Savoia SM 79 - three and two engined

[JWM]

Hi

Back to my archive shelves - the old Airfix kit of Savoia SM 79 Sparviero. I made it in two appearances - first as almost OOB (with some work anyway - mostly around engines and new decals), markings of 283 Squadron, 130 Gruppo Autonomico, Reggia Aeronautica, Medditerranean area, June 1942. I made her many years ago - roughly lets say 20:

 

 

Since I really do like making scratch conversions I made also a second model - a two-engined version of SM 79 JRS in markings of 3rd Corpus of Royal Romanian AF, Eastren Front, 1943. Now there is a model of this machine by Azur-Fromm...

Here is my scratch work:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Could be a play- "find 100 details in which those models are different"

I hope you like it, but criticism welcome!

Regards

Jerzy-Wojtek

Edited August 27, 2017 by JWM
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[Mitch K]

Super! The Romanian redesign is so different it always catches the eye.

[JWM]

Thank you Mitch - this "Romanian" is still Italian one - with German engines from Heinkel 111. But there was also version with two radial - for example served in Iraq during Habbaniya-Mosul war in 1941. I've just found in WWII forum some illustrations:

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/48569-savoia-sm79b/

And interesting - also SM 81, Pipistrello has also a two engine version, with very similar design on nose (SM 81 B, just prototype).

Cheers

J-W.

[Fatboydim]

Very good markings on both aircraft. Well done.

[doozer1974]

I always like seeing Italian colour schemes from WW2, and the Sparviero is one of my favourite aircraft of that era. Thanks for sharing these two.

Adam

[JWM]

Thank you Fatboydim and Doozer1974 for comments Appreciated.

Italeri and Azur-Fromm kits are nicer in details for sure, when I was doing both this was the only option...

Cheers

J-W

[Bedders]

Very nice, and handy work on the conversion. I have a bit of a soft spot for the 3-engined Sparviero as it's always looked quite racy to me, and the old photos of them hacking along at low level in the Med bring back happy memories of my own time in that part of the world.

Justin

[rob85]

Amazing conversion, that must have been some hard work?!

Love them both but the conversion is something I have never seen before and I just admire the amount of work that must have gone into it.

Brilliant

Rob

[JWM]

Thank you Justin and Rob for comments.

Sparviero is perhaps the most well known but she is just one of several three motored mostly Italian designs - along with other Savoias (73,75,81,82,84...) Fiat G12 and Caproni 101, 133, 148 series. But also French - the Dewoitine 338! All of them are very attractive as subject for modelling, some of them are in my stash waiting for happy days of doing them!

Regarding conversion - besides SM 79 from Airfix I used here two KP Avia 199 (Czech build Me-109) for engines....Yes, for years I was considering this conversion as my the most advanced one.

Cheers

J-W

[Luis Alfonso]

Hi Jerzy!!!

Finally arrived here, and found that there are a great genius inside you!!!

Without a doubt, as a fan of WW II you have explored all the roads to get where you really wanted, and is wonderful to watch all the wonderful work and time you have invested in those nice models. I have just bought the Airfix one after find it forgotten in a dark corner at the Local Hobby Shop for a bargain, but looking at yoour wonderful work and kniowing that have many troubles to finalize anything here as my life is getting a little complicated, will do it when the time permits as is, but really have enjoyed the great conversion you have done with yours as the twin engine. I have never knew about this variant, but seems fascinating as a special kit or plane to build.

This one fits my Twin engine ideas, but have to travel to Krakow to have a perfect guidance about how to do that or buy the one you have said as alternative from Azur. Anyway, your masterpiece is really amazing and hats off and standing ovation for all the work invested in it to obtain this one of a kind subject.

In truth your conversion is not easy, really looks very advanced, with a great investment in research and work, a real labour of love in it and by the time you have build it, with a lot of reason, very advanced....

Thank you very much for sharing,

Cheers,

Luis Alfonso

Edited April 19, 2015 by Luis Alfonso

[JWM]

Hi Luis,

Thank you very much for your oppinion - I appreciate it! Muchas gracias Amigo!

Today I will take Azure and Italeri kits to make them, if I would have to made them again...I am sorry to say. But this was nice time to play with construction of twin engined Savoia 79 JRS...

Cheers

J-W

[stevehnz]

I like these too Jerzy, the tri engined one was an early model for me & one I have great sentiment for, your job on this is really nice. The conversion to the twin is really great, I thought He 111 engines when I first saw it but then I saw that you used Avia 199 engines, but then I figured, weren't they just He 111 engines? Nice jobs both.

Steve.

[JWM]

Hi Steve,

Thank you very much for your comment. Both Avia-199 and He-111 H has the same engines themselves as Savoia 79 B JRS - namely the Junkers Jumo 211. However the covers of engines are different - there is nothing like "engine egg" in this case, like also in case of DB-601 in Italian fighters - Macchi 202 or Fiat G-55 has not just a nose of Me 109 .

Obviously I was not using directly noses of Avia as engines - I reshaped them following plans, which was available those days to me. Anyway - if you look at the photos of Savoia JRS, for example here:

http://www.worldwar2.ro/arr/?article=757

you can see that coolers are rounded, and in case of Heinkel they are squared (as they move down and up) . This is for first sight. In Savoia the engine covers are simply longer etc.... BTW - If I would have those photos which are available now in net, when I was constructing her...

Thank you again

Cheers

J-W

[Robertone139]

Impressive scratchbuilding skills. Have you got a WiP sequence?

[georgeusa]

Both of these kits are so well done.  I am very impressed with the scratch building for the twin engine model.  It looks very intensive and very well done.  Thanks for sharing them both.

[JWM]

5 hours ago, Robertone139 said:

Impressive scratchbuilding skills. Have you got a WiP sequence?

Many, many thanks!

Unfortunately not,  I do not have any photos of how it was done. I did both those models in era of photos on a film,  not on an electronic cart, when you thought twice or three times before taking a shot... BTW - I have notes and will check when I did them. The JRS was done using two KP AVIA -S 199 as donors of the main part of engines, but not propellers nor the coolers. I remeber that I was constructing JRS before I 've learnt how to copy parts in resin, so the materials were parts of other model, plastic carts and putty, a lot of putty... In coolers there is a stainless steel net for fine filters, 

Currently I am doing a series of Savoias, among them SM 66 which is a scratch work, and this is in WIP thread, so welcome to watch  Last year I did a scratch work of Latecoere 281, it is documented as WIP (in past also there are WIPS if scratch work on: DH 90 & DH 84, Breguet 19.7, Aero 101, Percival Gull, Bloch 220, Potez 651, Short Empire, Saro Lerwick....  - the most fast way to find it is just google "JWM, Britmodeller {name of given plane} ) I hope you'll enjoy them!

 

3 hours ago, georgeusa said:

I am very impressed with the scratch building for the twin engine model.  It looks very intensive and very well done.  Thanks for sharing them both.

Many thanks! I was scratching some two engined in past (list of WIPs , although not complete is above) - now I a doing Savoia 66, so three engined :)! 

 

 

 

Regards

J-W

P.S.

I have checked my notes, the SM 79 (3-engined) was done by me before 1980 (! - it is a kind surprise even for me!) and JRS in 1995 (!)....  

Edited February 28 by JWM