This is
Italeri's recent C.R. 42 Falco in the markings of the aircraft Sargente
Pietro Salvadori. This aircraft is currently in the RAF museum at
Hendon, having landed due to engine trouble near Orfordness on the south
coast of England in the Battle of Britain.
Italeri's kit is a new tooling and at least to my eyes looks very much
like a Falco, correcting a few of the omissions of the older Classic
Airframes kit (most notably the intakes on the leading edge of the lower
wing root). Construction is generally trouble free with few gaps to
be filled (nothing worth getting filler out for), however care should be
taken on the cowling as the fit of the parts is not very positive.
The
only fly in the ointment is the fit of the struts, some of them being
noticeably too short to fit without some heavy bending and pulling, which
leads to some less than satisfactory joins. The cockpit was enhanced
with Eduard's colour photo-etch set, however some of the exterior details
(including pushrods for the control surfaces) were ignored in favor of the
sturdier (although admittedly a little overscale) kit parts. Rigging
was done using smoke coloured invisible mending thread.
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images below to see larger images
The kit was
painted with Lifecolor acrylics. Giallo Mimmetico 3 base coat with a Verde
Mimmetico 3 and Marrone Mimmetico 2 mottle over Dark Gull Grey with Tamiya
XF-8 for the yellow nose. As an aside, the model was first coated
with Lifecolor Dark Gull Grey as a base coat, however when the Tamiya XF-8
was applied over this and it refused to dry properly and stuck to the masking
tape. This was only discovered after mottling the rest of the
aircraft and not having the heart to risk ruining the rest of the model,
it was sanded, repainted and sealed with future, which at least dried it
hard, so the cowling is a little below par.
The decals are
mostly from Sky Models excellent "Fiat CR.42 pt.2" sheet, however the
kit national insignia were used on the upper surfaces as the ones from Sky
Models were slightly transparent.
Jamie
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images below to see larger images
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