Savoia-Marchetti SM.82 "Marsupiale" in 1/72

[Flyingbabydoc]

Hello everyone

So here is my entry to the campaign: the Savoia-Marchetti SM.82 "Marsupiale" in 1/72 from Italeri, with additional Resin Features (Cockpit, gondola, etc) from Pavla.

The SM.82 was in many ways a revolutionary aircraft, one of the best cargo planes of the war, which also doubled as a Long range bomber. This design from 1938 was the first "double decker" in Military Service and remained in Service until 1960! The wing was made of Wood, and it is amazing to think that it could sustain the weight of the Alfa Romeo 126 RC.34 Engines and of the cargo. Additionally, it was the first Italian plane with the Handley Page wing Slats. Some of the longest bombing missions of the war (like the raid on Manama, Bahrein in 1940) were carried out by SM.82

I will be Assembling the SM.82 from the 32° Storm which led the attack to Gibraltar on 21.08.1940 flying from the Decimomannu air base in Sardinia. This aircraft ("K") was piloted by Major G.B. Lucchini and did not return from the Mission, yet sucessfully hit the port installations with 250Kg bombs.

This is the Camouflage scheme (it will be a challenge but I am looking Forward to it):

Thanks for looking and for your comments.

Cheers

Alex

 

[razordws]

 

[moon puppy]

That's not something you see every day. Nice looking hauler.

 

[lupanzer]

This is fantastic,Alex!...excelent choice

Bom final de semana para ti tambem!

Regards!

Luiz

 

[sharkman]

watching with interest Alex!

 

[Sherman 18]

Really a neat choice

 

[SA Dave]

Thats an real interesting subject

 

[surfsup]

Very nice choice.....Cheers Mark

 

[Flyingbabydoc]

Thanks everyone...

Not much Progress this week but the preliminary assembly is done. I simply hate working with Resin! Those damn pieces just would not stay glued. I have tried 3 different cyanoacrylate glues until I got one that eventually worked.

Here is the Cockpit. A lot of Detail for 1/72 it will be a challenge to paint:

The Details on both sides are a mix of resin, kit parts and some scratch-built Details:

The main decks (yes, it was a double decker - the precursor of the A380) were also a bit of a pain to assemble, specially since you have to get the bomb bay also assembled together:

This is the Resin Gondola and one of the side protections for the defense Breda-Safat machine guns. All Resin:

Some more landing gear and defensive turret Details. Quite straigtforward:

Next week I should have a bit more time. Until then, I wish you all a wonderful Weekend! B) B)

Cheers

Alex

 

[moon puppy]

 

[lupanzer]

Nice stuff...great details ...

Bom final de semana!

Luiz

 

[SA Dave]

Nice mate

 

[razordws]

That is a very busy cockpit. Nice!

 

[sharkman]

That resin has some nice details!

Keep it up!
!

 

[Skinny_Mike]

The Italians sure do love those tri-motors!
Nice start!

 

[Flyingbabydoc]

Hello dear friends

Many thanks for your comments and Support. I have been really pressed for time lately, so not much Progress. but still...

Mike, indeed the Italians loved trimotors. The reason for that is that the available engines (mostly Fiat with only 800Hp) were not enough to power a bimotor bomber (see the failure that the BR.20 was). Therefore, three engines. The only bomber with enough power was the Piaggio P.108, which had 4 engines, but only 24 were produced..


Here is the Cockpit after painting and weathering. The resin Details are so irregular that the whole Thing Looks blotched. Still, it is 1/72 so the things are really small:

Here are the sides of the fuselage with Details. I did some heavy weathering since These planes were constantly in use in the most different fronts and conditions:

Port:

Starboard:

Main decks and bomb bay:

Landing gear bay:

finally, some Details:

 

[Flyingbabydoc]

a few more Details:

More to follow as soon as I have sometime.

Cheers

Alex

 

[lupanzer]

Prezado Alex.

Belo trabalho!

Tudo de bom para voce!

Luiz

 

[Flyingbabydoc]

Muito obrigado Luiz

Muita gentileza tua. Aparentemente os outros membros nao gostaram do meu trabalho, pois alem do teu nao tive comentarios. Bom, o que fazer? Nao se pode agradar a todos sempre...

Grande abraco

Alex

 

[Flyingbabydoc]

Hello Everyone

So here is the further Progress. I have finished the main assembly and decided to add a few People to the plane - it gives IMHO a good perspective of the size of the beast. Now it is on to rigging and then painting. I hope you like it. As always, comments and critiques are greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Alex