Scale Aviation Modeller International — February 2018

Airfix 1/72 Savoia Marchetti S.79 Sparviero Serie II

Bomber by Stephen J Di Nucci

Photographs: Phil Jones and Stephen J Di Nucci

THE GONDOLA

T

he design of Airfix’s

gondola is excellent.

Because it is a separate

item, it allows the installation

of the tubular stays that tie

the gondola right up into the

ceiling, without first having

to assemble the gondola to the

fuselage. However, because of its

continuous rectangular cross-

section, the representation of

the gondola is not accurate:

in reality, the rear half had a

half-circle section. Replace

the rear section with a suitable

half of a drop tank from the

spares box, and then blend front

and rear together (for an open

gondola, you can cut the drop

tank half into two quarters).

The S.79 was famous for

its extensible “trousers” to

accommodate the bombardier’s

legs during a bomb run. Assembly

of Eduard’s etched brass trousers

is tricky, and I was less than 100%

successful. I found that the Eduard

trousers (part 50), to fit the Airfix

gondola required shortening.

Eduard’s bombsight is

extremely tricky to assemble.

I got there in the end, but I

had to make some positioning

compromises in order to get it to

fit into the nose of the gondola.

THE MACHINE GUNS

Defensive guns are a problem with

the Airfix kit (as are those on the

Italeri kit, although less so). Both

ELECTRIC MAN

The

TWO

82 • FEBRUARY 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL

BY SACCO DE VRIES

SAVOIA MARCHETTI S.79

BY STEPHEN J DI NUCCI

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