Chris's 1/72 Planet Models Breda Ba.44

[Steve-the-Duck]

So, this was the 'plane I actually wanted to build in the first place!

The Ba.44 is a mid-thirties design. According to my sources, including an Italian language monograph, Breda had a licence to produce the DH.84 Dragon, but decided to produce a much modified version, similar to how the Rapide was changed from the original. Only six were ever built


The kit is twenty-ish years old, made of that rather soapy polyurethane resin with that unique smell. I'll be doing the militarised version

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

And I've already made a start.

There are some errors in the kit instructions, at least going by the monograph
The military scheme is described as brown (bruno mimetico) mottles on a green (verde mimetico) base. Not an unlikely scheme, but...

... we have the exact opposite colours
Also, the kit has an offset cockpit door and a central seat, but...

..here's a central door and two cockpit seats. I'll be using this photo, much reduced, for the control panel

I'm pretty sure the Planet people (weren't they in Quatermass: Conclusion?) were using the Dragon or Rapide as reference!

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

Right, parts have been cleaned, and big bits off the moulding blocks

One side has the windows cut out...

...which are these vac bits

And here's the small parts

Not sure I'll be using the resin struts, as I often find them too fragile. I've some Aeroclub strut material to use instead, though that's sometimes too flexible. Pinning will be required as there are no locating holes
Despite the big side-windows, there's no interior other than the cockpit, which isn't correct anyway
Fortunately...

...I have a clutch of seats left over from my Heller 'Expedition' Rapide build. Just need to scratch a few more


I did, briefly, consider getting another Rapide rigging kit, as it worked so well, but, as you can see, the struts and rigging on the Breda are completely different
No shortcut there

The monograph I'm using, I can, just about translate parts of, though my Italian is non-existent. It also covers the Ca.308, a 'plane for which there is no model. The Ca.308 successor, the more famous Ca.309 Ghibli, also has no kit. There may have been an obscure one YEARS ago. A recent set of transfers for early Western Desert included a Ca.309. The only way to do one now would get a Ca.310 and but the engine pods from a CA.313 on it
It is on my to-do list...

 

[Waspie]

Very interesting, never seen a kit like that before.

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

Very interesting, never seen a kit like that before.

Resin slabs like these used to be all the rage. They kind of replaced vac-forms in a way.

I've also got the Planet Models Breda Ba.88, though I may forego building that for the more accurate injections now on the market

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

Well, I can hope this is the only thing that will go wrong in this build
While cutting out the side windows, one piece broke off, though easily repaired

This sort of resin does take cyano well. Going to need a bit more sanding once the primer is on and I can see how much it shows

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

Now, wings and fuselage drilled for support rods of 1mm brass

Otherwise, they're just butt joints


Looks like things will line up nicely, at least on the lower wing. I think the holes are a little off set on the top. Still, so long as they hold, no probs

Next, that interior

 

[papa 695]

Looks like some serious work ahead of you Chris, but it looks like you’re making a cracking start to it.

 

[Neil Merryweather]

blimey this is serious model making!
Rather you than me I think.
How similar to the Dragon Rapide is it? would it be possible to just convert one...? I realise that's not the point here, just asking for a friend

 

[yak face]

Great start chris , its going to be a real kitbash this one , cheers tony

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

How similar to the Dragon Rapide is it? would it be possible to just convert one...? I realise that's not the point here, just asking for a friend

The Breda is about as different from the DH.84 Dragon as the DH.89 Dragon Rapide is, and from each other
The old Heller kit stands up well and is pretty accurate if you want to do one. However, converting a Rapide or a Ba.44 into the other is quite a prospect. The wings are a different shape, the Rapide's are elliptical and taper, and the whole 'plane back of the wings, fuselage and tail, is completely different. So, either way, you only have the front two-thirds body and the engine pods immediately usable
So, it could be done, certainly

This kit is no longer available, so you could start from a Rapide. Some other Planet Model kits can still be found, including some interesting British prototypes, from Hannants or CMK

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

Well, I found a build of this online by an Italian modeller. Just a set of pics, and somewhere he got a set of 1/72 plans. He had a very nice interior which has more details than the two photos I've got, plus he pointed out some inaccuracies in the kit, so here we go

The tail is a different shape and the rudder has a slightly different profile

Some of them have a larger front windscreen with a straight lower edge,
The colour profiles in the monograph also show the militarised version with the full greenhouse, but none of the photos do
A quick slice with the razor saw and rounding with a file

I'm thinking Ill add a piece to the bottom of the rudder when the halves are together

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

The kit markings are for I-AURRA, but I've decided on I-ORIO because of the yellow engine nacelles, which will be a contrast to the camo
This is mainly because on of the few service photos I can find, other than in the monograph, is this one

Which also shows the shape of the larger lower windscreen. I just wish it showed the whole 'plane including the rudder

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

Just as an asde, I've scanned my Puttnams DeHavilland for these

This gives you some idea of the differences between all three.
I'll have to see if there's a kit of the Dragon itself some time

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

So, I've decided I am going to change the rudder profile

First off, twenty-thou centre, with a few microstrips for the ribs. I've now put some 10 thou overt the top, thoroughly 'wetted' with liquid poly to set it into the rib shapes. The just a little filling and sanding to follow. If the finished article looks okay, off comes the kit part

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

Now, onto the, absent, interior. Which, for a 'pl;ane with windows all down the sides is annoying. All there is in the kit is a front and rear bulkhead plus the cockpit floor, none of which are correct

The cockpit has two seats, for a start, and a weirdly shaped door in the centre. Even the joystick is wrong


All the detail from the cockpit floor removed, a main compartment floor, new front, rear and luggage compartment bulkheads assembled

And this is how it lines up, though not yet attached. I put a 'shadow' of the main door on the inside, which might just, but probably won't show up looking through the windows

Having four seats left over from my Rapide gives me a good head start, so i only need to scratch up two

On the right the original, unmodified; centre the modified one with new rear supports and hollowed out armrests; left, the scratchbuilt addition, which has turned out rather well. So, when I come to build my Savoia S.72 airliner, with the big picture windows all down the side, I can make another twenty-or-so seats from scratch!
Or not
Time to see if anyone has a 3D print seat out there...

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

Replacement rudder now complete, and the kit parts sliced off and stuck together, 'cause you never know when you might need another replacement some time

And it matches up pretty well. I think

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

Interior now complete. Four seats modified, two scratchbuilt. Cockpit parts 'accurized' with a new joystick, rudder bars, throttle columns and seats

One of the seats is slightly askew, but, meh. Even managed to do a figure-of-eight grip for the joystick out of carefully bent wire, so I'm happy
I only did two of the four rudder bars, just so there's something there visible. The joystick is a bit too tall, and should really line up with the bottom edge of the windows and the lower edge of the control panel, but hey, it's there
A quick clean, some primer, and it'll have paint on

There is a curved roof panel above the cabin, which, in the one photo of the interior, is VERY shiny, but I'm in two minds about adding it as it may not be very visible
But being visible has never stopped me adding something before!

Once painted, it'll be time to put the fuselage together. And then it'll be time to drill a LOT of holes, for struts and rigging. And by the photos, some of the holes for mounting points on the cowlings are BIG

 

[Tworrs]

Quite a challenge that one Chris, however you are doing a great job with it.

 

[Mickc1440]

Lovely work Chris