Savoia Marchetti SM.86W by LF Models
1/72 scale
Kit No. 7257
Cost: $75.00
Decals: One version – Regia Aeronautica
Comments: Injection molded and cast resin with vacuformed canopy and nose aperture
History
The Savoia-Marchetti SM.86 was planned as the successor to the more well-known Savoia-Marchetti SM.85, an aircraft developed as part of a program by the Regia Aeronautica to produce a twin-engine monoplane dive bomber based on the theories of American General Billy Mitchell, which were enthusiastically adopted by Colonel Amedeo Mecozzi (who also developed the Breda Ba.64 and its derivatives) for attack aircraft. The SM.86 first flew on April 8, 1939 fitted with 447 kW (600 hp) Walter Sagitta inline engines of Czechoslovakian manufacture. This was a totally new aircraft, only marginally similar to the previous SM.85, and bore more of a superficial resemblance to the British de Havilland Mosquito.
Key components of the aircraft were refined to improve upon the SM.85, including the fuselage, cockpit, tail, and flaps. The design specification provided for the installation of several engine types to determine the most optimal configuration. The Italian Air Force specification of September 22, 1937 required the installation 12-cylinder V-type engines Walter “Sagitta” ICSR (600 hp), which had good weight characteristics with a sufficient thrust-weight ratio. Six months later, on February 2, 1938, the specification was changed towards Piaggio P.VII C.16, but ultimately the first option was selected. The prototype SM.86W (registration number MM.397) was evaluated at Guidonia in 1939, and entered trials in 1940.
Suddenly, in April 1940 an order for 97 SM.86’s was cancelled, reportedly due to the outbreak of hostilities in the West, when Germany invaded Norway on April 10th. This account is questionable due to the Regia Aeronautica’s prior acknowledgement of the urgent necessity to equip at least a full wing with dive bombers, and the fact that it is not clear whether the cancellation order occurred before or after the Norway invasion. It is more likely that a combination of financial and political pressures, in part based on the need to have squadrons of dive bombers operational as soon as possible, led to a decision to simply equip Italian air units with the Stuka.
This is at least plausible because although the SM.86W showed an overall improvement in performance, and went on to give a good account of itself in combat, for reasons not entirely clear only one example ultimately entered service. This prototype was deployed in combat over Malta and Greece, largely because Savoia-Marchetti still hoped to reverse the cancellation of the project and receive a contract for this new aircraft. It was assigned to 96 Grupo which was then equipped with the Junkers Ju 87B Stuka.
The exact number of sorties made with the SM.86W remains unknown, but the use of aircraft caused almost no complaints. It completed several combat missions, including the attack on the airfield of Al-Far (Malta) on September 15, 1940, and the subsequent offensive near Ioannina (Greece) on November 4th. Despite its flawless service, the SM.86 was retired on August 17, 1941 in favor of the Junkers Ju 87B. The Regia Aeronautica had initially ordered 97 machines, but due to time constraints the order was rewritten for the existing SM.85 (a bad sign since the SM.85 reportedly had more than its share of problems), an aircraft which was ultimately replaced by the Stuka.
The Kit
LF Models’ Savoia Marchetti SM.86W is cast in light beige resin and consists of 38 resin parts and five clear vacuform transparencies together with a flat, clear plastic sheet for windows on the port side of the fuselage. The number of vacuform parts would seem to indicate LF Models’ desire to provide modelers with spares in case the hobby knife slips! In an unusual move, the fuselage is not a single cast resin piece, but rather is comprised of two halves and appears to be the result of injection molding, based on the presence of sidewall detail in both fuselage halves for the cockpit.
The cockpit assembly consists of a floor, pilot’s seat which includes molded on seat straps, and a two-part control yoke which includes a separate part for the “W” style bomber control wheel. Positioning this completed assembly correctly in the fuselage when cementing it in will require care, since the instructions are less than precise on this point and there are no tabs present in the fuselage interior the help with placement. With minor effort this kit could be built with the landing gear up, since the main gear doors are each a single piece which will have to be cut in half if the kit is built with the gear down.
The wings are the standard solid cast resin for a kit of this type, and feature engraved details, as do the two solid engine housings, which are to be cemented to the injection molded, mostly hollow nacelles. Modelers expecting to find separate flaps based on the box illustration will be disappointed — the wings are each a solid piece. The nacelles appear to be well shaped and each has an opening for the main landing gear, and a separate part for the face of the nacelle. Separate parts are likewise provided for the spinners as well as the individually mounted propeller blades. There are two small air scoops that are to be cemented to the dorsal surface of the engine housings.
The box art will be of more help than the instructions in terms of providing a paint guide, since the instructions call out a camouflage scheme of Dark Green, Sand and Light Brown over Light Grey undersides, but leave modelers to their own devices as to what color goes where when applying the camouflage. Colors are identified by name only; no manufacturer is mentioned. This is a unique model in that the paint scheme is for the one aircraft that was in existence, a machine of the 96th Bomber Group (96 Grupo) in the Summer/Autumn of 1940, based at Comiso, Sicily. The pilot is identified by one name only: Scarpini.
Markings
Decals are provided for the Regia Aeronautica, the only Air Force to operate the lone prototype. This aircraft is known to have been assigned to 96 Grupo.
Conclusion
This is an unusual kit of a relatively little known combat aircraft that was apparently denied a chance for wider service through no fault of its own. The urgent need to get dive bombers into production immediately may have been the key factor in Italy failing to develop its own modern WWII dive bomber. Highly recommended for its rarity and historical interest.
References
- www.destinationsjourney.com
- https://de.zxc.wiki/wiki/
- https://bomberaircraft.fandom.com/wiki