Scale aviation modeller international

and then cut a thinner “body”

using plasticard to fit behind.

Eduard’s metal parts are, as

usual, superb, and I found that

most parts bend and assemble

precisely. Care must always be

taken, though, to support all

surfaces whilst bending is in

progress. It is beyond the scope of

this feature to describe the bending

and fitting of every piece from

Eduard’s frets, but some comment

might be helpful regarding some of

the remaining Airfix components:

the pilots’ seats are reasonably

well shaped and useable and just

need belts, but note that Italian

bomber crews were generally

not given shoulder harnesses.

I used the Airfix control

columns, but Parts 8, 21, and 28

will not be required. As well, if

you use the Falcon replacement

canopy, Airfix Parts 16, 17, 25, and

32 will also not be required, and

the rest of Part 33 can be scrapped

after the modifications noted

earlier. All these bits can take

up residence in the spares box,

as can the in-box torpedo and

support cradles if, like me, you

plan to model a straight bomber.

FITTING OUT THE BOMB BAY

The S.79 carried its bombs

vertically. They were hung from

above, either by the nose in the case

of 500 kg (two carried), and 250 kg

(five carried) weapons, or from the

tail in the case of 100 kg (twelve

carried) weapons. They were loaded

with a hand winch, which was

temporarily mounted on top of

the structure beneath the dorsal

hatch, which was held open with

a stay for the purpose. The winch

pulled the bombs upwards from the

ground, through the open bomb bay

doors, and into the bay. The bombs

were housed within individual

cylindrical metal jackets called

cestelli (crates or baskets). These

too were loaded up into the bay

from below, because each time the

size of the bomb load was changed,

the cestelli required changing too.

The strength required to support

the weight of the bombs was

provided by a complicated tubular

structure immediately beneath

the bomb bay’s dorsal hatch. There

is no sign whatever of this in the

Airfix kit. While the Italeri kit deals

with this structure via a one-piece

moulding, the Eduard set takes the

modeler a lot further onwards.

A feature of this structure is

an elevated ground crew walkway

on the left side of the aircraft,

and Eduard provide this (Part

6). Eduard also provide a similar

walkway for the right side, but

my references indicate that there

was no walkway on the right side.

I discarded the walkway on that

side, but the zig-zag frame is still

required and must be added.

In reality, however, this area

is far more complex even than

Eduard suggests (I purchased

two copies of Eduard to provide

sufficient parts). A lot more daylight

should show through from top

to bottom, so I didn’t use Eduard

Part 10 as designed, but instead

separated the section with the

seven smaller holes, carefully

removed the five (three-pointed)

bomb hangers and discarded the

rest. The whole tubular support

structure is attached to the

sides of the upper fuselage.

I used Plastruct microrod of

0.6 mm (0.5 mm would have been

better had I been able to find any)

and 0.3 mm thicknesses for this.

The microrod had first to be cut

and built upon a homemade paper

template so as to get the alignments

correct before it could be added to

the model. Note that the ends of

the rearmost structural tubes are

tucked away below the ceiling of

the rear cabin, terminating just

ahead of an emergency fuel tank

(38 litres), which is of cylindrical

shape with banding; easily

made from scrap. I also added

a fuel pipe. Italian fuel related

equipment was painted yellow.

With the upper part of the bomb

bay completed, we can now look at

the cestelli. Eduard provides cestelli

for loading five 250 kg bombs.

Eduard’s supply these as five metal

flats that have to be rolled in order

to form the five cestelli cylinders,

which are then fitted into two

holding frames (Part 41). Getting

good results from this sounded

difficult to me, so instead I made

my own cestelli by cutting lengths

from 6 mm diameter aluminum

tube (though 5 mm tube might fit

better with the Eduard parts).

My references suggest that

each cestelli was of two parts – a

fixed lower cylinder and a shorter

upper cylinder, which it seems was

adjustable, possibly for bomb-

loading purposes. Eduard’s cestelli

are 16 mm tall, whereas mine are

10 mm and 5 mm tall (with a space

between of nearly 2 mm). I made my

cestelli by cutting 5 x 10 mm lengths

of tube, superglued them together

and then built the retaining banding

around them. I did the same with

the 5 x 5 mm upper cestelli. It was

essential that the two groups were

precisely aligned one above the other,

so I used the bombs that I eventually

would load into my cestelli as a guide.

There are no bombs supplied in

the Airfix or Italeri kits, so I robbed

some Italian-style bombs from

the Supermodel Cant Z.1007 kit –

however, there are only four 250 kg

bombs in the Supermodel kit, so if

you want five bombs you’ll need two

kits (sorry!), or make some yourself

resin home-mould copies. By the

way, Supermodel’s bombs were too

long to fit inside my 6 mm cestelli

and they had to be both shortened

and reduced in circumference to fit.

The bomb hangers were

separated from Eduard Part 10

and added across the top ends

of the upper cestelli. The bombs

were loaded in from below until

they touched the undersurface

of the hangers. Make sure to

make no mistakes in this area

because if any bombs get jammed

in the cestelli you will be up the

Appian Way without a paddle!

(Mixed metaphors!). I had little

information on the appearance

of Italian fuses, so I finished the

noses of the bombs with a small

flat and a drilled fuse hole.

That it is for this month, next

time I will finish detailing,

and cover the painting and

decaling of my Sparviero.

86 • JANUARY 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

082-87-Vintage-S79-0118.indd 86 08/12/2017 17:04