Fiat Cr 42 Night Fighter - Silver Wings kit in 1:32

[al49]

Hello everybody,
I just started working on this kit

no pictures to show yet besides the photo that would be my inspiration:

and the profile:

As you can see from the above, this bird will be painted all in black (or something similar).
This is going to be quite challenging for me, as I never did a "black plane", but I like challanges.
So I was wondering if anyone has some suggestions on how to paint and weather a black model.
Probably there are threads on this forum talking about similar subjects, but I was unable to find them.
Cheers
Alberto

 

[Lucky13]

I'll be following this one closely Alberto, loooove the CR.42! 8)

 

[Crimea_River]

I suggest you not use pure black but tone it down with a few drops of white. Jelmer did a nice black 110 and you might get some tips from that build.

 

[Wayne Little]

Look forward to this one...

 

[Night Fighter Nut]

When I was doing this plane, the resources suggested that the plane wasn't black but rather a dark blue. I'll check to see what I have saved on this.

 

[al49]

Hi everybody,
I did some work on this new model, here following some w.i.p. pictures:

Engine

Cockpit

Landing gear

Movable surfaces separated and under modification

Some more will follow a.s.a.p.
Alberto

 

[meatloaf109]

Very nice!

 

[Wayne Little]

Alberto, that looks damn good mate!

 

[al49]

Done some extra weathering and took a few pictures before closing the fuselage, here they are:

Some more to come, soon or later ...
Alberto

 

[Airframes]

That's looking very nice indeed Alberto. I think this is going to turn out to be another beauty!
BTW, the photos are loading quite slowly - are you re-sizing first, and then uploading direct to the forum?

 

[al49]

Thanks Terry for your comment.
I have a couple more pictures and I assume they will load slowly as well, because I don't resize them. How should I do to resize them? Is it a feature within the forum or it has to be done via my picture software?

Alberto

 

[Crimea_River]

I resize my pics using photoshop to about 70kB. Yours are 570 but I've seen worse. You should be able to save the pics at a lower quality setting without sacrificing clarity depending on your software. There's nothing in the forum that will do this automatically.

Having said that, I must say Alberto that you're doing a fantastic job on this one. The cockpit looks great and the instruments are top notch!

 

[Airframes]

I agree with Andy, very nice work indeed Alberto !
If you don't have a photo-editing system, then download 'Irfanview'. It's free, and very easy to use. Basically, you select 'Re-size/re-sample', and then type in (in the boxes shown on screen) the size you require. for the forum, the maximum is 800 x 600 pixels. This can then be saved, or, if you want to retain the original image in its original size and format, you can 'Save as', which allows you to save the altered image separately.
The programme also allows you to crop, adjust colours, sharpen and so on, and it also provides another form of filing system for all your images.
Wojtek directed me to it a few years back, and it's one of the best things I've used, even though I have 'Photoshop'.
Once you've downloaded it, if you have any questions, just shout!

 

[Gnomey]

Great work so far!

 

[Wayne Little]

Oh, indeed this is real nice!

 

[Night Fighter Nut]

Very nice.

 

[al49]

After nearly a month, I'm back to say I'm starting again working on this model.
The reason why I've put my model on hold isn't because I started an other one, at least not an aeroplane.
The reason is that I offered my limited skills to the local community to build a model of the new Church that will be built in the area I live starting on January, 2013.
I know is totally O.T., but I like to show a few picture of this unusual (for me) work.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everybody.
Alberto

 

[Airframes]

Wow! Very impressive Alberto!
Been a while since I saw any architectural models - I used to help out a friend in his business, helping to make similar structures and 'maquettes' of exhibition stands. Is that 'foam board' you've used for the main construction?
Have a great Christmas and New Year, and I wish you and your family a safe and peaceful 2013.

 

[Wayne Little]

Wow, that's mighty fine work Alberto!

Merry Christmas and a happy new year to you too!

 

[al49]

Many thanks for your comments!
In facts it's a quite different modelling job.
Starting from architectural drawings, not very easy to read without a specific background, but including all information you may need and knowing that everything had to be scratch-built.
The only commercial items are the five little bell, the trees and the figurines. For the latter I used HO scale that is a bit larger then required, the model is 1/100, but does the job.
In answer to Terry, the material I used most is a product called FOREX. It's very similar to plasticard but softer, so easier to cut and less expensive.
Again Merry Christmas to all!
Alberto