a Random Zio appreciation moment.

Have I ever told you how I just love to build a paper model plane designed by Fabrizio Prudenziati?
Yes I have. And I think I will tell it again some day. And maybe again after that.

Here's this pretty Tiger Moth, designed by Fabrizio Prudenziati I built this week.

After a long, almost tedious big build, there’s nothing as good as a quick result which also looks awesome. Zio’s planes always look the part, are done in a couple of hours and look a million euros (especially with some extra little tweaks, like a spinning propeller). They actually really make me happy. There are things that make me happier, like when I hear the full-hearted laughing of my girlfriend. That really is the happiest I can get.
But Zio’s planes are really good in keeping me sane and for keeping my state of mind in a positive mood, especially in these crazy and challenging times. Why don’t I build more of them?

Their way of constructing is odd at the beginning, the two-sided glue tabs still are counter-intuitive to me. But they are able to give a good closed hull when you get used to it. The scale differs a bit from model to model but I don’t bother any more, I just build them. I love the way Zio has designed the curvatures from hull to wing in his Spitfire model. I love the way you have to keep on shaping and bending the paper during glueing and suddenly there’s the shape of the plane. I love the simplicity of the mostly just one-page kits. I think they’re ideal for holidays, otherwise lost hours, and any day you cannot get out because it’s raining or there’s a lockdown in your country.

Every time I start a model made by Zio, I also am amazed by the colouring. The older models almost look hand-painted. Some, like his early Spitfires, have a grainy, yet pleasing quality to them the later models do not have. As if they’re coloured in with pencils. The lines and colours get more and more crisp later on. The metallic models have a lovely shine to them. They are quite hard to recolour because of this artistic quality of his original colouring. I have recoloured a couple of his models, like the Saetta. But I almost had to redraw them completely on the computer to make recolouring more easy. So mostly, I don’t bother. The pleasure in Zio’s models is building them.

I am happy I never get bored by building or re-building these magnificent little kits. They’re easy to tweak, for example, I often use cereal box card to thicken the tail section’s leading edges, I often use the carve-and-roll technique to accentuate the wing ribs of the WW1 planes, I sometimes detail the engines and I almost always use Leiff Ohlssons magnificent propeller model for more realism. The propeller always need to be able to spin. I have a couple of older models that do not have a spinning prop and I am going to redo them soon. I also gave away my spitfire I built on holiday some years ago to a friend. So I need to do that one again, too. Plenty of models left!

I have this plan to create a big mobile of all the WW1 planes one day, hanging from the ceiling in an everlasting dogfight.

Zio has shuffled off his mortal coil in spring 2014, but his memory is kept alive by all of his vividly coloured and fun to make models. And by them he will not be forgotten. He left us with the biggest joy a paper model builder can have. a few dozen of really good-looking, easy to make, little one-page miracles.

Mille Grazie, Fabrizio Prudenziati!

Thanks for stopping by and until next time.

--PK

(After the jump some more photos of this joyful little Tiger Moth.)

Fabrizio Prudenziati's De Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth (about 1/72)

This one took me one day to build, alltogether. The wings were made by carving over the 'rib shadows' and rolling them up from wingtip to wingtip, coloured side in. When rolling out, you'll get a sharper 'rib' in the wing, which will remain almost visible and certainly tangible after you fold the top and bottom side.

All the paper struts were replaced by real wooden sticks, like matchsticks. I cut them n half lengthwise and then again to create really small straight little sticks. Jut a dab of PVA on the tips of the sticks and holding them for a couple seconds keeps them in place and after that it's realtively easy to put the top wing on.

So there you have it. Thanks for passing by and see you next time!

--PK