Bjorn Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 After my Swedish Vampire follows another perhaps pretty odd Swedish Air Force subject. During the late 30s, SwAF were desperately seeking for new fighters to replace the ageing Gloster Gladiators. Vultee Vanguards and Seversky EP-1s were on order, but most of the Severskys and all Vanguards were were cancelled after the breakout of the war. The only country willing to sell fighters were Italy. And so, the Gladiators were replaced by another biplane; The Fiat CR.42 (J 11 in Swedish service). This one was based at F 9 Wing in Gothenburg, sporting the fighting wasp, the symbol of the 3rd division. Just a few years later, the Fiats were replaced by more modern fighters, such as the Reggiane Re.2000, and, especially, the Swedish "Wooden Wonder" FFVS J 22. And just ten years after the introduction of the Fiats, these pilots were flying De Havilland Vampires! The model is built almost OOB. I just had to modify the air intake below the propeller a little and added seatbelts and some details on the engine. Having built the 1/72 edition, I found this more difficult. The upper wing was a nightmare, but after hours of fettling and dry-fitting I made it. On the contrary, rigging was perhaps the simpliest possible for a biplane! I painted it with the wonderful Mr. Paint colours. Wonderful to use, but a challenge to get the right colour match. For instance, the Italian yellow looked far too yellow and had to be mixed with German Sandgelb. But after all, a fun build of a seldom seen WWII fighter, and a nice colour spot in my collection! 57 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 Beautiful build and finish Bjorn,those Swedish pilots must have been tough men sitting in that open cockpit in winter! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjorn Posted March 21, 2022 Author Share Posted March 21, 2022 (edited) Thanks! You bet they were - especially since these were based in Kiruna in northern Lapland in the winter of 1942 - onet of the coldest winters in Sweden during the 20th century! Here is a picture: http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/images/j11_5.jpg These were later painted in winter camouflage like this: http://img.wp.scn.ru/camms/ar/123/pics/90_6.jpg Edited March 21, 2022 by Bjorn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcel Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 Congratulations Björn, your FIAT is a real beauty! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zigomar Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 Nice change from the Regia Aeronautica usual suspects! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in a shed Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 Beautiful work, the mottle is perfectly done. It looks the bees knees in Swedish colours as well. Pete 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForestFan Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 Looks lovely, great paint work 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRMRL Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 That's a really nice scheme and a very good clean finish, really impressive 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GiampieroSilvestri Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 Very nice Fiat Cr42! Saluti Giampiero 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomkil Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 Superb airbrushwork! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maginot Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 Nice job. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epeeman Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 Beautiful work and great to see in some more unusual markings Regards Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire31 Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 Skitsnygg J 11, Björn! And some very nifty airbrush work. Kind regards, Joachim PS 'skitsnygg' is Swedish, roughly 'sublime' in English translation 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roman Schilhart Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 Charming model and wonderful paint job! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveH Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 Very nicely done... looks great !! DaveH 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calum Posted March 23, 2022 Share Posted March 23, 2022 Great paint work 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMCS Posted March 23, 2022 Share Posted March 23, 2022 Marvellous 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sky Keg Posted March 27, 2022 Share Posted March 27, 2022 Absolutely beautiful!!!!! Bravo!!!! Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veron Posted March 27, 2022 Share Posted March 27, 2022 So beutiful work!👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dric Posted March 28, 2022 Share Posted March 28, 2022 Splendid Bjorn 😍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BerndM Posted March 28, 2022 Share Posted March 28, 2022 Fantastic build in a great color scheme. The story makes me think about if some of the Fiat pilots flew later the Vampire. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 Very nice and detailed work. Excellent painting. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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