background:

One of the interesting features of the Saab Lansen is the airbrakes situated on the side and below the fuselage. Maestro Models have taken the plunge and produced a photo etched set of these intriguing structures often seen deployed on parked Lansens.

Contents:

There are photo etched parts for the four separate airbrakes on the one small fret manufactured by Eduard. The design and the construction of the parts is very cleverly done, but not one to tackle for the complete novice using photo etched parts. There is some very fine detail etched onto the parts and the fold lines are lightly etched. There is quite a bit of folding to achieve the structure of the two styles of airbrakes found on the Lansen. Also there are quite a few tiny re enforcing brackets to attach to the airbrakes found on the lower fuselage. The deployed airbrakes is a feature missing in the on the Tarangus kit. As a result the airbrake doors need to be cut out from the fuselage. The gaps will need to be blanked of with plastic card to prevent seeing into the fuselage.
With a bit of patience and some experience of using photo etched parts, a stunning looking set of airbrakes will be your reward. The instructions are pretty helpful guide to constructing the airbrakes, but a little more information about the folding of the lower air brakes would help. There is no help with colour suggestions for the parts.

Conclusions:

Maestro Models is to be congratulated on producing a photo etched set allowing the modeler to build the airbrakes for the Lansen. They photo etched parts look superb and the design of the airbrakes certainly lend themselves to this method of construction. They certainly will make an interesting feature. Nice one Maestro Models