Topic: Fiat CR 32 Build.

Had a couple of weeks off from the build to go on holiday but made a bit more progress since.
I decided that the fairly complicated undercarriage construction needed Silver Soldering.  However I have now discovered another skill that I`m not much good at.
Good story associated with it though.
I put Silver solder into a search engine to find out where I could buy some from and the first hit was a firm   ( Or a guy that trades from home it transpired ) in Chesterfield , only 10 miles from where I live. Next morning I couldnt get back on the web site to get the exact address but I had a good idea where it was , so set off to see if I could find it.  I went to the area sub post office to ask if they knew the firm but drew a blank.  As I left the PO a retired age gent was about to enter so I asked him if he had heard of CuP Alloys , he said not but asked what metal I was trying to get.  When I told him and showed him some of the wire I was hoping to solder he said he could help and made me follow him home .  It transpired that he taught Silversmithing at Night School . He gave me a demo, asked if I would like to bring the wirework to him to do. When I said I didn`t like to trouble him he insisted on giving me some solder and some flux and told me to return if I had trouble.
what a coincidence and what a nice Gent.
However  did have a lot of trouble and struggled for the whole weekend. Conclusion after asking , was that a dirty flame was messing up the flux and the solder wouldnt " Run ".
I have sort of tack soldered it and used a lot of saddle clamps.
On reflection a swinging wishbone and functioning strut would have been easier to engineer and I may change to that if the rigid set up fails.


The  soldering of the gussets was much better but it didnt need so much heat as the 6 and 8 swg wire , so perhaps thats why.

The mounting wires for the Spats were lead soldered , which seemed much easier.!

 However I did set the fuselage on fire in a careless moment !  You can laugh or cringe at that .



 Faired in the lower wing belly pan with sheet and planking

I have done a bit more since but this post is big enough for now.
Regards, Dennis.

 Don"t worry Dennis,
         I think everyone sets fire to part of a model every now and then trying to silver solder!...it"s just that there"s so much heat needed, often at areas in a model with wooden structure so close!
  Many a small fire I"ve blew out, trying to get cabanes etc silver soldered...
  The build is looking very sharp.....going to be a beauty

  Cliff
   

If I see much more of this thread I am going to have to get my Cirri plans out! 

Hi Cliff and Stuey,
Thanks for looking in,which plans have you got Stuey?
Mine are from the Roy Bowron, plan but there were a set of free plans that came with Radio Modeler, Sept 95 , by Paul Blakeborough. A tad smaller at 54", but the original was very nicely finished.
Assembled the bare airframe, just pinned on the tail feathers, to see how it looked and check the two wings were parallel to each other.  ( They were not ! ) some bodging to do there.





Started Solartexing now but I only bought one roll, which was a bit silly as it only covered the top wing.
Regards, Dennis.

i have the RM plans, liked it so much I bought two copies at the time coz I knew one day I might just make it. Your's is bigger though... MMM are the plans for that still available?

Is that an OS52 installed there?

Hi Stuey,
Yes the plans are available from Encanta but I have a set of them that I had enlarged by 10 % , so now have two sets.The original at 63" and the new set at 70" You can have either or both of them if your thinking of building. The originals right away, the enlarged version in a month or so. Just let me know and PM me your address.
The original by Roy B used an Enya 60 FS and at present I have an OS 91 FS up front.
Regards, Den.

Have now covered the open structures with Solartex.  ( I`d forgotten what nice material it is to work with )
Glass and epoxied the sheet and planked areas.
Made up the Warren Struts from 3 layers of 1/16 ply. ( The 8 of them weigh 5 oz ! )
Trial fitted everything and made up some Spats. I worked out that using laminations of 1/2" balsa it would cost me about £6.50, so thought I`d try Blue foam and I`m quite pleased with the results. They need glassing and filling yet.
I`m still working on the Main undercarriage struts and need to fair in the tail wheel somehow.
Should be ready for a coat of Primer next week, and then it`s final colour scheme.  I`m tempted by either a Spanish Civil War scheme or the Doped Silver with the Green,White and Red rudder of the early Italian Airforce.

Very very nice, its coming on great mate

Ian.

Hi Dennis,
         Fiat is looking a treat....bursting with character!
       
   Cliff 

Thanks Ian. Thanks Cliff, good to hear from you both.
 Ian , may see you at BH over the weekend. Presume you`ll be there. Will look out for the " Scouting for Boys " tent !
Regards, Dennis.

Been adding the final details before priming.
Some of the hinged and removable engine access panels,the exhaust ports  the cooling louvres ( bought ), the oil tank cooling vanes and tail wheel fairing.I gave the balsa areas a flow coat of thinned epoxy when I`d finished but forgot to Tack Rag the work. I think I`ll have a lot of difficult sanding to  flat out the "Bits" tomorrow.

Few more pics, the Radiator which was left unpainted on some CR32`s I decided to reproduce in Litho. However , though I  tried to recess it into the cowl sheeting it still sticks out a little.  I dont know whether Litho comes in different thicknesses but my sheet is about 1/64" thick and  I can cut it with Kitchen scissors but not with an old Stanley knife blade. How do folks cut fine parts  for windscreen frames etc?


Also made a bit of a mess of the sheeted areas. I had glass and epoxied them , then added some details then gave it all it`s final flow coat. However I would normally flat and skim the excess with an old credit card but as there were so many obstructions in the way I didn`t bother and left it to harden as a flow coat. This was a bad idea as it isnt very self leveling and has left a very lumpy bumpy surface which is almost impossible to sand because of all the struts and other surface details.  So I`m a bit disappointed with the finish and a coat of Halfords primer highlighted the flaws even more. It will have to be viewed from afar I fear.  As i cant go back now. Ah well it was only ever going to be " Sport Scale " anyway.
Ailerons have a curious assisted booster.



Painting. I`d ordered some Warbirds Paint from Phil but as its not part of his standard stock it has to come from the States. I`d not expected to be ready for painting yet but  more windy weather has prompted me to  build rather than fly . So I`ll go down the Enamel Tinlets route I`m afraid.  ( If your looking in Phil, I`ll still need the paint for my next project, which will also be Italian . )
My chosen scheme is the Spanish Civil war  " La Cuchara" one , taken from " Flying Colours " I`m hoping that the disruptive pattern will hide some of the poor finish as the Silver would surely highlight the imperfections.
( I know Cliff will be pleased with the choice ! )


Finaly.
Does anyone recognise this WW2 Aeroengine. Seen as part of a beachside sculpture park on the east coast of Italy. Poor light I`m afraid.




Regards, Dennis.

Looking good as ever.

As for the engine. Not a clue. I take it you know. I have a wild guess at a RR vulture.

PHIL Gould

Hi Dennis,
       Yup!....looking extremly well in that scheme mate..... jeepers but you hold waste time at the building!
        I think I know about the warbirds colours you need....a nice sleek fighter on the way next then?
        Been doing some overtime whilst the oppertunity came up, and has held me back a little in the workshop, but still gaining momentum towards the big Val build, giving phil a chance to catch up on things before I send the plan over for him to give a few pointers etc 

 Cliff

I dunno how ya do it Dennis ........last time I looked you were soldering up U/C parts....now it's covered, detailed & pretty much painted............and looking VERY nice.

No probs on the WBC order.....(it won't be far away)

Phil

Hi Dennis,
         Looking beautifully ugly if you know what i mean I certainly enjoy all your builds, and this one is no exception, Nice one mate

Walts 

Thanks chaps.
Another grey and blustery day with rain forecast by dinnertime.  Time to get the paint out again !
Another advantage of the Spanish Civil War scheme is that the National markings ate mostly plain circles or straight lines.  Bow pen and brush to block in the Black roundels and Tamiya masking tape for the lines .  ( Great find and so much better than the standard paper stuff. ) Hardly any creep and that only where my surface prep was poor.










Still need to paint the numbers and the La Cuchachara ( Cockroach ) insignia on the fuselage and think about some weathering n dirt. It will be a while now before I make any more progress.
Regards, Dennis.

Hi Dennis
Only just caught up with this one. Last time i looked you were soldering the undercarriage up.
Looks like another good build, and unusual subject.
Like the colour scheme as well.
Will it be ready for the Osbournby fly in?
Richard

I don`t think it will be ready for Osbournby Richard. If I had another weeks holiday I could do it but !
I have been playing with the paint brush an enamels in the evenings though.  Done the Cockroach symbol ( a bit wobbly in places ) and Frisk masked the Squadron code letters.




 
Pilot next to paint, he`s 1/5 th scale but looks a bit big. The model works out at 1/5.3. I guess he`ll shrink when the wings are mounted.  1/6th definitely looks too small.

 Dennis,
  The Fiat really looks the part now ...
    ..when the national markings etc are applied, the project does spring to life..
 great stuff!

 Cliff.

Painted up the pilot , and made an instrument panel from a bit of Litho , some acetate and some photocopied instruments.
No Bezels its not Fine Scale work ! (Too lazy.)
However other than seeing photos of Italian pilots of the period wearing pale coloured canvas helmets Ive no idea what their flying clothing was like.
My  rubber pilot has a leather flying jacket ( It`s a 1/5 scale British chap )  Presumably the Italians wore something other than a cotton overall  as its cold at 20,000 feet even over the Med but would they wear a jacket like this ?  What colour were their Uniform shirts ?
Should I re-paint him or will it do ?

It will do,

Who's going to tell at 2 miles anyway.  LOL 


On a more serious note.

Looking very nice.

Phil

 Will do fine Dennis,
            .......get the pilot and dash in..and post a couple of pics......flying please!

  Cliff

Its finished, I think.









MIGHT take it up to the field tomorrow but might need to love it for a while before risking it.  ( Need to let the paint harden of course )
Regards, Dennis.

Dennis, that's just terrific, brilliant. As you know this is a fave of mine... And your's is fantastic from the pics.

That cowl really sets it off, you said it was tricky, but seeing it in the photos it must have been worth the effort.

Looking forward to seeing it in flight, don't rush it though...

Wonder if it will be at the xmas do??

I must get building........

That is one beautiful looking plane.

That is one beautiful looking plane.

I was lucky enough to see Dennis's other work on the sturm and typhoon at Osbourby last week, so I know this''ll look even better in the flesh

Dennis,
          You"ve captured the character of the full-size just about perfect there......excellent model, and will be even nicer in the air, the weather, I thnk, is turning a little better over the next few days....when"s the maiden??

       Cliff

As the little China man in lethal weapon 4 said "Broody marveres"
Very well done there Dennis

Walts

Splendid   

Agreed, a lovely job, really something to be proud of.

Dave S

Thanks chaps. Took it up to the field and as it was a perfect day weather wise I hadn`t many excuses left !
 It needed a lot of down trim to trim it out and the first flight was a bit nerve wracking but second and third had it cruising around nicely.  Although it doesnt exactly float in to land. Had to keep it quite fast as I was running out of up elevator on landing and it needs more practice or elevator movement to perfect the flair. I think the wing loading is higher than I expected it to be. Though I havn`t weighed it yet.
Still I`m happy with it so far and it`s still in one piece !













Thanks to Phil G for acting as photographer.
He maidened his Flair FW 190 today as well. Pics on his thread soon.
Regards to all. Dennis.

Are you sure that paints dry mate, it looks like its all coming off to me

Very well done mate, fantastic job

Right then, this thread is now closed, on with the next, has the thread started already?

What is it, what size etc etc!!???

Stunning.

Ian.

Well done Dennis,  ::cc

This one of the first time Dennis as test flown a model. He was nervous. But we nursed him through it. 

The landing gear is very sturdy. As proven. 

Great plane to see in the flesh.

 

Phil Gould

Whats next Ian ?
Staying with the Italian theme.
WW2 Low wing monoplane.
Alfa Romeo built V12.
Very elegant design. IMHO.
Enclosed cockpit.
Retractable undercarriage.
Plan by Dennis Bryant , enlarged 20 % to 72" from original.
Desert yellow  paintwork with " Smoke Rings " of Dark Green.
Got it ?
Regards, Dennis.

Nice one Dennis Looks really good in the air or on the ground!! just a quick thought (probably not worth posting ) but would flicking the rates out on the final approach help at all with the lack of elevator when coming in, know a guy that says he has to do this with his spit all the time.

Walts

Hi Walts,
Well worth posting  that thought.
Yes I think I should, although it`s one more thing to remember and find. Alternative is more movement and more negative exponential (  or expotential as one of my chums always says.).
Regards, Den.

Macchi?

Yes.   More ? and a photo ?

The Bryant bit gave it away, not sure the actual name, but is it the 202 Folgore?

Fine choice Sir, fine choice