Special Hobby 1/48 F.N.305 Trainer Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

In the mid-1930s, Nardi developed the first of a series of training and utility aircraft. This first machine, the FN.305, was designed as a tandem two-place trainer that featured retractable landing gear, landing flaps, and a fully enclosed cockpit (all features that were still new to aviation).

Powered by a 180 hp Fiat engine, the FN.305 served as a military and aerobatic trainer aircraft for the Italian Air Force. Some of these aircraft were exported to France, but these were taken over by the Luftwaffe after the French surrendered.

The Special Hobby 1/48 scale Nardi FN.305 kit is a simple kit, even though it is technically a limited-run multimedia project.

The kit is molded in light gray styrene, with most parts on a single tree and the lower wing half included separately.

The two pilots' seats and engine cowling face are cast in resin. A photo-etched fret contains the instrument panels, control horns, handles, etc.

The canopy is vacuformed.

So while technically a multimedia kit, this is a simple enough build that it would be ideal for the less-experienced modeler to try their hand and mixed media modeling. This is still rated as an intermediate-level kit as modeling skills are required to trim and fit the parts together. If you’ve built a few Classic Airframes kits, this will feel right at home.

Markings are included for three Italian and one French examples.

If you're looking to try out multimedia modeling, this is a good trainer for you (pun intended). Remember to dry-fit your subassemblies frequently as the sooner you identify a potential problem, the more likely the problem will be avoided or mitigated quickly.

Also remember that resin and photo-etched parts will not respond to liquid cement, so cyanoacrylate (Crazy Glue) will be required to attach these parts to the styrene portions of the model.