1/48 Trumpeter Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

For me this was a very challenging kit…even before I got to the paint job. Multiple fit issues. The only thing I found out online about the paint scheme for this plane was that it was consistantly inconsistant. If I had a dollar for everytime I broke of the pilot tubes I could buy another model. Anyhow it’s definitely not up to Retired in Kalifornia stardards but my wife liked the paint job so I’ve got that going for me. Anyway hope you enjoy my build

IMG_1707 by Robert Pederson, on Flickr

IMG_1705 by Robert Pederson, on Flickr

IMG_1708 by Robert Pederson, on Flickr

IMG_1704 by Robert Pederson, on Flickr

IMG_1709 by Robert Pederson, on Flickr

2

Very nice! Great work on the camo!

3

Thank you for your support. The painting was actually the fun part of this build

4

Really nice build, i think you nailed that scheme pretty good.

5

Thanks Bish…although I forgot a white stripe on the front edge of the engine cowling…oops. By the time I figured that out I had everything already masked again oh well

6

Excellent finish! The camo Looks tricky but you’ve pulled it off. I like those torpedos too.

7

Thank you sir. Your support is greatly appreciated

8

Nice build the Italians had some really cool camo schemes

9

You had the choice between the steak or the fish…Oh that’s right I had the lasagna…Nice piece of Italian machinery. Thanks for sharing.

10

Thank you. Yep they definitely were interesting. I’ve seen that many people hand paint this one, but I decided to airbrush it.

11

Shirley you can’t be serious. I definitely had fish on this one. Thanks Lawdog. I’m working on the Tamiya Uhu right know. What a great kit…except for all the breakables. Any tips or tricks? I’m thinking I might try the dot method of camo on this one. Good thing I have a lot of sticky tack

12

Hi Greatmaker, your camo job looks amazing, it really makes the build standout. I like the loook of this plane and it’s one of the few I don’t have in my stash. After seeing yours though, I’m gonna have to go looking for it. Great job!! and thanks for posting.

13

Thank you Kielers, It is and intestingly designed plane. Mine needed a lot of putty and sanding but I think it’s representative of an Italian bomber. At the time I bought this it was the only Italian bomber in a 1/48 scale

14

Good work [:D] Only comment I’ve got is operational S.79 Aerosilurante carried just one torpedo portside, aircraft performance suffered with two, this from flight trials.

15

Did not know that thank you! I see on yours you managed to get rid if the seam in the fuselage just in front of the tail wheel. I worked on that area repeatedly and just couldn’t get rid of that seam. I think I used a quarter tube of putty to no avail

16

I’d built the ancient 1/72 Airfix S.79 kit, tail wheel mount is part of fuselage halves necessitating extra paint work before joining the halves. The tail cone section of my very last Airfix kit was uneven so had to putty & sand if that’s what y’all meant.

I will be building four 1/72 Italeri S.79 models this year, much better to build than Airfix kits, absolute last S.79s by any maker I’ll build; still must build one resin Italian Kits SM.89 “heavy fighter” S.79 variant, two styrene Xotic-72 twin-tail SM.84 bombers.

First flown June 5 1940 the SM.84 supposedly was improved over the S.79 with 1000 h.p. Piaggio P.XI engines (licensed Gnome-Rhône Mistral Major 14Ks) vs. 860 h.p. Alfa Romeo 128 R.C.18s but exhibited lackluster performance even being retired from service before the S.79 it was intended to replace. The SM.89 didn’t get beyond one protototype; both aircraft already were obsolencent even by the time they’d first flown.

17

Great job, love the camo! I’ve got to work up the guts to build an Italian bird one of these days…

18

Will gladly help on which to build depending on scale. There isn’t whole lot bigger than 1/72 out there since Aliplast (Italeri) released their 1/72 FIAT G.55 in 1962 amongst the earliest post-WWII Regia Aeronautica Italia (RAI) scale styrene kits.

Will also say painting mottle camouflage can be vexing if downright insanity-inducing; be prepaired to do frequent spray nozzle cleaning regardless if acrylic or enamel, “sharpness” rapidly falls off after just a few minutes of painting.

Also keep in mind what camouflage era between 1936 and 1943 y’all’s build falls in, i.e. three top colors up till late 1941:

  • “Sand” (Giallo Mimetico 4 shades)
  • “Maroon” (Marrone Mimetico 3 shades)
  • “Green” (Verde Mimetico 4 shades)

“Grey” (Grigio) underside specified standard. “Camouflage Brown” (Bruno Mimetico) also was employed in lieu of or in rare cases along with “Maroon” or rarer still “Brown” (Bruno), a fluid line color, both “field appled”.

So-called “banded” camouflage schemes 1936-38 period common on early FIAT CR.32s, Savoia-Marchetti S.79s & 81s, “polygonals” Breda 64 & 65 in particular late as 1939. There also were two-color green schemes typically dark over light or reverse in wide array of mottle patterns, including a Luftwaffe-style “Wave Mirror” variant on a twin-tail 210° Squadriglia CANT Z.1007, do intend to render it next year.

Aircraft built late 1941 onwards came under Tavola 10 (“Table 10”) standard, i.e. “Dark Olive Green” (Verde Oliva Scuro a.k.a. “Continental Green”), “Light Hazel” (Nocciola Chiaro) topsides, mottled (many variants) or banded latter particularly after the September 1943 Italian Armistice principally the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (ANR), “Light Blue Gray” (Grigio Azzurro Chiaro) undersides.

A significant number of RAI & ANR airplane model photos on the Internet depict the so-called “Continental” Dark Olive Green over Light Blue Gray camouflage scheme, from mid-1942 on most aircraft were delivered from the factory that way so painting near any RAI aircraft from then into the ANR-era like this is very much OK.

There also were “Anti-Camouflage”, “Colonial”, “Marine” (excluding field-applied Aerosilurante adaptations), “Night”, “Trainer” topside colors well as for aircraft interiors, explaining them would take awhile.

19

Oh thanks RiK! I’m going to have to print that out so I can keep the colours straight.

I have a good quality airbrush but I’m just not sure my hands are steady enough to get the camo right.

I’ve have a 1/48th Fiat G. 55 Centauro in my stash somewhere. I drag her out every now and again, stare at her and then put her away and build something simpler… [:$]

20

Painting your Centauro topside green “Continential” simple as it comes. I don’t know the decal options so am assuming it has ANR fuselage flag flashes & Duo-Facio wing markings. Here are some of my G.55 schemes:

Factory-Delivered “Continental”

Most Common Scheme By Far

“Herringbone”

Possibly A Depot Repaint Though Maybe Factory Applied

“Luftwaffe”

Possibly A Depot Repaint Though Maybe Factory Applied

Mottle Variant RLM 83 Over 76 Likely A Depot Repaint

Experimental Polygonal Three-Color Depot Repaint

Employing Tavola 10 & Pre-Tavola RAI Colors