Italeri 1/48 C.R. 42 LW (#2640)

[davenport49]

It’s been a while since I was here, I thought you’d be interested in the project I just finished. This the Italeri 1/48 C.R. 42 LW (#2640). From the instructions, it appears the only difference between this and the Regia version is the Luftwaffe didn’t use wheel spats. The kit portrays two Luftwaffe night fighters. I added Eduard seat harness (49105) and used decals from Stormo Decals: Itallian WWII Aces – Part II to represent 377-4 flown by Tenente Luigi Torchio. There are some difference in how the plane is portrayed for the decal sheet and in Richard J. Caruana’s book The Fighting Colours fo Richard J. Caruana 2: Malta George Cross, p. 50. Caruana says the exterior was black, there no national insignia on top and only white fasces on the lower wing underside, and shows no night exhaust. The decal sheet says the color was Grigio Azzurro Scuro (FS 36118) with transparent upper and lower wing fasces and extended night exhausts. I chose to “split the difference.” My jig is for a monoplane, so I improvised with Lego’s to attach the upper wing. The exterior is panted Vallejo Model Air 71.097 medium gunship gray (FS 36118), the interior Ammo by Mig A.MIG 0273 verde anticorrosione, the prop Vallejo Model Air 71.296 USAAF light gray (Curtiss gray) & Vallejo Model Air 71.251 matt black. I took the kit’s Lufwaffe night exhausts, cut them down and bent them out from the fuselage. Using aluminum foil and wire, I represented the mounting seen in the decal illustration. I only used white fasces on the lower wing.

[Editor]

Beautiful job Richard, I love the finish - the color looks really good. I’m assuming you mixed black with some blue?

The color of RA Night Fighters (CN) is an interesting topic. The three colors to focus on when considering this subject, the Fiat CR.42(CN) are:

• Black

• Nerofumo (carbon-black)

• Grigio Azzurro Scuro 3 (dark Blue Grey - note that the order of the colors translate in the opposite order in English, not Dark Gray-Blue)

Let's summarize what the literature says about the color of this plane, Fiat CR.42CN 377-4:

1. Caruana profile (Osprey #34): Overall black
2. Waldis and de Bartoli (Regia Aeronautica Caccia & Assolto Part II - see the scan below) - Overall Black. The authors also point out that purpose built CN fighters that left the factory, even after the appearance of Tavola X such as the Fiat CR.42CN and the Re.2001CN were painted overall black. This would have been not only unusual but the only case where factories, for some unknown reason, choose to ignore the DGCA (Air staff) directives, issued in the summer of 1941 and ending with the Bolletino d’Informazioni N.8 - Tavola X color chips in late 1941, and not only the Fiat factory but according to the authors the Reggiane factory choose to ignore these instructions as well. In no other case do we have know of factories not following Air staff directives. The authors do however point out cases of lighter than black photos Fiat CR.42CN, possibly faded and that this may have been attributed to the use of “nerofumo” (carbon-black), a powdery (very matt) black paint easily applied and easily removable (btw in compliance with Air Staff order sheets) and available at every RA airfield. What we can say from this, is that planes painted in the day-time scheme and adapted to the CN role were repainted in nerofumo - field applied (in fact 48002 original instructions point to this).
3. Brioschi drawing in ADI #1 (Giorgio Apostolo) - Grigio Azzurro Scuro (dark blue-gray)
4. Brioschi drawing in Waldis and de Bartoli (see scan below) - black ? nerofumo
5. Riccardo Trotta IPMS - Stormo article - doesn’t specifically talk about this plane but in general he says: pre-Tavola X black; Tavola X planes leaving the factory were finished in GAS3 and Riccardo supports the use of GAS3 with a pilot account:
   
   "In this period (the first days of December 1941), I flew a night-fighter CR.42 four times; it is a beautiful airplane, just new and overall painted blue":
   
   Further: "In the afternoon the commander sent me alone, with the faithful blue CR.42...".
   
   The pilot account is pretty clear about the color of the plane and we can’t ignore it - the pilot says blue, twice. Also, the first image in Riccardo's article is a color photo, and although the quality of the photo isn’t that great it's obvious the color of the Fiat CR.42CN and the officers’ uniform are similar (dark blue), not black.

How many Fiat CR.42s left the factory from the end of 1941 to the summer of 1943:

• 8467-8560 - 94 - Sept 1941 - Jan 1942
• 8844-8995 - 152 - Feb - July 1942
• 9125-9284 - 160 - July- Oct 1942
• 9768-9917 - 150 - Nov 1942 - June 1943

556 Total

LW versions were produced after 1943 when the Germans resumed production - the planes were mainly deployed in anti-partisan operations in Yugoslavia .

By 1942 the CR.42 was assigned to support roles such as ground attack, coastal patrol, convoy escort and night fighting sections and later in night fighting units although the CR.42 had been used in night-fighting from the earliest days of the war (with no modification or special equipment - admittedly the RA was behind here and never really caught up and ended up using German equipment such as radar equipped Do 217 J1/2 night fighters albeit too little too late), such as the RAF night-time attack on Turin in June 1940.

The CR.42 CN (Caccia notturna) was a variant of the standard CR.42 upgraded for night fighting by the addition of instrumentation (artificial horizon), a two-way radio, long flame-damping exhausts and machine-gun flash suppressors and were painted in black (?) GAS3 at the factory (also note the propeller blades were painted black front and back - see photo 2 below). Some experimental CR.42s were equipped with lamps and some other CR.42s were converted into CN variants in the field.

Below are two photos of 377-4 at Palermo-Boccaddifalco Sicily, some sources state that the photos were taken May 1942 and others Feb 1943, in any case the photos were taken after Tavola X 1941. Strictly speaking, because of the date of the photos (sadly we don't know the MM for this plane), and because of the CN modifications (lengthened exhaust, the machine gun flash suppressor), and the color of the plane in the second photo (compare the color of the spinner and prop blades (satin-black) to the color of the cowling), as well as the first photo (compare the color of the squadriglia number black "377" to the color of the fuselage, while noting the condition of the fuselage paint does not appear faded, chipped or weathered), the plane appears to be finished in Grigio Azzurro Scuro - Riccardo’s article applies to this plane. Also note that in the first photo below the top wing markings are black on a clear background in compliance with Foglio d’Ordini N.86080 del 29.10.1941.

So to summarize:

• Black - pre-Tavola X before the end of 1941 factory planes (how many factory produced CR.42CN in this period - if any?); nerofumo - field modified planes
• Grigio Azzurro Scuro - Tavola X from the end of 1941-1943 factory planes; nerofumo - field modified planes

Send me a write-up for the Gallery.

[davenport49]

Thanks so much for the feedback. Based on your input, I've made several revisions. First, I added the upper wing fasces; I don't see them in the top photo, but followed the illustration at the bottom. Second, I repainted the prop and spinner flat black; in the second photo they're obviously darker than the fuselage. Then I replaced the kit control cables with E-Z Line. When everything is dry and set, I'll do some new photos and a write-up to send you. Thanks again.

[D520]

Excellent model! Made me remember I also did it a long time ago! Best regards.
07484FCA-02B1-48EE-97ED-D594158A0B23_1_201_a by jean Barby, sur Flickr

[davenport49]

Always enjoy your work in the Gallery, Jean. Beautiful.

[Vincent Fiore]

Beautiful work, always like to see your models.