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The Corpo Aereo Italiano - the Regia Aeronautica's expeditionary force sent to assist the German Luftwaffe in bringing Great Britain to terms - probably owed its origins to two factors, the first being RAF air raids on Italian cities in June and September 1940 which stung Mussolini's sensitive pride and the second being the potential for Italy to make gains in the Mediterranean and North Africa at the expense of the British Empire once Britain had been forced to a negotiated surrender. Sadly for Mussolini and fortunately for the British, it didn't quite pan out that way. The CAI was beset with problems from the outset which limited its impact on the battle and resulted in it losing a number of aircraft and crews to accidents as well as to enemy action. Not least of its difficulties was that the aircraft and equipment provided was not up to the standard of that of the Luftwaffe and the RAF; also in terms of tactics and combat training the CAI pilots were 'newbies' entering a game being played between two opponents who had several months of combat experience. Despite this the Italian pilots and crews put in a creditable effort, fighting bravely and attempting to carry out their objectives, but ultimately they achieved little and were withdrawn to Italy starting in December 1940. The Fiat CR.42 equipped the 83., 85. and 95. Squadriglia of the 18. Gruppo Caccia (Fighter Group) commanded by Maggiore Feruccio Vosilla and based at Ursel in Belgium. This is the kit I will be building: It's the Italeri kit dating back to 2006, this edition includes a well-illustrated reference booklet: ... with lots of colour pictures of the CR.42 built by Fiat in 2005 and now on display in a museum near Rome: It should be a useful reference. The sprue shot: It looks a nicely designed and moulded model. I'll be using this in addition - the instrument panels and the seatbelts at least: For additional reference I have this: ... and the aircraft I intend to represent is the second one down in the profile from this book: ...because I like the yellow band around the cockpit basically - my understanding is that the CAI Fiats were in fact painted in the more usual three-tone upper camouflage with aluminium-painted undersides so I will be painting mine thusly rather than the yellow-green scheme shown here. Fortunately for me, that is one of the options provided in the DP Casper 'Forgotten Battles' transfer set 'Operation Cinzano': Finally, these are some of the colours I will be using - these are from the new Colourcoats range for the Regia Aeronautica and chosen as advised by the Stormo! Colour Guides here: They are (top row): Giallo Mimetico 1, Giallo Mimetico 4 (I'll be mixing a little of the second into the first, as it looks a little pale to me) and Verde Mimetico 3 (bottom row) Grigio Mimetico, Grigio Azzuro Scuro (I think the former for the interior colour but possibly the latter, more research required...) and finally Marron Mimetico 2. For the Alluminio underside I will use Alclad Semi-Matt Aluminium. Right, I think that's everything covered, well done if you managed to stick with me through that lot Cheers, Stew