Airfix Fiat G.91 R-1, 1/72
Just finished this for a club '50s group build. It was a very simple kit, but lacking in detail - no interior at all. The "seat" provided was replaced by one from the spares box, and I added wire ejection pulls. Pilot was actually in the box (love those old kits for that!). I added the canopy bulkhead, pitot tubes (none provided), and a jet pipe made from a filed down and sawed off spare drop tank.
The worst item in the box were the drop tanks/pylons - they were laughably small and cartoonish! I found a set of in the spares box and modified by filing off the top fin, drooping the other fins and then adding the finlets from styrene. The pylons aren't totally accurate, as the G.91 pylons protruded from the wing leading edge, but it just looks way better with what I used!
Painted with Vallejo water-based acrylics and weathered with pastel chalks and Tamiya weathering sets, and some Tensocrom fluids. I finished with oil filtering, and this time I decided not to overcoat with dullcoat, as I felt like it would cover up some of the fading I achieved with the oils.
Decals were an aftermarket set, with lots of stencils taken from my spares stash.
That is lovely; the detailing and painting are terrific. Every time I see your work, Greg, I want to build a 'wheels up' model. Inspired.
A nice one Greg! You made the ancient kit look great.
When I spotted that headline pic, I said, "...that's one of Greg's builds..". You oughta go into business with those neat-lookin' display stands. 🙂
Man, this is so cool, great build Greg. Love it.
Ginna... what fond memories that name brings me 🙂
More seriously, I know this plane from upclose, and in fact a couple of kms from me there are 2 of them posing very similar to the pose your model has. The only difference is that there’s no dummy pilot on those cockpits.
Terrific painting and weathering, even more considering the scale and probably the old age of Airfix moulds. Well done sir!
Fantastic work Greg! Allways nice to see an older 1/72 kit getting build to a lovely model. Great work on the details and the colours look just fine.
Just love it!
Really nice, Greg! Whenever I see one of these they remind me of an Italian (almost) F-86. Of course, there is no such aircraft, but the overall look is about right.
Beauty!
Nice Greg, seeing a Gina in Luftwaffe markings. These old Airfix kits were pretty basic. Great for quick builds you think. I always did like the look of the European Sabre. I have one in 48th scale, the Occidental kit. Thanks for sharing.
I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who thinks these levely aircraft look (somewhat) like a Saber Jet.
Wow, Greg! I haven’t seen one of those in decades. Nice work.
Greg, you sure cranked out a winner with this kit. I really like the attractive paint scheme. Well done !
That's a great looking G-91 Greg. Did a fine job on an old and I'm sure a not well detailed model. Your work really made up for the lack of detail. Job well done.
Outstanding job Greg ! This one really shines my friend... I like it. A LOT !
Those display stands of yours are awesome to say the least... 🙂
Love that little Fiat. ALways have but never built one. Waiting for a modern molding to come out some day. You have done a great job with this kit. Really nice finish!
@jjetmec I've seen a new molding - I think Meng!
Beautiful Greg, it is so impressive that you have the 'eye' to be able to pick those specific things that will transform an old kit - lacking detail in something special! And i have to agree with some of the earlier comments - posed on that stand the plane looks like it is travelling fast!
Nice builds, I looked at all of them. I am still learning to handbrush my models using Testors enamels since it is all my local hobby store carries. If you don’t mind I do have a couple questions on brush painting with enamels.
What type of brush do you use for the larger surfaces? Flat or round?
Do you thin the paint or brush straight from the bottle? If you thin, how much?
How many coats do you normally apply? How long do you allow to dry between coats?
Thank you very much for your time.
David - I gave up brush painting enamels for the overall paint schemes years ago. The newer formulas of model master enamels just didn't work well - thinned too much they dried too fast and got clumpy, but not enough and you couldn't eliminate brush strokes. I took to Vallejo Model Color paints for brush painting several years ago and haven't looked back!
I do use a flat brush for exterior painting. Even with Vallejo I thin the paint a tad. And I almost never can cover with a single coat - enamels or acrylic. Enamels must dry longer between coats, and I often sanded between coats when using enamels to try to get the brush strokes damage down to bare minimum.
If you're going to try to brush paint, I'd suggest mail ordering Vallejo. Or you might try Hataka blue line paint - made for brush painting (I'm trying my first set now - so far, so good...). I'm also trying a set of Akan paints. Not sure how they'll perform yet...
Greg, thank you for the reply. For enamels how long do you wait between coats to dry? My Hobby store does not Cary Vallejo paint and looking online they only come in sets. Is there anywhere I can just my single colors of Vallejo? Also do you use regular Vallejo or the air Vallejo paints?
It turned out very well, Greg, your attention to the right details, your finish, and, not forgetting your brilliant display stand, really set this model off.