Hobby 2000 72006 Macchi C.202 Folgore "North Africa 1942" (Franco Lucchini)

Kit#: 72006.

Price: 16$

Decals: Two options

Notes: Hasegawa kit with Cartograf decals.

History:

From the Hasegawa 1:48 kit instructions: "In 1936, the Italian Air Force ordered a fighter interceptor from the Macchi firm. The C.200  radial engine powered "Saetta" fighter was Macchi's offering, however, it suffered from lack of power. The Daimler Benz DB601 liquid cooled engine was imported from Germany and mated to the C.200 during the Summer of 1940. This change gave the fightert the power, climb rate and maneuverability to make it the best Italian fighter to come out of WW2. It was given the designation C.202 and named  the "Folgore." It began operations in Italy and North Africa during 1941. The C.202 was produced in 15 different marks, each with minor changes, however, no major external changes were made. A total of 1150 were produced by Macchi, Breda and Ambrosine."

The Kit:

All the sprues of this little 1:72 fighter came bagged in a single bag. This boxing came with canopy masks to save time when painting the kit, and it also came with Cartograf decals for two options: 

1) MC.202 Tenente Jiulio Reiner "73-7", Fuka, Egypt, July 1942 and Capitano Franco Lucchini "84-1", Fuka, Egypt, 1942.

Construction:

This kit is simple, from whichever way you look at it. There're a total of 7 construction steps on the uncluttered instructions.

I first painted the cockpit parts in Interior Green (Revell 48) and left them to dry. While the cockpit parts were drying, I painted the instrument panel in black and applied the decal over it. Once the cockpit was dry, I glued it to the fuselage side, and trapped it with the other half. I also glued the oil cooler on the left of the aircraft.

The wing came next. It's divided in two upper halves and a single lower half. I glued them together and then I glued them to the fusleage. It was at this time that I also glued the horizontal stabilizers to the fuselage.

Colours and Markings:

Franco Lucchini's machine was painted in RLM 79 with rings and lines painted in RLM 80 Olive Green. I first painted the surface with RLM 79 (Revell 17), and then proceeded to paint the camouflage rings and lines with RLM 80 (Revell 361). The latter proved to be a troublesome colour, which didn't cover very well and tended to puddle on the surface, I'll use RLM 70 or 71 next time. Before glossing the aircraft, I painted the white recognition wingtips and fuselage band, and then I decalled the aircraft.

Final Construction:

I painted the gear wells in Interior Green, the landing gear struts wer painted with silver. I glued the wheels and the canopy in place, and last but not least, I added the propeller.

Conclusions:

Even though I mainly build in 1:48, with the rare incursion into 1:32, this kit proved to be an easy build. It's my first Italian aircraft, and it won't be my last.