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!

    ReplyDelete
  2. First class bodge Chumrade!

    The groundie is the star however!

    Great work.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks pretty damn good to me!!

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

      Delete
    2. Sbloccate le ruote, e via!

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

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

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

    ReplyDelete
  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.

    ReplyDelete
    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!

      Delete
  6. Bravissimo ! Works for me :O)

    Regards, Chris.

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

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete