(#3 done!! pics pg 3) Aliplast Fiat G.55 Centaur Vatican City Defense Force

[TheChronicOne]

Alrighty! I decided to make this kit up so my Transylvanian Vampires will have an enemy to face off with.  It was a happy coincidence that the kit I settled on was an old one so I figure, why not add it to the OKGB!

The kit is Italeriei's very first kit back when they were Aliplast, made in 1962:    Correction, this may be Aliplast's first kit but they actually split, one owner went on to become Italeriei, the other became Supermodels, the latter continued to produce the Centauro, not Italerei.  (This is what I get for trusting rando quotes I see on the net!! My source was only partially correct.) 

Ahem, anyway:


https://www.scalemates.com/kits/188568-aliplast-101-fiat-g-55-centauro

Pretty neat piece of modeling history, really.

What I plan to do is make it bright white on top with gold striping and accents. Sky blue on the bottom. Also, I'm going to scratch build vials of holy water to be loaded onto the wings as ordinance.  I should be able to squeek this one by in the time left before the build ends as I'm not needing to chase anything down like I've had to do with the HAWK Spyplane job.

Progress photos to come soon.

[Snowtrooper]

With such bomblets, the plane better be named Unladen Swallow. Though it's a good question, whether it's African or European.

[TheChronicOne]

Sorry fellers, no holy hand grenades this time unless I scratch up a crate-full to go inside or something.        LOL   At this point, though, I'm thinking there will probably be more stuff in the Vampire/Holy Men universe that's starting to come together so we could well see some at some point.   




OH by the way... may as well do an update. I actually got a lot done on this last night. I wasn't really planning on it but I had the stuff in front of me and some free time I so I got the wings together, hot the fuselage haalves together, trimmed up the sprues and filed down the pieces, etc.  I'm at the point already I could go ahead and start painting on it. The Vampire sits with gloss coat curing up before transfers and the Spyplane still awaits paint so this is the only thing going at the moment. 

[kerick]

Not quite the same time frame but what about a CL-215 holy water bomber? It would need a third crew position for the priest to bless the water after each scoop!

[TheChronicOne]

Sounds like a winner to me! I'd like to see others' ideas on all this stuff! I might transfer my "Vatican City Air Force" thread over to the proposed builds ideas forum and see who all wants to hop on board.



Personally, I'd love to make some more but I have so many backed up ideas and stuff (Klingon Lancaster, etc) it might be awhile. 

[dogsbody]

Would that be the same as the old Supermodel kit?


Chris

[TheChronicOne]

Would that be the same as the old Supermodel kit?


Chris

You got it!  The Supermodel kit(s) are reboxings of the same 1962 Aliplast molds.

So far I can say it's not a bad little kit for that old.

[dogsbody]

I've got one in the stash.


Chris

[TheChronicOne]

I've got one in the stash.


Chris

That's awesome. so you can make one, too!  I issue unto you a challenge: build your G.55 as you see fit and we can compare notes!  Do it quickly enough and you could have an awesome entrant for the Old Kit GB, as well.   

[TheChronicOne]

I thought I at least posted a pic of the sprues?  I did somewhere  I guess.... in my blog or something..   ahem anyway I guess then this is my first set of pics.

First, the sprues still in the bag. I picked the kit up in a big lot along with other stuff. No decals, no instructions. Perfect for whif!  (It's the one on the left) :





Next up, the main stuff is all assembled, puttied, filed, sanded, and primed up. I'll be able to start painting the underside color (sky blue) here within the hour. This black paint dries up lightning fast and is just killer. I love it. It's generic $1 a can paint. I'm going to not only use it as actual paint but from now on as primer as well. Saves money and works great for both.



What can I say about the kit?!  I have no idea how accurate it is and of course interior detail is next to non existent but it's going together really well and looking quite nice. The way the wings are structured makes droopy or misaligned wings almost impossible. I think it's a great kit for something from 1962.

More to come soon! This kit is being a breeze and I'm not seeming to have much problems making swift progress. 

[TheChronicOne]

Eh?  I have no clue where the radiator intake (I think is what it is?) went. The stuff was factory sealed but I don't remember seeing the part on the sprues and when I look now, it's not there. I have no idea what happened to it. I'm in the midst of fall cleaning, however, so.....  I most likely accidentally trashed it or something.

SO, I guess I get to practice more at scratch building. I was considering skipping it and just having a nice smooth underside but nahhhh.. this baby needs to be correct.

Here's what I need to duplicate:



Here, a gimmicky plastic card I was sent in the mail from somewhere. I'll use it instead of plastic card or whatever. Heck, this is quite literally a plastic card so why not... some cutting, super glue, and paint, and I'll be able to put SOMETHING on the plane to act as a reasonable facsimile of that radiator intake. I almost threw this card away but since I got back into modeling a lot of "trash" has taken on a new light. Reduce, reuse, recycle . . .



Once this is done I can paint the baby blue belly then mask for the topside color. No masking the canopy this time... too much frame work. I'll bring out my fine paint brush and try it by hand.

Until next time.   

[TheChronicOne]

Sittin' round waiting on paint to dry up on my Lil Buddy (pilot figure) when I got to day dreaming about a little tiny bit of art work I'd like to do near the cockpit as a shout to the Swiss Guard.  Just something simple containing the colors.  Crossed lines painted with my fine brush in the three pertinent colors. With this in mind I tried drawing it with two shades of pen and pencil on paper but that was bunk so I decided to use MS paint to see what I could come up with. While doing that, I also sort of got to day dreaming about possible Swiss Guard styled roundels. Bear in mind, I paid NO attention to proper proportions and stuff, these are just rough doodles so I could see something in color and get the numbers(of lines) and symmetry right. The roundels only look "correct" because I did a copy and paste of the Mexican roundel and simply switched colors around. 

Anyway, II figure it was worth sharing:



Favorite roundel?  Hmmm..  If I had to pick I think I like the first one. I doubt anything like these will wind up on my bird (the stuff that is just crossed lines is what i'm aiming for) but they're kind of neat and I might use one in the future.

[TheChronicOne]

More of my sub par camera skills. 

I have the initial shapes of the intake cut out. I just need to file a little more on them to get the shapes refined and correct then I'll glue it all together.

I'm painting all the gear doors, wheel hubs, and the props. Inside the gear bays, the struts, etc, will all remain black.  Not only will this save time, I think it will look decent, and is different from the same old green or yellow or whatever we see tons of already.  Also, I'm going to leave the spinner black and have painted the prop tips in gold.

[Captain Canada]

Nice work ! Make sure you write down your write down your RXOU812 numbers before chopping up your free meds card  On the other hand, it did save you 100% on that air scoop ! lol

[TheChronicOne]

Nice work ! Make sure you write down your write down your RXOU812 numbers before chopping up your free meds card  On the other hand, it did save you 100% on that air scoop ! lol

Quite literally the only value that card has.    Funny thing, that, I recently switched pharmacies and glad I did as their mojo in conjunction w/ my insurance had my prescriptions cost fall to zero.