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ICM 1/32 Fiat CR.42 Falco - Corpo Aereo Italiano, Ursel, Belgium, October 1940


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Hello gents,

 

I've long had an interest in the activities of the Corpo Aereo Italiano during the Battle of Britain, so I was very pleased when I heard that ICM were adding to their range of 1/32 scale kits with a Fiat CR.42 Falco and doubly pleased when I got one and found that one of the markings options is for 83-1 of the 83a Squadriglia, 18o Gruppo of 56o Stormo CT based at Ursel in Belgium in autumn 1940.

 

Although it is not noted in the instructions, 83-1 was the aircraft flown by the CO of 83a Squadriglia, Capitano Edoardo Molinari. Molinari was already an experienced pilot at this point, having served in the Spanish Civil War and the Regia Aeronautica's campaign against France. He had been commander of the 83a Squadriglia for over a year when they transferred to Belgium as part of the Corpo Aereo Italiano and would survive the war as a Maggiore in the Regia Aeronautica.

 

Here's the kit:

 

DSCN2084.jpg

 

... and here's what you get:

 

DSCN2085.jpg

 

DSCN2087.jpg

 

DSCN2089.jpg

 

DSCN2091.jpg

 

The little decal sheet is a correction for the serial number of Molinari's CR.42, as only one was provided on the main decal sheet and three of the other option, instead of two of each.

 

I got this to go with the kit:

 

DSCN2095.jpg

 

A masking set from HGW for both the inside and outside of the windscreen. It's lovely, and a little cheaper than the Eduard set (which does not include masks for the inside of the windscreen) but I have to say that the amount of packaging used for a piece of tape a couple of inches square is just wasteful.

 

I also got these:

 

DSCN2078.jpg

 

... with the intention of populating the cockpit with the Italian pilot, in the middle here:

 

DSCN2076.jpg

 

Finally, I got my paints sorted, of course:

 

DSCN2101.jpg

 

Giallo Mimetico 3, Verde Mimetico 3, Marron Mimetico 2 and Grigio Mimetico for the underside, though I may go with Aluminium if the mood takes me or I get some positive evidence that all of the CAI CR.42's had Aluminium undersides. For the interior, judging from the photo's of preserved Falco's (and there aren't many) it was grey primer inside but it does appear to have been a different type for the wood/fabric areas and the metal parts. I'll be using these:

 

DSCN2105.jpg

 

Right I think that's enough to be going on with... :D 

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

 

 

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Another one on my to do list, I'll be interested to see how this one goes as I recently bought the Sea Gladiator and the CR42 myself.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

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17 hours ago, spitfire said:

Another one on my to do list, I'll be interested to see how this one goes as I recently bought the Sea Gladiator and the CR42 myself.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

Hi Dennis, yes I fear I was partly responsible for the Sea Gladiator; I would apologise except I am sure you will enjoy building it and get a lovely model out of it, and in any case I have reached acceptance of the fact that I am generally very good at being a bad example :D 

 

I went through the instruction parts map and removed all the parts I don't need from the sprues:

 

DSCN2096.jpg

 

There's a fair amount, generally other undercarriage options and ordnance. I also de-sprued and cleaned up Wee Eduardo's constituent parts, except his parachute pack and a couple of straps that will be fitted later:

 

DSCN2074.jpg

 

DSCN2069.jpg

 

... and did a quick assembly of a few cockpit parts so I can assemble him in position:

 

DSCN2072.jpg

 

... like so:

 

DSCN2081.jpg

 

He is clearly designed to fit this kit, as he has a recess each outer thigh to accomodate the seat rails of the kit part. Then I drilled a hole in the sole of his boot so I can prepare him for spraying - I'll be painting him in Games Workshop acrylics so will give him a decent enamel undercoat first:

 

DSCN2098.jpg

 

I chose Chamois from the Armee de l'Air range for the basecoat, not too intrusively dark a shade nor blatantly white:

 

DSCN2107.jpg

 

Then disassembled him again, for ease of painting:

 

DSCN2111.jpg

 

While I had the airbrush running, the interior parts got their relevant shade of grey:

 

DSCN2108.jpg

 

DSCN2110.jpg

 

DSCN2109.jpg

 

I've got today off work, so my weekend starts here, and will begin with detail painting of the cockpit parts and blocking in the main colours for Eduardo... :) 

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

 

 

 

 

 

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I'm sure you will enjoy your build time on this kit. I am just into finishing the yellow brown main paintwork on mine.

I know it takes plenty of consintration when assembling the engine and cowling.  I didn't follow instructions for cowling and pleased I didn't.

Cheers Alistair

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Thanks very much John :) 

 

On 3/26/2021 at 7:41 AM, Mottlemaster said:

I know it takes plenty of consintration when assembling the engine and cowling.  I didn't follow instructions for cowling and pleased I didn't.

 

Thanks very much Alistair :) Anything in particular I should watch out for, or just 'due care and attention'? 

 

Most of the weekend was spent on Wee Eduardo; got the main colours blocked in:

 

DSCN2114.jpg

 

... and added the relevant Citadel washes:

 

DSCN2115.jpg

 

I did start on the cockpit detail painting and adding a couple of transfers:

 

DSCN2118.jpg

 

I'm not too sure about the compressed gas bottle which ICM call out as being red, according to the Stormo! website colour guides red was usually used for fire-suppression equipment, which could be valid, white for oxygen and blue for compressed air. Since I don't know what the bottle is for and I don't know what ICM's reference was, I went with their suggestion though it does occur that oxygen or compressed air are perhaps more likely options in an aircraft of this vintage.

 

Then I got back to the detail painting of the pilot:

 

DSCN2120.jpg

 

While looking for references for Regia Aeronautica flying gear I didn't find an awful lot on the internet, though there is what looks like a very good book available for about £50 which is a bit more than I would happily shell out under the circumstances. I had originally painted the parachute harness white (as is traditional with British ones) but most of the few pictures I found (including a lovely set of pictures from the Smithsonian) showed a beige-y colour so I repainted them. The same pictures showed a beige parachute pack as well, but I couldn't be bothered to repaint mine, don't judge. ICM suggest you paint the goggle lenses silver, but I found some nice pictures of Regia Aeronautica flying goggles with amber lenses; how necessary these would have been or how likely to be used in Belgium in autumn is up for debate, but it was a preferable option for me: I pencilled in a couple of eyeballs and used Tamiya Clear Orange for mine. Eduardo can now be reassembled and re-test fitted :) 

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

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11 minutes ago, Mottlemaster said:

Stew, I'll send you some pics of main areas where its easy to go wrong, 

I see you drink full cream milk. Lucky you, my wife made me go semi skimmed

 

Thanks mate, appreciate it :) 

 

Yes, only the best for me; I hate to rub it in, but sometimes I swig it straight from the bottle :lol: 

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

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Hi Stew  

Good luck with your build,  I will pop by to check on your progress as I liked your Gladiator builds,  but the Fix It Again Tony is not in my field of interest as you know.

I am sure you will build this up well.

Chris

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Hi Stew. be aware that the color of the codes is light blue and not, I repeat not yellow. The Duxford restauration example is really to be followed. Check your mail! Cheers.

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Here is a pic iv just taken .

P1000119

 

I didnt realise until too late that the mounting block thing wasnt cimetrical and i got it the wrong way up . It all works fine but i had to remove the plastic key . lucky there is plenty of contact points to line up and secure the engine with ease .

 

Cheers Alistair

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20 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Hi Stew  

Good luck with your build,  I will pop by to check on your progress as I liked your Gladiator builds,  but the Fix It Again Tony is not in my field of interest as you know.

I am sure you will build this up well.

Chris

 

 

Ha, thanks very much Chris, I hope it will be moderately entertaining from a modelling point of view :D 

 

20 hours ago, Zigomar said:

Hi Stew. be aware that the color of the codes is light blue and not, I repeat not yellow. The Duxford restauration example is really to be followed. Check your mail! Cheers.

 

Jean, thank you, and thank you for the information, I will see what I can do about it :) 

 

18 hours ago, AliGauld said:

Hi There,

Nice start.

Your attention to detail and beautiful figure painting are amazing.

Keep up the good work, please.

 

Cheers,

Alistair

 

Thanks Alistair, he's a nice little figure to paint, well-defined detail always makes it easier to put paint on :) 

 

11 hours ago, Mottlemaster said:

Here is a pic iv just taken .

P1000119

 

I didnt realise until too late that the mounting block thing wasnt cimetrical and i got it the wrong way up . It all works fine but i had to remove the plastic key . lucky there is plenty of contact points to line up and secure the engine with ease .

 

Cheers Alistair

 

Ah got you mate, I did something similar with one of the Gladiators but was able to disassemble and correct it before it set. I'll watch out for that one, thanks :) 

 

Wee Eduardo says "Ciao":

 

DSCN2122.jpg

 

Hopefully I'll be able to pop him in the cockpit at the end rather than having to install him now, as he would make masking the cockpit opening significantly more difficult than it looks like it is already going to be...

 

I got the instrument transfers applied; like those in the Gladiator kits these are actually separate dials although they look like a one-piece transfer on the sheet - this time the instructions do mention it though, sort of: "Warning! Instrument images - given by individual elements" which is clear enough if you are expecting it :D 

 

DSCN2126.jpg

 

The one on the clock-like item on the cockpit frame on the left isn't provided so I nabbed an approximation from an Airscale instrument set. There are some good reference photos in the little booklet that came with the early issues of the Italeri Fiat CR.42 in 1/72 (and, I think, 1/48):

 

DSCN2128.jpg

 

I gave the instrument panels a coat of satin varnish to represent the semi-shiny 'crackle' finish on the real panels, then did the detail painting and added some Micro Crystal Clear to simulate the glass dial covers:

 

DSCN2130.jpg

 

I'll give the instruments another application later for a more 'glassy' effect...

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

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Thanks Adrian, thanks Chris, the pilot is a nice little kit in himself and an interesting diversion :) 

 

Mostly I was working on the cockpit tub... well, cage is probably more accurate but sounds a lot less welcoming :D The IP's got anothe application of Micro Crystal Clear on the dials:

 

DSCN2133.jpg

 

Mmm... glassy :) ... and the side console was attached to the right-hand cockpit side:

 

DSCN2135.jpg

 

While that was setting the left-hand cockpit side was fitted:

 

DSCN2138.jpg

 

Then the right-hand one...

 

DSCN2140.jpg

 

... and finally the top and rear elements:

 

DSCN2142.jpg

 

Looks quite 'busy' :) With hindsight I would probably fit the seat-back part after fitting the rear cage part to which it is attached, it seems to sit too far forward compared to the base of the seat as it is. I don't think it will be visible from outside though, especially with the pilot installed. The rims of the cockpit opening on the fuselage sides were lined with what appears to be a soft brown leather. I painted it with a Citadel acrylic from Games Workshop called 'Deathclaw Brown' because of course it is. Your basic Deathclaw is always brown as eny fule kno but it made a decent match for the reference pictures in the CR.42 booklet:

 

DSCN2145.jpg

 

.... and I did the headrest pad in the same colour:

 

DSCN2150.jpg

 

(That odd-looking yellowish stripe is just Tamiya tape protecting the grey back panel from my clumsy ministrations). The instrument panel on the Falco was two elements on each side of the fuselage bisected by the gunsight; these were fitted to the fuselage interior:

 

DSCN2147.jpg

 

... and that's where I am now. A quick test-fit indicates that it won't be possible to install Wee Eduardo at the end of the build, he will have to be in place when the fuselage halves are joined due to the narrow cockpit opening, which will open a whole world of awkwardness when it comes to painting the fuselage outers :huh: I'll have to cross that particular bridge when I get to it.

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

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This is going really great, that's very neat work on the cockpit and instrument panels, and the figure painting is spot on, looking forward to more of the same

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

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Thank you Craig, thank you Dennis :cheers: 

 

I got the cockpit interior fitted, as per the instructions, but poor Wee Eduardo lost his head!

 

DSCN2152.jpg

 

Ah well, I can stick it back on later and he'll be none the wiser :D I then joined the two fuselage halves:

 

DSCN2153.jpg

 

Two interesting things happened in the process; the throttle box became unattached from the cockpit floor, I was able to shake it out of the cockpit, apply some superglue gel to the bottom of it and in what felt like one of those dexterity puzzles get it back into position (more or less anyway, but since it can no longer be seen no-one need ever know) and leave it there, hopefully enough superglue is making contact with the cockpit floor for this to not be an issue going forward. The second easter egg was that Eduardo's raised right arm, as fitted, proved to foul the windscreen on a test fit, so it had to be broken off and re-attached, all with a very confined area in which to work. Hopefully it doesn't look too weird - I tried with my own arm and it is perfectly possible to raise your arm to such a point :D 

 

I don't think I would use a pilot figure in my second CR.42; it's a very nicely done figure and it was fun to paint and all... but it hides virtually all the interior detail and I don't think it helped the fit of the fuselage halves at all.

 

As I mentioned earlier the instrument panel is in two halves separated by the gunsight and compass mounting - these are the parts that make it up:

 

DSCN2155.jpg

 

... and this is how it looks when assembled:

 

DSCN2158.jpg

 

It fixes to the underside of the coaming panel above it. I masked the windscreen:

 

DSCN2162.jpg

 

and it and the gunsight mounting got a coat of grey:

 

DSCN2166.jpg

 

DSCN2164.jpg

 

There's some detail painting to be done on the gunsight and compass; the former being quite a pale grey colour and the latter being black. Regarding the masking - as I said way back when, I got the HGW masking set as well as an Eduard one that I had already bought which had been relegated to the second CR.42 kit box. The HGW set includes internal and external masks, but I did not think they fitted terribly well at all and I ended up using the Eduard set for the outside, it fitted the panes much more effectively. I did use the HGW set for the interior, again, the fit was not brilliant and I recommend if you do use it that you spray the outside with the interior colour as well, so you don't get any exterior colour showing through on the interior, if you see what I mean? Incidentally in case you were wondering the yellow spot on the windshield is where I attached a blob of Blu-Tack on a cocktail stick to use as a handle :D 

 

Finally, while all this was going on I assembled the tailplanes and the rudder:

 

DSCN2159.jpg

 

... and that's where we are now.

 

Cheers, 

 

Stew

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6 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Great work Stew, looks good.

 

Sounds a bit kinky !!!

 

The harness set up does look a bit BDSM - so I'm told, personally I've no idea what that even means :blush::D 

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

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A quick question for @Mottlemaster; Alistair, did you find that the legs of this 'spider':

 

 

DSCN2186.jpg

 

seem to be longer than they should be to fit to this cylinder bank:

 

DSCN2184.jpg

 

I mean it does fit, but it's a bloody tight squeeze and in light of your earlier tip I am a little concerned that I may have misaligned something (already!) 

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

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No Stew they fitted perfectly ,but i think i can remember holding parts together and thinking ..what the heck ..a small adjustment and they whent perfect .

. Of course i had the part to the left upside down  :)

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Thanks Alistair @Mottlemaster :cheers: 

 

Further to your advice, I checked the instructions and clearly it pays to do this sometimes as there are a set of push-rods to go between the cylinders and the 'spider' which is why mine didn't quite fit :blush:

 

While I was waiting to hear what Alistair said I drilled out the blast-tubes for the machine-guns:

 

DSCN2168.jpg

 

I have read that the CAI Falcos had one of the 13mm MGs replaced by a 7.6mm one to reduce weight and increase the range a bit. I don't know but I don't see why this would require a different blast-tube and as the rest of the MG is invisible: job's a good'un :D The hollowed-out parts then got a coat of black paint:

 

DSCN2169.jpg

 

Not sure how visible that will be behind the engine but it's sort of satisfying to make a little improvement where you can. Like the gunsight, (which has been painted along with the compass) - the sight in question has a sort of arch shaped glass reflector which is not moulded on to the kit part. I couldn't use my usual trick of just punching out a disc of clear acetate, so I cut a thin strip and rounded off the ends, then painted a mix of blue and green Tamiya clear paint around the edges:

 

DSCN2172.jpg

 

Hmm not very forgiving in macro, but still... This was trimmed to the right length and fitted:

 

DSCN2174.jpg

 

DSCN2176.jpg

 

It'll do :) 

 

Eduardo got his head refitted and was unceremoniously masked with a cut-off piece of bread-wrapper, and the tailplanes were fitted:

 

DSCN2178.jpg

 

... then the forward coaming and windscreen:

 

DSCN2180.jpg

 

It is possible to get a perfect fit for this part; I know because I got it when I was test-fitting. Sadly, when the glue dried I no longer had it, so a smear of Liquid Green Stuff was run along the joins:

 

DSCN2182.jpg

 

That'll be okay, a mottled camouflage can hide a multitude of sins :D 

 

I did get a bit more done yesterday, but haven't taken the photos yet; it was quite a productive weekend but for a four-dayer I had hoped for a bit more.

 

Cheers, 

 

Stew

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