Savoia-Marchetti SM 81 Pipistrello***FINISHED***

[PeterB]

Now the fun starts! I have painted the interior and everything is in except for the IP and turrets. 

The green is probably wrong but I had painted it before I saw @Bonehammer's post - it is actually a bit yellower than in the pic.. The turrets are huge and were hydraulically retractable with a manual back up system. Now both Supermodel and Italeri show them in two alternative postions - one on top of the upper support you can see in the pic (lower for the ventral turret of course) and one on top of the lower support. This is what it looks like in their raised position!

Now maybe it could go that high but all the pics I have seen show it a bit lower, perhaps to reduce drag. I think I will put in an extra support and trap the upper one below the existing top support like this.

That looks about right to me. For the ventral turret I will have it retracted as it gets awfully close to the ground otherwise when the plane has landed. The retracted position there looks good, but the upper one actually goes into the fuselage completely and leaves a hole, which cannot be right surely. I will show you a pic before I close it up.

 

Then there is the matter of the guns themselves.

On the left the gate like things are the guns which have 2 crossbars between the barrels - Italeri have remoulded it with only 1! To the right are the breeches which have a hole in them and Italeri provide a crossbar for them but Supermodel don't. I have no idea which is correct. There are only partial slots in the turrets so the breeches will have to be glued to the inside and then the barrels glued on from the outside - I think I will provide a crossbar support for the breeches myself to make them more rigid. At least I can glue the breeches in and leave the barrels off until after I have painted etc - I hope! All a bit of a mess and it is hard to tell from the pics I have whether there should just be one support between the barrels like on the MG 81Z Zwilling, or two. This could be fun! I have glued all the doors and hatches in place closed and will use Krystal Kleer instead of the kit windows as it will make painting a lot easier.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

 

Later.

 

This looks better to me.

The gun slots in the turret are pretty shallow and in the position above they are still well above the top of the fuselage - the turret being any higher would serve no useful purpose that I can see.

Edited May 1, 2021 by PeterB

[PeterB]

Previously JWM said that he thought Italeri had made a few minor changes but looking at the link Pat sent me to their instructions they actually seem to have done a pretty major re-work of the moulds. Changes to the engines, turret guns, a lot more detail inside the fuselage including ribbing and a lot more instruments/radios with decs, a new bomb bay in the bottom with doors that can be opened or closed, and flaps that can be up or down - there is even a crew access ladder. Also there are 5 schemes and decs instead of 2. So, if you were thinking of buying one, the Supermodel one is fine but the Italeri one has more detail. The only things they have taken out are the rather crude crew figures which remind me of the Airfix offerings in their Halifax and B-17 some 10 years earlier and the torpedo which it hardly ever used except for training I gather. The crew figures are a bit of a surprise as the ones in their Bv 138 4 years later were really good and even had seperate arms! I have repainted the nose section interior in the mix @Bonehammer suggested - won't bother with the rest of the interior as it is not visible.

 

Pete

Edited May 1, 2021 by PeterB

[JWM]

13 hours ago, PeterB said:

as nobody has responded to my previous enquiry

OK, I am using Hu 88, but it just because I do not have Hu 3 at home...Mybe it is too dark, but certianly it is fresh

[PeterB]

Couple of test "chips".

The Dragoon Green is on the left, the rather thick Hu-3 Brunswick Green on the right. I may use a dab of Hu 3 to darken the Dragoon Green for the tail stripe. I have started work on the guns.

Still need a little touching up then I will glue the breeches into the turrets so that the ends just stick out - there is a sort of "shelf" on them to which the barrels can be carefully glued nearer the end of the build. Pics do seem to show both the bars betwen them.

 

A couple of final points about the turrets – first, it seems I was wrong about the dorsal turret – it could retract all the way back into the fuselage according to pictures I have found. Secondly, regarding the ventral turret, these were popular on inter war designs and seemed like a good idea on paper. The Germans fitted them to their Junkers 52/3 when used as a bomber in Spain, to the Ju 86 and to the early versions of the He 111, whilst the British had them on the early versions of the Whitley and Wellington and even the Manchester. All were manned, and their shape gave rise to the nickname “dustbin turret” though that was more applicable to the enclosed cylindrical British ones than the open German type. All were at least semi retractable but none were considered very effective. In the British ones the small amount of glazing meant that the gunner had a very restricted field of view, they were very vulnerable to incoming fire, and when extended during combat the drag they caused would knock anything up to 25mph off the speed just when the plane needed to go as fast as possible. The Americans persisted with the idea with their ball turrets on the B-17 and B-24 but they were better shaped in terms of drag and by then more powerful engines meant that the planes were considerably faster so the drag was perhaps less of a problem anyway. As to the turret on the SM 81, according to one source the gunner was actually in the fuselage leaning down into the turret so I have no idea how he sighted and operated it, particularly when having to traverse it! It has been said many times but the RAF could have done with a working ventral turret late in the war when faced with night fighters coming up below them.

 

And so, once the turret glazing is dry and the guns touched up I can assemble the fuselage. Incidentally the painting instructions for the Italeri version totally ignore the frame lines on the turrets and paint them as having only a small clear portion around the guns, which seems to be totally wrong!

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Later - Here is an important note for anybody thinking of building one of these - the holes in the gun breeches are NOT for a support strut as shown in the Italeri version - they are to locate on a couple of transparent pins moulded on the inside of the turret which are virtually invisible until they interfere with the fit of the guns! If you are very careful and preferably have two pairs of hands, you should be able to glue the barrels onto the breeches in such a way that the holes locate on the pins and once the glue sets the whole gun assembly should be free to move up and down! Clever but rather complicated, but that is perhaps typical of Supermodel kits as I found with my Flying Clog.

Edited May 2, 2021 by PeterB

[PeterB]

Well that was a bit of a fiddle but the fuselage is closed up now. You can just about see the ends of the gun breeches protruding slightly from the turret glazing.

The fuselage joint is pretty good but I will run some PPP down it and around the joint with the nose "cone" which the engine went on to - Italeri provide a backing/blanking plate to go on first before the cylinders. The wings are not a very positive fit but there is not much of a gap so that should be easy to sort out I hope. The turrets look about right to me - incidentally when retracted in  the air both are turned 90 degrees to the line of flight and the guns pointed straight up or down to minimise drag apparently. The canopy is a good fit - I have not as yet tried the bomb aimers glazing under the nose which incidentally one source says was also capable of being lowered and raised! So a little more work to do then on with some paint. Don't think I mentioned that it had a crew of 5, two pilots, bomb aimer, engineer and radio operator, so having to man 2 turrets and 2 optional waist guns would have been a bit of a stretch.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited May 2, 2021 by PeterB

[JOCKNEY]

Wonderful job Pete

Perhaps I was a bit hasty....

No not really, absolutely delighted to see this one getting built 

Cheers Pat 

[dogsbody]

Looking good!

 

I've just done a trawl through my Ali D'Italia booklet and I cuoldn't find any evidence of the bombaimer's position being movable.

As for the ventral turret, evenything seems to show it with both guns pointed to the rear when retracted. You are correct about the position the the dorsal turret's position when retracted.

 

 

 

 

Chris

[PeterB]

Hi Chris,

 

Yes, I thought the story about the bomb aimers "cupola" was a bit unlikely. As to the ventral guns, I am modelling mine pointing to the rear as I suspect the ground clearance with them straight down would be minimal - same thing as with the ventral dustbin on the Manchester I built a year ago where the guns definitely had to be vertical when it was retracted.

 

Pete

[PeterB]

When I first started this build I could foresee several potential problems. In terms of the construction the vague instructions meant that I anticipated difficulty with the guns/turrets, the engines/exhausts and the undercarriage. Since looking at the Italeri instructions that Pat sent me I am somewhat more confident now, though they were a little misleading in terms of the guns/turrets but I think I have resolved that. Also, according to the review I have read I could expect problems fitting the wings, but at the moment they look manageable – I could be proved wrong however! Obviously I was seriously concerned about painting the wings and that was a indeed a bit tricky but seems to have worked out in the end, and now I have also sorted the vertical tail striping. The colours may not be quite right but they look close to those of the Italian Flag in my opinion – others may disagree!

I used Xtracrylic 1141 white because it is not quite as brilliant as some other whites I have – almost slightly off-white in fact, and Humbrol Hu 60 Crimson for the red to match the wing stripes. After some debate I went with straight Humbrol Authentics MC 7 Dragoon Green rather than the much darker Hu 3 Brunswick Green some modellers suggested elsewhere. The pics in the Profile book show a dark green but the Sky decals I have for the SM 79 have a small tricolour with a very similar green to the one I have used.

 

 

Now all I have to do is paint just about everything else in the “cream” colour, the only real exception being the cowlings which seem to have been “Silver” and of course the prop blades which were silver on front and black on the rear. I have put a couple of coats of Maskol on the turrets, so let battle commence.

 Cheers

 

Pete

[Bonehammer]

On my screen the colors of the flag pass muster. Keep up the good work.

[PeterB]

Not the best of fits but the tailplane and wings are on, initailly with plastic cement and then strengthened with CA. I will leave it to set overnight and then run in some filler.

 

I seem to have had more luck that the chap who did the review. Typical of this kit there are holes in the vertical and horizontal tail for the bracing wire that goes on top, but absolutely no location marks or info on the 4 support struts under the tail! That just leaves the undercarriage which may be interesting as I omly have one pair of hands and for this I suspect  two would be better - we will see. I can see I need to do a bit of touching up in the cockpit before the canopy goes on.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

 

Edited May 5, 2021 by PeterB

[dogsbody]

31 minutes ago, PeterB said:

That just leaves the undercarriage which may be interesting as I omly have one pair of hands and for this I suspect  two would be better - we will see. I can see I need to do a bit of touching up in the cockpit before the canopy goes on.

 

Where's that old Martian ( @Martian ) character when you extra appendages?

 

 

 

 

Chris

[Martian]

29 minutes ago, dogsbody said:

 

Where's that old Martian ( @Martian ) character when you extra appendages?

 

 

 

 

Chris

A Martian's appendages are his own private kingdom and I shall defend mine with your life!  Liking the model though.

 

Martian 👽

[PeterB]

Well that was a fiddle!

The wheels were canted slightly inwards in flight but presumably straightened out a bit when the plane was on the ground and they had weight on them. Perhaps that is why the locating marks on the wings and fuselage for the 3 mounting blisters were a bit out, but I managed in the end. Still quite a bit of touching up to do but as the tin of "cream" paint is on its last legs I will try and do it all in one go - I do have another tin but would prefer not to start on it as it may not quite match. Speaking of the cream - it is as bad as NMF for showing up imperfections so the centreline fuselage joint is not looking as good as it should. I have run PPP down it twice but it just seems to rub out when I smooth it so perhaps I should have used normal filler and risked sanding off some of the detail. As my late father in law would have sais, a "blind man would be glad to see it", and frankly I am not going to do any more with it.

 

Not much more to do now - guns, engines, cowlings, props, exhaust pipes and a few odds and ends. One of the problems with this kit is that the parts are somewhat crammed on the sprues and can be difficult to get off - the pitot tube did not survive so I will have to replace it.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

[PeterB]

So, everything is now on except for the cowlings, props, exhaust pipes, pitot and gun barrels.#

Now I can carefully complete the touching up before putting on the decs - all 10 of them. The engines do look a little small don't they? Typical of the problem the Italians had until well into the war which is probably why they started using German Daimler Benz ones.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

[PeterB]

The cowlings are just a push fit at the moment so I can work out where the ruddy exhaust pipes go.

I am quite pleased with it so far - better than I expected.

 

Pete

[JOCKNEY]

Looks amazing Pete

Very tempted to make one myself now !

Bring on the decals 

Cheers Pat 

[PeterB]

Hi Pat,

 

Thanks for giving me the chance to build it - not half as bad as I expected, though it looks like the Italeri one has rather more detail.

 

Pete

[CliffB]

Looking very colourful Pete.  I can see why the scheme appealed to you 

[PeterB]

One of the noticeable things about this machine and the later SM 79 were the "wires" running from the fuselage to wings and tail.

As I mentioned earlier Supermodel provide a hole through the top of the tail and "dents" in the top of the horizontal surfaces, and Italeri show a pair of "wires" which they tell you to add from "stirred plastic" which I guess is stretched sprue. All the pics I have only show a single wire. There is also one from the fuselage to the upper wing as on the SM 79 above. When I built the latter a year ago I assumed they were bracing wires and so used fairly thick piano wire on the tail and even thicker loco handrail wire on the wings. However, other modellers said that looking at photos they rather thought that at least the wing wire was probably a radio aerial. I think I will go with either sprue or thin wire for the tail, but have a devious plan for the wings. Supermodel provide no holes but the attachment point on the wing seems to be directly above the hole for the landing light so I will drill up through that and also drill the fuselage, and add some E Z line. That way the ends can be glued inside the wing with a bit of luck, after which I can glaze the light. I may even have a shot at the radio aerial that runs from just behind the cockpit to the fin, which will be a first for me!

 

Cheers

 

Pete

[Col.]

You've picked an interesting and colourful subject choice with this one Pete

[Martian]

This is nice, very nice indeed!

 

Martian 👽

[PeterB]

Nearly there!

Hopefully I will be able to airbrush a couple of coats of varnish on over the weekend and get the windows glazed. Then it is just a case of doing some rigging and sticking on the gun barrels and pitot tube. You may notice that the markings are not quite the same as shown on the box art, which is a good thing as that machine with the Alpha Romeo engines was from 10^o Squadriglia BT, 28^o Gruppo BT, 8^o Stormo BT which AFAIK stayed in Italy and never took part in the conflict in Abyssinia. The decs and painting instructions are for this machine with Piaggio P.X engines which is from 11^o Squadriglia BT, 26^o Gruppo BT, 9^o Stormo BT, which did from early 1936 onwards! I don't know if the box art was just wrong or if Supermodel changed the decs in one of the 3 subsequent reboxings, but the box art remained the same I believe. That saved me a bit of work. The Italeri re-issue has added a fair bit more detail and it now has I gather 5 different sets of markings/paint schemes but probably not this one - they seem to have concentrated on the time the plane was used in Spain. Maybe all the stripes scared them off as most modellers would expect decals for them I guess!

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited May 7, 2021 by PeterB

[Col.]

Looks good Pete

[PeterB]

Well, it seems to be finished.

Ok, my first attempt at a radio aerial is a bit thick, and to be contrary the wing "rigging" is perhaps a bit too thin - I can't find my "thick" E Z Line anywhere. Given how sensitive the paint colour is to lighting I will try and get some outdoor shots for the gallery once I have the right weather. It has been a bit of a tricky build at times, though the main problem has been with the colour scheme of course. As mentioned earlier the Supermodel kits can be a bit of a mixed bag - for its age they try very hard for detail in some places- perhaps a little too hard at times, and in spite of the large box there are only 3 sprues, one of which is clear. As a result the pieces can be rather tightly packed and the placement makes it pretty hard to get some of them off the sprue without breaking them, as I did with the pitot. Add to that the very limited instructions and sometimes the placement and fit can be less than clear. Having said all that it has come out quite well I think, though with hindsight I could have improved one or two things. Would I build it again - probably but I think I would go for the Italeri re-issue which has clearer instructions and quite a bit of extra detailing both internal and external such as seperate flaps and ailerons and backing plates for the engines, not to mention bomb bay doors.

 

I don't normally have a great deal of interest in inter-war subjects but when Pat @JOCKNEY offered me this as part of a kit swap I thought it might be rather nice to do it in this scheme which I have always fancied the look of, and of course it was  a perfect subject for this GB. So once again thanks to him for the chance to build it. I will post another pic or two once I get my gallery shots done.

 

Cheers

 

Pete