Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero (Prototype)

Long before I went on vacation, this Zio aircraft was waiting for me for a long time already. I had it printed out in the stash as a quickie for a rainy day or holidays.

It was a bit more elaborate plane and I had started work on the fuselage in the end of june. But from the beginning, I slowly grew to dislike the amount of guns protruding from the hull.

Now don’t get me wrong, I have built a lot of war planes before but this one has all its guns so… well, obviously displayed. And with all that war in Ukraine going on, it just felt not right. It was just too much... well... in your face for my taste.
But I kept building anyway. The fuselage was made and I liked its shape. The weird hump and the curves are quite unique and I liked the overall shape. On holiday, I worked a bit on the mid-engine before changing moods and working on the Johan Scherft Bee-eaters, a Zio Spitfire and the VFW 614.Back at home I picked up the Marchetti build again. And it went wrong when I tried to join the wings. That and my growing dislike of those displayed guns led to, let's call it an apotheosis. This was the result:

Main reason was that I couldn’t get the wings off of the fuselage in one piece and well, that was that.

I reprinted the Sparviero but in another civilian version: the 1935 prototype. No guns, no camouflage, just “Imago” and the curved hump. Cream and red, I already liked this one a lot better.

With the experience of the previous incarnation I restarted building. And I also smuggled. I usually build Prudenziati’s planes as-is. But I wanted to try something different. So I cut off all the tabs and used strips so the seams would be much tighter. And they were.
The shaping of this fuselage is complex. It is not just a round fuselage. it has the start of the chines  that curve their way into the wing incorporated (like the Spitfire has) and the fuselage is a little flatter on the belly. You also need to take care and not make the notches along the fuselage too wide. If done right, you can actually join the curved parts together and get a continuous curve. Also true when you use the original glue tabs.

The wings are the trickiest. The instructions don’t tell you which part to glue to what other part. I screwed up the first time by making the wings as a separate unit and trying to join them with the fuselage. The trick is to first do the upper wing (see the pictures above). Gently curve the top surface, give the leading edge a more bulbous curve, glue them to the fuselage. Then, cut out the bottom parts of the wing and glue them to the front parts of their designated wing. Follow the curve which comes into existence.

Next, glue the wing parts together on the trailing edge side. The gap in the middle will be covered with the center part. Do not glue that to the lower wing any time before now. It actually is too wide. Its length is good though. I first glued the center section to the aft part of the fuselage, then I glued it to the front. Only then I glued the sides to the wing. 

As you can see, the center part of the wing section is wider than the gap it needs to bridge.
Usually these things are measured out meticulously, so that is what I assumed in my first attempt.
I Assembled the wing's lower section and tried to attach it to the upper section which already was
glued on to the fuselage. Of course it didn't fit at all. So: this part here needs to come last
and just has to overlap the coloured part of the lower wings for a bit. Not ust the glue tabs.

I used a knitting needle to apply some pressure to the glued parts. There are enough holes to do so. Oh yeah, I also glued a coffee stirrer to the wing’s lower parts on the inside to help the wing keep straight. Another little smuggle. (-:

Now here is another thing to note: The yellowish 'cuticle' underneath the windscreen.
When you curve and glue all the parts of the fuselage, you will end up with a small but
very visible gap between the glass of the forward cockpit section and the hull in front of it.
I cut out a small bit of a spare print and shoved it through the gap and glued it to both sides.
Result: gap gone and a nice continuation of the yellowish curve around the window section.
(Of course I did this earlier in the build, when the wings weren't even cut out yet.)

The engine cowlings looked like they had a metallic shine to them. So I used metallic paper to make them. I edge-glued the cowlings. As usual, I played with some pins and beads to make the propellers spin. The spinners were made from glossy metallic card.

The landing gear. It was a little simplified of course, and as with all Zio planes, it has no wheel wells at all, just the suggestion of it. I made the landing gear from partially the given parts, but made the struts from metallic rolled paper and the wheels got an actual axle to let them roll. The wheels were strengthened by a couple of layers of card inside.
And there it was, the Savoia-Marchetti S.79 Sparviero. A Sparrowhawk without its claws. But elegant nonetheless. A fun build!
 

Up next: Who can say? Not me.

Until next time, stay safe, be kind to one another.

—PK