1:72 Fiat BR.20 Cicogna (wet decals)

The stork from the Turin factory

The Fiat BR.20, called Cicogna, meaning stork, took off in February 1936 and was among the first modern all-metal bombers of Italian manufacture. A mid-wing monoplane with retractable landing gear and a pair of radial engines, it was a decent machine for its day, but development moved on quickly and by the time it was committed over England in the autumn of 1940 the type was already behind. Export is an interesting chapter: the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force took over eighty examples and used them from 1938 in China, where they were among the most capable machines the Japanese put in there.

Eight machines, three air forces

Most of the selection consists of aircraft of Italian units, namely the 9a Squadriglia of 25° Gruppo, 7° Stormo, the 65a Squadriglia of 31° Gruppo, 18° Stormo of the Falco division, then machines of 43° Gruppo, 13° Stormo of the Drago division including an example from Barce in Libya in July 1941, and a pair of aircraft of 11° Gruppo from a Belgian base and from northern Italy in 1940. They are joined by a Japanese machine of the 1st Sentai from 1938 and an aircraft of the 230a Squadriglia of the Aviazione Legionaria from Puig-Moreno airfield in Spain in June 1938.

A note on use

With the larger Italian fuselage numbers it pays to apply them one at a time and check the horizontal axis immediately, because a tilted numeral jumps out. The water should be lukewarm, not hot. The package is a printed item; the kit of the bomber has to be arranged separately. The Japanese scheme also differs from the Italian ones in the shape of the national insignia, so it is worth comparing both sides of the fuselage before painting.