This kit was built for a SAMI review article in 2006.

Choroszy Modelbud 1/72 Caproni Ca.100 idorvolante

This is the third Choroszy Modelbud Ca.100 model I've reviewed for this magazine, the 'idrovolante' being one of five variants CM have produced. The others are the Colombo, Fiat A50 & Cirrus engined types and the Farina 'idrovolante'. All parts are cast entirely in resin, with a sheet of clear stock provided for the windscreens. Decals are for two trainer aircraft based at Lake Como in the late 1930's. Fairly recently, a preserved Ca100 'idro' made its maiden flight over the very same lake and a photo of this airplane appears on the cover of the mini Ali d'Italia Ca100 booklet (#2), which covers a wide range of Ca100's.

Not surprisingly, the construction of this model was becoming rather familiar process! The main issues to deal with are the top wing dihedral, where it may be necessary to separate the wings from the central fuel tank to correct it. The lower wings may not attach to the fuselage absolutely square either, so this will have to be corrected. It will mean losing the alignment pins, but new ones can be made. The leading edges of all the wings are a bit rough, so some attention with wet and dry is required to get them nice and smooth. The lower mating surfaces of each fuselage halves also need a fair amount of excess resin removed to get a good clean join, with some filler still needed when the fuselage is finally closed up. Internal detail is quite good, with a separately moulded floor structure onto which the two seats and control columns are attached. Side wall detail is moulded into each fuselage half and looks good with a careful wash. No colours are indicated on the instruction seat for the interior, so I decided on a light grey, with the seat pads and instrument panels picked out in black.

After checking all struts were present and correct, the float assembly turned out to be the most intricate stage of construction. Each float was in two very cleanly moulded halves. There are two cross members to go between each float and then there is the set of angled 'N' struts on each float to join to the fuselage. When successfully completed, the assembly is stronger than the fragile struts would have you believe.

All wings and tail surfaces were sprayed separately with AlcladII White Aluminium. The fuselage, wing tank, and floats were sprayed with WEM Verde Mimitico 4, as no accurate colour information was provided. Only then could the rest of the construction continue. Small curved windscreens were made from the clear sheet stock supplied and glued in place with white glue.

The red striped on the upper wings were done using the kit decals, but could be sprayed instead, as can the rudder tricolor. The markings provided for two aircraft from the same training school, numbered COM-11 or 17.

Although the float strut assembly seemed daunting at first, it was less less of a problem in reality. Provided care is taken to ensure all parts are cleaned up and mating surfaces are well prepared, the majority of the construction can proceed at a relatively rapid pace. Recommended to all modellers of resin biplanes who do not mind a bit of intricate strut work as well.