SPA Modeler

VanceCrozier wrote:Shaping up nicely Lawman! Is it just the angle of the pictures, or do the wings actually have a little bit of forward sweep?? (I'm not familiar with many of the Italian machines )

Thanks Vance. As for the wings, they do have a very slight forward sweep, but mostly it's an optical illusion caused by the angle. If you look at the leading edge, you'll see an interesting contour. At the wing root, the lead sweeps slightly rear before straightening out. I'm not entirely sure why, except this general area is also where the air intakes are. Since I promised myself not to go all AMS on this one, I stayed away from the normal blueprints, cut-aways, schematics, etc..., it's possible there is ductwork in that area, which would account for the shape. I'm not going to look until I have it finished though.

It would be like opening Pandora's box.......

One of the reasons I chose this aircraft was for precisely that reason. My lack of knowledge on Italian aircraft. Ignorance is bliss, which is why it's been an enjoyable build.

Duke Maddog wrote:Excellent job on the decals. As for the frosting, just brush or shoot some more future on it and it will all go away. No need for thinner. I'm looking forward to seeing more.

Thanks Duke. Jim mentioned the same thing about another coat of Future. I was going to try the thinner, as it was a new technique, and I've done nothing but experiment with this bird, but I'm afraid, with my luck, it will do something crazy to the fantastic decals. Since it's me we're talking about, they'd probably ignite in little balls of flame.

I'm going with what I know. A brush.

Thanks for all the accolades guys! This has been a pretty fun build so far, and as it nears the end, I can't give this kit enough credit. Is it perfect? Nah, but what kit is? Does it get aggravating at times? No more so than any other kit. My only real issues, (and bear in mind, this was almost entirely built OOB), were mentioned towards the beginning of this thread, mainly the IP, but you can see my quick fix on that. When, (not if), I do another, I will do one of my AMS builds and create the proper spars, control wires, plumbing and such.

Let me re-iterate. The injection molded parts fit well. Minor gaps and filling here and there. The resin is beautifully cast. Minimal flash, wonderful quality. Only complaint, if you can really call it that, is it's semi-soft, so when cleaning it, be cautious you don't gouge it, not that I did of course However, the detail is fantastic! The PE is really just some handles for the IP and two small gear cover extensions. Nothing major there. The decals went on great. Razor thin quality, yet durable. They snugged down nicely, and although I used Walthers Solvaset, I didn't need to use something that "hot" Micro-Set would have been fine. I just happened to be out. The only AM on this are a set of resin wheels from CMK. The kit wheels are of good quality, I just am not a big fan of the cartoony look of kit wheels. I prefer the "weighted" look of resin.

As this was my first Italian aircraft, I opted for the simplest camo scheme I could find, and here's the only place Special Hobby could have really improved. The paint schemes are all printed in black and white, with a reference to look on the website to see them in color. A glossy colored insert would have done the kit a lot of justice.

I didn't intend for this to be a review of sorts, just a brief summary, but I'm highly impressed with the all around quality of the kit, and the semi simplicity of engineering. There's always room for improvement in every kit, but all told, this is a superb mix, especially for someone who would like to try working with different mediums. Everything from injection molded, to resin, to PE are in here.

Anyway, as always, thanks for looking!

A question was raised about the slight forward pitch to the wings. I took another picture today to make it a little easier to notice. There's a very gradual, and slight pitch forward of the leading edge, running out to the tip.




Also, I did a little touch up with a brush and Future. Spots disappeared, as promised




Lastly, here's the kit IP. Styrene with my "pretenda-spar" seperating upper & lower, plus the PE handles.

Quick update on my sanity, I mean progress. Somehow, while attempting to mount the IP, I succeeded in dropping it inside the nose, where it slid under the floor, behind the armor plate, and ended up wedged between the seat and the side wall. (how that happened, I'll never know).

After 2 days of coaxing, and a lot of "Italian adjectives", as my Uncle Vinny, (yes, I do have one), used to say, I managed to get it out with no damage to it, the seat or side wall.



Here you'll notice it's upside down, and the delicate PE is right where I can damage it quite readily.....


Today I decided the kit supplied pitot tubes were too bent to try fixing, so I replaced them with straight pins. Of course I promptly stuck myself on one, drawing blood. Not nearly as bad as Jim, but for the next few minutes I had to do things minus my right index finger, or I would have been applying a new mottle color to my Freccia....blood red.....



Here's the accursed pin, prior to attempting to kill me.

Belissimo! I have this love for Italian aircraft also.

Thought I'd try a pin wash on this bird. The panel lines are perfect for it. Never done one on an aircraft before, but it came out pretty good.



You can see just how well the pin wash brought the lines out on this side by side. Just some minor clean up and the wash is done.

Nearing the finish line!

Thanks for the info / pics on that wing angle Joe, the birds-eye view really shows Gabe illusion well. May have to pick up a G50 of my own in the future, smaller scale though for me.

VanceCrozier wrote:Thanks for the info / pics on that wing angle Joe, the birds-eye view really shows Gabe illusion well. May have to pick up a G50 of my own in the future, smaller scale though for me.

No problem, Vance. I almost wish I had a desire to build in the smaller scales, considering so much more R.A. stuff is available. But I'm a sucker for detail, and 1/32 aircraft & 1/35 armor is the path I have chosen.

Btw, I wouldn't suggest using straight pins for pitot tubes unless you dull them first...