Fiat Cr.32

Chris Busbridge Decals

1/48 scale

Reviewed by Mick Evans

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This is the premiere release by Chris Busbridge Decals and I must say I am more than impressed with the quality of the decals. 

The subject is the Fiat Cr.32 in 1/48 scale. These will be suitable for the newly released Classic Airframes kit.

The decals are superbly printed by Cartograf and have excellent colour saturation and register.  The colours are so bright they almost sparkle.  The carrier film is ultra thin and my experience with Cartograf in the past has been that the decals handle easily and snuggle down into the surface detail nicely.  The carrier film will almost totally disappears under a coat of clear. 

Decals are provided for seven aircraft schemes used during the aircraft service career.  The tricolour or cross for the fin and rudder must be painted on and the Savoy crest is provided as a decal.  I usually find this easier than trying to fit a large decal over a complex area. 

The instruction sheet is printed in black and white and my main criticism is the detail around the colours for the schemes and the decal placement advice.  The colours detailed are the Italian names for the colours with no further detail, and only a left hand side profile is provided with no wing decal placement details.  The purists would probably obtain further references for building and colour schemes but an improvement here would be some extra instruction on detail and colours. 

Specific markings are as follows: 

1. This aircraft was flown by Col Pezze Ferrara in 1938 and is finished in natural aluminium and aluminium dope on the fabric surfaces.  The rudder is finished with the tricolour.

2. This aircraft belonged to 80 Squadrigillia, 1 Stormo Campoformido in 1935-36 and is finished in natural aluminium and aluminium dope on the fabric surfaces.  The rudder is finished with the tricolour.

3. This aircraft belonged to 362 Squadrigillia, based at Clampino in 1939 and is finished in very dense mottling of probably verde and marrone on a giallo base.  The spinner is aluminium and red while the rudder is finished with the tricolour.

4. This aircraft was flown by Colonnello Grandinetti 4 Stormo, and is finished in a banded scheme of verde, marrone and giallo while the underside is either Grigo or Aluminium.  The spinner is aluminium and red while the rudder is finished with the tricolour.

5. This aircraft belonged to the Romantica Squadrigillia, based in Africa Orientale in 1941 and is finished in very dense mottling of verde and marrone on a giallo base.  The spinner is aluminium while the rudder has the white cross.

6. This aircraft belonged to 163 Squadrigillia, based at Ego in 1940 and is finished in very dense mottling of verde and marrone on a giallo base.  The spinner is aluminium and red while the rudder has the white cross.

7. This aircraft belonged to the 50 Stormo Africa Senttentrionale in 1940-41 and is finished in very dense mottling of verde on a giallo base.  The spinner is camoflaged while the rudder has the white cross.

Highly Recommended

Thanks to Chris Busbridge for the review sample.

Chris Busbridge Decals products may be viewed on their website

Review Copyright © 2006 by Mick Evans
Page Created 14 August, 2006
Last updated 14 August, 2006

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