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Savoia Marchetti SM.79 Lebanese Style


Martian

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1 hour ago, Giorgio N said:

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 !

Thanks Giorgio, enjoying the kit for what it is, is the way I am going with this build as I am seriously in need of that mojo boost. I may go for an accurate SM.79 down the road and the I would most likely be looking at 1/48 scale. Not sure which is the best kit there. Strangely enough, the old Revell He-219 sits in my stash ready for another nostalgia build.

49 minutes ago, limeypilot said:

A fine tart????

Spellcheck won't help with that one dear Martian! A battle with a tart is always something to be avoided.

 

Ian

Its a fair cop! I thought about editing the post but then wondered if subconsciously, I meant tart after all!

 

Undecided of Mars 👽

 

PS: More pictures this evening

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As promised, here are some pictures of what I have been up to with this build. Over the last day or so I have been mostly adding structure to the fuselage. This is taking longer that it might otherwise do as I have a hankering to add the bomb bay to the build. Although adding the bomb by is by no means a cert at this stage, I have to get the main elements of the fuselage structure as accurate as possible in order to minimise the chances of the  bay itself getting warped. Not to worry though, I have found the work involved very therapeutic thus far. Research has revealed that the rear bulkhead if fictitious and needs to be removed to allow the bomb aimer's instrumentation to fit. All this will be seen through the open fuselage door.

 

In other news, two bottles of MRP acrylic Bianco Avorio paint landed on the doormat today. I have never used MRP paints before. Can anyone enlighten me as to what they are like to work with and how to get the best results out of them?

 

Thanks for looking

 

Martian

 

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18.jpg

 

19.jpg

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Ah, nostalgia; I built this kit sometime in the 1960s!  Even brush painted an attempt at the classic Italian mottled camouflage.  I loved it as a 9-year-old. 

 

Let tart-battle commence; you have my attention.

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On 31/12/2018 at 10:07, 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/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not sure if anyone else has answered, but that is the 14 cylinder engine, 2x banks of 7 cylinders, if it was the 9 cylinder t would have one bank of 9.

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On 03/01/2019 at 22:58, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Ah, nostalgia; I built this kit sometime in the 1960s!  Even brush painted an attempt at the classic Italian mottled camouflage.  I loved it as a 9-year-old. 

 

Let tart-battle commence; you have my attention.

Thanks Crisp, I have a few Airfix Fiat G.50 kits, once of which may well get the brush painted treatment, it may even get glued together with genuine period Airfix cement.

On 03/01/2019 at 23:08, HomerJ_757 said:

Not sure if anyone else has answered, but that is the 14 cylinder engine, 2x banks of 7 cylinders, if it was the 9 cylinder t would have one bank of 9.

That would be good as I will not need to muck about altering the Airfix cowlings to fit the Pavla parts. I am keen to get to the painting stage quite quickly (well, quickly as in Martian build terms!) with this build as I am itching to get cracking with those transfers. Incidentally, for the purposes of this nostalgia build, decals will henceforth be know as transfers.

 

Martian, living with all tentacles firmly rooted in the past.

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3 hours ago, Martian Hale said:

In other news, two bottles of MRP acrylic Bianco Avorio paint landed on the doormat today. I have never used MRP paints before. Can anyone enlighten me as to what they are like to work with and how to get the best results out of them?

 

 

19.jpg

I have used MRP and found them a pleasure to work with ( see my SR-71 build).  I don't have any special tips, though. Give hem a try, I hope you like that. 

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3 hours ago, billn53 said:

I have used MRP and found them a pleasure to work with ( see my SR-71 build).  I don't have any special tips, though. Give hem a try, I hope you like that. 

Thanks Billn53, I rather enjoyed looking through your thread, more so in that it is a type I would not usually model.

 

Martian 👽

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Hello Dear tentacled one !!

Soooo, you go Italo-Lebanese now !!

Hum ?? Still in one digit zone for the started kits ??

Real good tart job on the SM !! How many times will you resist the pleasure of adding the hash tray for the co-pilot in this kit ???

May I take a seat ?? and still looking at this already great modelling in action !

Seemingly, Beau is now enlisted as a model keeper for you, Be carefull of overspray !!

That may be moderately appreciated… An EDSG teddy bear or a Bianco Aviono one can be nice But….

Have a great Mojo restorer Dear Xenomorph !!

Sincerely.

CC

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Good job with the interior !

You may already know this, but in case you don't the cabin was mainly in grey, with parts of the floor covered in wood and a black IP coaming. A few years ago one of the former Lebanese aircraft was checked by members of a local a modeling club and the grey, still original,  was identified as close to FS 36307.. that makes perfectly sense since this is the closest FS reference for Grigio Azzurro Chiaro 1, that was the colour requested for cockpits after 1940 by the Italian Air Force. Floor was partly in natural wood but this could have been originally painted.

 

Just out fo curiosity, before 1940, SIAI used different colors and a list has been found in documentation of the company describing the paints used for interiors. Among these of interest is the use of a lighter grey for the fuselage tubular structures and other interior parts made in metal. Radio equipment and similar was again in grey (could have been the same but the document mentions grey, plus the type and manufacturer of the paint with the catalogue number), top of coaming in black, floors in dark grey and seats in "havana".. this in Italian generally refers to a colour similar to that of a cigar.

Notice how there's no trace whatsoever of the famour Verde Anticorrosione... part of the reason is that this was a primer for aluminum surfaces and there was not much made in this material in the SM.79: the tubular structure of the fuselage was in steel (for which a grey primer was used), part of the skin was in aluminum but the sides were mainly in fabric while the rear fuselage was covered in wood. It is anyway known that SIAI used a very light grey primer on aluminum parts too.

None of this is relevant to your build, but may be useful if building an early SM.79 in the future

Edited by Giorgio N
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3 hours ago, Courageous said:

Internal are looking great Martian, just don't over-cook it if you feel you mojo ebbing.

 

Stuart

Thanks Stuart. The moment I start feeling things are getting out of control, I shall definitely rien myself in.

3 hours ago, corsaircorp said:

May I take a seat ?? and still looking at this already great modelling in action !

Seemingly, Beau is now enlisted as a model keeper for you, Be carefull of overspray !!

That may be moderately appreciated… An EDSG teddy bear or a Bianco Aviono one can be nice But….

You may have a seat CC, indeed one has already been reserve for you. Its the one in the corner marked "Naughty Stool". Beau is not sure about being model keeper as, like me, he is not a fan of blood sports and can all too easily envisage the consequences if I got overspray on himself, any other of Mrs Martian's bears or even the bed itself. :hanging:

2 hours ago, Giorgio N said:

Good job with the interior !

You may already know this, but in case you don't the cabin was mainly in grey, with parts of the floor covered in wood and a black IP coaming. A few years ago one of the former Lebanese aircraft was checked by members of a local a modeling club and the grey, still original,  was identified as close to FS 36307.. that makes perfectly sense since this is the closest FS reference for Grigio Azzurro Chiaro 1, that was the colour requested for cockpits after 1940 by the Italian Air Force. Floor was partly in natural wood but this could have been originally painted.

 

Just out fo curiosity, before 1940, SIAI used different colors and a list has been found in documentation of the company describing the paints used for interiors. Among these of interest is the use of a lighter grey for the fuselage tubular structures and other interior parts made in metal. Radio equipment and similar was again in grey (could have been the same but the document mentions grey, plus the type and manufacturer of the paint with the catalogue number), top of coaming in black, floors in dark grey and seats in "havana".. this in Italian generally refers to a colour similar to that of a cigar.

Notice how there's no trace whatsoever of the famour Verde Anticorrosione... part of the reason is that this was a primer for aluminum surfaces and there was not much made in this material in the SM.79: the tubular structure of the fuselage was in steel (for which a grey primer was used), part of the skin was in aluminum but the sides were mainly in fabric while the rear fuselage was covered in wood. It is anyway known that SIAI used a very light grey primer on aluminum parts too.

None of this is relevant to your build, but may be useful if building an early SM.79 in the future

Thanks for that Giorgio, the information will prove most useful.

 

Martian  👽

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Hi Martian,

I’ve used MRP paint a few times and really like them.  I used them straight from the bottle and with a low pressure, 10-15psi.  I also used Mr.Hobby thinners for initial cleaning the airbrush out.  They’re lacquer based so use in a well ventilated space.  Also there have been odd reports of bottles breaking when people have shaken them so probably best to not be too vigorous with them.

Anyway, give them a try and you’ll probably enjoy them.  I’ll be using a few bottles later to hopefully touch up the black basing underside on the Wellington which is very, very slowly crawling towards transfer time.

 

Andy

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Hello Martian. I will look at this one. Never built one myself although I usually like ww2 aircraft of Italy, but the 3 mots are a bit strange looking to me Anyway for an old Airfix this wallpaper:

ae39354237875b5a896f8582ab0896f6.jpg

 

Btw: Nice progress so far,  but m not sure about the canopy. Falcon's looks good and would make a difference with that nice interior.

Cheers

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That’s picture takes me back, one of the few airforce kits I did not make as a kid but wished I had. There used to be some great stories in commando comics about gladiators versus the Italian airforce. Funny commando comics bought on a Sunday morning while getting my parents papers and a packet of number 6 often drove my plastic purchase on the following Saturday morning . 

 

Martin hope your mojo gets better mine has certainly stirred 

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5 hours ago, Andy G said:

Hi Martian,

I’ve used MRP paint a few times and really like them.  I used them straight from the bottle and with a low pressure, 10-15psi.  I also used Mr.Hobby thinners for initial cleaning the airbrush out.  They’re lacquer based so use in a well ventilated space.  Also there have been odd reports of bottles breaking when people have shaken them so probably best to not be too vigorous with them.

Anyway, give them a try and you’ll probably enjoy them.  I’ll be using a few bottles later to hopefully touch up the black basing underside on the Wellington which is very, very slowly crawling towards transfer time.

 

Andy

Thanks Andy, just the sort of information I was looking for.

4 hours ago, bbudde said:

Hello Martian. I will look at this one. Never built one myself although I usually like ww2 aircraft of Italy, but the 3 mots are a bit strange looking to me Anyway for an old Airfix this wallpaper:

ae39354237875b5a896f8582ab0896f6.jpg

 

Btw: Nice progress so far,  but m not sure about the canopy. Falcon's looks good and would make a difference with that nice interior.

Cheers

Its a pretty cool painting isn't it? I think however I am going to stick with the kit canopy. I know full well that as soon as I start going down the road of buying extra stuff for this kit it will be the thin edge of the wedge and the whole point of the mojo restoring build will have been lost and I seriously do need not only to finish something but enjoy it as well.

4 hours ago, cati said:

That’s picture takes me back, one of the few airforce kits I did not make as a kid but wished I had. There used to be some great stories in commando comics about gladiators versus the Italian airforce. Funny commando comics bought on a Sunday morning while getting my parents papers and a packet of number 6 often drove my plastic purchase on the following Saturday morning . 

 

Martin hope your mojo gets better mine has certainly stirred 

Thanks Cati, thus far I have been having a lot of fun with the kit.

 

Martian 👽

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I had trouble sleeping last night so rather than keep Mr Martian awake with my restlessness, I decided to get up and have another bash at the SM.79 build. Attention was mostly turned to the frame work in the rear fuselage as a fair bit of this will be seen through the open door and the waist gunner's windows. I have also made a start on the framework over the bomb bay. At the moment this is very fragile and needs to set and be fully cured before I undertake further work on the fuselage interior. Note to self, do the port structure as well before getting carried away in future! :doh: Trouble is that I am rather inspired by the detail of the bomb bay and I clean forgot that I had to detail both sides of the fuselage. I guess I will just have to work on another part of the model today; that and more polishing of the Albatross (Deep joy). I will also post some better pictures of the interior framework as soon as I can open up the fuselage again. 

 

Thanks for looking

 

Plonker of Mars 👽

 

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22 minutes ago, AdrianMF said:

Hmm... the Mojo Police will be taking a look at your “OOB Build” techniques! Looking very nice...

 

Regards,

Adrian

I don't think I said it would be OOB, I just implied that I was not going to go overboard on it. Apart from some basic interior detail and the same for the engines and wheel wells, plus the new colour scheme, it will be pretty much as Haldane Place intended it.

 

Martian (Splitting hairs since 1961) 👽

 

PS: Does anybody know of a source of Breda Safat machine guns in this scale?

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3 hours ago, Martian Hale said:

Does anybody know of a source of Breda Safat machine guns in this scale?

Do you mean this?

https://www.aviationmegastore.com/italian-77-mm-breda-safat-sa7225-steelwork-sa7225-aircraft-weaponry/product/?action=prodinfo&art=121636

Seems to be available there:

https://shop.strato.de/epages/61299018.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/61299018/Products/SA7225

Edited by bbudde
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