A visit to the aircraft collections at Arlanda — sadly now closed, the aircraft in storage at Rosersberg — was all it took to get me interested in building this one. Sweden's Skyraiders came via the Royal Navy, where they had served as radar-carrying airborne early warning aircraft. When the Fleet Air Arm retired them in 1962, Svensk Flygtjänst acquired them and had them converted to target tugs by Scottish Aviation Ltd in Prestwick, serving in that role until 1974.
The kit is Italeri's reboxing of the old AMT/ESCI AD-4W conversion, with roots going back to 1979 — not a model by today's standards, but options are limited and you work with what exists. Moose Republic Decals once again deliver the goods, and while the specific Arlanda aircraft isn't covered, a little creative thinking sorts that out. The bigger challenges were the blister windows on the fuselage sides, sourced from the spares box, and scratch-building the tow hook on the underside — though that turned out to be the easier of the two.
