Fiat G.55 Centauro Comparison Build in 1/72 Scale Part IV

As I said in the last post, one of my motivations for throwing the old Supermodel kit onto the pile on the bench was to practice my scribing. I’m still not very good at it but I will never get any better if I don’t keep practicing. I scribed the wings, fuselage, and horizontal tail pieces separately to make things easier, then ran MEK down the scribed lines to eliminate burrs and scribed them again. Mistakes were filled with superglue and re-scribed. In the center of the wheelwell is a cast copy of the Special Hobby engine accessories section.

I cut out the wingtip navigation lights on all the models and replaced them with chips cut from a CD case. The openings were painted with a Sharpie and a small dot of paint for the appropriate light color, then the chip was superglued in place. Everything was then filed down and polished clear.

Not surprisingly, the Supermodel kit requires the most work. The wing gun covers are cast replacements as the originals were just not close to the correct shape. The fuselage is too wide which makes the fit of the canopy a problem, the windscreen portion needed some Perfect Plastic Putty to blend in. The cooling inlet in front of the exhausts is Aluminum from a pie tin, as are the fasteners. The oversized kit air inlet was replaced with tube.

Here’s a good view of the new wheelwells. The opening was too wide which allowed for boxing in the back and reducing the opening at the same time. The oil cooler was poorly shaped and open to the interior, so this was filled and a new cooler made from Evergreen.

The Silurante required a tall tail wheel strut to allow clearance for the torpedo, and the aircraft was provided with an aerodynamic fairing for the longer tailwheel. The Supermodel kit supplies a part for this, but mine had escaped sometime over the last 50 years so I plunge molded a replacement over the end of a paintbrush.

With the gaps and filling required all three kits needed a coat of Mr. Surfacer 1000 to check for flaws. Not surprisingly I found several and ended up sanding areas and re-priming three times before I was satisfied.

General chaos on the workbench as the models enter the painting stage. I like painting. There are a couple of tag-alongs which is often the case if the color pallets are the same. My plan is to have these finished in time for the next update.

Part V here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2023/01/13/fiat-g-55-centauro-comparison-build-in-1-72-scale-part-v/

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