Prudenzion Contest Fiat G 50 Freccia

[cjwalas]

Next up for me is the G50 Freccia "Arrow". Wikepedia tells me that "the G.50 was Italy’s first single-seat, all-metal monoplane with an enclosed cockpit and retractable landing gear.


The kit is a single page and comes with assembly diagrams. The wing attachment looks more standard so I may have a chance with this one.

It's a pity that ZP's kits aren't all done to the same scale or at least have the scale designated. I'd love to have all the African Campaign planes in one scale.
Chris

[Don Boose]

This an the MC 2000 have always been favorites of mine. I'm looking forward to your work on this one, Chris.

It would be nice if they were all the same scale, but perhaps some adjustments can be made?

Don

[doctormax]

Fiat made planes I know that only since started doing card modeling a few years ago till then never knew they built a plane. That is what happens when you live in Ireland and toy hobby and model shops stock such limited types of planes and ships in plastic kits.

[cjwalas]

Got some work done on this one in between work stuff. I'm on a deadline to get a design sculpture done, but there are a few breaks along the way.

Anyone planning to build this one using Zio's double tab system should be aware that the tabs are missing on the lower right wing. As I'm using this system again on this one, I drew them in myself.

The cockpit is easy to glaze on this one as the frame is so thick. The fit on the cockpit pieces is not especially good, but with enough fiddling can be made to work.

Here it is on the basic fuselage. The fuselage went together well and the double tab system does indeed result in a nicely straight fuselage. However, I found that my normally not too objective use of marking pens for edge color became exaggerated and objectionable. Maybe I'll try and see if I can mix some paint to disguise the edges. The real issue for me is that the double tabs create a perpendicular surface on the inside, which makes burnishing from inside more difficult.


I'm building this out of sequence by going next to the main wing before the engine cowl assembly. I'm always hesitant about these confluences of fuselage/wing/cowling assemblies and I feel more comfortable when I get everything behind the cowling lined up first. I tried to be more exacting on the alignment this time, but the wing wound up flat with no dihedral at all;


I recut the upper wing at the joint and slid the outer section slightly over the inner section.


The three-view I'm working off of shows only slight dihedral in the wing and while I may not have gotten it perfect, it's a lot closer, I think.



The main wing went on very easily, which was a relief to me after the problems I had with the SM79.


I'll have to double check in the morning when I'm less tired, but I think I may have even gotten the tail wings on rightways forward this time.


It's been a long, productive day, but I'm stopping here for now. Hopefully more tomorrow.
Chris

[Don Boose]

Looks good, Chris. You are really moving along.

I take your point about the advantages and disadvantages of the double tab system on the fuselage. It makes for a straight fuselage, but I ended up with a little valley down the spine of the fuselage on the Breda. To make it less noticeable, I sharpened a Neocolor crayon and inserted green pigment in the valley. I am also planning to a spar to get the correct dehedral in the wing and to provide some support for the undercarriage.

Look forward to seeing this one finished up tomorrow. I will spend the day grading papers, but may be able to work on one of the projects in the evening.

Don

[Art Deco]

Until these Zio threads started, I wondered if maybe I was the only one who routinely designed using double-tabbing. This technique has lots of advantages, and works especially well with the kind of models I do (architecture), where parts typically have straight edges and usually meet at 90 degree angles.

One of the greatest advantages of double-tabbing is: no edge coloring required! When both parts have tabs, the result is essentially an "edgeless" seam. So, if you extend the graphics onto the tabs, there will be *no* exposed paper along the seam. I love this, because I like to create very detailed graphics, and don't want mono-colored edges that might stand out.

Double-tabbing does, however, have a drawback that Don pointed out - you can end up with a little "valley" along the seam. I find this is especially true when working with heavy card. However, i think being able to "wrap" the seam in detailed graphics goes a long way toward masking the "valley", particularly if the "valley" is running along a 90 degree corner, where the eye is expecting a break in color/shading anyway.

So I find it baffling that Zio, whose models are characterized by double-tabbing *and* outstanding graphics, doesn't take full advantage of double-tabbing by extending the graphics onto the tabs? I wonder if he had a reason for not doing that?

[Wyvern]

Chris, your Fiat is looking great!

Wyvern

[cjwalas]

Work has been a lot more work than I expected the last day or two and it took me little while to finish this one up.
As I did with the Cr 42, I decided not to attach the rear of the engine/cowl to the cowl until after I had attached it to the fuselage;

I'm glad I did this or I would have been stuck with the wrong angle on the cowl assembly and this allowed me to easily make the correction;



There's an issue with the exhausts under the cowl. Zio does not seem to have made any allowances for them. In all the photos I could find, the exhaust pipes exit the cowl from where that vane directly above the wheel well is.



It's an easy snip with scissors to fix;



Zio supplies optional parts for the spinner/ nose.


Both were used in North Africa, so I chose the spinner.


With the exception of the things I've pointed out, this is a nice kit with a decent/good fit and builds up to a really good looking model IMHO.



Very enjoyable build. Thank you, Mr. Prudenzio!
Chris

[Don Boose]

Terrific, Chris! You are leaving me in the dust, but I am enjoying seeing these aircraft appear one after the other.

Don

[cjwalas]

Only because you chose the Carden-Loyd before I did!
Chris