Fiat CR.32, 8th PS/3rd PG, Nanking, China, 1937

[russ c]

Howdy all,

 Thought you wouldn`t mind seeing some photo`s of the latest addition to my Republic of China Air Force collection

My attempt at Special Hobby`s reissue of Classic Airframes 1/48 CR.32 kit

Finished to represent an aircraft flown by Lt Chen, Tse-liu......

......during the Canton and Kwangsi Provinces confrontation and later against the Japanese but with the white band removed

Built pretty much from the box contents with just a few bits of photo etch which pinged away never to be seen again, replaced with bits of wire and such.

Not too hard a build but Special Hobby`s instructions have you place the instrument panel too far back, causing much swearing and gnashing of teeth, also...

the struts are a bit brittle and kept snapping  during handling.

Glad to finally have one in the collection though

Hope you enjoy the pic`s, thanks for looking

Cheers Russ

 

[Old Man]

Great  work, Sir! Extremely well done, and the colors look just right.

 

The Chinese actually got these at the very start of their production. Mussolini declared Italy would no longer collect the Boxer indemnities, but rather would extend credits for military purchases, which brought a Chinese delegation to Italy promptly looking for aeroplanes and assistance. Their motors required a special fuel mixture rather than straight gasoline, which hampered their use somewhat in China. I have read the white band was part of an air exercise, but am not certain of that. Your mention of the Nanking/Canton matter makes me wonder if perhaps it was a recognition element, should that come to actual fighting, as it almost did in 1936.

[Spitfire31]

Superb modelling, as always.

 

Kind regards,

 

Joachim

[72modeler]

Wow- nice model in a scheme that isn't done very often. Colors look spot on, too. The upper wing on the Cr32 always looks to me like it is mounted too low- reminds me a little of the Curtiss racing floatplanes. Well done, Russ! 

Mike

[russ c]

52 minutes ago, Old Man said:

Great  work, Sir! Extremely well done, and the colors look just right.

 

The Chinese actually got these at the very start of their production. Mussolini declared Italy would no longer collect the Boxer indemnities, but rather would extend credits for military purchases, which brought a Chinese delegation to Italy promptly looking for aeroplanes and assistance. Their motors required a special fuel mixture rather than straight gasoline, which hampered their use somewhat in China. I have read the white band was part of an air exercise, but am not certain of that. Your mention of the Nanking/Canton matter makes me wonder if perhaps it was a recognition element, should that come to actual fighting, as it almost did in 1936.

Thanks OM, To be honest, it`s not a subject I`d come across before, the markings I did were what I could make up from the stash. the info` I put down was what I gleaned off a few snippets and captions off the internet.

Thanks for looking and for the extra background info`.

Cheers Russ  

[Old Man]

2 hours ago, russ c said:

Thanks OM, To be honest, it`s not a subject I`d come across before, the markings I did were what I could make up from the stash. the info` I put down was what I gleaned off a few snippets and captions off the internet.

Thanks for looking and for the extra background info`.

Cheers Russ  

 Well, I am glad you had the suns to hand, Sir.

 

China in that period is one of my long-standing interests. The air force at the time was a grab-bag. Just about anything built in the thirties might be found there.

 

Really nice to see your model of one of the rarer items among that menagerie. I have a couple of Supermodel CR.32s in 1/72 with this in mind, but every time I've looked seriously at the cabanes, I found something else to do....

[Toryu]

Congratulations on another fine model for your collection, Russ. Classic Airframes are a bit nighmarish to get right. You mention the weak struts - did they provide connection pins & holes for this one? In my experience they try to educate the unwary modeller to become a master scratch builder... As I can confirm by looking at your masterpiece you are one.

 

Cheers, Michael

[SAT69]

Great build and I like the photo setting as well. 

[russ c]

2 hours ago, Toryu said:

Congratulations on another fine model for your collection, Russ. Classic Airframes are a bit nighmarish to get right. You mention the weak struts - did they provide connection pins & holes for this one? In my experience they try to educate the unwary modeller to become a master scratch builder... As I can confirm by looking at your masterpiece you are one.

 

Cheers, Michael

Thanks Michael, no there are no pins or holes, just some circles that aren`t exactly in the right places. I don`t know about master scratch builder I just can`t control my tweezers and lose bits.

Cheers Russ

[John Masters]

Great work Russ.  You don't always see the CR.32 in this livery.

[Lightningboy2000]

That aircraft looks rather menacing with a very interesting history.

Ah, that Classic Airframes plastic! I admire your persistence with that plastic. I remember building a few of their Whirlwinds & they despised most kinds of adhesives!

 

Martin

[tonyot]

Very nice Russ,..... I didn`t even know the Chinese flew these! It would look good displayed alongside a Chinese Gladiator!

Cheers

          Tony