Cant 21 seaplane, Uruguay, 1/72 scratchbuild

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

I will post today, with your indulgence, Three Old Builds from my times as a sinner.

Their only purpose for me is to illustrate examples of scratchbuilding.

Here is the second one.

In my defense I would say that these machines never fired a shot, being Uruguay the peaceful, welcoming and charming little country it is. 

These models were made as a commission, long ago, for a local collector.

 

This Cant.21 began life registered as I-AAPW in service with S.I.S.A. in Italy.

It was later acquired by the Uruguayan government and put to service but not as a civilian plane as we see it here.

It looks a bit like a grown-up version of the Cant.18 I posted here before, and required a slightly different approach, since the fuselage was carved from wood and later hollowed.

When I create a wood master I try to make a vac copy, but in this case the size was far bigger than what my Mattel could handle. The process of finishing the surface of the wood fuselage proved lengthy and laborious, necessitating a number of layers of fillers and primers in preparation for the final painting.

If you are familiar with scratchbuilding you may have noticed that one tends to create first a “kit” and then proceed with the assembly. In this case the engine, gondola (another wood master for those parts), prop, supports and associated bits took more than forty individual parts to be made; the trolley ten and the interior only twenty one. The other parts went as usual as you can see in the accompanying images, passing the hundred and twenty parts not counting rigging wires and decals. Something you don’t want to think much about when you are building the model. Decals were of course home made, printed on white decal paper which fortunately was required by the images’ background anyway.

It is interesting to note that in spite of being morphologically similar to the above-mentioned Cant.18, this model took double the time and more complex techniques to be finished. In the accompanying photos some diagonal wires are missing, those were added later, but I didn’t want to re-do the photo session.

The Italians produced a plethora of flying boats and seaplanes designs, all with appealing lines and good performances, in a time when this branch of aviation made sense. One can’t avoid feeling a bit nostalgic contemplating them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 10, 2019 by Moa

[pheonix]

Another beautifully made and superbly finished flying boat. Thanks again for the build photos. These are types of which I had not known before - but then I expect that from your builds!

 

P