It is fortunate be able to find a good livery for a plane that you like but don’t want to model as it is conventionally represented.
The Cant Z.501 is one of such planes, in the form of the
record-braking prototype, I-AGIL. "Cant" stands for Cantieri Rinuiti dell’
Adriatico, "Z" stands for Zappata, its designer, “500 series” because it was a
seaplane, opposite to the “1000 series” which were land planes.
With help from Fabrizio D’Isanto (a very knowledgeable
fellow enthusiast) I was able to round-up some missing data and could proceed
with the project..
Paolo Miana, the aviation writer that published a book on
the Savoia S.64 also helped.
To get the Italeri Cant Z.501 old kit wasn’t as easy as I
thought it would be; the few I found were running for pretty stiff prices. Finally
fellow modeler Christos P. from Floridian, helped me to get a kit at a fair
price. My thanks go to all these friends.
I-AGIL was powered by an Isotta Fraschini ASSO 750 with an
almost circular radiator front. It established two straight distance non-stop
records, one flying from Monfalcone to Massawa and later from Monfalcone to
Berbera. Some differences in appearance can be spotted along its life in the
available photos. The Italeri kit would need some adaptations; the most
conspicuous differences being the canopy and front engine areas. The fore and
aft openings on the hull and engine gondola were apparently faired over for the
first record flight but the aft fuselage position can be seen open and with a
windscreen for the second flight.
Italeri’s model has fine raised panel lines, few of them
because the plane was mainly made of wood. They were sanded and replaced by engraved
lines. The “fabric” detail in the control surfaces definitely needs to be toned
down. The general feeling, being this a very old mold, is on the slightly
chunky side, but is a nice base upon which the modeler can exercise
some...well....modeling.
Some struts were supplemented or replaced by Contrail and
Strutz streamlined stock. The front of the engine gondola was replaced by
scratched parts. The record version had a different instrument panel and
control wheel arrangement which I made and substituted for the kit parts.
Regarding the canopy, Italeri offers a transparency that bridges a large gap of
the fuselage and gives support to some of the wing struts. I-AGIL had two
side-by-side independent canopies. That area therefore was re-constructed with
styrene sheet and a master was created to vacuform the separate canopies. The
interior was kept simple since almost nothing can be seen –as it is often the
case- through the exiguous canopy openings. Parts 50/51 are depicted in the
instructions without a pair of knobs that are supposedly used to hold parts
52/53. The latter will only mess the assembly, since they are bigger than they
should and will open the struts’ angle too much, preventing them to rest in their
marked position on the fuselage. Radio masts are not not needed for I-AGIL. The
hatches are not a good fit, so be warned. Struts 38 and 39 need their “handles”
removed, but there was a probe on the original on the left side strut (as the
pilot seats). There was a navigation light at the tip of the fin. The ailerons
in the kit have a line that divides them in two surfaces. Those dividing lines
were filled and control horns were glued there and to the rudder. A wind-driven
generator was fashioned and glued to the fuselage spine. Painting ensued, the sub-assemblies were kept separate to facilitate this stage and later
decaling.
Once the main components were ready the wing struts were
glued to the fuselage. Beware that those struts are sided, and that there is
one (slightly shorter) that goes forward. Floats were then added to provide
rigidity and the right geometry. After decaling the vertical stabilizer the
horizontal stabilizer halves were glued, and then their supports. I opted to
glue real short tubes to the upper exhaust rows and to drill the ones one the
sides of the engine gondola. Parts (2 of them) 32 are diagonal strut cross members
-kind of hidden in the instructions- and they are absent in most of the models
I have seen.
The wing was then glued to the fuselage and struts, and I
have to say that it was a good fit.
Minor details, about thirty lengths of rigging wire and
decals were added and the record-braking plane was ready to cruise on the
skies.
With a little work you can convert your “all-look-the-same-to-me”
model into something different and more stimulating meaning-wise.
Give it a try.
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