STORMO! Italeri 1/72 SIAI-Marchetti S.79 I Bombardiere by Vince Fiore

Italeri 1/72 SIAI-Marchetti S.79 I Bombardiere
Sparviero (Sparrowhawk)
by Vince Fiore

Italeri 1/72 SIAI-Marchetti S.79

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192, 193 Squadriglie, 87 Gruppo, 30 Stormo
The SM 79 was first received in 1938 and used in Albania the following year. On 12 June 1940 an SM 79 of 193 Sq carried out the unit's first sortie of the war - a ninety-minute reconnaissance of Tunisian air bases. Bombing began the next day, in the same areas.

Operations over Malta began on 6 July, two aircraft being lost over La Valetta harbour four days later. The island's shipping routes were also attacked in July. As Sciacca was unsuitable for use at night, training for such duties was done at Castelvetrano. Night procedures subsequently used the latter for night take-off, and Sciacca for day landings and maintenance, The first of these sorties was made on 23 July. From 13 to 23 August the unit was busy training new crews. An escorted day raid over Malta was made the next day. More training then continued until 20 September.

Between January and March 1941 the unit was the only Italian bomber unit assisting the Germans in operations against Malta. With the night raids, armed reconnaissance and day raids on shipping, the unit was kept very busy until August when it withdrew to Italy.

Following re-equipment and training with the Z1007bis the unit moved to the Aegean. Thus began a period of night raids on such targets as Port Said, Ismailia, Alexandria and Cyprus. It also resumed day and night attacks on shipping in the eastern Mediterranean, along with reconnaissance for ships and aircraft missing in that area. In July 1942 five SM 82s of the Sezione Bombardamento Largo Raggio (Long Range Bomber Section) joined the unit for operations against Alexandria. From 15 December the Gruppo also made raids on Beirut, Tripoli, Tobruk and Haifa.

From January 1943 armed reconnaissance missions were flown along the Syria-Palestine coastline together with convoy escorts and anti-submarine sorties in the Aegean area. These remained the regular duties of the unit until it disbanded on 25 August.[1]

Sources:

The "Uomo Elettrico" (Electric Man) insignia of 193a Squadriglia. The white background wing markings seem to have been oversprayed with a darker paint, presumably in compliance with directives at the time. Under the cockpit in front of the generator can be seen the pennant of the Squadron Commander.[2] Note the C9SL Camouflage Scheme.

Construction

This is the The kit is simply made out of the box OOB. I did search the web for some photos. After assembling a coat of 1500 MR. Finishing surface gray was applied. The paint used was MRP acrylic lacquer. I bought a HS ULTRA, this is one of the best and easiest airbrushs I've ever used. The pressure used was 10 psi. Because this paint gives a very smooth result, no gloss coat was needed. The decals were applied using Mr.Hobby Mr. Mark Setter and The antenna is E Z line.

Technical Data

Aircraft: SIAI-Marchetti SM.79
Manufacturer: SIAI-Marchetti
Type: Bomber
Year: 1937
Engine: Three Alfa Romeo A.R. 126 RC 34, 9-cylinder radial, air-cooled, 750 hp each
Wingspan: 69 ft 7 in (21.20 m)
Length: 53 ft 2 in (16.20 m)
Height: 13 ft 5t in (4.10 m)
Weight: 23,180 lb (10,500 kg) (Loaded)
Maximum Speed: 267 mph (430 km/h) at 13,120 ft (4,000 m)
Ceiling: 23,000 ft (7,000 m)
Range: 1,180 miles (1,900 km)
Armament: 4-5 machine guns; 2,756 lb (1,250 kg) of bombs
Crew: 6

Additional Images

SM79 Sparviero Aces | Part 1

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