Kit has detailed resin parts, recessed panel lines, photo-etch details, vacu or injection-molded clear parts - canopy.
(injection-molded plastic kit). Limited edition. *****
Italian night fighter and night intruder.
plastic parts: 51, resin parts: 38, vacu canopy: 1, photo-etched: 0
4 version decals (2x Italian AF,lx Luftwaffe, lx Swedish AF)
In the summer of 1935, the Italian Ministry of Aviation announced the technical specifications for projects to develop new, modern fighters. A design team from the Fiat factory, managed by Rosatelli, created a project based on these specifications-surprisingly, the team came up with a bi-plane fighter. The project, designated the C.R.42, completed a line of fighters which began with Rosatelli's C.R.20, designed in 1932.
The new project focused on two attributes, high manoeuverability and a high rate of climb. These were guaranteed by a new engine - the radial, air cooled, 14-cylinder Fiat A.74R.1C.38 which provided over 800 HP. Construction of the C.R.42 prototype began in 1937 at the Aeritalia works; the new plane flew for the first time in May 1938, and the first 200 production aircraft were manufactured in the autumn of 1939 for the Regia Aeronautica. The Fiat C.R.42 was an elegant bi-plane with a fully metal frame, fixed landing gear in fairings, an open cockpit and it was armed with two synchronized SAFAT .50 machine guns located in the fuselage; later two bomb racks were added under the lower wings.
The first C.R.42 Falco was dispatched to the 53o Stormo C.T. stationed at Turin-Caselle airfield; till the war start five Stormos were equipped with the new fighters (330 planes total). The powerful Fiat C.R.42 was also sought after by foreign air forces: the Hungarian Air Force bought 18 planes in the autumn of 1939 (the Hungarians later bought 50 more Fiats), 34 Fiats were delivered to Belgium and 72 to Sweden where ware known as J11. The basic C.R.42 fighter evolved later into several specialized versions: the C.R.42AS with air filters and bomb racks, the C.R.42CN night fighter with exhaust baffles and reflectors, the C.R.42Egeo with bigger fuel tanks and the C.R.42CB (also designed C.R.42 b.a.) fighter-bomber with racks for two 100 kg bombs. In 1944 50 planes, designated C.R.42LW, were built for the Luftwaffe. Several C.R.42B two-seat training aircraft were built as well, and prototypes of the C.R.42 Idro with floats and the C.R.42DB with German DB 601 in-line engine followed. Production of the Fiat C.R.42 stopped in 1944 a total of 1,782 planes were built.
