Scale aviation modeller international

On the wings, only the ailerons

are separate; S.79s had drooping

ailerons, which were used to

supplement the flaps. The aircraft

also had leading edge Handley

Page-type slats, which were linked

to the flaps and automatically

dropped when the flaps were

extended. Images of operational

S.79s on the ground with their slats

and flaps extended are hard to

come, by but they do exist: see page

18 of Ali D’Italia no. 11; also page 6

of Savoia Marchetti S.79 In Action,

published by Squadron/Signal.

If you wish to open up the slats

and flaps accurately, you will

have to consider using two Airfix

kits: one to supply the flaps and

slats and the second to provide

the wing structure. Additionally,

I used some parts from an Italeri

S.79, a kit that I had previously

cannibalised, although I tried to use

Airfix only components wherever

possible. My only real departure

from this goal was the main

undercarriage, courtesy of Italeri.

I also used parts from a

Supermodel S.81that supplied the

cone-shaped “engine bearers”.

No need to be too aghast at this;

the kit features two different

sets of engines and bearers, so

you will still be able to build

an S.81 from the remains.

Production of the S.79 was

split up into batches and spread

around several manufacturing

partners, but all production can

be summarized as Serie I, Serie II

and Serie III. The Airfix kit has a

single Lewis 7.7 mm gun for the

waist armament, which helps to

put it in the Serie I bracket; only

the earliest S.79s had the Lewis

gun (Spanish Civil War machines,

for example). Note also that Serie

I machines had a different set-up

for their bomb bay doors. Serie II

represents the standard bomber

and torpedo-bomber, whilst

Serie III, also referred to as the

S.79 bis, was the post-armistice

torpedo-bomber used by the

Aviazione Nazionale Republicana

operating out of Northern Italy.

Producing a Serie II model from

the Airfix kit requires an armament

update in the waist positions, plus

a gun in the gondola, as Airfix

don’t provide one. Producing a

Serie III model just requires the

deletion of the ventral gondola.

Fortunately, there are enough

aftermarket items around to

support the kit. Absolutely essential

is the replacement canopy and

hump supplied by Falcon in their

Set No. 20, designed specifically

for the Airfix kit (available from

Hannants, £12.99. Ed). This

canopy is a fabulous item and is

capable of catapulting the kit into

the something-special category.

The Falcon canopy represents

the best reason for choosing

Airfix’s version of the S.79.

Eduard also produce etched sets

for the exterior and interior, 72 406

and 72 415, which are designed for

the Italeri kit but are also of great

use here; I consider them to be

must-haves. My model was started

before these items came on the

scene, so for early construction

I used Eduard’s original etched

brass for the Airfix S.79, 72 063.

This set dated from 1992, so is

one of Eduard’s earliest sets and

is no longer available. However,

72 406 and 72 415 have virtually

everything that 72 063 ever did, and

much more, so no problem there.

In more recent times, Eduard

has made more changes to its

line-up for the S.79. 72 415 is now

reduced in its content but two

more sets have been released,

72 457 and 73 280, the latter of

which now holds Eduard’s pre-

painted instrument panel.

I also obtained a resin set

from Pavla (U 72-46), which

offers replacement engines and

weighted wheels (more later),

and Quickboost’s set QB 72 106,

which gives corrected engine

cowlings. Eduard’s canopy mask

set CX033 was used too, but I

knew this would only provide a

starting point, as the set wasn’t

designed for the Falcon canopy.

Finally, serious modelling of

Italian S.79s requires a copy of

Sky’s jam-packed 1/72-scale decal

sheet for the S.79, number 72-003,

from which I intended to source

the famous “Electric Man” badge

of 193 Squadriglia – but read on.

PREPARING THE FUSELAGE

HALVES

It was obvious right from the

start that the interior was going

to provide a challenge and a fairly

fragile construction (at least until

the fuselage halves were joined),

due to the fact that the Sparviero

was bereft of much in the way

of structural bulkheads. The

overall structure of the S.79 was

based upon welded steel tubes.

I began by removing the location

ribs moulded inside the fuselage

halves, including the ribs around

the crew access door, as I planned

to display the door open. If you

want to use the Falcon canopy, the

upper “hump” decking needs to be

razor-sawn away. It is a good idea

to remove the Falcon canopy from

its carrier sheet at this point, and

prepare it after temporarily joining

the fuselage halves with tape; at

this early stage, it will be a lot easier

to test fit and adjust its location

on top of the chopped fuselage.

I decided to add some location

ribs from very fine strip all

along the cut edges of the hump,

mounted slightly inboard. These

will eventually be used to locate

the canopy and keep its edges

splayed apart, although much later

I realised I should have allowed

a little more for the thickness

of the canopy’s acetate. You will

notice that Falcon’s dorsal hatch

does not reach quite as far along

the fuselage as it does on Airfix’s

plastic. Falcon have it correct,

so I cut a section from the Airfix

Part 33, and used it to extend

the fixed part of the Airfix top

decking forward by nearly 4 mm.

If you require the bomb bay

doors to be displayed open, this

area will also need to be cut out now.

But do not forget that the bomb

bay is offset to the right because of

the internal crew access walkway

along the left side of the fuselage.

Also in this area, the ventral

84 • JANUARY 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

082-87-Vintage-S79-0118.indd 84 08/12/2017 17:04