Silver Wings Fiat CR 32

[LSP_Ron]

I'll give it a go with this. First thing up is a bath in soapy water which was completed tonight.

 

 

I'd like to point out as per the rules of the road LSP staff are not eligible for any of the prizes

[Learstang]

Wow! That looks like a nice and complete kit. It'll be interesting to see you bring it to life, Ron. Is it going to be in Spanish Civil War markings?

 

Regards,

 

Jason

[LSP_Ron]

It's a great kit. My only fear is mounting the upper wing. I have limited experience with Bipes and the struts on this plane a pretty funky. There are allot of them and not one is vertical in any plane i.e. funky angles for everyone of them. The instructions also do not provide part numbers or part call outs for resin bits so it will be a bit of a jig saw puzzle making sure I have the right struts in the right place

 

I will be doing a silver one using one of these markings. Note sure which one yet.

 

 

[Learstang]

The Luftwaffe one looks pretty snazzy. Gotta love those Art Deco '30's Italian 'planes! You're correct about the struts being pretty funky - they were sort of a trademark of Fiat biplanes in the '30's and were based on the Warren girder design (for bridges!). The aeroplanes didn't need much in the way of bracing wires and were immensely strong. There's a story from the Spanish Civil War where a Cr.32 and I-16 collided, with the I-16 losing its wing and flying apart, and the Cr.32 losing half of one of its lower wings and making it back to base.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

[DougN]

Will be watching this one closely Ron, as I am in with one of my own!

[automaton]

That does indeed look like a nice kit. I may regret not getting in on the group buy before it's over, but biplanes aren't my normal fare, and I've been running across too many kits recently that I "had to have".

 

 

Regards;

 

Automaton

[LSP_Ron]

It is a sharp looking plane. Great kit so far but certainly not a beginner kit. You do have to take your time with part selection and placement. Only the PE is numbered and the instructions are clear but you still have to work out proper parts placement by dry fitting. Also make note that the cockpit instructions often flip views 180 degrees from one view to the next so don't install parts on the wrong side etc there is supposed to be some brass strapping on both tanks but I struggled with the one and gave up. PE and I are not always the best of friends....

 

I replaced the resin frame work between the two cockpit sides with brass rod (the instructions provide the proper lengths as they are all different). The resin was a little to delicate for my fat fingers and could be damaged very easily. The tubes don't look square to each other in the picture but they are. The resin frame work has some slight warping so it's not laying flat on the matt. It will pull square once it's all glued together.

 

I also skewed the rudder peddles and pushed the stick forward as I plan on having the rudder kicked to one side and the elevators dropped a bit.

 

Time for paint now.

 

[OldTroll]

You might try paper or cardstock strips for the tank straps. I understand that some people actually build whole models from paper! One of these might have to go on my wish list; it's a lovely aircraft design.

[Allok]

Wow...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[LSP_Ron]

You might try paper or cardstock strips for the tank straps.

 

I am not going to worry about it. A person is going to see very little of the cockpit through the little opening anyway.

 

I've been playing around with the wing struts and trying to devise a best method of mounting the upper wing. The struts have me pretty confused right now. I am having a hard time figuring which one goes where. It's hard to determine left from right, which end is is up, and which is a forward strut and which is a rear. I am sure I'll figure it out (hopefully correctly ).

 

The plane has a lot of struts and I am daunted by the task of mounting the upper wing. There are 4 little inner cabane struts to the center tank, 6 cabane struts to the upper wing then 4 struts per side between the upper and lower wing. I think I will glue the upper wings to the tank and set the proper dihedral then make some sort of jig that holds the plane and lower wings in relation to the upper wing and try to slip struts in one by one.

 

I think it would be impossible to mount all the little cabane struts to the center tank at the right angles, glue this to the fuse and have any hope that it's aligned right to mount the outer wings?

 

Sorry for the short novel, I am a biplane newbe. Any suggestions would be really helpful.....

 

[DougN]

Ron,

 

As the small struts for the center tank don't have wire reinforcing, I don't think they would do too well as load bearing struts. Here is my plan for mine:

 

1) Drill out all strut attachment holes, cut off any excess wire from strut attachment points and dry fit to ensure everything is ready for assembly (don't forget to drill some holes for the one small bit of rigging for the outer pair of struts)

 

2) Attach lower wings and gear struts to fuselage. Paint assembled kit as appropriate for your scheme

 

3) Assemble upper wing and set the correct dihedral. Once dry, Paint bottom of wing as appropriate.

 

4) Once dry, attach outer and cabane struts (they look like 3 each side on the instructions, but it really is 1 "V" shaped strut and one regular strut) using Gator Grip Glue (white glue will work if you can't get GGG)

 

5) Once set, position upper wing and align struts into their proper attachment points in the lower wing and fuselage. Once everything is aligned, secure bottom attachment points using epoxy or super glue

 

6) Once stable, attach center tank struts in their proper position.

 

7) If desired, you can reinforce the upper wing strut attachments with epoxy or super glue

 

8) attach final bits to upper wing surface, mask and paint as appropriate

 

9) add the two rigging wires for each wing

 

10) Attach any remaining bits and paint as needed.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Cheers,

 

Doug

[LSP_Ron]

Thanks Doug,

 

That seems logical. I also plan on making a rough jig to hold the fuse secure and upper wing in place while adding all the struts. The full size front view in the instructions should help with this.

 

Do you plan on bending the reinforcing wires in the struts so they plug in at 90 degrees to the wing surface? I think this would be easier than trying to drill the holes and the proper angle of the strut? I tried bending the wire in one strut and it will bend easily without cracking the resin.

 

I still haven't figured out which strut is which but I think that will go much easier once the sub assemblies are built.

[Silver Wings]

http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=34215

[LSP_Ron]

I managed to get a little done this weekend. The cockpit frame work is a little warped in my kit but it will not show once assembled. I still have some details so add to the assembly then I can seal it up. I have not spent gobs of time detailing the cockpit out as you can't see most of it once assembled.

 

I also started adding all the PE cooling vanes to the nose. There are 21 per side so it may take awhile. I thought it would easier to add these will the fuse sides still can lay flat. I hope I don't end up knocking them off later.

 

Ron

 

[MikeMaben]

Coming along nicely Ron. Yeah those nose vanes look like alotta fun eh ?