Fiat CR.42 Falco, Answer, 1:33 - Page 2

**rmks2000** · #11 03-27-2009, 08:05 AM

Chris,

It looks like the short side should be up. Draw a line from the prop hub to the end of the fuselage on the planes' profile diagram to give you a longitudinal centerline (see image copied from page 2 of Ceva's build thread from Papermodels.pl - profile diagram is in the background). That may help show how the holes should align.

Bob

**Royaloakmin** · #12 03-27-2009, 08:45 AM

Chris, agree its odd but do you see something that makes you think the center holes need to line up, like an internal component?

**ccoyle** · #13 03-27-2009, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rmks2000

Draw a line from the prop hub to the end of the fuselage on the planes' profile diagram to give you a longitudinal centerline.

Good idea...I'll try that.

**ccoyle** · #14 03-27-2009, 10:42 PM

No joy on the longitudinal axis. The main part of the fuselage is of course recessed within the cowling, which the line bisects exactly.

Upon closer inspection of the instructions (even though I don't read Polish), it is clear the designer intended the cockpit to be built first, so I've decided to go that direction. Perhaps the orientation of the forward formers will become apparent once the fuselage is built forward from the cockpit.

**ccoyle** · #15 03-29-2009, 10:33 AM

The cockpit formers are included in the laser-cut parts set. The printed parts must be glued to the formers. For the lattice-work tubular frames, I cut to the outside of the printed frame, glued it to the former, and cut out the white portions afterward.

I encountered another small problem with the glued-up parts/formers. After drying completely, the parts showed significant warping, probably because they are glued with water-base glue.

Bye for now!

**ccoyle** · #16 04-07-2009, 07:19 PM

I wish, I wish, I wish I could post some pictures, but my daughter has the camera and is out-of-town for spring break. :( I can, though, hearken back to what Carl (Golden Bear) said about Answer kits...I am mucking along on this one in spite of itself. The graphics are beautiful, but the instructions are proving to be less than ideal. Of course, the instructions are in Polish, so what I should really write is "the diagrams". It's these that are leaving much to the imagination. I would be quite lost without ceva's build at papermodels.pl. I'm still only working on the cockpit, but the diagrams leave many aspects of this unclear, not to mention that checking some photos at preservedaxisaircraft.com show that the Answer design vastly simplifies the cockpit interior. I'll get through it all somehow.

Cheers!

**ccoyle** · #17 04-11-2009, 10:00 PM

My camera finally came back from spring break! Oh, and the daughter came back, too. :p Here are some shots of the cockpit thus far. Repeating what I said earlier, the diagrams in this kit leave MUCH to be desired. There is, for example, no diagram at all that shows the assembly of the rudder pedals. The exact location for other parts, such as the instrument panel, is not well defined, leaving a certain amount of guesswork to be done. Which isn't too bad, considering that this cockpit bears only a passing resemblance to a real Cr.42 cockpit, as can be seen in some photos at Preserved Axis Aircraft (lots of good stuff at that site, BTW). Case in point: the panel on the starboard side of the cockpit, from what I gather from looking at several photos, is supposed to fit in between the cockpit framing; in the kit, this panel is supposed to abut the framing, which leaves it sticking too far into the cockpit interior, making an uncomfortable fit for the model's imaginary pilot. I trimmed the panel to fit in between the frames.

Cheers!

**Tim Crowe** · #18 04-12-2009, 02:14 AM

Nice cutting with the cockpit frames.

I seem to remember reading a book by a WW2 german test pilot that italian aircraft from this era were fitted with throttles that worked in reverse to the standard. Forward for idle and back for full power. The results when non-italian pilots flew these aircraft were spectacular.

Tim

**Don Boose** · #19 04-12-2009, 08:07 AM

Outstanding work on the cockpit, Chris. And thanks for the Axis Aircraft site.

Tim -- I think French throttles worked the same way (backwards to the U.S. and British method).

Don

**ccoyle** · #20 04-13-2009, 05:57 PM

Here, the completed instrument panel. If built as-is, the gun sight stacks up taller than is depicted in any existing cockpit photos, so I trimmed down a couple of parts to get the right height. Also notice the completed panel is not yet glued into the cockpit; I formed the cockpit skin into a cylinder before sliding in the cockpit itself -- this would not be possible with the panel in place. The panel fits in easily after the cockpit/skin assembly is completed. Nevertheless, I will not glue it in until later, so as not to damage the delicate gun sight reflector.