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FIAT CR.42 Falco (2842) 1:48 Italeri via The Hobby Company Like many interwar designs, the FIAT CR.42 Falco was a development of an earlier airframe, the CR.32, with a more powerful FIAT radial engine that ran a supercharger to give it extra power. It was a biplane, although more correctly referred to as a sesquiplane, as the lower wings were significantly smaller in area than the uppers that were suspended above the fuselage, having exceptional manoeuvrability, a characteristic that British intelligence thought important enough to comment upon. It wasn’t massively fast however, and could easily be bested by an experienced enemy flying a more powerful aircraft, but it was also tough, so could take plenty of punishment before it would spiral into the ground. By the time Italy entered WWII after seeing Germany’s rapid and decisive successes, only three hundred had been delivered, seeing action in all theatres that Italian aircraft were employed, including in small numbers in the Battle of Britain, although you won’t see that in the famous film of the same name, because their participation was minimal and low-key compared the scale of the overall engagement. Although primarily a fighter, there were night-fighter and ground-attack variants, as well as a two-seat trainer to ease the novice Falco pilots’ transition to the type, the latter also used as communications aircraft. The type’s first engagements with an inferior force of disorganised opponents gave experts and pilots a false impression of its effectiveness, an notion that was soon dispelled once it went up against more capable foes. Despite being amongst the last biplane fighters, the authorities felt that there was sufficient scope left to improve the type, adding a Bis and Ter variant with two .50cal machine guns, the latter having an additional pair of guns mounted in gondolas under the lower wings, giving it more of a punch than the original. Early in the type’s development, there had been substantial interest from a few foreign purchasers, resulting in sales to Finland, Belgium, Spain and Hungary, while the German Luftwaffe took a sizeable number of aircraft on charge after the Italian armistice in 1943, designating them as CR.42LW, and using them as night intruders, or partisan hunters, equipped with two .50cal guns, two 50kg bombs, and flame dampers to reduce their visibility during the hours of darkness. They continued in service until the end of WWII. The Kit This is a reboxing of a 2006 tooling by Italeri that has been seen in various boxes and with new parts over the years, this edition adding new high quality Cartograf decals to enhance its appeal. The kit arrives in a shallow top-opening box, and inside are two sprues and a single part on a small sprue in dark grey styrene, a tiny clear sprue, decal sheet, and the instruction booklet, printed in spot colour on satin paper, with colour profiles for the decal options on the rearmost pages. Detail is good, extending to scalloped surfaces where there is fabric over ribbed construction, and a full cockpit tub inside the fuselage. Construction begins with the afore mentioned cockpit tub, starting with the front bulkhead, to which the rudder bar is fitted, and either a pair of dial decals, or two raised triangular instrument panels are affixed, although there is nothing to stop you from applying the decals over the raised dials, if you apply plenty of decal solution to help them settle down. The cockpit floor has the seat pan moulded-in, adding a curved seat back with decal belts, and the control column to the forward end, bracketing the floor with a pair of detailed side walls, mounting the front bulkhead in a slot, and placing a top frame around the sills, painting the parts according to the instructions pointed out along the way. The completed cockpit is installed in the starboard fuselage half, adding head armour with a cushion to the rear of the cut-out, and trapping the tail wheel between the fuselage halves as they are brought together. An insert with two gun barrels added is applied in front of the cockpit, then the seams can be dealt with using your preferred method. The smaller lower wings are first to be built from upper and lower halves, drilling out two holes in the undersides for some decal options before closing them up, and plugging their tabs into corresponding slots in the wing root fairings moulded into the fuselage sides. The upper wing is full-span, and is also made from upper and lower halves, as it is mounted to the aircraft only by a lattice of cabane and interplane struts that are fitted along with a pitot probe, bringing the upper wing down over the model. There is no rigging diagram included with the model, as the aircraft required minimal bracing, as can be seen on the box art, consisting of a few cross-braces between pairs of struts, and extending to the final length of aileron controls. Both banks of pistons are depicted of the Fiat A.74 R.C.38 14-cylinder radial engine, with an intake spider at the rear, and push-rods to the front, which are moulded into a separate reduction gear bell-housing, which has a stepped pin slipped inside to install the propeller later. The exhaust collector ring is a single part that should be cut into two parts as per the accompanying diagram, installing the cooling gills to the rear of the engine first, then slotting the exhausts in from the rear. The engine is then mated with the fuselage, and two semi-cylindrical cowlings are added over the piston banks, with a single ring forming the lip to the front. Alternatively, you can cut the cylindrical cowling parts in half to show the four panels as they would be after removal for maintenance. Flipping the model over, there is a choice of two different fairings under the belly that depends on which decal option you have chosen, adding the two-part elevators to the slots on either side of the tail fin. Two small exhaust outlets are fitted into the trailing edges of the wing root fairings, then for the Luftwaffe decal option a pair of long exhaust extension pipes with hedgehog tips are attached under the belly for the night fighter variant. There are two styles of main gear legs in this boxing, one wearing spats over the wheels, which trap the two-part wheels in place, and are fitted to the underside with a bracing strut between them. The un-spatted wheels have a split yoke that traps the same wheels in position, and uses the same bracing strut to support them. Which gear you use depending on your decal choice, with common aileron actuators under the upper wings, with some options having pylons for bombs fitted, along with a choice of two styles of prop with three blades, and a choice of one or two-part spinners. Three-part bombs with circular fin rings are slung under the pylons for three decal options, then the upper wing aileron actuators are fitted to the topsides, with another pair either side of the rudder panel. A three-pane windscreen and venturi ‘horn’ are fitted to the cockpit to complete the build. Markings There are four decal choices on the sheet provided, with a variety of schemes, and either Italian or German operators’ markings. From the box you can build one of the following: 15° Stormo Assalto, Regia Aeronautica, Barce, North Africa, October 1942 MM 6882, Scuola Caccia D’Assalto, Regia Aeronautica, Ravenna, Italy, April 1942 Scuola Caccia di Foligno, Regia Aeronautica, Foligno, Italy, 1942 E8+JK, 2./Nacht Schlacht Gruppe 9, Luftwaffe, Torino-Aeritalia, Italy, 25th April 1944 Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. If you’re looking for some inspiration, look no further than our walk around of the type, which you can find here: Conclusion There aren’t a great many kits of the Falco in this scale, so it’s a welcome re-release after five years away, with a good choice of decal options, the Luftwaffe option giving the modeller plenty of mottling experience under and over the wings and along the fuselage lowers. Highly recommended. Available from all good model shops now. Review sample courtesy of via importers

My Carro-Veloce scratchbuild has been gathering dust for a while now, but I’d always intended to build a diorama and figures for it. Having completed a few kit builds while I procrastinated and finally consigned a troublesome racing car kit to the “shelf of shame” where it’ll reside for a bit, I’ve decided to return to the scratchbuild arena and get this little tankette completed. There are two very different components to deal with – scratchbuilt/sculpted figures and diorama, so I’ll start two threads – this one and one in the diorama section. Here’s how the figures were left; basic wire armatures, fleshed out and joined using a bit of green/grey stuff (milliput fine/green stuff 50/50). The resin heads and hands were sourced on ‘tinternet and the boots are milliput copies (cast using blue stuff) of German Tamiya fellas. I made some nicer resin copies of these too and they’ll be swapped out later. The rough milliput copies are there just to stand in while the clay is flying and going in and out of the oven. Here's how they’ll be placed in the diorama…. The first thing I decided to tackle was the heads. The resin heads I have are very nice, but bald and clean shaven. They also don’t come with Italian tank-crew helmets of course. So I built a hat for the standing chap. I used some nice, expensive (real lead) wine top foil to build the chin strap and “flap”. The chin strap buckle is just a bent piece of silver wire. Everything here was superglued in place. And so onto the top of the hat. All green stuff. My reference photo of the exhausted sitting driver – He’s got a touch of Omar Sharif about him, but my fella doesn’t, so I decided he needed a ‘tash and some serious eyebrows. Less Omar Shariff and more Alf Garnet at the moment, but he’s got “character” at least. The standing guy is a bit more “spiv” Next was Omar/Alf’s hair do….. Back soon.....

My Carro-Veloce scratchbuild has been gathering dust for a while now, but I’d always intended to build a diorama and figures for it. Having completed a few kit builds while I procrastinated and finally consigned a troublesome racing car kit to the “shelf of shame” where it’ll reside for a bit, I’ve decided to return to the scratchbuild arena and get this little tankette completed. There are two very different components to deal with – scratchbuilt/sculpted figures and diorama, so I’ll start two threads – this one and one in the figures section. As it’s 1:16 scale and I don’t have a great deal of display space, the plan is for a very tight little vignette. One of the reference images I used in the build showed an exhausted tank crew member taking a well-earned rest, sitting against the back of the vehicle. I’ve decided to add a second, standing figure and move the sitter to the side of the vehicle. It’ll be parked up on a dusty road and as a bit of background vertical interest, I did an image search for Italian road-side shrines. As a result, I knocked this up from scraps of HIPS foam board, with the stonework pressed, pushed and scraped into the face using a variety of pointy tools. For the base itself, I used a section of cork tile, cutting and scraping out a pair of ditches, adding a background dyke and underlying sculpting for the uneven road ruts using building insulation. These were all PVA’d in place and chunks of cork and insulation were scattered around the base of the dyke. The road will get a rough coat of building filler and the cork tile will be fixed onto a piece of wood – it has a sticky backing which is very helpful. I stuck the tile onto a scrap of chipboard, slathered a load of squeezy tube filler all over the roadway and dragged my fingers across it to replicate the trafficked surface. Once dry, I dribbled on some drops of diluted PVA and sieved a load of tile grout over the whole thing, concentrating on the edge and central reservation ridges for the most part. I’d hoped to prime the whole thing grey, but realised I’d run out so I used the last few squirts of black primer that I had. I broke out the airbrush and loaded it up with some Tamiya desert yellow and instantly regretted the black primer choice as it took ages to get decent coverage. I decided it was a bit too orange so sprayed some buff and deck tan over it in fairly random splotches. Flat earth went onto the ditches and dyke and grey/buff mix for the stones and the shrine. I’m not exactly delighted with the roadway and will dress it up quite a lot with washes, extra grout and stones etc. to hopefully improve matters. I applied light grey acrylic to the mortar joints on the shrine and applied a few slightly different grey/brown washes/filters to different stones. This was supplemented with some oil washes in various brown and black shades. Here’s how it’ll come together. I had to cut into the central reservation and rearmost road edge to get them levelled and avoid the tankette floating. There’ll be a bit of fixing and filling to these later.

Hello everyone, and Merry Christmas! I’m only an occasional visitor here, from the mud ‘n rivets section and there’s been some truly inspirational work going on here recently – nice! I finished my latest vehicle scratchbuild a little while ago – a 1/16 Italian tankette… I’d planned from the outset to team this up with some figures, and due to the lack of 1/16 Italian tankette crew figures out there on the market, plus the fact I really want to scratchbuild the lot, I’m planning to sculpt a couple of chaps to keep their little tank company. The basic armatures are done, using “milli-green” (milliput + greenstuff 50/50 mix) on copper wire. I’m cheating a bit with heads, hands and feet. For my last sculpt (a pair of WW1 troops) I sculpted their faces, but I’ve a feeling that Shrek and his brother might undermine the realism next to the tankette for this one, so I got some nice 1/16 resin heads and hands. The boots were copied from a pair of Tamiya Germans, which I bought to practice paint as well as pinch body parts. So before I get stuck into the Fimo, I decided to do a bit of paint practice using these two. I’m happy that I can convey a reasonable sense of reality on vehicles using various, long-honed techniques – washes, dry-brushing, paint chipping, pastel mud and so on, but figures require a whole different set of skills that I simply don’t possess, or at least I’m not very good at. Figures always let the side down a bit for me, and that has to change. I painted the more aggressive of the pugilists with a variety of Vallejo model colour and model air paints, but as usual, he ended up looking a bit “plastic” (ironically?). The face isn’t too bad I guess, and it is a very old, basic kit, but despite a wet palette and some retarder, I really struggle with blending colours and this is most obvious on faces. After a bit of reading on Planet figure, I decided to give oils a crack. I use a black, brown and pale yellow oils a lot when weathering vehicles and I really like the way they handle; long drying time and almost infinitely thinnable. The debit card took a hammering, and I got this lot from Windsor and Newton. I’ve got a load of cheap oils, including a few from the Winton range, but I’ve found that there is a significant difference between these and the “artist” range, which explains the massive cost difference I guess. I also got some fine detail Liquin – a medium that reduces drying time, whilst also improving blending capabilities and translucency. I probably didn’t need all of these new colours; once on the palette (jam jar lid) and mixed, I reckon I probably only needed half of them – oh well; my plan is to take away all the excuses and see if I can improve my results. I’ve also got a small set of DaVinci brushes (very nice) to further this aim. The first thing to try was a subtle touch of oil washes on the first chap to see if this added a bit of depth and improved the acrylic face, and I think it helped a little. I also beefed up the clothing shadows and highlights using burnt umber and naples yellow respectively, and these have really helped to de-plastify him overall. And so onto man two. I prepared his face by undercoating him with Vallejo flesh, painting his eyes using the same acrylics, and adding basic shadow and highlights, again using acrylics. And finally, the oils. Blending is a joy – I can keep fiddling with it for ages. He’s got more than a touch of the “Christopher Lees” about him – a bit pale and cadaverous (and his duelling scar is a bit rakish), but he’s wearing winter garb, so I reckon a Mediterranean tan would be out of place anyway. There’s a far-away look in his eyes that I quite like. Next to fella one, I think he’s a big improvement, and although there’s a bit more practice needed, I’m really happy with the progress.

Another original model I created using mainly printed parts, along with brass, styrene sheet, copper wire, and some Tichy aftermarket rivets.

Finally finished this one... a shout out to Anirudh - theaa2000 - whose great diorama motivated me to go beyond what was just going to be a vignette of the kubelwagen and figures and scratch build the building and interior. The building is not elaborate but still took a fair time to create. My first tree also. The diorama references are these - For the building and the tree, I used this picture I found from the Bardia area... For the idea I initially thought would be a good vignette... More pictures of figures in Figures section... Some close-up pics... Only tank model I know (Bronco) with separate spark plugs... a lovely but fiddly model to build with a nice interior... Breda from Tamiya LRDG kit and Model Victoria resin boxes, oil drums, helmets, rifles etc... Panzer Ace jerry cans... Thanks for looking. Jeremy

Italian Smoke Ring Camouflage (D32014) 1:32 Eduard It’s the end of the hobby as we know it! …Again. A while ago I remember when Mike Grant released a set of Italian smoke ring decals, and was angrily accused of killing our hobby by some. All the poor chap was trying to do was make it possible for modellers that aren’t airbrush gods to make realistic-looking camouflage for their Italian models. Hopefully this set won’t be greeted by shrieks of derision, and those that did the shrieking last time now feel thoroughly ashamed of themselves for it. They won’t. This set arrives in a clear foil re-sealable envelope with a card stiffener, a cover page with instructions, plus the decal sheets with wax paper protecting the delicate printed surface. The instructions are simply the two drawings on the cover, and a short length of text states that they have been drawn exclusively for the M.202/205, although I have a feeling that they’ll be useful for all sorts of other Italian aircraft subjects too. At the risk of being told that there are duplicates by someone with a far better set of eyes and grasp of tessellation, I think that all of the various rings are individually designed, which will make applying them less arduous of a task. There are a number of rings of various shapes and sizes, all of which are in-scale with each other, and printed in a green shade with fuzzy edges as they were sprayed by the groundcrew on the real thing. The decals are printed by Eduard and have good register, sharpness and colour density, with a glossy carrier film printed close to the edges of the printed areas. Conclusion If you’re a wizard with an airbrush, you probably don’t need these, unless you’re a lazy wizard. If you’re one of the rest of us, it’s a choice of get these decals and do a good job of the smoke ring scheme, or don’t. It’s that simple, and I’m more than happy to have one tricky job taken away. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

WWII Regio Esercito Colours Paint Set (A.MIG-7180) AMMO of Mig Jiménez This four-paint set arrives in a clear clamshell box with four bottles inside, each containing 17ml of paint that is dispensed by a dropper found under the yellow screw-top cap. Inside each bottle is a little stirring ball that rattles when agitated. AMMO paints separate quite readily as you can see from the box photo, so having a ball in the bottle makes mixing them a lot easier. We’re all familiar with the quality of AMMO paints by now, and they have a pretty good reputation amongst us modellers, and dry a little slower than some of the competition, which can be useful to avoid paint drying on the tip of your needle when spraying. The paints are as follows: A.MIG-0238 FS34092 Medium Green (verde Medio) A.MIG-0275 Giallo Mimetico 3 (Giallo Sabia) A.MIG-0277 FS34159 Green Grey (Grigioverde) A.MIG-0912 Red brown Shadow (Marrone Rossiccio) Conclusion It’s great to be able to get boxes of paint that will set you up to paint a WWII Italian AFV project in one hit with just the addition of some white and black to assist you with modulation if that’s your methodology. The paints are rich with pigment, brushing and spraying well with many adherents to the brand from all walks of modelling life. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

WWII Regia Aeronautica Late Colours Paint Set (A.MIG-7238) AMMO of Mig Jiménez This six-paint set arrives in a card box with a new card inner tray (for easy recycling), with some colour use suggestions printed on the rear (see below). Inside are six bottles, each containing 17ml of paint that is dispensed by a dropper found under the yellow screw-top cap. Inside each bottle is a little stirring ball that rattles when agitated. AMMO paints separate quite readily as you can see from the box photo, so having a ball in the bottle makes mixing them a lot easier. We’re all familiar with the quality of AMMO paints by now, and they have a pretty good reputation amongst us modellers, and dry a little slower than some of the competition, which can be useful to avoid paint drying on the tip of your needle when spraying. The paints are as follows: A.MIG-0202 FS30219 Tan (Nocciola Chiaro 4) A.MIG-0276 Verde Oliva Scuro 2 A.MIG-0262 IJN Ash Grey (Grigio Azzuro Chiaro 1) A.MIG-0275 Giallo Mimetico 3 A.MIG-0070 Medium Brown (Marrone Mimetico 53193) A.MIG-0023 Protective Green (Verde Mimetico 53192) Conclusion It’s great to be able to get sets of paint that will set you up to paint a late war Italian aviation project in one hit with just the addition of some white and black to assist you with modulation if that’s your methodology. The paints are rich with pigment, brushing and spraying well with many adherents to the brand from all walks of modelling life. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Italian Pilots in Tropical Uniform (1939-1943) ICM 1:32 (32110) Figures This is ICMs figure set no doubt designed for their new CR.42 kit, but could be used elsewhere. There are two pilots standing and one sitting stroking his dog, this dog is also included, and the dog being held by the standing figure is moulded in; as it would seem from wartime photos that Pilots of any nation were quite fond of having their dogs around. All are what would be considered dressed for the period and the climate. In general the moulding is crisp and clean with plenty of detail. . Like ICM's recent figures these are well sculpted and should build up well. Conclusion This is another great set from ICM and looks like a direct add on for their new CR.42 kits (though they can be used elsewhere) Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of

Regia Aeronautica Cockpits - Air Set (A.MIG-7236) AMMO of Mig Jiménez This set is for your WWII Italian cockpits. This four paint set arrives in a clear clamshell box with a card header with some colour use suggestions on the rear. Inside are four bottles each containing 17ml of paint that is dispensed by a dropper that is found under the yellow screw-top cap. Inside each bottle is a little stirring ball that rattles when agitated. AMMO paints separate quite readily so having a ball in the bottle makes mixing them a lot easier. We’re all familiar with the quality of AMMO paints by now, and they have a pretty good reputation amongst us modellers, and dry a little slower than some of the competition, which can be useful to avoid paint drying on the tip of your needle when spraying. The paints are as follows: A.MIG-0238 Verde Mimetico 2 A.MIG-0272 Giallo Mimetico 4 A.MIG-0273 Verde Anticorrosione A.MIG-0194 Matt Aluminium Conclusion It’s great to be able to get sets of paint that will set you up for any Italian WWII cockpit project in one hit (or not as it may seem) with just the addition of some white and black to assist you with modulation if that’s your methodology. Review sample courtesy of

Here is one of the two Ansaldo "Brescia" racers, number 3, made specifically to race in the famous events hosted by that Italian city. Number 4 had a more powerful engine and some minor mods. The base was a not bad Pegasus injection kit, with home-concocted decals. The building post can be visited here: The drastically clipped wing and modified strut arrangement gives it an unusual but -to me, lover of oddities- appealing geometry. The model was possible thanks to aviation historian Paolo Miana and his team, as information found in their book on their Ansaldo machines filled a number of voids. https://www.gliarchiviritrovati.it/home/prodotto/gli-aerei-che-hanno-fatto-la-storia-ansaldo-sva/ They have publications on many other very interesting Italian subjects. Any potential inaccuracies are only mine. This was an almost painless adaptation of an easily obtained kit (there are many others by different manufacturers readily available) that presents a known plane under a mostly unknown guise, just the type of modeling I love. As always, I enjoyed very much reading about and working on an Italian racer, a nation that gave so much to that field of aviation, with luscious designs of undeniable appeal, even when they are unorthodox. Some of the images show my 1/72nd Italian test pilots, Federico Fellini, Michelangelo Antonioni and Pier Paolo Pasolini, assisted by their mechanics (out of the frame) Domenico Modugno and Adriano Celentano.

I only have two WW2 airplane kits and one of them is a JU87, so I'd love to join if I may.

Hi everyone, Here's the latest model to be added to my collection - AZ Model's new 1/72 Bf 109G-10 (Erla) finished in the colours of the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana. The model represents "Black 11" as flown by Sergente Maggiore Loris Baldi of 4ª Squadriglia, 2º Gruppo Caccia "Gigi Tre Osei" in early 1945. Paints are Humbrol and Xtracolor, the markings are from Skymodels' "German aircraft in Italian service" sheet with the kit providing the balkenkreuz and most of the stencils whilst the spinner spiral is by AZ Model themselves. I used "Camouflage and Markings of the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana 1943-1945" by Ferdinando D'Amico and Gabriele Valentini as my primary reference with the instructions from Stormo Decals ITALIAN Bf.109 ACES - PART II as a secondary source. I went with Stormo's interpretation of the large wing bulges and broad tyres. It may have had the smaller bulges and narrow tyres but the only photo of this machine is from a bad angle so it's difficult to tell. The model itself isn't all that bad, but I'm afraid to say that it's another one of AZ's near misses as it has shape issues around about the nose which means it's not a good representation of an Erla built machine. The discussion over on the 72nd Scale Aircraft forum gives the lowdown: LINK. Now for the photos: Now that I've completed this model it means I now have a complete Schwarm of Small Axis 109G's! Comments welcome, Mike.

Hello, this is a model from two years ago. A nice little kit, no extras needed has its own photo-etched and resin parts. Opened the bomb bay and crew entrance door. Scratch built the interior, all guns, wheel bay and engine details. Any comments are most welcome. Thank you, hope you like it!

Well, finally I've finished this model. Many stops and problems of different types but I am more than satisfied with the final result. As I was saying during the process, it's the first time that i'm looking for a finish in good condition, with minimal weathering effects, enough to give it some credibility. To highlight the work of staging with water. I have used an unconventional technique, very hard work but I think the result is worth it. At first, i've modeled the whole sea scene in clay, which allows you to work without haste and design the image that i had in mind. Once the model was finished in clay, I made a two-component silicone mold (special for molds). Once the mold is made, fill it with a transparent bicomponent resin, stained with translucent tamiya acrylics. So far all good except for the "small" detail of wrong to use talcum powder as non-stick and clear, these were stuck to the resin. I had to cut and carve the entire surface of the water to remove the whitish layer of talc. After carving, sanding and polishing ... the result is not bad. As for the model, it also gave me some problems ... especially in the final part when making the braces, something I had never done before. Here are the photos of the model in its natural environment. I hope you enjoy that!! More pics and process info in my blog. https://jamiegrahamworks.com/2018/06/14/pt-macchi-m-5-fly-1-48/

Hi all, I've this kit finished for quite a while but I only just got round to photographing it. The kit was alright, filler was unfortunately required in the usual places such as the wing roots and where the bottom of the fuselage meets meets the lower wing section. Painted in my usual way using Vallejo Model Air paints followed by a panel wash with some chalk pastel gun smoke exhaust stains. Constructive criticism is very much welcome (I know the front wheel is wonky, I'll need to fix that. Also I broke the pitot tube and the antenna so I'm trying to find an adequate replacement) -Cam

Hello, Here's my just finished 1/72 Revell Eurofighter Typhoon. It's the 2007 kit, done as an Italian one with the kit decals. Coincidently, it is the same one as the one that crashed into the sea during a display, a couple weeks ago. It was painted with MR Paint and Humbrol, mostly. I must say I quite liked the build, not many problems were encountered. I did find it a bit odd that you have to make your own canopy supports if you want to have it open, though. Anyway, here's the build, I hope you like it. Thanks for looking. Pete

As the self appointed El Presidente of the Macchi owners club it was only a matter of time before I had to start another one!!! Ok this will be another 205 but this time Hasegawa’s 1/48th Macchi C.205 Veltro 155 Gruppo Limited Edition versions. This model includes markings for two aircraft from 155 Gruppo, either a 352 or 360 Squadriglia aircraft. Both schemes are in the “smoke ring” camouflage so I’ll be using another set of the Mike Grant Smoke ring decals. This build other than the decals will be an OOB one………….yeah right! By some unusual chance (ok I hit the buy now button twice!!! ) I ended up with two BigED sets for the C.202, so I’ll be using some of the bits in this build, as they shared quite a few common bits. I’m replacing the cockpit with an SBS resin one, I got one for the C.202 and after seeing the quality I just had to use one for this build as well. Finally a new instrument panel, for this I’m using this jewel like one from Yahu a new Polish company producing these amazing IP’s! Only by chance I happen to see one of these by accident, once seen I just had to get one. The detail is better than a lot of AM stuff for 1/32nd or even 1/24th!!! So even will this lot of AM stuff it’ll be a nice and simple build, maybe even a quick one. I have made a bit of a start on this, I did little bits and pieces towards the end of the 152 build, but now that’s out of the way I can really start this one as well. So the cockpit was the start, it was given a basic coat of paint and the start of the detailing shown here, this was done a couple of weeks ago. So I managed to get to this stage before I headed back to work last Wednesday., the floor and seat are finished. The sidewalls here are 95% done, I added just a couple of more details, before they were fitted to the fuselage sides. As can be seen the instrument panel just looks so great….and I didn’t have to do really anything, that way less chance to stuff it up. One of the really nice things with it is the handle locations have been micro-drilled out, so the PE handles fit perfectly and don’t fall off like the ones on normal PE IP’s when you knock them!! Here it is fitted already to be closed up. I think I made one boo boo, that is I forgot to take the backing off the IP!! I was wondering why it was so thick and that I had to thin down the resin back plate of the original SBS one. The backing plate of the IP is made of brass like the IP itself and the same thickness, and while writing this I noticed the header card for the IP mentioned that it was “JustStick” opps!! Anyway the fuselage was closed up and now you get to see very little of the cockpit and that amazing IP!! The only issue I had was I fitted the lovely joystick early in the piece and when it came time to close up the cockpit it had disappeared!! Guess I haven’t been feeding the carpet monster it’s noms lately!! The wheel well detail has been fitted to the lower wing and is already to be painted, once that’s done I finish off the wings. I’m sort of tempted to cutout and fit the Eduard flaps….i know after my last experience with PE flaps on the 152…….I finish this too quickly else I’ll have to drag out the 202 as well!

Hello, I just finished the Trumpeter 1/48 Italian Air Force Grumman Hu-16 Albatross . I like this plane so I added a lot of features like engines, sound and lights. I had a lot to rework because nothing was "italian", but just a base version with italian decals (wrong and lacking). I had to add or modify a lot of antennas and other details and add or build lacking decals. I hope you like it. Find a movie here https://www.flickr.com/photos/angelomoneta/24955771903/in/photostream/ and more pictures here https://www.flickr.com/photos/angelomoneta/with/24955771903/ Angelo

Ok this was something I originally suggested way back in 2013 but then it was just for the airforce, this was a bit restrictive. It got into this years vote and I had completely forgotten about it and didnt remove the earlier restrictions. But it seems like there is still a lot of interest in this so its now opened up completely. So if it was made in Italy or wore the Italian colours then bring it along. I have always liked the flare and passion the Italians put into their designs and if that wasnt enough then add a few more cylinders or even an extra engine!! Which would you rather listen to a Ferrari 250GTO a Lamborghini Miura or a 60s Renault or 2CV!! So lets go for a drive around Tuscany, a cruse over Lake Como, sail the Tyrrhenian Sea, or a flight along the Amafi Coast. Lets live the good life in 2016! ok the list..... 1, trickyrich - Host 2, Mitch K 3, vppelt68 4, JOCKNEY 5, Lex77 6, CliffB 7, Giorgio N 8, Prenton 9, milktrip 10, Arniec - Co-Host 11, Bonhoff 12, Caerbannog 13, Paul J 14, swat11 15, TallPaul 16, Chimpion 17, Doug Rogers 18, hgbn 19, feoffee2 20, Ettore 21, SleeperService 22, iJones 23, Shermaniac 24, Mitch K 25, maltadefender 26, JackG 27, RobG 28, 06/24 29, Enzo Matrix 30, pinetree_fella 31, Hardtarget 32, SAU 33, Blitz23 34, usetherudders 35, wellzy 36, wimbledon99

Ok so I’m about finished a GB project and will have some more free time (we don’t count the other GB’s or projects I have going), so I’m looking at starting another long-term project! As most people who know I usually inhabit the GB or Whatif sections, so a build in this section is a first for me. So I now want something I can work on in between other projects, something I don’t need to rush, another big long term project. There is an Arado Ar-234 (a 1/48th Ar-234 in P5 configuration, wt swept wings, turbo-props, it’s in the Whif section) that was meant to be a long term project, but at the rate I’m going that’ll be finished by the end of next month, was meant to keep me busy until at least Christmas! Again for those that know me I have a great love of resin models and can think of nothing better than being up to my arm pits in resin dust (if you get enough of it you can lie down and do resin angels!). But I’m actually thinking of having a bit of a break from it…..sort of! So I have two models of the same aircraft that I have just been dying to build, a Savoia Marchette SM.79, both in 1/48th. One is a Flashback model with resin and PE bits which is a bit hard to find, the other is a Vintage Models Resin one which is quite hard to come by! I have got lots of extra bits to go with either (they’re not made for these models, but there are always ways to make them fit!), pulls lots of decal choices. So which to build??? Flashback Model Or Vintage Models I can’t make up my mind so I’d like to see what the opinion is? Has anyone built either of these models and their experiences, and what would everyone like to see being built? They’re both really interesting models and the detailing on them is excellent. Accuracy…well I’m not sure, i’ll have to do some more research on the SM.79 to see. Don’t expect this to be a fast build (opps I said that with the Arado!!!), it’ll be a project I come to when I want a break from other projects. But I do really like the look of this aircraft so I know I just have to build it. Worse case scenario, I’ll build the two together! So please thoughts and choices…..I aim to start this in a couple of weeks….if not sooner!

Hi, I found today in aviationmegastore web page an announcement from 2008 (!) about "future release" of Caproni Ca-111 http://www.aviationmegastore.com/caproni-ca111-72002-fly-models-fly72002-scale-modelling/product/?shopid=LM4b4121de8b1a764a732c64607f&action=prodinfo&parent_id=212&art=80400 Is there any knowledge, thay FLY will continue Caproni family, after Ca 101 with 7 and 9 cylinder engines they will issue also Ca 111 and perhaps Ca 133 and Ca 148? Regards J-W

Hi Guys I need some help with the colour scheme that Aermacchi used on the factory built MB326 (Impala), it consisted of four colours in avery intricate pattern, these colours were: Tan Colour, Dark Green, Olive drab and Grey I would appreciate the FS numbers or eqvilant if you happen to know them. If not the Air International December 1982 issue has this profile on page 300 (a scan of the article would help), fourth from the top as it seemed that the Brazilian AF MB326's were also painted in this colour/scheme. Any help would be appreciated Regards William [email protected]

Hello I did start doing my SM.79 but that's a dead project at the moment, because I'm waiting until I get my new airbrush (and then I'm practicing on a Blenheim). So anyway, got myself a MC.200 at my LMS for aroud £5. I tried to use my cheap airbrush to spray the base coat, which then broke. So I used the Humbrol one instead as that was £10. It was alright, but a bit hit or miss. .I think it's turned out alright so far, just got to add decals and then it'll be done. It's taken about 5 hours so far (plus a lot of airbrush faffing). It was my first aircraft done with acrylics (and first making a mask for a canopy...it wasnt entirely successful), and really my first complete model of about 4 years! Anyway, pictures! Assembled, canopy with my first 'masking' job. The underside sprayed, just as my airbrush and comp died! Now fully painted, and I'm pretty happy with it. Added some thread, needs tiring a bit...bit, and it looks better in person haha. Overall I'm pretty happy with how it's turned out so far, my first model in a long long time.