Fiat G.55 conversion to G.59

al49 · Sep 28, 2012

Hello John,
many thanks for your comment.
For this model I was in doubt if it was better to use Alclad or something else.
At the end, because these planes were painted aluminium, not left at bare metal status, I decided to use H8 silver from Aqueous Hobby Color (acrilic from Gunze, in case you don't know)
After the colour was perfectly dry, even if it wasn't grainy, I polished it with very fine grit sanding cloth.
When everything will be finished, but before weathering, I think I will give a coat of satin varnish. I hope I will get a good result.
About Citadel, I never used them but I think I will try them pretty soon.
Cheers
Alberto

Footnote: my son, his wife and children just came back from holiday in Crete ...

Wayne Little · Sep 28, 2012

The citadel colours are REAL GOOD Alberto!

plheure2 · Sep 28, 2012

Wowsers, Alberto!! Lookin' mighty fine from where I'm sittng! What a great looking model!

Airframes · Sep 28, 2012

Alberto, before you apply a satin clear coat, test it, either on a part of the model which might be 'hidden', for example, the lower side of one tail plane, or on a piece of scrap painted exactly the same. Sometimes, a clear coat can alter the appearance of some metallic finishes, making it look totally different, and emphasising the 'grain' of the metallic particles. Over a matt silver finish, this is less apparent, so hopefully it will work the way you want it to.

al49 · Sep 28, 2012

Many thanks Terry for your suggestion: I will do some tests and see what happen.
The point is that after the decals will be on, I will have to give an other coat of Future to seal them and so I will end with a glossy model.
Instead the real bird wasn't gloss, as can be seen here:

Therefore, as said above, I shall do some testing.
Will see.
Alberto

Gnomey · Sep 28, 2012

Nicely done so far Alberto!

Wurger · Sep 28, 2012

Crimea_River · Sep 28, 2012

Looks great Alberto!

al49 · Oct 5, 2012

No decals yet, I had to do some improvements:

- add a small air intake on the right side

- modify the profile of that anti-glare panel that, in this specific bird, was extended down to the exhausts.

- add a landing light under the left wing

- paint and prepare connections for the auxiliary fuel tanks

- fit main landing gear with actuation arm and relevant hoses/tubes

and, finally, mask and paint the canopy

More to come soon
Alberto

Airframes · Oct 5, 2012

Some nice work there Alberto, it's going to be another great model.

Wayne Little · Oct 6, 2012

Doin' great Alberto, looks good mate!

Gnomey · Oct 6, 2012

Great work so far!

al49 · Oct 12, 2012

Hi,
decal job is done, I hope I will be able to take some pictures tomorrow, weather permitting.

But I have quiz for which I was unable to find an answer so far, neither myself nor from Italian forums.

Maybe someone of you will be able to help.

Let me explain

The bird I decided to replicate had this propeller:

According to the specs, the propeller was a Fiat-Hamilton 5010.0.00
but the logo seen on the above picture isn't neither the Hamilton logo nor the Fiat one, any idea?

It's only a minor detail, but I would like to add it to my model if I can.
Thanks in advance
Alberto

Airframes · Oct 12, 2012

I'm not sure, but the logo might be from the German prop manufacturer, Hoffman.

Lucky13 · Oct 13, 2012

Wayne Little said:
The citadel colours are REAL GOOD Alberto!

Indeed Alberto! I use them myself nowadays, thanks to the recommendations of our Wizard of Oz! 8)

Looking great mate, a real stunner so she is! :thumbright:

al49 · Oct 13, 2012

Lucky13 said:
Indeed Alberto! I use them myself nowadays, thanks to the recommendations of our Wizard of Oz! 8)

Looking great mate, a real stunner so she is!

In facts I found a deal on e-bay and bought a pack of metallic colours, not used them yet, but their time will come quite soon.
Alberto

Crimea_River · Oct 13, 2012

Love the model Alberto. Sorry I have no answer for the propeller.

Wayne Little · Oct 14, 2012

al49 said:
In facts I found a deal on e-bay and bought a pack of metallic colours, not used them yet, but their time will come quite soon.
Alberto

al49 · Oct 16, 2012

A couple of days ago I took a few pictures of the model just after I coated it with gloss varnish. Unfortunately the light was again poor, but here they are: