1:72 Savoia S.79 Sparviero vacuform canopy correction set

The cursed hunchback of the Italian sky

The three-engine Savoia S.79 Sparviero had a pronounced dorsal hump with a gun position above the pilots' compartment, and it owed its crew nickname of the cursed hunchback to exactly that. It flew in 1934 as a fast transport of mixed wood and metal construction, collected records on long-distance routes and in the war became the most successful Italian torpedo bomber. In the Mediterranean it attacked convoys from a height of a few meters above the water and its crews were among the most experienced the Regia Aeronautica had.

The correction canopy deals with what tends to be the greatest weakness of older kits of this machine: the glazing has a different angle and a different height from what the aircraft actually carried.

• A correction of the shape of the glazing, with the outline matching the real cockpit
• Formed clear film, far thinner than an injection-molded part
• The dimensions match 1:72
• An easy swap, because the original canopy is cut off and replaced

Working with a formed part rewards the patient. First the line of the cut is traced, then the film is cut out with scissors leaving a margin and the last tenths of a millimeter are taken off by sanding, not with a knife. Small scratches left by sanding disappear when the finished canopy is dipped in a gloss clear varnish and left to drip on the edge of a cup. What stays is a smooth surface that blends with the outline of the fuselage once it is fitted and does not spoil the impression of the whole model, not even seen against the light.