Heather builds Italy's "me too" contingent

[giemme]

Outstanding result, Heather! The decals do look impeccable    

 

Ciao

[Greg Law]

They are all looking very good Heather.  Nice and colorful. 🤡

[Heather Kay]

 

I hope the CA holds! I am not installing the PE pitots, as they’re so finely etched they would probably collapse under the influence of quantum mechanics or something. They won’t be missed in among all the colour and pizazz!

 

 

Both planes also have their tiny vac-form windscreens fitted and painted. Today, for some reason, my hands are very shaky, so it took a while to aim the screens at the carefully applied canopy glue and not miss by a couple of millimetres!

 

Anyway, gallery shots will be done later today, when things have calmed and cooled down a bit.

 

Now, where did I bury that BR.20?

[Heather Kay]

Just to say, the CA is holding. The upper wing is also almost aligned properly! More later… 

[Ozzy]

Their both looking fantastic, fingers crossed for the CA glue.

[Torbjorn]

Many Italian fighters give me the feeling that what the designers really wanted to make, were racing or sports planes and were merely disguising them as military due to necessity.

 

Wonderful finishes on that pair, can’t wait to see the bomber.

[Heather Kay]

I set up a photo session earlier, but the results were lacklustre. I’m going to do it again with a better camera. I’m also having a mental block about writing up the history of the planes. Silly brain.

[Stew Dapple]

Blame it on the temperatures Heather  That's what I always do, whatever the weather

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[CedB]

Me too. Anything above 22º and I just want to lie around under trees… must be my inner Lion?  

[stevehnz]

Those have come up really well Heather, your little camo is sublime.

[Rabbit Leader]

Honestly... someone please give me a quick uppercut, how did I miss these great builds?? Awfully sorry Heather, I think I’ll put it down to skimming through all the subject titles and not taking a second look here. They are looking great and I’m quite keen to add a CR42 build myself one day. I’ll have to go back and see what you’ve been up too. 
 

Cheers.. Dave 

[Heather Kay]

49 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said:

how did I miss these great builds?? Awfully sorry Heather

No need to apologise, Dave. I am as guilty of missing out on some great builds, too. For some reason I am simply not as engaged or enthused about this group build as I feel I should be. No idea why. Perhaps it's the whole situation of Covid-19 and all that other real world stuff impinging on my enthusiasm.

 

If you're after a CR.42, my advice is don't seek out the Mister Kit one. It looks okay when it's finished, but it's not the best kit in the world. I would seek out the new Italeri one because it's probably a darned sight easier to put together!

 

Photo session was successful this morning. I'm just editing the images, and getting them uploaded to Flickr. I'll then concoct the gallery posts.

[Heather Kay]

Right, gallery images up.

 

 

 

 

I'd better crack on with their bigger brother now.

[Ozzy]

Bellissimo

[CedB]

Seconded!  

[Rabbit Leader]

Two excellent results there Heather, looking forward to seeing the BM20 joining these fantastic builds. 
Cheers and well modelled.. Dave 

[Greg Law]

Well done Heather. Major success with those two. Both really nice. 

[Cookenbacher]

Two gems Heather.

[MattG]

Superb modelling Heather! I've really enjoyed seeing these come together and that camouflage looks seriously amazing.

 

Matt

[Heather Kay]

19 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Bellissimo

12 hours ago, CedB said:

Seconded!  

Grazie amici miei!

 

(Beyond words for food, I’m afraid that’s all the Italian you will get out of me!)

 

12 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Two excellent results there Heather, looking forward to seeing the BM20 joining these fantastic builds. 
Cheers and well modelled.. Dave 

Thanks Dave! BR.20 on the bench as I type. I’ve decided it’s too hot for proper work, as we are having one of those summers here in Blighty where it’s gone all climate change on us. Torrential downpours, biblical thunderstorms, and oppressive heat. Haven’t we done well as a species? Less than half a millennium to stuff everything up on our only home.

 

But let’s not go there. Plastic bothering is what we are all about here!

 

12 hours ago, Greg Law said:

Well done Heather. Major success with those two. Both really nice. 

They turned out well enough, considering the rather iffy beginnings. Time and patience are the keys to making acceptable models from short run kits.

 

8 hours ago, Cookenbacher said:

Two gems Heather.

 

3 hours ago, MattG said:

Superb modelling Heather! I've really enjoyed seeing these come together and that camouflage looks seriously amazing.

I'm still impressed by it myself. "Did I really do that‽" is my current default reaction!

 

As mentioned just now, the big bomber is now front and centre. That glazing problem, where some of it interfered with the detailed interior? Well, I found an answer.

 

 

First, I chopped the glazing strips up so the problem panels were separated. These were then glued into the appropriate apertures and left to set over night.

 

This morning, after starting the day with our traditional tea and toast, and making sure we got the cooling systems all up and running so we didn’t get overpowered by 30° C plus temperatures, I set about the panels with large files. The idea was to file away until the glazing was more or less flush with the inside of the fuselage. It was a bit tricky, as I didn’t want to accidentally damage the cockpit surround, and the files didn’t bend easily to get into the mid section. 

 

 

Once things were down to the custard-coloured plastic around the panels, out with grades of sanding stick and micro mesh to bring back some clarity.

 

 

Well, that seems to have worked. 
 

 

The remaining glazed parts are glued in. I’ll repaint the interior colour shortly, as well as detail paint the interior construction.

 

 

The Eduard detailing set includes parts to make a fully 3D auxiliary generator. As you can see, Italeri moulded it in a bas relief form, presumably representing the generator in a stowed form. I haven’t been able to work out from drawings or photos whether the gennie was made to fold away like this, or remained stuck out in the airstream even when the aircraft was on the ground. I have found one photo of an SM.79 that shows the gennie stuck out while the plane was on the deck, but nothing for a BR.20 so far. If it did stow, there was presumably a recess in the fuselage for it to fold into, but what would that do for aerodynamics? Any pointers would be gratefully received, as I ought to tackle gouging the thing out, or filling it up entirely, before the fuselage halves join.

 

 

 

 

 

[PeterB]

Hi Heather,

 

This may not help. All the photos I have of the BR 20 on the ground do not seem to show the generator extended, but a lot of the "profiles" in the book I have show it out when in flight. This exploded view shows it out and the wheels down!

but I think that is simply to show all the bits and pieces. I am guessing Italeri got it right for on the ground so if you are displaying it wheels down I would leave it alone.

 

Pete

[giemme]

1 hour ago, Heather Kay said:

Grazie amici miei!

 

(Beyond words for food, I’m afraid that’s all the Italian you will get out of me!)

Still, it's perfectly good and entirely correct  Brava! Or better, bravissima! Excellent models and excellent camo job  

Smart fix for the Cicogna glazings too, KUDOS for the patience  

 

Ciao

[Rabbit Leader]

So with that Auxiliary Generator (or modern day RAT ((RAM Air Turbine))out, does this BR.20 pose as yet another Italian Trimotor?  Lovely work on that glazing Heather and the internals look quite promising. 
 

Cheers.. Dave 

[Heather Kay]

1 hour ago, PeterB said:

This exploded view shows it out and the wheels down!

You know what? I think, since I’ve paid for the brass, I’ll make it deployed. I’m sure it happened more often than not. 
 

33 minutes ago, giemme said:

Still, it's perfectly good and entirely correct  

Thanks to Mr Internet.  I wish I was polyglot. 

 

6 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said:

does this BR.20 pose as yet another Italian Trimotor?

 

 

[Heather Kay]

 

 

A bit of detail painting and a black wash, and the interior detail is complete, at least as far as I’m concerned. Still considering whether to have the belly gun "jaw" open. I suppose it is conceivable it would be open for maintenance on the ground. Then again, I’ve elected not to open the side doors, mainly because it’s a faff but also because you don’t see anything interesting through them anyway. While it’s a shame not to fit all the nice detail it’s going to make painting a lot easier if it’s shut. There’s also a question about part of the aft floor and whether it will interfere with the jaw working. 
 

I think I’ve decided it’s closed. Sorry to the detail freaks out there. 

 

 

This seems to be a perennial issue with aftermarket stuff I get. The IP and control wheels are about two metres from the seats. There isn’t anywhere else they can possibly fit that I can tell. The seats can’t move forward, or the copilot would end up through the hole in the floor. Perhaps Italian pilots have very long arms.