> My references on the SVA-5 are pretty sparse, with no color. The
> kit comes with Russian markings on the decals, but I'd rather
> build it in Italian service. Before I spend $15 for the Windsock
> Datafile on a $5 kit that's not going into a contest, I figured
> I'd ask here. The machine gun with the kit is pretty poor, so I'll
> either build one from scrap or get an aftermarket one (or two?)
> Also, does anyone know if the struts are bare metal, wood, or
> painted? If anyone has any paint scheme suggestions, unit
> markings, etc., I'd greatly appreciate them.
Looking at the Datafile, it _appears_ the struts were made out of
metal. Looking at the photo's, it looks like some were left
"natural", and some were painted. The color plate on the front of
the Datafile shows an SVA with _partly_ painted struts. Even though
you have sparse references, I would choose a particular plane from a
photo, and use that as a guide.
As was already mentioned, there were TWO machine guns, directly in
front of the cockpit, on each side of the fuselage. It appears that
they were on the "line" between the fuselage sides, and the "forward
turtledeck" (or whatever that part in front of the cockpit is
called). Unless you build an SVA 6, then those two guns were
Vickers. You could get them from Aeroclub, if interested. (Does
Atlee make Vickers?)
The "general", factory delivered scheme was an all natural-wood
fuselage, with un-painted metal "engine deck". All flight surfaces
left clear doped linen. As far as markings go, you could have a
heyday - as well as a headache trying to make some of these elaborate
personal markings. An "easy" one as plated on the back of a Datafile
is an SVA 5 in American hands; instead of Italian cockades, American
"stars with red circle in middle" were used. However, the rudder
stripes were left in Italian colors. Standard color scheme as above,
with all metal parts (including wing and landing gear struts) left in
dull aluminum "natural metal". However, this particular machine had
the "access steps" on the starboard side.
Hope this helps. If you need more info, just "holler".
Matt
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Matthew Bittner WW1 Modeler, ecto subscriber, new dad,
meba@cso.com PowerBuilder developer; Omaha, Nebraska
"It must be inordinately taxing to be such a boob." - Brain
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+