Ansaldo A.1 Balilla

My first attempt at a wooden propeller and a wooden fuselage.  

Decide to paint the Italian colours on the tailplane, one less decal to source. 

The interesting camouflage pattern was actually quite fun to do, its just a matter of applying the colours in the right order to get the right (not quite exact) effect. Practicing on a scrap piece of paper was definitely the way to go! Some kits supply the pattern as a decal apparently. 

Pretty much finished now, just the final varnish coat to do after the decals dry off properly. Might try the new MicroScale Satin finish if it arrives in the next couple of days. 

Scavenged decals were slightly bigger than what would have been in the kit, the 'A' is too wide, but it all looks pretty good. I used the Griffin decal from the PrintScale sheet to replicate the usual fancy Shield emblem that is usually on the bottom wing. The Griffin was used by Italian Ace Capitano Baracca's squadron late in his career/war, but he is more famous for using the prancing horse logo that would become more famous on Ferrari's. 

I do like the Italian flag colour design on the underneath of both wings. 

The Decal sheets after using the relevant bits and pieces. Time to visit the stash for the next project, something bigger this time I think. 

Thats it for this one, my 2nd bi-plane, and discovered how difficult it is to get the top wing perfectly aligned with the bottom