1/72 Hispano Cuccaracha

[Brian da Basher]

The Spanish Civil War was entering its second year and the Republican Air Force was realizing that they needed to upgrade their reconnaisance aircraft after seeing the He-70s of the Kondor Legion in action. They called upon the Hispano Company's most revered designer, Senor Wences to fill the specification.

Senor Wences designed a very sleek looking two-place machine that was powered by the amazing Sverdlosk engine newly imported from the Soviet Union. The aircraft was incredibly streamlined and boasted a top speed of 300 m.p.h. and was armed with two forward firing .50 machine guns and another .50 gun in the rear for tail defense. It had a state-of-the-art un-license produced multi-speed Leica camera swiped from a crashed German He-70 for photography and it also had a pair of the sweetest straight-leg spats ever to grace a machine of the Republican Air Force.

When rolled out for flight trials, a cockroach skittered out of the hangar and over Senor Wences shoe and he yelled "Aye carrumba!!! Cuccaracha!!!" and the name stuck. The new aircraft exceeded all expectations and was ordered into production.

The Cuccaracha shown here was flown by Senior Air Captain Carlos "Ysi" Vallamos of the 5th Air Recon Brigade, 3rd Squadron and was famous for catching the forces of General Jague on the march which led to their eventual destruction by quickly scrambled Republican attack bombers. Senior Air Captain Vallamos was awarded the Republican Air Cross with double-Oak Leaves for valor for braving the intense ground fire and returning with the photos that changed the course of the war. It can be seen today at the Spanish People's Museum of Victory in Belchite.

1st of 6 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

Here's my second entry in the I Love Spats! GB. The base kit for this is a very old but nice Hasegawa Mitsubishi Ki-15 "Babs" I got off phil p a while back. Even though the kit is totally vintage, it went together very easily which was nice as I was looking for a quick build after my last couple of projects. I'd already swiped the spats that came with this kit for use on something else, so I thought long and hard how I was going to whiff it. I decided to change it from a radial engine to an inline by simply omitting the kit-supplied engine and attaching a large prop and spinner (from a P-40) to the front and scratching suitable exhausts from sprue. I also made the forward machine gun fairings and barrels from more sprue. Then there were the missing spats. Fortunately, Chap had cast some Northrop Gamma spats for me which were a natural for this bird.

Here's a shot of the underside.

2nd of 6 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

This kit is incredibly detailed and comes with a very nice cockpit. I spent an afternoon working on it, even painting the dials and green and red switches on the control panel and the observer's radio as well as painting the throttles and other controls molded into the sidewalls. Unfortunately, you can't see any of this due to the canopy framing. At least I know it's there. The kit also has a very nice little camera which you can see in this extreme close-up. I did away with the kit transparency and used a picece of clear acetate instead.

3rd of 6 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

Once I figured out the build I had to decide on a paint scheme and markings. I really liked how Testor's Olive Drab looked next to Model Masters Dark Earth and decided on a pattern using those colors. Since my decal stash is dwindling, I eventually chose Spanish Republican markings as they're easy enouch to paint by hand and the red looks very striking. My instinct told me to use a light gray for the undersides, but I went with accuracy and used some Tamiya Light Blue for the undersides which is probably too old and should be tossed. You can see how it didn't cover smoothly and looks pebbly in the previous shots. Here's a shot of the uppers which looks a bit better.

4th of 6 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

The entire model was brush-painted by hand with acrylics. Aside from the other colors I mentioned, I used Polly Scale Red for the prop spinner, ID bands and the top rudder stripe, a custom purple mixed from Polly Scale Red and Blue for the lower rudder stripe and Liquitex Cadmium Yellow for the middle stripe. Model Masters Steel was used on the prop blades and Tamiya Gunmetal on the machine guns. Liquitex Mars Black was used on the tires. Here's a side view which shows off the streamlined look of this aircraft.

5th of 6 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

I had a lot of fun with this project which took me three days to complete. I want to thank Chap for his generosity in sending me those very well-cast Gamma spats. I really hope he decides to start a cottage industry casting spats as I'd be a steady customer!

Last of 6 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Maverick]

Sweet build Brian, I've always thought the Ki-15 was a super looking ship either way, but the inline look just really sets it off!!

Mav

[Daryl J.]

Now that could be real!


Daryl J.

[Chap]

Beautiful work Brian! Just love the sleek nose and spats.

~Steve

[lancer]

Beautiful Brian. that is one seriously sweet looking machine, it looks as thought its going at speed just sitting there. Damm fine work again sir... :salute:

[Glenn Gilbertson]

Good one, Brian. Looks believable!
 

[John Howling Mouse]

The King Of Spats strikes again.
Nice work, Brian....I like how you're able to pull off a variety of spat-types and always mate the selected type to the appropriate subject.

mmmmm....      

[Brian da Basher]

Thanks, Baz! I hope you'll play along with us! I'd love to see what you're able to come up with!

Brian da Basher

[McGreig]

I had a lot of fun with this project which took me three days to complete.

I like this - convincing shape, and Spanish Republican markings always look good   But 3 days!!  It would probably take me that long just to get the parts cut from the sprues - -    

[kitbasher]

Very convincing - real feel for the 30s.