From the archives (2007) Converted 1/72 Italeri S.M.79

  

I built this home-brewed conversion in 2007, but I decided to post it given that a wonderful book by Paolo Miana is very soon going to be on the market:

And I-ALAN is part of the book contents.

Needless to say, I made this model eight years ago without the benefits of Paolo Miana's deeply researched book, but I think it stands pretty well nevertheless.

So here is the article as written 8 years ago:

Civilian aircraft are not particularly well catered for by mainstream manufacturers. Once in a while we see some refried beans that have re-incarnated several times and that used to be mostly it, but lately a few companies are stepping in and offering an alternative for modelers looking for a fresh approach to the world of aviation. Although conversions are sometimes available and cottage industry does produce some nice examples on the field, there are times when you have to fabricate your own bits. And that’s not that difficult after all.
Here the 1/72 Italeri S.M. 79 Sparviero minus some bits plus some other bits.
As customary, the images will tell the story of the building process.
Retrospectively, the method I used to produce the canopy –a vacuformed “roof” and front flat panels- is something that could be better done as one whole vacuformed piece in order to facilitate matters.
As references were being consulted (thanks Fabrizio D’Isanto and Fabio Beato) it was evident that a number of details had to be erased from the original kit, like the “hunch”, the lower fuselage gondola and some of the windows. Props had to be re-worked, a suitable interior scratch-built, and a few details added.
The main concern was actually the decals, but, after an attempt on my part that rendered so-so results, fellow modeler Mika Jernfors (mika.jernfors@ippnet.fi) came to the rescue with superb graphics. By that time I had already placed some of the so-so decals that refused to be removed, so I could use only partially his excellent images.
For the base color I used Humbrol 41 Ivory, which seems a good match for the color used originally. The blue is a custom mix. It is so secret that I hid the recipe even from myself and now and can’t remember the ingredients, but it involved mixing potions under the full moon and being helped by Smurfs.
Hey, why not drop for a while the camouflaged jacket and wear a nice, cool, smart suit?