pod on the centerline beneath. Best of all, it had the beautiful Swedish AF “crazy quilt” camouflage, always an eye-catcher.
I knew I needed to scratchbuild the missing landing gear, and I’d have to sctratchbuild the radar fairing (and its mounting struts) and the APU pod, as well as the secondary fins this particular bird had added to the stabilizers. But to modify the Rareliners Metro II kit to Metro III standard, I’d also have to stretch the wings, add wing fences at the extension point, and modify the props from the kit’s 3-blade version to the proper 4-blade type. [To be completely accurate, I’d also have to recontour the engine nacelles slightly, but I left well-enough alone.]
I copied an online plan view (from the RVHP resin 1/72 kit of the same a/c), and adjusted it to 1/144 to use as a guide for the mods. All additions were from styrene sheet and strip stock, shaped as closely as possible to the variety of online photos available. Scheme was masked & painted w/ Tamiya tape and Tamiya acrylics, mixed by eye. (Quite a few brush touch-ups needed, I confess.)
Decals were from Flying Colors Aerodecals Swedish number and roundel sheets, with the “Swedish Air Force” on each side made up from a Microscale Railroad decal letter sheet. I made up the Ericsson logo for the radar fairing on my PC and printed it out on my printer. The kit’s black window decals sort of got lost against the camouflage, so I overpainted them with metallic blue.
Not a contest-winner to be sure, but a nice addition to my 1/144 flight-line. Hope you enjoy the pics.