1:72 Italo Balbo

The man whose name became a word

In the 1930s Italo Balbo was among the best known airmen in the world. It was not about speed records or solo feats: Balbo put his money on mass flights, in which dozens of flying boats set out in close formation and crossed the ocean together. The high point was the journey of twenty-four machines from the Italian coast across the North Atlantic to Chicago and back again. The English dictionary took a noun from it, which to this day denotes a large group of aircraft flying together.

Libya and the last flight

After his aviation successes Balbo was given Italian Libya to administer, where he occupied himself mainly with building roads and resettling colonists. He did not agree with Italy entering the Second World War. He died in June 1940 over Tobruk, when his aircraft was shot down by Italy's own anti-aircraft defenses, which failed to recognize the crew in a nervous moment after an air raid.

The mark he left in Chicago

The arrival of twenty-four flying boats in July 1933 headed straight into the middle of the world's fair that Chicago was holding at the time. The city named a street after the commander of the expedition and Italy presented him with a genuine ancient column, which stands in the park by the lake to this day. Few airmen of the 1930s left behind such a tangible memorial.

A small figure, great patience

In 1:72 the figure measures around twenty-five millimeters, so all the work takes place on an area smaller than a fingernail. Clean the casting of the excess material, sand the soles level and degrease the surface. Paint from the top down and with heavily thinned paints – three thin coats always turn out better than one covering coat. Solve the face with a light base, one dark wash into the eye sockets and finally a barely perceptible light dot on the nose and on the cheekbones.