Fiat CR-42 Falco, by ICM - Completed

[Dpgsbody55]

After my Henschel HS-129 that I recently finished fir the Target for Today GB, I'm sticking with a desert theme with something a bit antiquated when it first flew; namely the Fiat CR-42 by ICM.  This is their day fighter edition, and another model which has spent very little time in my stash as I've long wanted a good injection Italian WW2 fighter.

 

 

I will be adding a couple of Eduard etch kits to spice it up a bit more.

 

 

Love the chain links in the seat belt.  OUCH!!! 

 

So far, I've done nothing at all so far except gaze lovingly at the parts.  I was pleasantly surprised to see how big this thing will be.  This is the under side of the top wing, which is just shy of a foot long. 

 

 

All the parts look very crisp, and aside from the top wing attachment, the kit looks quite easy to build.  The one disappointment is that there doesn't appear to be much available for this in the way of aftermarket decals for a Regia Aeronautica plane, which is what I want to build, so at present, I'll be using the kit decals.  If memory serves from my ICM I-16 build, the kit decals are good quality, so it's not a big deal at all.  I just like to see what options I have in this matter.  I'd also like to get a set of decent wheels for this, but the only ones made are CMK items, which are not presently available.  Bet they suddenly hit the market the week after I finish this .

 

So at the moment, I'm doing a bit of research and looking for photos.  I think I've found a good site with plenty of pics, so I will be starting this project in the next few days.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

Edited August 19, 2021 by Dpgsbody55

[Out2gtcha]

This looks great!

I'm really impressed with ICM so far. I only have one of their kits in my stash at present, with a late model AH-1G to be added as well as a Tigermoth. 

This looks really nice, and really makes me want to pick up one. Looking forward not more!

[dennismcc]

Great choice, I have a thing for Italian subjects, and this one looks to be a real winner, Stew Dapple over on Britmodeller built one and it so impressed me that I now have a CR42 in the stash nestling down next to ICM's Sea Gladiator.

Stew's build is here

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235091032-icm-132-fiat-cr42-falco-corpo-aereo-italiano-ursel-belgium-october-1940/

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

[Out2gtcha]

19 minutes ago, dennismcc said:

Stew's build is here

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235091032-icm-132-fiat-cr42-falco-corpo-aereo-italiano-ursel-belgium-october-1940/

 

Oh my! That is lovely. I really think I might have to pick one of these up, as I somehow have only 1 or two Italian subjects in my stash, but really find them and their schemes really attractive. 

[MikeMaben]

Looks like fun Mike 

[Kagemusha]

The only RA decals I know of are these, red 2 is a standard CR.42.

[Dpgsbody55]

On 8/20/2021 at 2:13 AM, dennismcc said:

Great choice, I have a thing for Italian subjects, and this one looks to be a real winner, Stew Dapple over on Britmodeller built one and it so impressed me that I now have a CR42 in the stash nestling down next to ICM's Sea Gladiator.

Stew's build is here

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235091032-icm-132-fiat-cr42-falco-corpo-aereo-italiano-ursel-belgium-october-1940/

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

 

Thanks for the link, Dennis.  It's given me some inspiration, though the brown blotches in his camo look rather too red to my eyes.  I've managed to find some good pictures elsewhere as well, but I'm not sure about the cockpit colours.  Some pictures show a light grey colour, others show a very pale green, which I what I've seen on other Italian planes too, so I may go with this.  No decisions made yet.

 

14 hours ago, Kagemusha said:

The only RA decals I know of are these, red 2 is a standard CR.42.

 

Thanks.  Hmmm...  Not for this model, but I like the idea of an all black nightfighter, so I may just treat myself to another kit.    I really like these ICM kits.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[dennismcc]

Lots of information on the Stormo website, this is an article about CR42 camouflage.

https://www.stormomagazine.com/Articles/Re-evalatuating_RA_Camo_1940_EditorsNote.html

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Dpgsbody55]

On 8/21/2021 at 6:55 PM, dennismcc said:

Lots of information on the Stormo website, this is an article about CR42 camouflage.

https://www.stormomagazine.com/Articles/Re-evalatuating_RA_Camo_1940_EditorsNote.html

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

Great link, Dennis, and thanks again.  I've bookmarked it and had a bit of a look around the site.  There's a guide to the paint colours used which states there was very little uniformity with Regia Aeronautica colours.  Quelle surprise!!!  The pictures I've found of the cockpit seem to show them painted in both grigio anticorrosione and verde anticorrosione, but the text says most RA aircraft were cockpits were painted verde anticorrosione.  So that's what I'm going with, together with the cockpit framing in alluminio.  But I may have to have a rethink on my comments about the redness of the marrone memetico used in the camo of the CR-42 model link you provided earlier.

 

Just in time, too as I'll be applying some paint soon to this model. cockpit.  I did a couple of hours on it last night, adding some Eduard etch to the cockpit before painting.  First up was some detail for the oil cooler (?) intakes in the lower wing root.  These were a real pain to get into place, and the Eduard instruction sheet is not completely clear either.  These are what took most of the time.

 

 

The rest of the time was adding some ribs to each side of the fuselage, the left side also receiving the silver gizmo in the next picture.

 

 

You can also see the back of the oil cooler intake at the front of the wing root.

 

Lastly, a bit more detail to add to the floor.

 

 

That's it for the moment.  Once I get some paint on these bits, as well as the other cockpit parts, construction can begin in ernest.  Hopefully some more progress to report soon.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

Edited August 22, 2021 by Dpgsbody55

[dennismcc]

Good progress, will be taking notes !

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Dpgsbody55]

On 8/23/2021 at 12:58 AM, MARU5137 said:

https://www.net-maquettes.com/pictures/fiat-cr-42-walkaround/

 

https://www.cybermodeler.com/aircraft/cr42/cr42_all.shtml

 

  click on "more photos" to see more .Thumbnail photos will expand for better look.

 

 

 

Thanks for the links.  These are the ones I found while surfing on my laptop and didn't bookmark.  Done that now as they're useful pics.

 

I've slopped some paint on the insides of this now and started applying glue to model.  Painting never feels like a start to me, but gluing bits together like this build is on!  The floor, with pilot's pew, and front bulkhead are now complete.  I've gone with Verde Anticorrosione for the interior colour, as per my previous update.  I mixed this up from Mr Color H50 lime green added to a base of Tamiya XF21 which is tonally similar to Verde Anticorrosione but darker.  I think the result is very close.

 

Here's the floor.  After painting, the first bit to go on is the control column.  Next, the seat is built up from three parts then attached to the floor.  The frames that protrude from the front of the seat are also glued into the floor, and the kit provided location holes for these which is just as well.  My frames were a bit bent.  There's a joining piece between them, and then I added the Eduard lower seat belt which attaches to the floor via a plate to which is attached chain that has a small belt and buckle attached.  I also added a cable from the control column as there's what appears to be an electric junction box part way down the column where I assume a cable will attach for gun firing.

 

 

 

Next is the front bulkhead and rudder pedals.  I picked out all the framing in aluminium which will be consistent with the aluminium frames that will attach to this and the floor later.  Next, I've added more etc bits in the form of (fuel?) gauges, a plaque and gun charging handles.  Etch pedal straps were added to the rudder and this was glued onto the bulkhead and allowed to dry.

 

 

I put a small hole in the bottom of the bulkhead to allow the gun firing cable to pass through, which you can just see in the picture above to the right of lower centre, then glued the floor and bulkhead together.

 

 

 

I've also dry brushed some wear on the pilot's seat and toeboard from wear inflicted by the pilot.

 

For the next stage, I'll be working on the cockpit side, back and top frames, and adding some more seat belts/chains.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Dpgsbody55]

The last week has been spent on the cockpit.  There are left and right cockpit frames, front and rear top frames and the seat back which attaches to the rear frame.  And etch seat belts to puzzle over as well as lots of tiny etch bits awaiting the carpet monster.

 

First was the left side frame and the console that attaches to the floor just inside this.  Because of the complex seat belts on this, I thought it might be best to put the console in after all the side and rear frames, without seat back, were attached to the floor first.  This is because the seat back has a canvas (?) etch piece glued to it and then chains have to be attached to the belt links that the canvas bit has at the lower corners of this and I thought it would be difficult to get the chains in place with the seat back and canvas bit in place.  There was also a red bottle on the left frames to get in the way too.  Wrong idea.  There was no way I could get the console in after the right frame was attached, so that plan was scrapped and I'd just have to think of another way around the seat belt fitment issue.  Plan B was to build the right side console then attach the frames and worry about the chains later.

 

This is plan C.  The console was the fiddly bit, with six levers and a trim wheel in etch to attach so this was built up first.  Slowly,  to let the levers set in place.  Once dry, this was carefully glued in place, then the right side frame attached, complete with red bottle of some sort.  There are two levers cast into the frames, so these were picked out in different colours.

 

 

Next was the right side frame which has a black bottle and a gauge with switch cast in, and a console that attaches to the frames.  I scrapped the kit console and used the Eduard Etch version, which looks much better to me.  Fiddly, but worth it.  After looking at my photos, I also added a gauge decal from my spare decals stash, as the kit does not provide one here.  Another spare decal was added to the console to cover the fact that I put an etch piece on the wrong place on the console.   This was put aside for the moment.

 

 

The other picture I took of this was out of focus, but you'll see a better shot of the console later.  Next was the seat back, or upright, and rear top cockpit frames.  I glued the seat upright to the top frames, being very careful with the angle that this set to ensure the two parts fitted into the cockpit.  Too upright, and the cockpit framing would not fit together.  Once dry, I then attached the etch canvas with the lower seat belt hooks using CA and test fitted.  As best I can work out, the chains then attach to the back of the seat upright then curl around to the hooks at each lower corner of the etch canvas bit.  Confused??  Hopefully the picture explains better than me, and I also hope I got it right.  Too late now if it's wrong anyway.

 

 

There's very little in the way of wiring or cabling in the cockpit pictures I've seen, so almost none was added.  I would have thought that there might be levers and cables coming out of the consoles on each side, but seemingly not.  Perhaps it all goes vertically down the sides and can't be seen.  However, the rudder cables are prominent, and attach to the rudder bar just inside the "pedals" at each end.  They seem to be clear of the floor along their entire length, so I made wire guides that I glued into the pilot's seat base towards the back.  These can't be seen once it's all finished and in the fuselage, and I painted them to match the floor too.  Before going any further, I attached 0.3mm wire to the rudder bar, running the wire through these guides which you'll see in a rearward shot of the cockpit.  Once set, I then attached the right side frames/console assembly to the base, and attached the seat back in between.  When it was all dry, the forward top cockpit frames were set in place.  Here it is, awaiting installation into the fuselage.  The first shot is those seat belt chains and rudder cable supports.

 

 

Here's some more shots of the cockpit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is where I'm at right now.  There is a little more work to do on the cockpit sides, then I can look at fitting the cockpit assembly into the fuselage, attach the top seat belts, then button up the fuselage.  So hopefully that's what you'll see in a couple more days.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Out2gtcha]

Looks grand Michael! I really do want to pick one of these kits up now.  Looking forward to more!

[MikeMaben]

Looking good Mike, I have these images for the Mc200 but I think the setup was pretty standard.

Might help ? Those side chains attached to the side of the seat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 3, 2021 by MikeMaben

[Dpgsbody55]

On 9/3/2021 at 2:53 AM, Out2gtcha said:

Looks grand Michael! I really do want to pick one of these kits up now.  Looking forward to more!

 

They're a delight.  Not at all complex, yet nicely detailed.  You could do a lot worse than buy some of these.

 

20 hours ago, MikeMaben said:

Looking good Mike, I have these images for the Mc200 but I think the setup was pretty standard.

Might help ? Those side chains attached to the side of the seat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the pictures, Mike.  It looks like I haven't gone too far wrong in my interpretation of them.  On this kit, if I'd put the chains on the seat base side, I'd never have been able to attach them to the other ends on the centre part, because of the cockpit frames and other bits, so I'm happy enough now with what I've done.  That said, I think I'll keep these pics for future reference.  At least I've got the top straps right too, but that's for the next update.  The fuselage is together now, and I'm just working on the gun sight and fuselage top forward of the windscreen.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael