Monday, 21 April 2014

Regia Aeronautica (Version)

The toys get airborne in this blogpost with the Regia Aeronautica. My difficulty was I didn't have any Italian warplanes to hand so I had to think laterally to get what I wanted. So I bought a Revell Micro-Wings P-40E Warhawk and tried to turn it into a Macchi 202.Cue much bodging and hacking. first I had to trim off the huge air-scoop thing under the Warhawk's nose. Then fill it with greenstuff and get a more bodged stream-lined shape. Then I had to cover the aft section of the huge cockpit glazing. Again with green stuff and again much bodging. What I was left with after all the surgery looked reasonably like a 202 if you did this with your eyes: -_-

Here are some pictures of the bodge-in-process:

Air-scoop off. Putty in.

Underside. New nose and putty in-fill on landing gear

Gaps in wing roots & tail plane filled with putty

Close up of putty bodging on wings & tailplane

The putty was left to harden in its own time. I then turned my attention to those unsung heroes of all air operations: The Groundcrew. For without them no aircraft would ever fly nor engage in meaningful acts of war. Now, this being a Megablitz unit some creativity is called for. Sadly I have none so this is what I came up with:


I really like this chap. He looks like he knows his stuff and could probably re-arm, re-fuel and generally do an operational turn-round on his aircraft on his own. 

So what of the aircraft itself? Well, if you'll forgive the obvious bodges and remember to look at it with your eye-lids half closed here it is:




And finally the complete Regia Aeronautica unit:


I hope you all had as splendid an Easter as I did and I'll be back with more toy-based nonsense soon!

15 comments:

  1. Nice job on the Macchi, James. They say a coat of paint will hide a multitude of tins.
    It certainly looks like one to me!

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  2. First class bodge Chumrade!

    The groundie is the star however!

    Great work.

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  3. Looks pretty damn good to me!!

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    Replies
    1. Chocks away then! (I wonder what that is in Italian?)

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    2. Sbloccate le ruote, e via!

      After some googling............

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    3. Just noticed this, Neil. Molte grazie ;)

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  4. A P-40 to Macchi? You could never be accused of lacking ambition!

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  5. Your Italians are very inspiring!
    You can field a JU87 with a clear conscience....
    http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww2/b/29/32/0
    (scroll down)
    If you want real Italian planes in 1/144 they are out there, but pricey.
    http://www.sweetaviationmodels.com/14101Macchi.html
    FoW do a CR42 as well.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Neil! I have a diecast JU-87 around here somewhere too. It's just crying out for a repaint....

      You're right about those Sweet models; very nice but a little pricey. We shall see, maybe on-line auctions may help.

      All the best!

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  6. Bravissimo ! Works for me :O)

    Regards, Chris.

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  7. Looks more than good enough to use on the tabletop!

    All the best,

    Bob

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