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Euro Decals 1/72 & 1/48 Swedish Air Force Unit Badges/Emblems/Exercise Markings

By Chris Banyai-Riepl

The third sheet in Euro Decals' line of Swedish Air Force markings covers a variety of unit badges, emblems, and exercise markings, all for the Saab J35 Draken.  In addition to these, there are large numbers for the wings in both white and fluorescent red, along with fluorescent red tail and nose numbers.  The latter are also provided in fluorescent yellow, but I believe the yellow numbers should be in standard Swedish insignia yellow, not the fluorescent shade.

For the unit badges, emblems, and exercise markings, these are all provided in white, so they are tough to see on the decal scan.  First up is the ghost badge of the 1st Maintenance Company/1st Squadron F10 Wing.  These were introduced in 1986, and after 1988 was placed on a red disc (not included on the decal sheet).  Additional larger ghosts are provided for the example found on the red-tailed J35F1 serialed 35468, as seen in 1989.  This plane had its tail number relocated to the rear fuselage, making for an interesting Draken.  The final ghost emblem covers J35F aircraft from 1st Squadron F10 Wing that carried the ghost emblem on the lower wing ahead of the wheel wells.

The other badges provided cover the 3rd Squadron F10 Wing swordfish emblem found on J35F/J Drakens.  This is a small emblem on the tail, which always pointed forwards.  Finally, we have the winged skull emblem and wild boar emblem found on the tails of aircraft from the 2nd Maintenance Company F10 Wing.  The small skull emblem went on the port side, while the boar emblem was on the starboard.  One aircraft, 35626, carried a large winged skull on the port side, which is also included on this sheet.

For the exercise markings, there are three options in addition to the large numerals.  The first one is a large C found on J35A Drakens of F16 Wing between 1975 and 1977.  The second one is a large U found on J35D Drakens from F21 Wing between 1975 and 1977.  Finally, there are white circles found on J35F Drakens from F13 Wing between 1975 and 1977.  Aside from the last one, these will need modifications of the 1/48 and 1/72 kits to make a proper J35A and J35D.  Luckily, there are resin updates to make that simple.

For those wanting to do something a little different with their Hasegawa Draken kits, this sheet provides plenty of colorful options.  My thanks to Euro Decal for the review sample.