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Special Hobby 1/48 Fiat G.55A Centauro


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Hello all,

 

This is Special Hobby's 1/48 Fiat G.55A Centauro. It's a mixed bag and what you'd expect from a 2008 moulding: variable fit, lots of clean-up, chunky mouldings and multi-media parts. The undercarriage is particularly terrible. The decals are excellent.

 

It's meant to be painted silver, not NMF. Various metallic paints used with oils on top, which was difficult as they tended to get little traction on the smooth surface. Canopy is vac-formed and was designed for a different kit so unsurprisingly, in my view, is the biggest weak point of the finished article. The undercarriage actuating arms and pitot have been fabricated from Albion Alloys brass tubing.

 

This is the first model I've made in the past 25 years (I think) with no clear coats on it. I finished it in under four weeks, so that's the fifth for 2020 and I'm on track with my build schedule :)

 

More photos and longish build article at http://jonbryon.com/special-hobby-1-48-fiat-g-55a-centauro/

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Jon

 

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Edited by Jon Bryon
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Hi Jon,

 

your Centauro looks gorgeous. Great to see an postwar scheme, the silver finish really highlight the elegant lines of the Fiat. Your shading and filtering really brake up an otherwise potentially monotone finish. In short, a joy to look at :goodjob:

 

Cheers

Markus

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Incredibly attractive model Jon! :clap2:  She looks lean and mean in that silver livery.  Those actuating arms on the main gear and the pitot are just gorgeous work.  Did you turn that detail on a lathe?  Very impressive job!  :worthy:

Edited by Gary Brantley
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Thanks all.

 

18 minutes ago, Gary Brantley said:

Did you turn that detail on a lathe? 

 

Nope - they're just made from Albion Alloys brass tubing:

 

img_1455.jpg?w=1000

 

Cheers

 

Jon

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Work of ART, indeed 😍🤩 !!! 

Would You tell us little bit more about the process of painting, especially about the weathering? 

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Bella Machina!

 

But then the Italians always had an eye for gorgeous industrial design.

 

I'm off to Wikipedia to find out more about this aircraft.

 

Brilliant work!

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That is a gorgeous model. It has a nice lived-in and war weary look about it.


The G.55 and Macchi C.202/5 are amongst the most beautiful WWII fighters ever made.

 

Come on Eduard.........

 

Trevor

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3 hours ago, boom.boom said:

Work of ART, indeed 😍🤩 !!! 

Would You tell us little bit more about the process of painting, especially about the weathering? 

 

It was a bit of a hodge-podge really. The basic metallic colours where airbrushed (from my article):

The model was painted in stages over a primer coat of Mr Finishing Surfacer 1500 Black. The intention was to try and get a patchy, layered silver finish. I airbrushed Alclad White Aluminium, Steel and Magnesium in various mixes, Mr Color 8 Silver, 104 Gun Chrome and 211 Chrome, and also threw in a few areas of KColors Steel. Some of the darker areas were masked using liquid frisket film dabbed on with a sponge around the leading edges of various items before paler shades were airbrushed over the top. I also made good use of some Artoolfx and Uschi van der Rosten stencils to get more a more blotchy finish.

 

The weathering consisted of a pin wash of Abteilung 502 Smoke mixed with some Neutral Grey. Over this I then brushed on various shades of the same brand of oil paint: smoke, neutral grey, engine oil, sepia, dark mud, and kept working it with a dry brush until I was happy. Some AK Interactive odourless thinners was also used for blending. I also got some of the brown shades from an AK Interactive weathering pencil which I applied wet and then dabbed away. The oils took a long time to dry as the metallic paint was very smooth. There are no clear coats on the model.

 

HTH

 

Jon

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3 hours ago, pigsty said:

Crikey, that was quick!

 

What is this “build … schedule” thing you speak about?

The next five years looks like this:

 

2020

Revell OA-10A Catalina

AMP HUK-1 Huskie

Hasegawa F-16A

 

2021

Kinetic F-16B

Hasegawa F-2A

Academy T-50

AFV Club F-CK-1

Classic Airframes Duck

Revell F-84E

Kinetic F-84F

 

2022

Tanmodel RF-84F

Revell A-6E

Kinetic EA-6B

Hobby Boss A-6A

Czech Model Yak-15 'Feather'

Mikro Mir Yak-23 'Flora'

Hobby Boss F8F-1B Bearcat

Sword T-38

Classic Airframes F-5C

 

2023

AFV Club F-5E

AFV Club F-5F

Airfix Hawk T.1

Airfix Hawk Mk.127

Kinetic T-45C

Hasegawa F-104S

Hasegawa F-104D

Hasegawa Phantom FG.1

 

2024

Academy F-4B

Trumpeter F-100D

Revell F-101B

Kitty Hawk F-101C

Kitty Hawk RF-101C

Trumpeter F-106A

Roden JOV-1A Mohawk

Revell Learjet C-21

 

2025

Classic Airframes Seahawk

Hasegawa Harrier GR.7

Hasegawa Harrier GR.5

Kinetic Sea Harrier FA.2

Kinetic Harrier T.4

Revell Falcon 10MER

Academy CH-46 Sea Knight

 

Subject to change.

 

The mission is to finish the stash...

 

Jon

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  • 2 months later...
2 hours ago, 352nd Fighter Group said:

Hello Guys I have a 1/72 scale Resin conversion to turn a G.55 into a fiat G.59 it uses the special Hobby g.55B but I dont want to use that kit can you use any fiat G,55 kit Ilke the sword Fiat g.55 

I'm afraid I have no idea.

 

Jon

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