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Savoia Marchetti SM.79 Lebanese Style


Martian

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As already explained on my Albatross thread, mojo has been pretty low since Telford and it is only really today that I have felt like doing anything. Despite having a bench full of stuff to work on, I decided that a dedicated mojo restoring thread might help things along. I have always liked the film "They Who Dare", with the Lebanese Air Force Savoia Marchetti SM.79 aircraft being one of my favorite parts of the film. So, when I came across a dedicated decal sheet for Lebanese SM.79s at Telford, buying the sheet was a bit of a no brainer. I have a couple of Airfix kits of the type in the stash and over the years have collected the odd aftermarket set or two for the type. Thanks to the expertise of some other Britmodellers, a few outstanding queries regarding the Lebanese machines have been cleared up and I have even discovered that the correct paint, Bianco Avorio 5, is available This has duly been ordered. With the added bonus that I will be working using the old style Airfix "Locate and Cement" style instruction sheet (my favourite) and that the kit is one of my favourites from my childhood which will bring a large dollop of nostalgia to the build, there seems no good reason not to have a bash.

 

So, with everything in place or on order let's have some fun...…….

 

Thanks for looking

 

Martian of the Lost Mojo👽

 

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Sorry to hear of the flagging mojo Martian but hopefully this will kindle the spark again.

 

This quixotic aircraft always looked in that box art as if it had got its nose stuck in the honey pot!

 

Those Lebanese markings look like something out of Battlestar Galactica as well.

 

What's not to relish here? :clap:

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1 minute ago, TheBaron said:

This quixotic aircraft always looked in that box art as if it had got its nose stuck in the honey pot!

Which is ironic as Mrs Martian and I are watching the Paddington Bear film as I type these words!

 

Martian 👽

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4 minutes ago, billn53 said:

Oh yes! Another tri-engine aircraft. And, a vintage kit to boot. I do believe I will pull up a seat...

You are most welcome sir!

 

Martian 👽

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On ‎30‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 20:20, Courageous said:

Looks an interesting subject and with the chosen scheme that looks rather cool, I'll also take a pew. Let the mojo restoration commence.

 

Stuart

Welcome as always Stuart......

On ‎30‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 20:53, clive_t said:

Gotta love a sparviero (I have the pale blue plastic one on the pile) - pulling up a pew for this one Mr Martian!

….and indeed you are as well Clive.

 

Martian 👽

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Just a quickie, I am trying to decide whether these Lebanese machines were powered by Piaggio P40 14 cylinder engines or Alfa Romeo 128 nine cylinder motors. The Airfix kit provides the former and I have the Pavla detail set for the latter, I just need to now which ones to use on this build.

 

Martian 👽

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13 hours ago, Martian Hale said:

I will be working using the old style Airfix "Locate and Cement" style instruction sheet (my favourite)

 

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I don' t remember see this kit or instructions like this before, looks like a challenge in itself.

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4 hours ago, Martian Hale said:

Just a quickie, I am trying to decide whether these Lebanese machines were powered by Piaggio P40 14 cylinder engines or Alfa Romeo 128 nine cylinder motors. The Airfix kit provides the former and I have the Pavla detail set for the latter, I just need to now which ones to use on this build.

 

Martian 👽

Martian, I don't know for sure but there are a set of 'walkaround' photos at https://www.net-maquettes.com/it/pictures/savoia-marchetti-sm-79-vol2/

 

Some good detail on show, including some engine full-frontals :) - maybe they will answer your question?

 

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Martian,

Just to add to Clive's info, there's a list of variants about halfway down the page here:

https://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=294

which states:

2018-12-31_09-21-25

That would make your SM.79-II a:

6 hours ago, Martian Hale said:

Piaggio P40 14

or Fiat A.80 according to this.

Over here:

http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/MM24499.html

L-113 itself  is given as having

6 hours ago, Martian Hale said:

Alfa Romeo 128

engines, in contradiction.

 

Pretty standard stuff for WWW I'm afraid in both  being assertions lacking provenance and sources.

 

Is it possible to judge from this shot of L-113?

 

2018-12-31_10-05-48

Source:Wikipedia Commons

 

This isn't one of her engines removed in this shot is it?

https://www.airplane-pictures.net/photo/326245/l-113-lebanon-air-force-savoia-marchetti-sm-79-sparviero/

 

 

 

 

 

 

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8 hours ago, neil5208 said:

I don' t remember see this kit or instructions like this before, looks like a challenge in itself.

As I remember, the kit goes together very well and I love these type of instructions, they take me right back to when I was a small Martian.

 

6 hours ago, clive_t said:

Martian, I don't know for sure but there are a set of 'walkaround' photos at https://www.net-maquettes.com/it/pictures/savoia-marchetti-sm-79-vol2/

 

Some good detail on show, including some engine full-frontals :) - maybe they will answer your question?

 

Thanks Clive, some good detail there but still unsure about the engines.

5 hours ago, TheBaron said:

Martian,

Just to add to Clive's info, there's a list of variants about halfway down the page here:

https://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=294

which states:

2018-12-31_09-21-25

That would make your SM.79-II a:

or Fiat A.80 according to this.

Over here:

http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/MM24499.html

L-113 itself  is given as having

engines, in contradiction.

 

Pretty standard stuff for WWW I'm afraid in both  being assertions lacking provenance and sources.

 

Is it possible to judge from this shot of L-113?

 

2018-12-31_10-05-48

Source:Wikipedia Commons

 

This isn't one of her engines removed in this shot is it?

https://www.airplane-pictures.net/photo/326245/l-113-lebanon-air-force-savoia-marchetti-sm-79-sparviero/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Tony, I was erring towards nine cylinder radials right up until the last bit of your post. Confusing isn't it? :confused:

 

Martian 👽

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9 hours ago, Hamden said:

 

Room for one more? 

Love a Martian build always plenty to learn and this is an unusual subject as well.

 

     Roger

Always room for you Roger.

2 hours ago, Massimo said:

You mentioned "Nostalgia" and looking at these pics , I know the feeling!!!

For sure this is the type of kit where the aftermarket can make a difference, even if Your skills will do much more!!!

I'll be watching!!!:thumbsup:

Even the etch set is a form of nostalgia, the instructions have Eduard 1992 written on them!

2 hours ago, Giorgio N said:

The Lebanese machines should have been powered by the AR.128 engines used on the Bis variant

Thanks Giorgio, that's what we will go with then.

 

Martian 👽

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A very enjoyable session was had at the bench today. I began by removing the door separating the forward and rear parts of the fuselage to allow for a see through look. next I cleaned up the floor, instrument panel and bulkheads and glued them together. Attention was then turned to the inside of the fuselage. The upper parts of the recesses of the wing roots were blanked off with plastic card and many of the locating ridges for the interior were removed along with those horrid ejector pin marks that many reviewers these days seem think make a kit if not virtually unbuildable, then an uphill struggle: they took me less than ten minutes to shift. I then thinned down the edges of the dorsal gunner's compartment and tidied up the bottom of the cockpit rear bulkhead where it fouled the new wing root blanking plates.

 

The final job I did today was to re-scribe the raised panel lines on the forward fuselage. I am going to have to be very careful to preserve the raised detail that Airfix have used to represent as it is probably way finer than I can duplicate. Well, I can replicate it and have done so in the past but it takes an awful lot of time to do properly and would rather negate the point of this being a mojo restoring build.

 

Thanks for looking and hopefully some more tomorrow.

 

Martian 👽

 

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At the risk of damaging your Mojo - are you going to replace the canopy? There is an excellent account of what's wrong with the Airfix one and what's right with the Falcon one here. I am currently dithering over whether I can justify a Falcon Italian canopies set for my stash...

 

Regards,

Adrian

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On 02/01/2019 at 12:33, Courageous said:

The 'Mojo restorer' is coming along Martian, keep the momentum.

 

Stuart

Thanks Stuart.

On 02/01/2019 at 13:51, AdrianMF said:

At the risk of damaging your Mojo - are you going to replace the canopy? There is an excellent account of what's wrong with the Airfix one and what's right with the Falcon one here. I am currently dithering over whether I can justify a Falcon Italian canopies set for my stash...

 

Regards,

Adrian

I am taking the conscious decision not to go down that particularly slippery slope for once, otherwise I will end up losing my mojo almost as soon as I got it back. I have a Pavla canopy for the Italerii kit which probably can be made to fit but I will probably keep it for the other Airfix SM.79 I have in the stash.

 

Martian 👽

 

 

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Ooh lovely!

Those instructions bring back many happy memories, especially the "it is recommended" bit at the beginning! Not sure I ever followed that bit though. 

 I never even realised Lebanon had an air force so this will certainly be interesting. The more of these builds I see, the more I want to buy old Airfix kits and fix them.....

 

Ian

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1 hour ago, Martian Hale said:

conscious decision not to go down that particularly slope

Good on yer! Have a bit of fun and don't let that Mojo out of your sight! Looking forward to seeing it being located and cemented...

 

Regards,

Adrian

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3 hours ago, limeypilot said:

Ooh lovely!

Those instructions bring back many happy memories, especially the "it is recommended" bit at the beginning! Not sure I ever followed that bit though. 

 I never even realised Lebanon had an air force so this will certainly be interesting. The more of these builds I see, the more I want to buy old Airfix kits and fix them.....

 

Ian

Thanks Ian, it would seem that you have made a fine tart with your Fairey Battle. 

2 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

Good on yer! Have a bit of fun and don't let that Mojo out of your sight! Looking forward to seeing it being located and cemented...

 

Regards,

Adrian

Fun is definitely the watchword with this one, both the kit and the banter that seems to go with my threads. I am fully confident that the banter side of things is assured.

 

Martian 👽

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The Airfix kit has over the years been dissected in every aspect by the Italian modelling community and the consensus is that the areas to modify for an accurate build are so many that it's better build it as it is and enjoy it for what it is, so your way of attacking this kit is probably the right one

Said that however for those who want to get the "character" of the SM.79 the Falcon part is sure recommended, as really makes a difference. If a modeller has to replace one part of this kit, that would be it.

Anyway, all this building old kits is making me look into my stash... maybe that Revell He-219 should leave the for "sale" list and be built !

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