Italeri 1/72 FIat Cr.42 A.S.  Written for a SAMI review in 2007.

This is another issue of Italeri's neat little 1/72 Fiat Cr.42 kit. This version allows the modeller to construct the A.S. version, the most visible differences being the larger intake at the base of the cowling and two small bomb racks for each lower wing.  A pair of bombs are also supplied. Not included this time around is the handy booklet that Italeri provided with their other Cr.42 models.

Although this model has accurate proportions and looks every inch a Cr42, it does have rather crude fabric detail, rather like their larger 1/48 kit. The fabric detail on the wings too heavy, as is the fabric section of the fuselage. All trailing edges are also a little on the thick side. Cockpit detail is good for 1/72 scale, but not much of it is visible. Engine detail is good and includes pushrod detail.

The model is easy to assemble, but the top wing and undercarriage is best left as sub-assemblies to make painting the camouflage that much easier.

A commonly used camouflage for the A.S. variant was Fiats very own 'lizard' scheme. Three of the four selections on the instruction sheet are for such a scheme. The fourth choice has a smoke ring pattern, which would be very difficult to do well in this scale. It was done in exactly the same way as the Italeri 1/48 Fiat Cr.42 I recently reviewed for SAMI, where an overall coat of White Ensigns Nocciola Chiaro was applied then masked with blobs of Blu-Tak before applying WEM's Verde Oliva Scuro. The lower  surfaces were sprayed with WEM Grigio Azzurro Chiaro.

The decals had a rather thick varnish, which needed some help with Johnsons Klear to conform to the model (especially in the fabric areas) and to keep silvering to a minimum.

This is a very good, accurate looking model, but let down by rather crude fabric detail. It goes together very well and experienced modellers will no doubt find ways to get around the problem of the fabric effect, although it would be more difficult to do compared to Italeri's 48th model, which has similar problems. Despite this, it is good to see a widely available model of this aircraft in 1/72 (and 1/48) and is the best starting point for an accurate model.