Delta 2 1/72
Caproni Campini N.1

Background

The Caproni Campini N.1 (sometimes incorrectly referred to as the CC.2) was an early motorjet-powered test airplane.

In 1931 Italian engineer Secondo Campini submitted a report on the potential of jet propulsion to the Italian Air Ministry, and the following year, demonstrated a jet-powered boat in Venice. In 1934, the Air Ministry granted approval for the development of a jet aircraft to demonstrate the principle.

As designed by Campini, the aircraft did not have a jet engine in the sense that we know them today. Rather, a conventional piston engine 500 kW (750 hp) Isotta Fraschini L. 121/R.C. 40) was used to drive a compressor, which forced compressed air into a combustion chamber where it was mixed with fuel and ignited. The exhaust produced by this combustion was to drive the aircraft forward. Campini called this configuration a "thermojet" but the term motorjet is in common usage today since thermojet refers to a particular type of pulsejet (an unrelated form of jet engine).

Campini turned to the Caproni Aircraft Factory to help build the prototypes, and two aircraft and a non-flying ground test bed were eventually constructed. The first flight was on August 27th, 1940 with test-pilot Mario De Bernardi at the controls.

Great propaganda use was made of the aircraft by Mussolini and the Federation Aeronautique Internationale recognized this at the time as the first successful flight by a jet aeroplane.

Following WWII, one of the prototypes was shipped to the UK for study at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough but subsequently disappeared. The other prototype is now on display at the Aeronautical Museum of Vigna di Valle in Rome and the ground testbed is at the Museum of Science and Technology in Milan.

The Kit

The kit was first released in 1974 under the name Delta. Later it was re-released under the name Delta 2. It is by an Italian model company. It comes in a end-opening box. The box art shows the Campini Caproni sitting on runway under a very threatening storm-cloud covered sky. There is a black and white photo of the test pilot of the aircraft: Mario De Bernandi also on the box top. The back of the box has a 2 view illustration of the aircraft.

Inside the box are two large battleship gray trees of parts and one smaller clear parts tree. This is all in a sealed cello bag. It is my understanding that when the kit was first released, under just the Delta name, it was molded in brown plastic. An information booklet apparently was in the first kits, missing in mine.

The decal sheet, covered with a frosted sheet of paper…to protect its face…and the instructions complete the kit’s contents.

The instructions consist of a single sheet, folded in the middle to create four pages.

Page one begins with black and white line drawings of the two schemes the aircraft ever appeared in. The only differences being that one had a red band around the nose intake and the other did not. The one with the red nose is missing the fascist logo on the side of the cowling that the earlier scheme had. These are how the same aircraft appeared early and late in its career. Both aircraft are in overall bare metal with a white fuselage stripe around the rear of the fuselage and a white cross on the tail.

Page 2 has the parts tree drawings and the explanations for two international assembly symbols. One for “DO NOT CEMENT” and the other for “PAINT BEFORE PUTTING TOGETHER”. The right side of the page has the first two assembly step drawings.

Page 3 has three more assembly step drawings, bringing the total to five steps. Some text that gives assembly instructions appears in four languages, including English. The main landing gear is designed that it can be folded or extended. However, the design of the oleo legs is very clunky and thick. The canopy can be assembled to slide open or shut. However, there is next to nothing inside. Only a floor-board and two seats. Better to glue the canopy shut. It has a lot of framework and is a real greenhouse. It is thick and you would not be able to see much through it anyways. The detail on the kit is all of the raised variety and “mad riveter” work (so popular, back 34 years ago when this kit was designed).

Page 4 has illustrations of various parts showing what colors should be used to paint them.

Parts are only numbered on the parts tree drawings and NOT on the trees themselves. This means you will have to consult these drawings constantly to find the parts you need for each assembly.

The first large gray tree holds: the lower wing half (full span), one half of the fuselage, one of the horizontal tail surfaces, the rudder, two very clunky looking crew figures, pilot and copilot seats, landing gear doors, tail wheel etc. (13 parts).

The second large gray tree holds: the upper wing halves, the other horizontal tail surface, the aircrafts nose piece and intake nozzle, the exhaust nozzle, landing gear leg retaining frames, main wheels and their hub caps, cockpit doors, tailwheel doors etc. (20 parts)

Except for the rudder part, all control surfaces are molded solid. I also read that the wing to fuselage joint is not good and requires a lot of putty to fill.

The smaller clear parts tree holds the cockpit canopy and parts for a desk stand. No instructions are given for how to assemble this stand. (six parts) The three parts that make up the canopy transparencies had broken off the trees in my kit and were floating around the cello bag. This is probably from rubbing up against the two gray trees. The clear tree should have had its own bag.

Conclusion

This is an interesting kit of a little known subject. It is the only show in town for this unique Italian experimental jet aircraft. Although not completely up to today’s modeling standards, with a little loving care it can be made into quite a presentable model of this unique aircraft..

I found a few sites on the internet that still have some of this kit. It takes a little searching to find them if interested.

The best reference I have found is the Ali D’Italia book that is still carried by Great Models. It is in both the Italian and English languages. The last page of this book mentions the Delta kit and shows it made up by an Italian modeler. It says that the wingspan is too great. I think I read somewhere by ½”, and that is not a scale half inch but actual. The fuselage is said to be a little too long too, but not by enough to get nervous about.

Except for the few things mentioned above, I recommend this kit