ICM 1/32 Fiat CR.42 Falco

The Fiat CR.42 Falco (Falcon, plural: Falchi) is a single-seat sesquiplane fighter developed and produced by Italian aircraft manufacturer Fiat Aviazione. It served primarily in the Italian Regia Aeronautica in the 1930s and during the Second World War.

The CR.42 was a development of Fiat’s earlier CR.32 fighter, powered by the more powerful supercharged Fiat A.74R1C.38 air-cooled radial engine and with improvements. It proved to be relatively agile in flight, attributed to its very low wing loading and a sometimes decisive tactical advantage. RAF Intelligence praised its exceptional manoeuvrability, further noting that "the plane was immensely strong", though it was technically outclassed by faster, more heavily armed monoplanes. While primarily used as a fighter, variants such as the CR.42CN night-fighter model, the CR.42AS ground-attack aircraft, and the CR.42B Biposto twin-seat trainer aircraft had other roles.

This kit is part of a duo combo that includes a Gladiator, but it is difficult to properly preview kits with dissimilar subjects so I'm breaking it down to two articles. The overall look of the sprues is excellent. The fabric representation is better than most without the usual gross hills and valleys that some kits provide.

There is a full interior that consumes the first sixteen construction steps. It makes into an interior capsule that will fit into the fuselage. There are decals for all the instruments and there is a full framework for the sidewalls. Once this is trapped in the fuselage halves, the upper forward fuselage section is built up and installed. Then construction moves to the tailplanes. There is a separate rudder and elevators, but they are designed to be attached in the neutral position.

The next twenty-four steps are for the engine and the cowling. The engine is quite nicely detailed and you are provided a choice of having the cowling panels on or off. If off, then there are individual rocker arm parts to attach to the top of the cylinders. If building these panels closed, those are left off to provide space for the panels to fit.

We then move to the wings. Lower wings are first followed by all of the wing struts. Finally the upper wing halves are assembled and the upper wing attached. Personally, I'd do all of this at the same time before the glue fully cures so any adjustments can be made. There are separate ailerons, again to be posed in the neutral position. Instructions then have you build up the prop assembly and attach it, but I'd wait until the end of the build. Landing gear are next and this requires the fully covered wheel parts.

Instruction booklet is for just the CR.42, which is quite helpful. It is well done with all the required color information provided during the build. There are three markings options. All are basically a sand over light grey scheme with different mottling patterns on the upper surface. Two of these options are shown in the instruction booklet while a third that is for this boxing is shown in a separate sheet. The decals themselves are superbly printed and in register.

Overall, this is a very nice looking kit. Though the instructions are only for the standard fighter, the bits for the night fighter and fighter-bomber are on the sprues if you can find decals for those versions. Part of the unused bits are for landing gear without the wheel pants if you decide you want to do one of those. Though the dual combo kit is a bit pricey at near $90.00 from many places, it is a less expensive route for each kit if you were to buy them separately.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_CR.42_Falco

April 2026 

Copyright ModelingMadness.com. All rights reserved. No reproduction in part or in whole without express permission.