Italeri

1/72 Caproni Ca.311

Kit Number: 1113

Reviewed by  Jim Pearsall, IPMS# 2209

MSRP: $25 Thanks to Model Rectifier Corporation (www.modelrectifier.com) for the review kit. The aircraft In the 1930s, no one really knew what would work and what wouldn't for a combat aircraft. The Italian aviation theorist Giulio Douhet was a huge fan of the strategic bomber, even more so than Billy Mitchell, and his doctrines guided the RAF as well as the Luftwaffe, the Armee' De'L Aire and other forces, albeit not as thoroughly as the Italians as they prepared for World War 2. As early as 1912, Douhet worked with Gianni Caproni, an Italian aircraft designer, to build those strategic bombers which would change the course of all future conflicts. Douhet had died of a heart attack in 1930, but his legacy lived on in the bomber forces of Europe for at least the next 10 years. He had been a supporter of Mussolini, and was appointed Commissioner of Aviation when the Fascists took power. This relationship probably explains much of Italian aircraft design in the 20s and 30s. Part of Douhet's theory was that there was no real defense against bombers. The bombers would always get through, and they would wreak havoc upon the manufacturing centers, population and infrastructure of the enemy. The amount of damage was highly exaggerated in his book "Command of the Air", and the probability of the bomber always getting through would be an interesting topic of discussion with surviving B-17 crewmembers. The result of this theory being put into practice was an Italian Air Force (Regia Aeronautica) which was filled with so-so fighters and bombers which really weren't all that capable. And this is one of those airplanes. John W.R. Taylor's "Combat Aircraft" gives full mention to the Heinkel 51, the SPAD, and the Wyvern, but lumps the Ca 311 in a paragraph covering the Ca 309 through 314. Nevertheless, the Ca 311 was a true combat aircraft, as it was used in the first part of the Russian Campaign. The Model This is really not a new kit, but still a very buildable model. It originally came out in the late 1970s, and it's now been reissued by Italeri in pretty much its' original form. From the picture, you can see that there are two different Ca 311s, one with a "greenhouse", one with a stepped canopy. Unlike the He-111, the Ca 311 started with the greenhouse, and the stepped canopy came later. Parts are included for both types. I decided I liked the looks of the greenhouse, so that's the one I built. You get 2 large grey sprues, with a fairly large selection of clear parts. After you build this thing, you'll understand why the clear sprue is so big. This aircraft had windows on the sides of the bomb bay! If I remember correctly, the original kit came with a great looking clear plastic stand. That feature isn't in there. Which makes sense, because I don't use the stands either. Assembly and Painting Because of the large number of windows on this kit, and the way the interior blocks access to putting them in, I painted the sides of the fuselage first, inserted the windows, assembled the interior, and then put the fuselage halves together. After fixing the seams on the fuselage, I left off the big bottom window for the ventral gunner's position until almost last. This gave me a way to put in that little window at the top of the fuselage. It also allowed me to reinstall the side window I punched out when I was handling the fuselage while painting that yellow band on. With all of those windows, you can't skimp on the interior. And Italaeri (as it was originally spelled back in the 70s) didn't skip much. I would have liked to see an instrument panel provided on the decal sheet, but otherwise, there's enough in that interior to keep you busy for several evenings. There are also some choices to make fairly early. The obvious one about the stepped vs. greenhouse canopy, but also the ventral gunner position can be built either open or closed, and this needs to be thought of at this point. I was pleasantly surprised at how well things went together in that interior. Usually I have some sort of issue(s) with fit, alignment, pieces falling off, or something like that, and this just didn't happen. Well, except for those windows. The rest of the assembly went very well. I was impressed by the fit of the engine nacelles. They come in 2 parts, but the top of the assembly slips over the wing, and the top and bottom are then cemented in place. Any warpage or poor fit here would be immediately evident, and it was good. Painting the greenhouse was "interesting". The dozens of little formers are nicely laid out for you, and with masking tape and airbrush, I tackled this part of the project. Didn't turn out bad at all. It was also nice and clear, revealing that interior to advantage. The greenhouse comes as one part; the bombardier's position is separate, allowing for the choice for the stepped canopy. I was gratified at how well the two clear parts fit together, and matched into the fuselage. I had a small fit issue with the bombardier's glass at the left side of the fuselage, but a quick hit with Mr. Surfacer 500 took care of it. I also decided on the dark green / light green camouflage scheme. The ochre with green spots is SO overdone. The color differential here is pretty subtle. Italeri gives you reference to Testors Model Master® colors, and the 34092 and 34097 are pretty close in color. The yellowish tinge of the 34097 can be vaguely seen, but then Italy is famous for design excellence. Decals I haven't heard of Zachetti Buccinaso's decals, but they're far better than Italeri's original printer's. I had a bit of trouble with silvering on the top wing, but I should have put some Future in with the liquid I put down to float the decal onto. Otherwise, the decals aligned nicely, went where I wanted, and stayed put. You get markings for 4 different aircraft, 2 with the greenhouse, and 2 with the stepped canopy. Overall Assessment OK, it's not state of the art. But it also doesn't have any real problems. It was an outstanding kit 30 years ago, and it's holding its age well. There was no flash, so either the mold was made of a really hard metal, or Italeri spent some time and money refinishing it. Fit was good, the wings and horizontal stabilizers needed no putty to make them fit better than they did on the original aircraft. Partial Bibliography Shores, Christopher, Regia Aeronautica, Vol 1. Squadron/Signal, Warren, MI, 1976 Taylor, John W.R. Combat Aircraft, GP Putnams Sons, London, 1969 Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org), Biography of Giulio Douhet.

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