Caproni Ca.311 - 1:72 Special Hobby

[Paul A H]

Caproni Ca.311

1:72 Special Hobby

The Caproni Ca.311 was a light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft produced by the Milanese manufacturer for service with the Regia Aeronautica prior to the outbreak of WWII. The twin-engined design was developed from the Ca.310 but with a streamlined and heavily glazed fuselage. Powered by two Piaggio Stella P.VII C.35 7-cylinder radial engines, the Ca.311 was capable of 191 mph and could carry up to 880lb of bombs. Despite the fact that it wasn't blessed with sparkling performance, over 300 examples were produced and it served in a number of theatres of war, including the North African campaign. The type was also used by the Yugoslav Air Force both during and after the War.

Despite being what I would consider to be a relatively obscure type (I wasn't very familiar with this aircraft before Special Hobby's kit landed on my door mat), this is not the first kit of a Ca.311 to be released in this scale. Italeri beat Special Hobby to market by almost forty years, having released a kit in the mid-1970s. Despite its age, that kit is actually reasonably good, so it will be interesting to see how Special Hobby's brand new kit stacks up against the venerable Italian contender.

Inside the sturdy, top opening box are 59 parts moulded in grey and clear styrene, as well as a bag holding almost thirty resin parts, a small fret of photo etched brass parts, a sheet of decals and the all-important pre-cut paint masks. The kit looks very convincing on the sprue, with clean, crisps moulded detail and surface structures made up of fine, recessed lines and very convincing fabric effect on the control surfaces. The resin and photo etched parts look equally impressive.

Construction begins with the multi-media cockpit. This sub-assembly is quite complex and is comprised of an injection moulded floor, resin centre console and crew seats made from a combination of plastic, resin and photo etched brass. A full set of crew harnesses is included on the brass fret, along with the instrument panel, rudder pedals, details for the control column and numerous bits and pieces for the cockpit sidewalls. Between the cockpit and the dorsal gunner's position are the internal bomb racks. These are made up of plastic and photo etched parts and look rather good, so it's a shame that no bombs are included and you cannot finish the model with the bomb bay doors open unless you engage in some fairly serious surgery.

The dorsal gunner's position itself is made up of plastic parts to represent the tubular steel structure, while the machine gun itself is cast in resin. The upper turret continues with the multi-media theme, with another resin gun as well as plastic and photo etched parts. The overall effect should be a pleasingly detailed interior, which is just as well because an awful lot of it will be on show. At this juncture is seems prudent to mention the paint masks, because these cover both the inside and outside of the aircraft. You will need to pay close attention to the instructions as there are literally dozens of individual masks to apply, but the hard work will be worth the effort and using them will be infinitely easier than cutting your own.

Once the interior has been masked and sprayed, you can join the fuselage halves together and add the extensive cockpit glazing. This is made up of two parts but is nice and clear and shouldn't present many problems. Construction then continues apace, with the wings and tail planes up next. These are fairly simple parts, with the lower wing moulded in one continuous span and all control surfaces moulded in place. The main landing gear bays benefit from the addition of separately moulded bay roofs, but other than that are quite spartan.

The landing gear itself is nicely detail and is made up of a complex mixture if injection moulded plastic, photo etched parts and resin wheels. The wheels themselves are nicely cast, with clear demarcations between wheels and tyres. The engines are also multi-media affairs, and are reminiscent of the engines in the Airfix Blenheim in terms of the breakdown of parts. The engine itself, as well as the exhausts, trumpet intakes and engine mounts are cast from resin, while the multi-part cowling is moulded in three parts.

Finishing details include various antennas, intakes and steps, many of which are made from photo etched brass. The propellers are each moulded in one piece, but there are resin and photo etched details to add between each propeller and the engine. A choice of propellers is provided, although both sets are very similar.

Typically for a Special Hobby kit, a generous selection of decal options is provided:
Caproni Ca.311, 125-3, 125a Squadriglia, 15 Gruppo, 22 Stormo, Bolzano Airfield, Italy, Spring 1940;
Caproni Ca.311, 32-4, 32a Squadriglia, 15 Gruppo, Libya, North Africa, 1941;
Caproni Ca.311, 128-6, 128a Squadriglia, 61 Gruppo Autonomo, Parma, Italy, Spring 1940;
Each of the fearsomely complex camouflage schemes are depicted in the instructions by way of a four-view colour plan and paint references are for the Mr Color/Mr Hobby range. The decals themselves look great on the sheet.

Conclusion

Although the Italeri kit can be made up into a nice looking model, there is no doubt that this kit comfortably surpasses it in detail and finesse. The combination of extensive glazing and complex camouflage could make it a real beast to build, but the inclusion of high-quality pre-cut masks makes this much less of a worry. Recommended.

Review sample courtesy of