Hi all – here is my latest completion, the Spin Models 1/48 Caproni Ca.20.
The Caproni Ca.20 is considered the first true fighter plane (hence the title on the base). It was (apparently) the first to mount a machine gun (in this case a Lewis gun) over the propeller arc, aligned with the line of flight, making shooting relatively easy. There was only one prototype, flown in 1914. It was evaluated and apparently performed quite well, being faster than contemporary German and Austrian designs. The aircraft was not put into production by the Italian military, as they wanted Caproni to focus on bombers rather than fighters - imagine what could have been if it had gone into production...
The prototype has famously survived in its original condition and resides in the Seattle Museum of Flight, after the Caproni family kept the aircraft stored away safely in a dry environment for 85 years -
http://www.museumofflight.org/aircraft/caproni-ca20There are some interesting things to note when viewing contemporary photographs versus the preserved prototype - the aircraft was clearly modified at some point. The cheek panels were removed at some stage, and ailerons added. The spinner also looks to have had some fairings added over the propeller blades. The kit represents the earlier version of the aircraft, with metal cheek panels, no ailerons, and no fairings over the propeller blades.
This kit is by Spin Models and is limited run. It’s made in that hard, brittle, yellow resin that seemed to be in vogue a number of years back. There is lots of flash, uneven surfaces, and clean up needed, as well as LOTS of air bubbles to deal with all over the airframe. Though it looks relatively simple, the kit is a little tricky and not for the beginner. The kit needed a scratch built interior, as well as some new wheels, upper A-frame, gun, and other details. In-progress build pictures are here:
https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=10352.0Anyways, here are some more pictures (apologies for the one slippery turnbuckle that slid up its rigging line during photography at some point…!):
Overall, I had fun building this relatively obscure, yet important, little aircraft.
All feedback welcomed!
Cheers,
