Dora Wings certainly can’t be accused of releasing the same kits as everyone else. Their latest 1/72 scale release, the Savoia-Marchetti S.55 flying boat, is anything but ordinary. While most of the kit is injection-molded, there are several photo-etched metal (PE) details and two very nice resin engines. Also included is clear film for the windscreen and masks for the clear parts. Two color schemes with three marking options are provided, one overall red S.55 that crossed the Atlantic, and two silver Italian naval options. Optional parts are included and referenced in the instructions for the different schemes.
Starting with some interior subassemblies and the engines, the instructions are clear for the most part, although some of the engine assembly drawings are a bit small to pick out part placement. Luckily, the actual parts are easy to interpret. The resin engine moldings are identical until you attach other parts like the exhausts; pay attention to which direction each engine will face when mounted and you won’t have any trouble. Many of the PE parts are tiny and fragile. The control rod parts for the interior defeated me and I ultimately left them out as they wouldn’t be visible anyway.
The front bulkhead (I14) should be omitted. It can’t be seen and severely affects the fit of the center section of the wing. The center section also mounts a front and rear spar that give very positive attachment and alignment to the outer wings. Not mentioned in the instructions are holes inside the upper center wing section that need to be opened for the pitot tube, which I later lost, and the leading-edge generator. The generator includes a PE propeller; I added a twist to each blade.
The twin hull assemblies feature excellent fit and full internal detail. Both fit the wing section nearly perfectly and a swipe of Deluxe Models Perfect Plastic Putty was all that was needed to clean up the seams.
Assembling the triple-rudder tail surfaces takes great care. The rudders are incredibly thin, and I snapped one removing it from the tree. I added the outer vertical fins first, then I added the PE horizontal brace between. Once that had set, I added the vertical PE support followed by the central rudder. The instructions suggest mounting the central rudder free-standing prior to attaching the supports, but I can’t see that working well. Both outer rudders were painted, decaled, and added last as they are quite fragile. Attaching the tail assembly to the booms was trouble-free with great fit.
Dora has provided mounting points for the booms to the upper wing and hull portions and they went on without a hitch and were aligned perfectly.
I left the pylon mounted engines off for painting, decals, and rigging.
The decals worked well, but the serial numbers of the silver options shown in the profiles are reversed from the descriptions. Given the quality of the fit to this point, I was surprised to find the wing center section walkway stripes were too short to match the drawings. Quick scrambling allowed me to adjust them to something approaching the drawings. I used the clear diagram in the instructions to add the rigging and control lines with EZ Line, elastic thread used in model railroading.
The S.55 took just under 22 hours to finish and except for the poorly fitting interior and fiddly PE parts it was an enjoyable build. The design and otherwise decent fit shouldn’t give problems to someone with a few kits under their belt, especially if you use EZ Line for rigging.
Note: A version of this review appeared in the November 2019 issue.