Fiat CR.42 Falco

Pavla 1/72

Reviewed by Glen Porter

 Pavla's 1/72 scale Fiat CR.42 Falco is available online from Squadron.com

The Fiat CR.42 Falco was reputed to be one of the fastest biplane fighters ever built, hence its importance.

Unfortunately, it was designed and built after the Spitfire and the Bf 109, so it was overshadowed by these and subsequent monoplanes. The trouble was that the Italian Air Force (Regia Aeronautica) placed greater emphasis on manoeuvrability and rate of climb rather than firepower and protection. Italian pilots of the period also preferred open cockpits.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the Falco was that production continued until 1944!

There has never been a really good model of the Fiat CR.42 in 1/72 scale. The best of them, Matchbox's offering, had some noticeable shape problems and was lacking in detail.

Pavla's new 1/72 scale Pavla kit has finally hit the mark.

The "short run" plastic sprue is better than many I have seen, but the parts will still need some cleaning up before assembly.

The very nicely detailed CMK resin parts are superb and the decals, printed by Etech, are presented to a very high standard.

As is common with Pavla kits, parts are supplied for four alternate versions of the CR.42  - standard fighter, tropical fighter, night fighter and fighter bomber.

I expect a few complications when assembling the "W" shaped interplane struts and fitting the top wing, but this area needs plenty of care on all biplane kits.

I do not know why it has taken so long to produce a genuinely good CR.42 kit, but I would like to congratulate Pavla for correcting this situation. Pavla's new 1/72 scale Fiat CR.42 Falco will be especially welcomed by Regia Aeronautica modellers.

Highly Recommended

Thanks to Squadron.com for the review sample.

Review and Images Copyright © 2004 by Glen Porter
Page Created 19 July, 2004
Last updated 18 July, 2004

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