Greco-Italian War Project

[diehard]

In the early hours of October 28, 1940, Italian Axis forces attacked Greece, just hours before the end of the ultimatum delivered by Italian Ambassador Emanuele Grazzi to Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas.

The funny thing is that both Italy and Greece had a fascist regime, as a dictatorship was imposed on Greece in 1936.

In the mountains of Epirus, after the first strategic retreat, Greek forces counterattacked and occupied large areas of Albania, through which an attempt was made to penetrate Greece.

At that time the Royal Hellenic Air Force was limitedly equipped. The main fighter was the Polish PZL P-24 which had been acquired on favorable terms. There were also 9 of the 20 Bloch MB 151s ordered and a few Glowster Gladiators.

The Italians, on the other hand, had a strong war industry and several fighters, such as the Fiat CR 32, Fiat CR 42, Foat G50, Macchi C200 and others.

I will try to represent some of these fighters.

I have and I will use the following kits in 1/72 and 1/48.

 

1/72

 

 

1/48

 

[Sturmovik]

Looks like an ambitious project. Good luck.

[diehard]

I will start with the construction of Bloch 151 from the kit of Master Box MB 152 (molds of Heller), which also contains Greek decals.

It will need some modifications to introduce the MB 151, such as, reconstruction of the air intake, at the bottom of the cowling and the exhaust.

The kit is vintage and does not have much detail.

The engine, cockpit and instrument panel are missing, there is only the inaccurate seat and an unacceptable pilot.

I will build rudimentary cockpits and nests of the landing system while I will also scrib the details on the fuselage and the wings.

[diehard]

Construction and painting of the tiny cockpit (floor, piping, instrument panels, levers, seat belts)

 

[npb748r]

thanks for posting, you have piqued my interest - I wasn't previously aware of this piece of history. I like building unusual country airforces 1/32 aircraft (those stars and strips, black crosses or RAF roundels make my modelling mojo sink !), I have a feeling I might join you on one of those greek builds.     

[diehard]

Along with the MB151, I also started the Maccji MC200 Saetta, with cockpit construction.

 

[diehard]

23 hours ago, npb748r said:

I have a feeling I might join you on one of those greek builds.     

it would be my pleasure

[diehard]

As construction continues, the many problems of the kit become apparent (why not have the Dora Wings counterpart, but struggle with the old Heller?).

Cowling is completely wrong, not only for the MB 151 but also for the MB 152 offered by the kit. The air intake has a very closed diameter, perhaps because no engine is provided.

So I decided that what I really needed to do was learn grinding the inside to fit an engine.

I had previously cleaned the outside of the flash.

I also limited the length of the air intake below the cowling.

Finally, I scraped the exhaust grilles with a scalpel.

 

[diehard]

Gnome Rhone 14N-25 (1080 hp) engine for Bloch MB 151, from spares

 

[Bordfunker]

This looks interesting!

 

Great to see a forgotten element of WWII getting some attention.

 

I built the Mirage 1/48 PZL 24 about 12 years ago. Lovely little kit, but requires a bit of care.

 

Karl

[AdrianMF]

Very nice detailing on the cockpits and a nice engine upgrade on the Bloch. I didn't bother with an engine on my Bloch in the Heller GB but did do the cockpit.

 

Regards,

Adrian