Fiat BR.20a Istres-Damascus-Paris racer

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

I was aware for the first time of the Fiat BR.20a racer modification while reading Paolo Miana's "SIAI Lost archives Vol.I: Sorci Verdi", a wonderful book about the SM.79s that participated on the Istres-Damascus-Paris race.

Since I am a product of the sixties and seventies, to be able to transform bombs into flowers sounds to me like a rewarding endeavor.

Three civil Fiat BR-20s can be obtained modifying the Italeri kit:

-Civil registration "I-FIAT" named "Santo Francesco" -St. Francis- (variant BR-20L) with its sleek figure and pointy nose.

-And two Istres-Damascus-Paris race competitors (variant BR-20A) that flew under the race numbers I-8 and I-10 (civil registrations I-ROBO and I-GAQU).

The conversion in all cases involves a somewhat extensive surgery, but it's not really difficult if you have chopped a kit or two already to produce some modified variant or substitute kit sections for resin parts. But I won't lie to you, and -as friend Lars Opland says- a weekender this is not.

The most conspicuous areas that need excising and replacing are the nose and belly. Other important details need addressing too: new interior, deletion of turret and windows, relocation of doors, and many other details.

Since I have already models from the Istres-Damascus race, there is an extra incentive for building the racers: the possibility of photographing them together (I don't say "display" because I don't have a model display case, I put them in boxes to sleep).

I-FIAT has its own set of modifications, and it differs noticeably from the racers, but I won't abound here on details since that isn't the variant I will be building.

The Italeri kit is quite dated, so much so that some boxings still read "Italaerei".

Like some other kits of the time, it's still somehow holding, and can be made into a fair representation with some love.

As we all know, we start by looking at those nice drawings and profiles...only to dismiss  them for being inaccurate in some detail or another an turn to photographs of the real thing for bona fide clues. Notepad in hand, we shall make notes of all details that need addressing.

I have all I need (almost) regarding documentation, and it was provided by the ever-giving Internet, so as with all research projects, the more butt hours on that computer chair, the more you will learn. Don't be lazy.

What we get with this "Italaerei" kit is aligned with the zeitgeist of contemporary kitmakers: rivet galore (although not nearly as annoying as Arfix's or Matchbox, as much as I also nostalgically love them), raised panel lines and general clunkiness. Separated control surfaces, exaggerated ribbing and fabric effect, very thick transparencies... the works.

But you can operate some alchemy on that beast and turn it into a nice, fair replica, chopping and filing and filling and sanding without remorse or thinking that you may be obliterating some precious detail. Summarizing: the result can hardly be worse than the thing you had at the beginning, so you are liberated to exercise creativity, inventiveness, daring engineering and have fun for a modicum price.

Contents of the kit box. Transparencies' sprue included: "Rattle, rattle, toil and trouble":

 

Rivet-counter paradise:

 

 

 

The dreaded Homunculi, the modelling golems:

 

And it seems I caught unawares the one that should have been posed in the plane's relief facilities.

Awfully sorry for the interruption, old chap:

 

This is big even in 1/72:

 

which actually facilitates surgery, so here are the sections that need excising:

 

The provided engines, if not delicate, at least have the two cylinder rows and some detail, and are certainly better that some I have seen in much more modern releases:

}}

 

As we know surface detail is not particularly subtle, but can easily be toned down:

 

Parts presented against plans allow for a modicum of optimism;

 

 

Edited July 20, 2018 by Moa
to add information

[Courageous]

Here we go again Moa, and looks a very interesting subject with lots of butchery.

In previous post you mentioned the number of models you have built and wondered where you kept them...now I know, they are sleeping.

 

Stuart

[Azgaron]

Nice with an old kit!

 

Håkan

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

16 minutes ago, Azgaron said:

Nice with an old kit!

 

Håkan

I am much older, Håkan! 😉

[greggles.w]

4 hours ago, Moa said:

the result can hardly be worse than the thing you had at the beginning, so you are liberated to exercise creativity, inventiveness, daring engineering and have fun for a modicum price.

 

Great attitude - I’m sure you’ll extract a fine outcome.

 

I’m not familiar with this racer, more so the SM79s - is this one a similar flamboyant red / white / green livery?

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

1 hour ago, greggles.w said:

I’m not familiar with this racer, more so the SM79s - is this one a similar flamboyant red / white / green livery?

This is more subdued being overall aluminium, but it has the three green mice and a red lightning on the fuselage, plus the race numbers on a white rectangle outlined in black.

It looks more or less like this

 

The SM79s sure are flashy!:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[neil5208]

Another obscure yet facinating subject, I will follow as usual

[RidgeRunner]

2 hours ago, neil5208 said:

Another obscure yet facinating subject, I will follow as usual

Me too

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The transparencies that are glued from the interior have that thick wall protruding. I am not sure I will do something on the interior, but just in case I discarded them and used styrene sheet cut to shape to fill the window openings, not present in this version:

 

 

The lower part of the fuselage is cut off, to allow shaping it to the proper contour for this version:

 

The turret will be occluded with a styrene disk cut to9 size and bent to match the fuselage top curvature:

 

A support piece is glued to hold the disk in place:

 

 

[Courageous]

Nice progress.

 

Stuart

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The wheels have their axles trapped between their halves, and ingenious solution for ma time were movement was desirable:

 

Whatever comes in halves is glued together:

 

Exhausts are hollowed for realism:

 

All parts are separated from the sprues and given a clean up, refining certain aspects of them:

 

The struts that brace the fins are a tad chunky, most likely they will be replaced:

 

The interior is prepared, but of course the racer had extensive modifications, so if I decide to build the interior and open the doors to show some of it as usual, things will change:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The fit in general is pretty good, so things are advancing smoothly, but in my kit the engine nacelles -that are part of the wing halves- were not a perfect fit, so they had to be double-clamped, to be sure that the halves were pressed against each other whilst at the same time making sure there were no side-to-side movements:

[greggles.w]

On 7/21/2018 at 11:26 AM, Moa said:

This is more subdued being overall aluminium, but it has the three green mice and a red lightning on the fuselage, plus the race numbers on a white rectangle outlined in black.

It looks more or less like this



 

The SM79s sure are flashy!:

This should look very smart.

 

Those SM79s are yours I presume - they look great!  I had a thought once to stock the stash ready to make one of them in my preferred scale of 1:48.  Found a very nice looking Italian Kits conversion, for use on the Classic Airframes kit ... but the combined cost was substantial.  Hard to justify at the time with such a queue of unmade kits ahead of it.  Now don’t you tempt me again .. !

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

2 hours ago, greggles.w said:

Those SM79s are yours I presume -

Indeed they are. They were fun!

Not that I want to entice you to build one...

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Being this an old kit, some detail solutions are not the best. Here the engine nacelle flaps are depicted in a not very subtle way, and the louvers of the original are rendered as slots.

I am not sure I would like to modify this, since it can be easily obscured with some light grime and sooth, and there are other more important areas that need attention:

 

 

The civil versions had landing gear doors, so those are fabricated. They will help to hide more efficiently the relative void of the bay:

 

The flaps could have been cut and lowered with relative easiness, but photos of their detail advised against it: there are dozens upon dozens of reticulated ribs, not something I would like to spend days on. So they are left alone.

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The windows, doors and other details are covered now with putty, since they are not present in this version.

The BR.20As had an all-metal fuselage, thus those stringers have to go. This is very clear in photos, and yet many drawings of the BR.20As depict those stringers:

 

All that rivet galore is wet-sanded down, on all surfaces:

 

Since no mold is perfect the root ribs and nacelles fronts are trued. Good contact surfaces make for less puttying and sanding:

 

 

 

Edited July 22, 2018 by Moa
to add information

[Courageous]

Nice progressive build.

It amazes me that you cut all your parts off, clean them up, store in a tub and know what they are, a recipe for disaster in my world!

 

Stuart

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

36 minutes ago, Courageous said:

It amazes me that you cut all your parts off, clean them up, store in a tub and know what they are, a recipe for disaster in my world!

 

Stuart

Hi Stuart

I make sure first that I can recognize what the parts are. If I believe it would be hard to tell or parts are sided in a way not easy to distinguish one from another, I leave them attached to little pieces of sprue (where a number usually is stamped).

This (and other aspects of my "system") allow me to build at a very convenient speed, completing many models during the year. Since I can scratch, if I lose a part (which of course has happened to me) I can reproduce it, not that I will be happy about it, though.

Thinking ahead and doing as much prep as I can is the way I found that's easier for me to deal with kits.

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

I just saw that this kit is from 1972. Wow!

46 years old!

A time when having something, anything inside the model was considered "detail".

And speaking of detail: the kit has a sort of instrument console, that is flat surfaces with no detail, not even a decal to dress the panel.

So I ordered an old Eduard set that has some of the detail needed. Since it caters for the military version, most parts are of no use to me, but eventually I am always able to recycle them, adapting the left overs for some scratch use.

The aftermarket set has a few instrument consoles, seats, wall detail, bulkhead detail and some external detail too.

But now I have to wait for it to arrive, which given how the PO works here regarding international mail from some countries, could take a very long time, if it arrives at all. Mail order is good, but sometimes the first part of that binomial does not work at all here.

 

[Azgaron]

Nice progress, Moa!

 

Håkan

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

One of the two new doors that need emplacement in different locations is located in an area shared by the canopy and fuselage (the "A" version had less window panes). So the canopy has to be very carefully cut:

 

The doors are cut on the fuselage side too:

 

Alignment must be checked as you go:

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

The firewall and aft bulkhead are fabricated now that the access is easy:

 

The canopy is actually the only transparency that you will need from the kit, so you can consign the rest of the clear parts to the bin where after a few eons it could be the fuel used by a new civilization* (that is, if do not want to use the snazzy "Italaerei posing base").

*At this rate let's hope that there would be any at all left, and that it doesn't consist of mumbling orange mutants.:

Edited July 22, 2018 by Moa
to correct typo

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

Base of the new fuselage bottom:

 

The props have an insinuation of the counterweights:

 

Those are sanded off and new ones made of punched-out disks of styrene:

 

 

 

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

A short clip of the BR.20A.

It comes seconds after the SM79s:

 

[greggles.w]

4 hours ago, Moa said:

and that it doesn't consist of mumbling orange mutants.:

.. were there not already four of these provided with the kit?

 

1 hour ago, Moa said:

A short clip of the BR.20A.

 

Very nice. Certainly a dazzling polished metal finish!