Retired In Kalifornia's Italian Aircraft Model Builds In Progress Photos
- RetiredInKalifornia
- Generale di Divisone Aerea
- Posts: 467
- Joined: Fri Jun 14, 2019 6:34 pm
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Last edited by RetiredInKalifornia on Wed Aug 28, 2019 9:52 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Re: Retired In Kalifornia's Aircraft Model Builds In Progress Photos
That's a good comparison with the DC4. Outside the US and Italy, perhaps with the exception of Germany, no other countries placed as much emphasis on air-transport. The brits had nothing like it (relied heavily on the US for allot of its equipment) or as many dedicated types (SM.82, G.12, S.74 etc).
These planes may have saved some Germans at Stalingrad only to be slaughtered later on - if Germany just knocked out the UK first (which they could have done) they would have won WWII.
These planes may have saved some Germans at Stalingrad only to be slaughtered later on - if Germany just knocked out the UK first (which they could have done) they would have won WWII.
- RetiredInKalifornia
- Generale di Divisone Aerea
- Posts: 467
- Joined: Fri Jun 14, 2019 6:34 pm
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Last edited by RetiredInKalifornia on Wed Aug 28, 2019 9:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Retired In Kalifornia's Aircraft Model Builds In Progress Photos
The P.108C and P.108T were original designs, they were not based on the Boeing 307 Stratoliner. The early C and T had rudders similar to the B, the one you built is a later construction. The B/C/T were evaluated by the Luftwaffe in early 1943, the same commission that evaluated the G.55 and that recommended for the plane to be built in Germany as the G.56. There was no doubt the Germans liked the P.108.
- RetiredInKalifornia
- Generale di Divisone Aerea
- Posts: 467
- Joined: Fri Jun 14, 2019 6:34 pm
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Last edited by RetiredInKalifornia on Wed Aug 28, 2019 9:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Retired In Kalifornia's Aircraft Model Builds In Progress Photos
They never had the production license, they sought to get one and except for the rudder which may have been influenced by that plane in later production samples, the plane was completely original in design.
- RetiredInKalifornia
- Generale di Divisone Aerea
- Posts: 467
- Joined: Fri Jun 14, 2019 6:34 pm
- RetiredInKalifornia
- Generale di Divisone Aerea
- Posts: 467
- Joined: Fri Jun 14, 2019 6:34 pm
SUPERMODEL FIAT G.55 "What-If" Five-Cannon Build
This was done July 24th - August 1st 2019 for the Beyond The Sprues website folks, didn't want to post it on STORMO given its a "What-If" subject but providing link to it now as a "filler" till commencing work on the Special Hobby Piaggio P.108A build September 15th: SUPERMODEL FIAT G.55 "What-If" Five-Cannon Build
- Bill
- Comandante di Squadriglia
- Posts: 25
- Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2019 10:59 am
- Location: United States, Missouri KC
Re: Retired In Kalifornia's Aircraft Model Builds In Progress Photos
why were the messages deleted?
- RetiredInKalifornia
- Generale di Divisone Aerea
- Posts: 467
- Joined: Fri Jun 14, 2019 6:34 pm
OK...
...I won't, but am going to refrain from aircraft type historical origin & comparison commentary regarding my model builds, stick to commentary regarding the builds.
- RetiredInKalifornia
- Generale di Divisone Aerea
- Posts: 467
- Joined: Fri Jun 14, 2019 6:34 pm
Special Hobby Piaggio P.108 A & B Serie II Builds In Progress
Build Progress Reports Will Be Continuously Posted Here, Photos Of Built Models Will Be On Separate Postings
The 1/72 scale Special Hobby P.108 A & B Serie II are amongst the largest WWII Italian aircraft model kits on the market. The injected plastic kits with resin detail parts are potentially difficult to build, having many parts in common they'll be constructed concurrently to save on masking & painting resources well as time though it'll take nearly too months to finish them, below is a photo of the open-box kits:
September 15, 2019
- > Tailplanes of both models assembled.
- > Cut styrene sheet plastic strips replicating oil coolers fitted & glued in place behind oil cooling inlets on lower mainwing halves of both models (Cunarmodel+Special Hobby P.108T build didn't include them ), area in front of them spray painted Humbrol 78 Matt Cockpit Green + Testors Flat White 50/50 mix + 36% Flat White shading replicating Verde Anticorrosione, sheet plastic strips Testors Brass enamels:
- > Testors Brass paint dries really slow, will assemble mainwing halves tomorrow.
September 16, 2019
- > Special Hobby P.108 kits don't have mainwing gun turret mounts allowing them to freely turn, fabricated sets from sheet styrene plastic, glued them in place underneath resized holes in engine nacelles, sprayed painted them Verde Anticorrosine, mainwing halves glued together afterwards:
September 17, 2019
- > Assembled mainwing leading edges puttied in places then sanded.
- > Outer engine lower nacelle housings (i.e. those with gun turrents) glued in place & puttied.
September 18, 2019
- > Outer engine nacelle seams sanded, engine end caps glued in place.
- > Work on assembling inside engine nacelles commences tomorrow.
September 19, 2019
- > Inside engine nacelle parts glued together & puttied seams, interiors & associated interior parts spray painted Humbrol 78 Matt Cockpit Green + Testors Flat White 50/50 mix + 36% Flat White shading enamels replicating Verde Anticorrosione, sanding seams tomorrow.
- > Mainwing areas where nacelles will be glued on for both models masked off & spray painted Verde Anticorrosione.
- > Outer mainwing nacelle engine mounts for both models glued on.
- > Engine cowlings glued together.
- > Special Hobby P.108A & B Serie II kits provides cowlings for mounting exhausts pipes above & below mainwings depending on aircraft type, all were assembled knowing the P.108A model will have below mainwing pipes whilst the P.108B Serie II model might be modified to alternatively fit cowlings with above mainwing pipes as seen on the P.108 prototype well as early production P.108B aircraft well as below as seen on Serie II aircraft.
September 20, 2019
- > Inner mainwing engine nacelles, engine end caps & mounts glued in place:
- > Nacelle interior details:
September 21, 2019
- > Inner mainwing engine nacelle seams puttied & sanded.
- > Two engine cowling sets for below mainwing exhaust pipe mountings one set for above mainwings puttied & sanded interiors spray painted Humbrol 78 Matt Cockpit Green + Testors Flat White 50/50 mix + 36% Flat White shading enamels replicating Verde Anticorrosione.
September 22, 2019
- > Main landing gear strut parts trimmed & base spray painted Testors Flat Aluminum enamel.
- > Main landing gear wheels assembled & sanded, base spray painted Testors Flat Rubber, Black & White Special Mix enamels.
- > Main landing gear doors trimmed, engine nacelle retaining tabs cut from styrene sheet plastic glued on.
- > Piaggio XII engine facings base spray painted Testors Flat Black & White Special Mix enamels.
- > All above including assembled engine cowlings shown below:
September 23, 2019
- > Piaggio XII engine facing crankcases painted Testors Model Master 2105 Dark Blue Gray.
- > Main landing gear wheel hubs spray painted Testors Flat Aluminum enamel, tire bottoms Poly Scale Dirt & Mud acrylics, landing gear strut area above & each side of tires Mud tires then slid in between struts.
- > Main landing gear door interiors spray painted Humbrol 78 Matt Cockpit Green + Testors Flat White 50/50 mix + 36% Flat White shading enamels replicating Verde Anticorrosione.
- > All assembled and/or partially painted kit components shown below:
September 24, 2019
- > Mainwings, engine cowlings, gun turrets topsides base spray painted Humbrol 91 Matt Black Green + 36% Testors Flat White enamels replicating Verde Oliva Scuro 2:
September 25, 2019
- > P.108B Serie II mainwing undersides base painted Testors Model Master 1726 Light Gull Grey + 36% Testors Flat White enamels replicating Grigio Azzurro Chiaro 1, engine nacelle color separation masking per Ali D'Italia 15 Piaggio P.108 publication photos.
- > More Verde Oliva Scuro 2 spray painted below P.108A mainwing leading edge undersides also per publication photos:
- > P.108A mainwing undersides will be masked & spray painted Grigio Azzurro Chiaro 1 tomorrow.
September 26, 2019
- > P.108A mainwing undersides masked & spray painted Grigio Azzurro Chiaro 1, note upper camouflage wrapping around leading edges, extending farther down engine nacelles per Ali D'Italia 15 Piaggio P.108 publication photos:
September 27, 2019
- > Topside resin engine cowling air intake scoops separated from sprues & trimmed.
- > Ali D'Italia 15 Piaggio P.108 publication photos show they had air guide stakes, fabricated them from leftover very thin clear sheet styrene plastic two per scoop, glued them in, tedious work good results
- > Underside oil cooling air intake scoops will be glued in place tomorrow, not as tedious work though parts are microscopic
September 28, 2019
- > Air & oil cooling intake scoops glued on engine nacelles then spray painted Verde Oliva Scuro 2 & Grigio Azzurro Chiaro 1:
- > Painted nacelle details, dual sets are for P.108B upper & lower exhaust piping variants:
September 29, 2019
- > Eight resin & styrene plastic propeller hub & blade sets assembled.
- > Four engine facing parts modified to accommodate glued in place 2mm diameter cylindrical plastic shafts to allow switching out engine cowlings with upper/lower exhaust piping.
September 30, 2019
- > Propeller blade tips spray painted Testors Flat White base then Flat Yellow cover enamels, set aside to dry overnight.
- > Eight 5mm circular diameter x ~10mm long acrylic plastic nibs cut & filed as engine facing mounts, fabricating them was a royal pain four glued on P.108A engine nacelle cover caps, set aside to dry overnight.
October 1, 2019
- > Plastic nibs & engine facings glued in place, below engine cowling oil cooler inlet fronts hand painted Testors Flat Black & White special mix enamels, propeller blades spray painted as well:
- > Alternative above & below exhaust piping engine exhaust cowlings for P.108B details:
- > Typical engine facing mounting arrangement detail:
October 2, 2019
- > Propeller hubs spray painted Testors Flat Aluminum enamel.
- > Mainwing undersides "weathered" with out of bottle Testors Model Master 1726 Light Gull Grey enamel replicating Grigio Azzurro Chiaro 1:
October 4, 2019
- > Mainwing topsides "weathered" with Humbrol 91 Matt Black Green + 27% Testors Flat White enamels replicating "less weathered" Verde Oliva Scuro 2 compared to the more subjected to elements Luftwaffe-operated P.108T "weathered" with out-of-bottle Humbrol 91:
October 5, 2019
- > Mainwing landing lights spray painted on with Testors Silver, navigation lights at wing tips hand painted Testors Flat Green & Model Master Insignia Red enamels.
- > Mainwing oil cooling exhaust ports spray painted Testors Black & White "special mix" enamels.
- > Engine nacelles spray painted Poly Scale Flat Black & White "grime mix" acrylics replicating blow-by.
- > Acrylic grime mix hand painted along engine cowling seams & cooling gill slats.
October 6, 2019
- > Mainwing oil cooling exhaust ports lightly spray painted Poly Scale Flat Black & White "grime mix" acrylics replicating blow-by well as feather trailing fuel filler caps.
- > All resin machine guns for the mainwing resin gun turrets spray & hand painted Testors Black & White "special mix" & Humbrol 91 Matt Black Green + 36% Testors Flat White enamels replicating Verde Oliva Scuro 2 guns then glued on the turrets.
- > All gun turrets dropped on fabricated mounts inside outer engine nacelles allowing them to freely rotate, added feature not included with the Special Hobby kits.
- > All resin engine exhaust pipe interiors base spray painted Testors Steel & Rust spot mix, interiors hand painted Black & White "special mix" enamels.
- > Exhaust pipes glued on P.108A engine cowlings those for P.108B will be glued on later.
October 7, 2019
- > P.108A engine cowlings glued in place on inner mainwing nacelles.
- > All Special Hobby kit mainwing tri-fasci water decals were affixed:
- > Mainwings & associated parts will be spray sealed Testors semi-gloss clear lacquer tomorrow, commencing work on fuselages tomorrow as well.
October 8, 2019
- > Mainwings & associated parts spray painted Testors semi-gloss clear lacquer.
- > Fuselage parts separated from sprues, several prepped for assembly & painting; fuselage parts not used for the P.108T build prepped as well, undecided whether to assemble them also:
October 9 & 10, 2019
No building work at all due to the Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) state-wide electric power shut-down due to "extreme wind conditions" leaving over 2,000,000 people - 1/19th of the state's 40 million souls - without residential or commercial power costing small businesses over U.S. $2,000,000,000 never mind larger ones nor personal losses to the 2,000,000-plus people like me none of which PG&E will take liability for PG&E restored power to me 6:55 p.m. today the 10th, will resume work tomorrow.
October 11, 2019
- > Special Hobby P.108 models lack fuselage beam machine gun parts, Ali d'Italia #15 about the P.108 includes several photos of the guns & mounts well as manufacturer's drawings of them, began fabricating the latter with sheet styrene plastic today, two spare part Breda SAFAT 7.7mm guns placed on them.
- > Fabricating the mounts will be time consuming, still figuring out how to mount them with guns on the fuselage interiors, hopefully will get everything done by Sunday the 14th.
October 12, 2019
- > Rotatable fuselage beam gun mounts fabricated, glued in place port & starboard halves one each for P.108A & B variants, Breda machine guns slid in place demonstrating they can be elevated:
October 13, 2019
- > Fuselage beam gun port covers glued on fuselage halves, i.e. each fuselage has beam gun on one side port cover on other.
- > Clear styrene kit fuselage window parts glued on fuselage halves, two per side.
- > Mounts for mainwing gun sighting stations fabricated from styrene sheet plastic, glued in place on fuselage halve interiors:
- > Resin gun sighting mounts separated from sprues & bottoms sanded allowing for free rotation well as unobstructed viewing into fuselages, extra feature not included with the model kits:
October 14, 2019
- > Fuselage halve interiors, bulkheads, cockpit & bombardier flight decks latter for the P.108B Serie I nose assembly option base spray painted Humbrol 78 Matt Cockpit Green + Testors Flat White 50/50 mix + 36% Flat White shading replicating Verde Anticorrosione, setting them to dry overnight.
October 15, 2019
- > Several cockpit flight deck kit parts base painted Testors flat black & white special mix & aluminum enamels.
- > Special Hobby kits don't include rudder control bars, fabricated them from styrene sheet plastic & painted them.
- > Resin pilot seats trimmed for painting, two arm rest support bars broke apart, replaced with sheet styrene strips:
October 16, 17, 18, 2019
- > STORMO forum went down on 18th, lost progress posts these days reposting progress photos.
- > All cockpit, bombardier/gunner flight deck & instrument panel parts painted, pilot seats glued in place:
- > Fuselage beam machine guns & associated fabricated parts fully painted & assembled:
- > Fuselage halves glued together:
October 19, 2019
- > Piaggio 108A fuselage seams sanded.
- > Extra mainwing support bracings fabricated from sheet styrene plastic glued on, fuselage interior-mounted brace provided with Special Hobby kit is insufficient.
- > Cockpit canopy panes masked, canopy glued on fuselage.
- > Cannon fuselage nose cap glued on, some puttying necessary.
- > Tailplanes glued on, some puttying necessary:
October 20, 2019
- >Piaggio P.108A fuselage & tailplane topsides base painted Humbrol 91 Matt Black Green + 36% Testors Flat White enamels replicating Verde Oliva Scuro 2:
October 21, 2019
- > Piaggio P.108B fuselage & tailplane topsides base painted Verde Oliva Scuro 2:
- > Mainwing test fits OK
October 22, 2019
Fuselage topsides "weathered" with Humbrol 91 Matt Black Green + 27% Testors Flat White enamels replicating "less weathered" Verde Oliva Scuro 2 compared to the more subjected to elements Luftwaffe-operated P.108T "weathered" with out-of-bottle Humbrol 91:
October 23, 2019
- > Fuselage tailplane underside base spray painted Testors Model Master 1726 Light Gull Grey + 36% Testors Flat White enamels replicating Grigio Azzurro Chiaro 1.
October 24, 2019
- > Fuselage undersides base painted Grigio Azzurro Chiaro 1:
October 25, 2019
- > Fuselage undersides "weathered" with out of bottle Testors Model Master 1726 Light Gull Grey enamel replicating Grigio Azzurro Chiaro 1, "weathered" uppersides touched up in places, Testors Flat White enamel identification bans spray painted on:
October 26, 2019
- > Sole Piaggio P.108A had basic Regia Aeronautica Italia identification markings well as several of the P.108B variants.
- > Special Hobby kit decals applied to fuselages, water soluble Elmer's White Glue applied in spots to better keep them down.
- > Rudder cross bottoms trimmed, Testors Flat White enamel paint brushed over rudder trailing edges, OK results.
- > Spray painting crosses on initially desired, applying & removing paint masking very time consuming, good probability breaking off tailplanes whilst doing so, good edge alignments not guaranteed as well:
Pacific Gas & Electric has declared yet another fire danger emergency, may turn off my electric power soon, won't be able to work on the model builds till Tuesday
October 28, 2019
Pacific Gas & Electric restored my electric power 3:43 p.m. local time
- > Special Hobby P.108B Serie I & II transparent kit fuselage noses glued together, paint masking them tomorrow assuming my electric power isn't cut off again due to more high winds!
October 29, 2019
- > Fuselage tail landing gear painted & assembled, externally-mounted wheel steering units fabricated from styrene sheet plastic & EZ Line elastic tread per Ali D'Italia 15 Piaggio P.108 publication photos & drawings:
October 30, 2019
- > Special Hobby P.108B model kit radio mast & D/F "football" spray painted Humbrol 91 Matt Black Green + 36% Testors Flat White enamels replicating Verde Oliva Scuro 2 then glued on the P.108B model fuselage per Ali D'Italia 15 publication photos & drawings of the aircraft.
- > P.108A radio mast-mounted pitot tube assembly scratch built from styrene sheet plastic & EZ line elastic thread per page 33 Ali D'Italia 15 publication photo of the P.108A's nose taken from starboard, assembly then glued on the Special Hobby P.108A model kit radio mast, spray painted Verde Oliva Scruo 2, elastic thread "pitots" hand painted Testors Bronze enamel, mast then glued on the P.108A model fuselage per page 33 photo.
- > The Ali D'Italia 15 publication side view drawing of the P.108A shows it having a D/F loop, page 33 photo of its nose shows it didn't so left it off.
- > P.108A Special Hobby model kit instructions say apply fuselage fasci decals below the forward cockpit, page 33 photo shows no fasci, applied them anyway guessing it was taken sometime after the September 8, 1943 Italian armistice.
- > Special Hobby P.108A resin nose cannon part painted Testors Black & White "special mix" enamels, part then glued in a slot below the P.108A model fuselage nose at a slight downward angle per Ali D'Italia 15 publication drawing of the aircraft.
- > P.108A & B model fuselages over sprayed with Testors Clear Semi-Gloss Lacquer; P.108A's starboard fasci blew off whilst doing so removed starboard one, applied matching fasci from extra set of Special Hobby P.108 kit decals.
- > Clear plastic paint masking removed from both fuselages, mainwings go on tomorrow
October 31, 2019
- > Piaggio P.108A mainwings glued on fuselage.
- > Port mainwing-fuselage root join leading & trailing edges slightly misaligned, gluing them together made for better topside viewing of the root join, slight amount of underside mainwing bowing resulted though not enough to warrant correcting.
- > Starboard mainwing-fuselage root join OK though with a noticeable topside gap, masked it off, putty filled in & shaped seam line with round toothpicks, very good results
- > Mainwing landing gear assemblies & doors glued on, good results though gear is splayed outwards, not enough to warrant correcting either.
- > Special Hobby kit clear injected plastic retractable fuselage ventral gun turret cap parts masked & base spray painted Humbrol 78 Matt Cockpit Green + Testors Flat White 50/50 mix + 36% Flat White shading replicating Verde Anticorrosione then Testors Model Master 1726 Light Gull Grey + 36% Testors Flat White enamels replicating Grigio Azzurro Chiaro 1, set them aside to dry overnight.
- > The ventral gun turret caps are meant to be glued over the fuselage ventral gun turret holes, will determine whether they can be modified to freely rotate by plugging them in the holes.
- > Model completion hopefully late tomorrow November 1st.
November 1, 2019
Piaggio P.108 Artigliere completed, see posting below, resuming P.108 Bombardiere construction work tomorrow.
November 2 & 3, 2019
- > Three Piaggio P.108A kit clear plastic fuselage noses assembled, masked & base spray painted Humbrol 78 Matt Cockpit Green + Testors Flat White 50/50 mix + 36% Flat White shading enamels replicating Verde Anticorrosione November 2nd, set aside to dry.
- > Nose assemblies painted Humbrol 91 Matt Black Green + 36% Testors Flat White enamels replicating Verde Oliva Scuro 2, Testors Model Master 1726 Light Gull Grey + 36% Testors Flat White enamels replicating Grigio Azzurro Chiaro 1 November 3rd, dried then over sprayed with Testors semi-gloss clear lacquer, masking removed, paint over spray cleaned off clear areas, good results
- > One nose assembly is P.108A Serie II without gun turret, two Serie I with gun turret each having different pitot mast locations, assembling pitot & mast units tomorrow.
- > Eight nose assembly retaining tabs cut from styrene sheet plastic then glued inside fuselage nose, Serie I nose test fits good, Serie II's tight though can get it to fit, painting over tabs with Verde Anticorrosione tomorrow.
- > Evaluating whether can fabricate mount for Serie I turret guns, if can will commence doing so tomorrow as well.
November 4, 2019
- > Vertically trainable P.108A Serie I nose machine gun turret mounts fabricated, spray painting then gluing them inside Serie I nose assemblies below turrets tomorrow.
- > "Spear" Special Hobby kit injected plastic pitot tube mast glued on one Serie I tip center nose.
- > Curved Special Hobby kit injected plastic pitot tube mast glued on Serie II nose port side.
November 5, 2019
- > Piaggio P.108A nose assemblies fully painted & fuselage test fitted:
November 6, 2019
- > Piaggio P.108B mainwings glued on fuselage.
- > Port mainwing-fuselage root join leading & trailing edges slightly misaligned, gluing them together made for better topside viewing of the root join, noticeable underside root gap, masked it off, putty filled in & shaped seam line with round toothpicks, good results.
- > Starboard mainwing-fuselage root join OK though with a noticeable topside gap, masked it off, putty filled in & shaped seam line with round toothpicks, good results.
- > Mainwing landing gear assemblies & doors glued on, good results though gear is splayed outwards, not enough to warrant correcting either.
- > Mainwing gun sighting station domes masked, painted & assembled.
- > Ventral gun turret cap modified to plug in fuselage hole.
The 1/72 scale Special Hobby P.108 A & B Serie II are amongst the largest WWII Italian aircraft model kits on the market. The injected plastic kits with resin detail parts are potentially difficult to build, having many parts in common they'll be constructed concurrently to save on masking & painting resources well as time though it'll take nearly too months to finish them, below is a photo of the open-box kits:
September 15, 2019
- > Tailplanes of both models assembled.
- > Cut styrene sheet plastic strips replicating oil coolers fitted & glued in place behind oil cooling inlets on lower mainwing halves of both models (Cunarmodel+Special Hobby P.108T build didn't include them ), area in front of them spray painted Humbrol 78 Matt Cockpit Green + Testors Flat White 50/50 mix + 36% Flat White shading replicating Verde Anticorrosione, sheet plastic strips Testors Brass enamels:
- > Testors Brass paint dries really slow, will assemble mainwing halves tomorrow.
September 16, 2019
- > Special Hobby P.108 kits don't have mainwing gun turret mounts allowing them to freely turn, fabricated sets from sheet styrene plastic, glued them in place underneath resized holes in engine nacelles, sprayed painted them Verde Anticorrosine, mainwing halves glued together afterwards:
September 17, 2019
- > Assembled mainwing leading edges puttied in places then sanded.
- > Outer engine lower nacelle housings (i.e. those with gun turrents) glued in place & puttied.
September 18, 2019
- > Outer engine nacelle seams sanded, engine end caps glued in place.
- > Work on assembling inside engine nacelles commences tomorrow.
September 19, 2019
- > Inside engine nacelle parts glued together & puttied seams, interiors & associated interior parts spray painted Humbrol 78 Matt Cockpit Green + Testors Flat White 50/50 mix + 36% Flat White shading enamels replicating Verde Anticorrosione, sanding seams tomorrow.
- > Mainwing areas where nacelles will be glued on for both models masked off & spray painted Verde Anticorrosione.
- > Outer mainwing nacelle engine mounts for both models glued on.
- > Engine cowlings glued together.
- > Special Hobby P.108A & B Serie II kits provides cowlings for mounting exhausts pipes above & below mainwings depending on aircraft type, all were assembled knowing the P.108A model will have below mainwing pipes whilst the P.108B Serie II model might be modified to alternatively fit cowlings with above mainwing pipes as seen on the P.108 prototype well as early production P.108B aircraft well as below as seen on Serie II aircraft.
September 20, 2019
- > Inner mainwing engine nacelles, engine end caps & mounts glued in place:
- > Nacelle interior details:
September 21, 2019
- > Inner mainwing engine nacelle seams puttied & sanded.
- > Two engine cowling sets for below mainwing exhaust pipe mountings one set for above mainwings puttied & sanded interiors spray painted Humbrol 78 Matt Cockpit Green + Testors Flat White 50/50 mix + 36% Flat White shading enamels replicating Verde Anticorrosione.
September 22, 2019
- > Main landing gear strut parts trimmed & base spray painted Testors Flat Aluminum enamel.
- > Main landing gear wheels assembled & sanded, base spray painted Testors Flat Rubber, Black & White Special Mix enamels.
- > Main landing gear doors trimmed, engine nacelle retaining tabs cut from styrene sheet plastic glued on.
- > Piaggio XII engine facings base spray painted Testors Flat Black & White Special Mix enamels.
- > All above including assembled engine cowlings shown below:
September 23, 2019
- > Piaggio XII engine facing crankcases painted Testors Model Master 2105 Dark Blue Gray.
- > Main landing gear wheel hubs spray painted Testors Flat Aluminum enamel, tire bottoms Poly Scale Dirt & Mud acrylics, landing gear strut area above & each side of tires Mud tires then slid in between struts.
- > Main landing gear door interiors spray painted Humbrol 78 Matt Cockpit Green + Testors Flat White 50/50 mix + 36% Flat White shading enamels replicating Verde Anticorrosione.
- > All assembled and/or partially painted kit components shown below:
September 24, 2019
- > Mainwings, engine cowlings, gun turrets topsides base spray painted Humbrol 91 Matt Black Green + 36% Testors Flat White enamels replicating Verde Oliva Scuro 2:
September 25, 2019
- > P.108B Serie II mainwing undersides base painted Testors Model Master 1726 Light Gull Grey + 36% Testors Flat White enamels replicating Grigio Azzurro Chiaro 1, engine nacelle color separation masking per Ali D'Italia 15 Piaggio P.108 publication photos.
- > More Verde Oliva Scuro 2 spray painted below P.108A mainwing leading edge undersides also per publication photos:
- > P.108A mainwing undersides will be masked & spray painted Grigio Azzurro Chiaro 1 tomorrow.
September 26, 2019
- > P.108A mainwing undersides masked & spray painted Grigio Azzurro Chiaro 1, note upper camouflage wrapping around leading edges, extending farther down engine nacelles per Ali D'Italia 15 Piaggio P.108 publication photos:
September 27, 2019
- > Topside resin engine cowling air intake scoops separated from sprues & trimmed.
- > Ali D'Italia 15 Piaggio P.108 publication photos show they had air guide stakes, fabricated them from leftover very thin clear sheet styrene plastic two per scoop, glued them in, tedious work good results
- > Underside oil cooling air intake scoops will be glued in place tomorrow, not as tedious work though parts are microscopic
September 28, 2019
- > Air & oil cooling intake scoops glued on engine nacelles then spray painted Verde Oliva Scuro 2 & Grigio Azzurro Chiaro 1:
- > Painted nacelle details, dual sets are for P.108B upper & lower exhaust piping variants:
September 29, 2019
- > Eight resin & styrene plastic propeller hub & blade sets assembled.
- > Four engine facing parts modified to accommodate glued in place 2mm diameter cylindrical plastic shafts to allow switching out engine cowlings with upper/lower exhaust piping.
September 30, 2019
- > Propeller blade tips spray painted Testors Flat White base then Flat Yellow cover enamels, set aside to dry overnight.
- > Eight 5mm circular diameter x ~10mm long acrylic plastic nibs cut & filed as engine facing mounts, fabricating them was a royal pain four glued on P.108A engine nacelle cover caps, set aside to dry overnight.
October 1, 2019
- > Plastic nibs & engine facings glued in place, below engine cowling oil cooler inlet fronts hand painted Testors Flat Black & White special mix enamels, propeller blades spray painted as well:
- > Alternative above & below exhaust piping engine exhaust cowlings for P.108B details:
- > Typical engine facing mounting arrangement detail:
October 2, 2019
- > Propeller hubs spray painted Testors Flat Aluminum enamel.
- > Mainwing undersides "weathered" with out of bottle Testors Model Master 1726 Light Gull Grey enamel replicating Grigio Azzurro Chiaro 1:
October 4, 2019
- > Mainwing topsides "weathered" with Humbrol 91 Matt Black Green + 27% Testors Flat White enamels replicating "less weathered" Verde Oliva Scuro 2 compared to the more subjected to elements Luftwaffe-operated P.108T "weathered" with out-of-bottle Humbrol 91:
October 5, 2019
- > Mainwing landing lights spray painted on with Testors Silver, navigation lights at wing tips hand painted Testors Flat Green & Model Master Insignia Red enamels.
- > Mainwing oil cooling exhaust ports spray painted Testors Black & White "special mix" enamels.
- > Engine nacelles spray painted Poly Scale Flat Black & White "grime mix" acrylics replicating blow-by.
- > Acrylic grime mix hand painted along engine cowling seams & cooling gill slats.
October 6, 2019
- > Mainwing oil cooling exhaust ports lightly spray painted Poly Scale Flat Black & White "grime mix" acrylics replicating blow-by well as feather trailing fuel filler caps.
- > All resin machine guns for the mainwing resin gun turrets spray & hand painted Testors Black & White "special mix" & Humbrol 91 Matt Black Green + 36% Testors Flat White enamels replicating Verde Oliva Scuro 2 guns then glued on the turrets.
- > All gun turrets dropped on fabricated mounts inside outer engine nacelles allowing them to freely rotate, added feature not included with the Special Hobby kits.
- > All resin engine exhaust pipe interiors base spray painted Testors Steel & Rust spot mix, interiors hand painted Black & White "special mix" enamels.
- > Exhaust pipes glued on P.108A engine cowlings those for P.108B will be glued on later.
October 7, 2019
- > P.108A engine cowlings glued in place on inner mainwing nacelles.
- > All Special Hobby kit mainwing tri-fasci water decals were affixed:
- > Mainwings & associated parts will be spray sealed Testors semi-gloss clear lacquer tomorrow, commencing work on fuselages tomorrow as well.
October 8, 2019
- > Mainwings & associated parts spray painted Testors semi-gloss clear lacquer.
- > Fuselage parts separated from sprues, several prepped for assembly & painting; fuselage parts not used for the P.108T build prepped as well, undecided whether to assemble them also:
October 9 & 10, 2019
No building work at all due to the Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) state-wide electric power shut-down due to "extreme wind conditions" leaving over 2,000,000 people - 1/19th of the state's 40 million souls - without residential or commercial power costing small businesses over U.S. $2,000,000,000 never mind larger ones nor personal losses to the 2,000,000-plus people like me none of which PG&E will take liability for PG&E restored power to me 6:55 p.m. today the 10th, will resume work tomorrow.
October 11, 2019
- > Special Hobby P.108 models lack fuselage beam machine gun parts, Ali d'Italia #15 about the P.108 includes several photos of the guns & mounts well as manufacturer's drawings of them, began fabricating the latter with sheet styrene plastic today, two spare part Breda SAFAT 7.7mm guns placed on them.
- > Fabricating the mounts will be time consuming, still figuring out how to mount them with guns on the fuselage interiors, hopefully will get everything done by Sunday the 14th.
October 12, 2019
- > Rotatable fuselage beam gun mounts fabricated, glued in place port & starboard halves one each for P.108A & B variants, Breda machine guns slid in place demonstrating they can be elevated:
October 13, 2019
- > Fuselage beam gun port covers glued on fuselage halves, i.e. each fuselage has beam gun on one side port cover on other.
- > Clear styrene kit fuselage window parts glued on fuselage halves, two per side.
- > Mounts for mainwing gun sighting stations fabricated from styrene sheet plastic, glued in place on fuselage halve interiors:
- > Resin gun sighting mounts separated from sprues & bottoms sanded allowing for free rotation well as unobstructed viewing into fuselages, extra feature not included with the model kits:
October 14, 2019
- > Fuselage halve interiors, bulkheads, cockpit & bombardier flight decks latter for the P.108B Serie I nose assembly option base spray painted Humbrol 78 Matt Cockpit Green + Testors Flat White 50/50 mix + 36% Flat White shading replicating Verde Anticorrosione, setting them to dry overnight.
October 15, 2019
- > Several cockpit flight deck kit parts base painted Testors flat black & white special mix & aluminum enamels.
- > Special Hobby kits don't include rudder control bars, fabricated them from styrene sheet plastic & painted them.
- > Resin pilot seats trimmed for painting, two arm rest support bars broke apart, replaced with sheet styrene strips:
October 16, 17, 18, 2019
- > STORMO forum went down on 18th, lost progress posts these days reposting progress photos.
- > All cockpit, bombardier/gunner flight deck & instrument panel parts painted, pilot seats glued in place:
- > Fuselage beam machine guns & associated fabricated parts fully painted & assembled:
- > Fuselage halves glued together:
October 19, 2019
- > Piaggio 108A fuselage seams sanded.
- > Extra mainwing support bracings fabricated from sheet styrene plastic glued on, fuselage interior-mounted brace provided with Special Hobby kit is insufficient.
- > Cockpit canopy panes masked, canopy glued on fuselage.
- > Cannon fuselage nose cap glued on, some puttying necessary.
- > Tailplanes glued on, some puttying necessary:
October 20, 2019
- >Piaggio P.108A fuselage & tailplane topsides base painted Humbrol 91 Matt Black Green + 36% Testors Flat White enamels replicating Verde Oliva Scuro 2:
October 21, 2019
- > Piaggio P.108B fuselage & tailplane topsides base painted Verde Oliva Scuro 2:
- > Mainwing test fits OK
October 22, 2019
Fuselage topsides "weathered" with Humbrol 91 Matt Black Green + 27% Testors Flat White enamels replicating "less weathered" Verde Oliva Scuro 2 compared to the more subjected to elements Luftwaffe-operated P.108T "weathered" with out-of-bottle Humbrol 91:
October 23, 2019
- > Fuselage tailplane underside base spray painted Testors Model Master 1726 Light Gull Grey + 36% Testors Flat White enamels replicating Grigio Azzurro Chiaro 1.
October 24, 2019
- > Fuselage undersides base painted Grigio Azzurro Chiaro 1:
October 25, 2019
- > Fuselage undersides "weathered" with out of bottle Testors Model Master 1726 Light Gull Grey enamel replicating Grigio Azzurro Chiaro 1, "weathered" uppersides touched up in places, Testors Flat White enamel identification bans spray painted on:
October 26, 2019
- > Sole Piaggio P.108A had basic Regia Aeronautica Italia identification markings well as several of the P.108B variants.
- > Special Hobby kit decals applied to fuselages, water soluble Elmer's White Glue applied in spots to better keep them down.
- > Rudder cross bottoms trimmed, Testors Flat White enamel paint brushed over rudder trailing edges, OK results.
- > Spray painting crosses on initially desired, applying & removing paint masking very time consuming, good probability breaking off tailplanes whilst doing so, good edge alignments not guaranteed as well:
Pacific Gas & Electric has declared yet another fire danger emergency, may turn off my electric power soon, won't be able to work on the model builds till Tuesday
October 28, 2019
Pacific Gas & Electric restored my electric power 3:43 p.m. local time
- > Special Hobby P.108B Serie I & II transparent kit fuselage noses glued together, paint masking them tomorrow assuming my electric power isn't cut off again due to more high winds!
October 29, 2019
- > Fuselage tail landing gear painted & assembled, externally-mounted wheel steering units fabricated from styrene sheet plastic & EZ Line elastic tread per Ali D'Italia 15 Piaggio P.108 publication photos & drawings:
October 30, 2019
- > Special Hobby P.108B model kit radio mast & D/F "football" spray painted Humbrol 91 Matt Black Green + 36% Testors Flat White enamels replicating Verde Oliva Scuro 2 then glued on the P.108B model fuselage per Ali D'Italia 15 publication photos & drawings of the aircraft.
- > P.108A radio mast-mounted pitot tube assembly scratch built from styrene sheet plastic & EZ line elastic thread per page 33 Ali D'Italia 15 publication photo of the P.108A's nose taken from starboard, assembly then glued on the Special Hobby P.108A model kit radio mast, spray painted Verde Oliva Scruo 2, elastic thread "pitots" hand painted Testors Bronze enamel, mast then glued on the P.108A model fuselage per page 33 photo.
- > The Ali D'Italia 15 publication side view drawing of the P.108A shows it having a D/F loop, page 33 photo of its nose shows it didn't so left it off.
- > P.108A Special Hobby model kit instructions say apply fuselage fasci decals below the forward cockpit, page 33 photo shows no fasci, applied them anyway guessing it was taken sometime after the September 8, 1943 Italian armistice.
- > Special Hobby P.108A resin nose cannon part painted Testors Black & White "special mix" enamels, part then glued in a slot below the P.108A model fuselage nose at a slight downward angle per Ali D'Italia 15 publication drawing of the aircraft.
- > P.108A & B model fuselages over sprayed with Testors Clear Semi-Gloss Lacquer; P.108A's starboard fasci blew off whilst doing so removed starboard one, applied matching fasci from extra set of Special Hobby P.108 kit decals.
- > Clear plastic paint masking removed from both fuselages, mainwings go on tomorrow
October 31, 2019
- > Piaggio P.108A mainwings glued on fuselage.
- > Port mainwing-fuselage root join leading & trailing edges slightly misaligned, gluing them together made for better topside viewing of the root join, slight amount of underside mainwing bowing resulted though not enough to warrant correcting.
- > Starboard mainwing-fuselage root join OK though with a noticeable topside gap, masked it off, putty filled in & shaped seam line with round toothpicks, very good results
- > Mainwing landing gear assemblies & doors glued on, good results though gear is splayed outwards, not enough to warrant correcting either.
- > Special Hobby kit clear injected plastic retractable fuselage ventral gun turret cap parts masked & base spray painted Humbrol 78 Matt Cockpit Green + Testors Flat White 50/50 mix + 36% Flat White shading replicating Verde Anticorrosione then Testors Model Master 1726 Light Gull Grey + 36% Testors Flat White enamels replicating Grigio Azzurro Chiaro 1, set them aside to dry overnight.
- > The ventral gun turret caps are meant to be glued over the fuselage ventral gun turret holes, will determine whether they can be modified to freely rotate by plugging them in the holes.
- > Model completion hopefully late tomorrow November 1st.
November 1, 2019
Piaggio P.108 Artigliere completed, see posting below, resuming P.108 Bombardiere construction work tomorrow.
November 2 & 3, 2019
- > Three Piaggio P.108A kit clear plastic fuselage noses assembled, masked & base spray painted Humbrol 78 Matt Cockpit Green + Testors Flat White 50/50 mix + 36% Flat White shading enamels replicating Verde Anticorrosione November 2nd, set aside to dry.
- > Nose assemblies painted Humbrol 91 Matt Black Green + 36% Testors Flat White enamels replicating Verde Oliva Scuro 2, Testors Model Master 1726 Light Gull Grey + 36% Testors Flat White enamels replicating Grigio Azzurro Chiaro 1 November 3rd, dried then over sprayed with Testors semi-gloss clear lacquer, masking removed, paint over spray cleaned off clear areas, good results
- > One nose assembly is P.108A Serie II without gun turret, two Serie I with gun turret each having different pitot mast locations, assembling pitot & mast units tomorrow.
- > Eight nose assembly retaining tabs cut from styrene sheet plastic then glued inside fuselage nose, Serie I nose test fits good, Serie II's tight though can get it to fit, painting over tabs with Verde Anticorrosione tomorrow.
- > Evaluating whether can fabricate mount for Serie I turret guns, if can will commence doing so tomorrow as well.
November 4, 2019
- > Vertically trainable P.108A Serie I nose machine gun turret mounts fabricated, spray painting then gluing them inside Serie I nose assemblies below turrets tomorrow.
- > "Spear" Special Hobby kit injected plastic pitot tube mast glued on one Serie I tip center nose.
- > Curved Special Hobby kit injected plastic pitot tube mast glued on Serie II nose port side.
November 5, 2019
- > Piaggio P.108A nose assemblies fully painted & fuselage test fitted:
November 6, 2019
- > Piaggio P.108B mainwings glued on fuselage.
- > Port mainwing-fuselage root join leading & trailing edges slightly misaligned, gluing them together made for better topside viewing of the root join, noticeable underside root gap, masked it off, putty filled in & shaped seam line with round toothpicks, good results.
- > Starboard mainwing-fuselage root join OK though with a noticeable topside gap, masked it off, putty filled in & shaped seam line with round toothpicks, good results.
- > Mainwing landing gear assemblies & doors glued on, good results though gear is splayed outwards, not enough to warrant correcting either.
- > Mainwing gun sighting station domes masked, painted & assembled.
- > Ventral gun turret cap modified to plug in fuselage hole.
Last edited by RetiredInKalifornia on Wed Nov 06, 2019 6:33 pm, edited 40 times in total.
- RetiredInKalifornia
- Generale di Divisone Aerea
- Posts: 467
- Joined: Fri Jun 14, 2019 6:34 pm
SEM Model Has Released A New 1/72 Savoia-Marchetti SM.84 Kit
Got e-mail today from SEM Model, they've released an all new 1/72 scale Savoia-Marchetti SM.84 kit!
Click Here For The Webpage
UPDATE: Back in stock c. late November 2019 per October 25th e-mail to me
Click Here For The Webpage
UPDATE: Back in stock c. late November 2019 per October 25th e-mail to me
Last edited by RetiredInKalifornia on Sat Oct 26, 2019 9:55 am, edited 7 times in total.
- RetiredInKalifornia
- Generale di Divisone Aerea
- Posts: 467
- Joined: Fri Jun 14, 2019 6:34 pm
Post Deleted.
Last edited by RetiredInKalifornia on Sun Jun 07, 2020 7:37 pm, edited 71 times in total.
Re: Proposed Late Fall 2019/Winter-Early Spring 2020 Model Builds
All cool projects. The C.207 should be a very cool project to do.RetiredInKalifornia wrote: ↑Thu Oct 24, 2019 7:40 pmConcurrent Single Or Multi-Subject:
Group I:
- SEM Model Savoia-Marchetti S.73 conversion kit with SUPERMODEL S.81 injected plastic donor parts & Quickboost S.79 resin cowlings
Group II:
- SEM Model Savoia-Marchetti S.74
- SEM Model Aeronautica Macchi C.205N-1
- SEM Model Aeronautica Macchi C.205N-2
Group III:
- Cunarmodel Aeronautica Macchi C.207
- Xotic-72 Savoia-Marchetti SM.84 (2 Kits)
Group IV:
- SEM Model Savoia-Marchetti SM.84 - Back in stock c. late November 2019 per October 25th e-mail to me
- Italian Kits Wings Caproni Ca.135S (Purchased one October 2019)
Single Subject:
- Omega Models Caproni Ca.335
- Cunarmodel Savoia-Marchetti SM.89 (may be built in conjunction with Group II in Tavola X "continental" colors)
- RS Models Reggiane Re.2007 (post WWII turbojet design, resin & clear vacuform plastic parts)
- BroPlan Caproni Ca.316 (vacuform & injected plastic detail parts)