Macchi M.E. 72 AMP kit

[simontie]

Well not really my bag but seen this racing plane and thought it would be nice to build, its 1/48 scale and after my last 8th scale build it’s tiny.. but ill give it my best shot.
Box art & sprues.

I have managed most of the sparce cock pit not with out it’s issues and needs painted still but coming along nicely, done the props but the centre pin is to short (5mm ish) so i will adapt something to suit it tube and pin possibly but see what comes


Hope to get this all together quickly as i have a few other projects looming
Simon

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

Noice!
Anything Italian I'm in.
Just wish I still had the photos I took of the real beast at Vigna de Valle, until my camera misfiled them!

 

[simontie]

Ok well had a day of it not with out its challenges finished the cribbage for transport/storage (assume that what its called)
built both floats and the fit the crib

Painted the cockpit, added the control rods and instrument panel 3D decal looks ok then fitted to the port fuselage
Then stuck the 2 half's together again not much of an issue here either, also the twin props i bonded an aluminium rod to the nose and used this for the shaft even managed to give it a coat of silver.

Wings done as well bit of cleaning and clamping to get them flush but looking ok
Ok that said I only noticed the cribbage is slightly wrong or hard to decipher at the start it looks to me the 2 end panels go on the end of the frame work but not till the last page does it show there separate items (that will be why the wheels don't touch the ground i left them of and i will for now live with it


Off walking tomorrow with my son see if i can manage some more but more lightly sleeping

Simon

 

[JR]

Great styling by the Italians Simon.
Something I've not seen you build with more than two wheels either.
Less said about instructions the better !

 

[colin m]

Great to see one of these being built. I really like the look of these racing aircraft. The 1930's was a bit of a golden era for aircraft racing.

 

[simontie]

Great to see one of these being built. I really like the look of these racing aircraft. The 1930's was a bit of a golden era for aircraft racing.

Hope i do it justus it was the look that caught my eye i’d seen it in a post of the Italian museum (on SM) looked really nice & still holds the world record thats pretty amazing
Simon

 

[simontie]

Good morning all, well managed to get some time yesterday to finish of this wee sea plane and i got her primed with the rigging attached, the PE included was very hard to handle and the first two i cut out were a cm short of the floats so i opted for copper wire and used it on all points hard to keep it straight and taught, will try and mask off the rest of the kit for the top coat over the next few days and see what we have

Simon

 

[yak face]

Looking neat simon , cheers tony

 

[simontie]

Well to say this has been challenging would be an understatement, not the kit as much as me i think someone once said “your ambition out weights your abilities“ the curve on this was definatly learning but almost there couple of pictures not perfect but im starting to like it i have the super marine version of this so i might give it a blast later on in the year.
this is where i am
port side
starboard
front

underside
i also changed out the guide wires as the copper was just to flexible stainless being stiffer give’s a better impression of the tension
hope to finish off over the weekend but we’ll see
simon

 

[Mickc1440]

Nice looking aircraft Simon, the colour scheme reminds me of Iron Man.

 

[simontie]

Nice looking aircraft Simon, the colour scheme reminds me of Iron Man.

Yes i never thought of him but your right

 

[Andy the Sheep]

Sorry I missed this build, Simon.
Love that plane and your model is really nice.

 

[Jakko]

That is an eye-catching colour scheme for sure. I like it

 

[Andy the Sheep]

More than a colour scheme the brass part is, in fact, the water cooling system, made of brass tubes and spread on wings and floats. That solution spared weight and reduced the drag.

 

[minitnkr]

The Italians sure design some pretty stuff, ships, boats, cars, airplanes.....

 

[simontie]

The Italians sure design some pretty stuff, ships, boats, cars, airplanes.....

and miss the reliability & practical side of things

 

[simontie]

More than a colour scheme the brass part is, in fact, the water cooling system, made of brass tubes and spread on wings and floats. That solution spared weight and reduced the drag.

yes I read up about it, I think the Fiat V24 cylinder engine took up most of the fuselage, engine bay to cockpit was aluminium and the rest was timber still holds the record for a piston powered seaplane @440 mph or 710 ish kph that was back in October 1934. some interesting reading in this link
simon

23 October 1934 | This Day in Aviation

www.thisdayinaviation.com

 

[Dave Ward]

That's looking very good - I have to agree about Italian engineering - great design, poor execution ( Lancia Beta ).
Stupidly, I bought the SMER 1/48 Macchi model, that is apparently 1/50 - I just looked in the box, and it went into the 'no way' section of the stash ( that's next to the 'you're having a larf' pile ) ......................
Dave

 

[Jakko]

the brass part is, in fact, the water cooling system, made of brass tubes

Ah, that explains the corrugated surface I noticed on the model!

 

[simontie]

That's looking very good - I have to agree about Italian engineering - great design, poor execution ( Lancia Beta ).
Stupidly, I bought the SMER 1/48 Macchi model, that is apparently 1/50 - I just looked in the box, and it went into the 'no way' section of the stash ( that's next to the 'you're having a larf' pile ) ......................
Dave

I do believe from some on line reviews its not the best kit out there, this AMP kit has been ok quite simple the painting is what caught me out
I had a good mate who loved the Lancia’s great looking very responsive just never expect to get where your going