1/32 (or 1/35) Caproni Aereo Leggero

[frank2056]

This originally started as the MicroMir 1/32 Pensuti-Caproni Triplane



I knew going in that this was going to be a tough build (small model, three wings, tons of rigging, MicroMir) and things started going pear shaped with the three part cowl and only got worse when I tried to make the wire spoked wheels; the PE wouldn't fit after bending to shape. OK, I'll make solid covers instead. Next, I decided to try the wing struts. It looked buildable, especially since the main struts had a small square section that would key into the main wing (hopefully...) providing some stability. That didn't work because the struts bent out of shape at the joint and could barely support their own weight. I could have gone on, but I saw this heroic build. Yeah, not going to struggle with this. After all, it's a hobby...

So borrowing some inspiration from Kit and Robunos (at BtS) I turned it into a one wing triplane, with extra long wings:



I added the white bracing strips as part of the backstory. After seeing the Fold Flivver Caproni decided to make a light aircraft in the same vein. Since the Flivver used the same engine as the Pensuti-Caproni Triplane, why not resurrect the design with a simpler, longer wing?

Wingspan is about the same as the Flivver now, although the fuselage is a bit shorter. I also made a new rudder.

[Wardukw]

thumbsup:  ..I love that age of aviation when folks thought that if you build a plane it will fly 
This is very cool 😎 

[kerick]

Nice reimagining! Now it needs floats.......

[frank2056]

The wheel spacing on this plane would concern even a Bf 109 designer. I may have to put wing skids. Floats might ne a good idea, but I'm not sure the puny engine would be able to get the plane off the ground if it did have floats.

This is what I have so far. The green on the wing decals came out far darker than I'd hoped. Not fixing it, though. The tail decal is from the kit. I think that green is too light.

 Still need to add wing struts and skids to the wing undersides and some sort of rigging on top, then seal everything.

[NARSES2]

That is looking good   

The tail decal is from the kit. I think that green is too light.

Might be a shade light, but it's probably very near the colour of early Italian markings. The colour on their tri-colour is quite vibrant.

[frank2056]

I finished the rigging and I think I'm done; I'll wait for everything to dry before I photograph it in sunlight.







I have to adjust the wires on the main wing since they're a bit curved.

[Gondor]

Nicely done, we don't see many early aircraft whiffs so it's always nice to see a good one 

Gondor

[NARSES2]

Looks good    Your'e right about that wheel spacing, looks as though it was designed for a narrow gauge railway 

[PR19_Kit]

It looks LOADS better as a monoplane too. 

[frank2056]

Looks good    Your'e right about that wheel spacing, looks as though it was designed for a narrow gauge railway 

It turns out that the narrow spacing is my fault, not the Italians; the landing struts would have gone where I put the underwing support struts. With the longer wings and the landing gear that far out, I felt that a hard landing might have buckled the wings.

I looked at some color artwork online and I think the Italian green was slightly lighter than mine but much darker than the kit's decal.

[frank2056]

I'm declaring this one finished. I photographed it outdoors with what passes for sunlight:



With our French mechanic for scale. He's about 5'8" (1.73m) in 1/35 and 5'2" (1.58m) in 1/32 yet he still looks big next to the plane:







So I'll call this a 1/35 plane, so he doesn't feel bad.

Overall, it was a fun build, considering that it's a Mikro Mir kit. What would have been 3+ months of work and frustration turned into about a week of pretty enjoyable construction. I thought about spreading out the landing gear, but I'll leave it as a design flaw.

Thanks for commenting!

[PR19_Kit]

I thought about spreading out the landing gear, but I'll leave it as a design flaw.

It's got those wing-tip skiddie things anyway, not a problem. 

[Old Wombat]

Certainly looks better as a monoplane than as a triplane!

Excellent work, Frank!

[zenrat]

 

[NARSES2]

That's wonderful sir