Killingholme Posted May 12, 2012 Share Posted May 12, 2012 Hi all, Having moved on from my spitfire paint disaster, I'm starting a new project, an Italeri Fiat CR.42 in 1/72 scale. This will be finished as a Sicily-based night fighter because they are just so damn sexy in overall black (it has absolutely nothing to do with the complexity of Italian camouflage, honest.....) Here's the prototype I've chosen which displays a few interesting features in the paint finish (the partially over-painted white fuselage band for example). I don't have appropriate decals so I will mask and paint the 'night owl' symbol on the fuselage sides. http://members.tripod.com/Roberto_Lionello/nino/cr42_02.jpg The Italeri kit looks absolutely excellent. Very fine detail, and sensible parts breakdown. I toyed with the idea of buying Eduard etch for the cockpit, but in the end I decided that the out of box cockpit would be perfectly acceptable. I have no doubt that you could build a stunner from this kit though! Sprues: Painting cockpit parts: Assembled and decaled cockpit parts: Next up- closing the fueslage halves and building the basic airframe. Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltadefender Posted May 12, 2012 Share Posted May 12, 2012 Good luck with it Will - are you going to be rigging her? You're right about the black finish - very saucy. So that's you with an Italian night fighter, Gaz with a German night fighter... better crack on with my Hurricane IIb or you'll be running riot after sundown! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killingholme Posted May 13, 2012 Author Share Posted May 13, 2012 She'll be rigged with stretched sprue. There isn't much rigging on this aircraft- the struts are pretty meaty. Here she is looking like a cartoon drawing of an aircraft! Didn't realise just how unequal the span of this biplane was! Fit has been superlative. Can't fault this model so far! Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltadefender Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 Looking very pretty Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 That cockpit looks very impressive - even more so, I'm guessing, when glimpsed through the open cockpit. Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killingholme Posted May 14, 2012 Author Share Posted May 14, 2012 That cockpit looks very impressive - even more so, I'm guessing, when glimpsed through the open cockpit. Cliff Absolutely, and given the size of the opening I think much more time spent detailing would be wasted. The Eduard 'zoom' set does look excellent though, including the metal fuselage framing. You'd need a penlight to see it though! Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killingholme Posted May 24, 2012 Author Share Posted May 24, 2012 Righto- airframe more or less complete now. Considering that this model will have a monotone finish, I decided to assemble as much as possible before painting. Maybe the decision will come back to bite me later, but I do at least know that I cannot, (no matter how hard I try) ruin a painted and decalled wing part by smudging glue on it during those last minutes of final assembly! Again, can't fault Italeri on this one- the struts look complicated but they fit like a dream. I simply glued the struts to the upper wing at the approximate angles, waited until the glue had almost gone off and then 'sprang' the struts in to their locations on the lower wing/fuselage. No jig used or indeed necessary. Next up- engine. Really looking forward to that part because the detail on the plastic looks excellent. Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltadefender Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 They are a cracking shape aren't they? And nicely done so far. Love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robw_uk Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 Nice work.... any sign of her being painted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killingholme Posted June 11, 2012 Author Share Posted June 11, 2012 (edited) Rob, there are signs of it been painted... and a cruel close up Some more work to be done on the paint scheme, but I'm fairly happy that I've captured the rough and ready 'distemper' look displayed by the airframe in my references. By the way, I forgot to take photos of the engine, but I can report that is was probably the finest 1/72 scale plastic radial engine I've constructed- The detail is superb, and the fit of the exhausts on to the engine manifolds was excellent. I wanted to display the cowling open, but I didn't want to spoil the line of the aircraft. regds, Will Edited June 11, 2012 by Killingholme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robw_uk Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Rob, there are signs of it been painted... and a cruel close up Some more work to be done on the paint scheme, but I'm fairly happy that I've captured the rough and ready 'distemper' look displayed by the airframe in my references. By the way, I forgot to take photos of the engine, but I can report that is was probably the finest 1/72 scale plastic radial engine I've constructed- The detail is superb, and the fit of the exhausts on to the engine manifolds was excellent. I wanted to display the cowling open, but I didn't want to spoil the line of the aircraft. regds, Will very nice - you should've opened a panel on the engine to show it off.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Woah - that paint scheme sends a shiver down my spine . Very menacing! Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lloyd Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Looking good. Having wrestled with the Bristol engine on the Azur Vildebeest, I hear your joy at a well-fitting, well-detailed radial engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killingholme Posted June 27, 2012 Author Share Posted June 27, 2012 Well, it's very nearly finished. I struggled with the overall black- had a few goes at breaking it up with some greys. I also overpainted the wing roundels which are still there as a ghost under the paint. In the 'plastic' it looks quite interesting, but the overall effect is almost impossible to photograph on a phone camera on an overcast British summer day! Only the canopy and some rigging to go now. Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lloyd Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I know what you mean about getting a good pic of a black model. Looks good though and it would have been Just Plain Wrong not to have a CR42 in the group build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robw_uk Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Like the finished article. Nice unusual scheme... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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