Hobby Boss 81750 Messerschmitt Bf 109G-2 (Günther Rall)

Kit#: 81750.

Price: Can't remember.

Decals: Two options.

Notes: Nothing.

History:

From the LET LET book about the Bf 109G: "The Bf 109G "Gustav" was the most important variant of the Bf 109. It was also built in the largest numbers, in particular during the last years of the war. The Gustav was fitted with the new Daimler Benz DB605 engine, giving 1475hp.

Externally the (early) Gustav was similar to the preceding "F" model. The most visible differences were the lack of the small triangular cockpit window and the addition of small air openings on each side of the nose."

The Kit:

The kit has 78 pieces moulded in dark grey/clear plastic, and comes in four sprues of grey plastic and three clear ones (one has a solid canopy, the other one has a separate canopy, and the third one has a windscreen and the armoured headrest).

The kit has recessed panel lines, no flash, and is covered with tiny rivets that may make some people leave this model aside and go for the Hasegawa offering.

The instruction sheet comes as an 8-page booklet with 12 steps in black and white.

There're two decal options included:

1) Messerschmitt Bf 109G-2 "Black 1", Walter Nowotny, 1/JG54. Painted in RLM 70.

2) Messerschmitt Bf 109G-2 "Black 13", Günther Rall, 8/JG52. Painted in RLM 74/75/76.

Construction:

I began by painting all the cockpit parts in RLM 66 (Revell 78), the instrument panel was painted flat black and the rudder pedals in steel (Revell 91). When the paint was dry, I removed some from the contact areas so the glue could have more grip in those areas. While the cockpit was drying, I set out to work on the fuselage and the wings. The fuselage halves need to have the exhausts glued first, so I did that, and glued the throttle controls to the left fuselage half. After all that, the cockpit was trapped between both fuselage halves. It was also at this time that I glued the engine cowlings and the oil cooler to the lower part of the fuselage.

For the wings, Hobby Boss tells you to open holes for the underwing cannons. Check your references, because the cannons may not be appropriate for the version you're building. My option didn't have the cannons, so I didn't open any holes for them. I'm also not really sure if the G-2s carried the fuselage fuel drop tank, so check again your references. After doing all that, I glued the wings to the fuselage.

Colours and Markings:

Günther Rall's aircraft was painted in RLM 74/75/76, with the rear half of the fuselage painted entirely in RLM 74. I first painted the rear fuselage half in RLM 74 (Revell 69), and then I painted the front of the aircraft in RLM 76. Some mottling was requiered in this area, which was painted in RLM 75 (Revell 47). The wings were painted following this article: http://www.modelingmadness.com/scott/axis/luft/me/109/48g2.htm

The nose and wingtips were painted in yellow.

After painting the aircraft, I glossed it to place the decals, which worked really well.

Final Construction:

I painted and added the landing gear, the gear doors, the tailwheel, the clear parts and the propeller. With those parts on, the aircraft was finished.

Conclusions:

Another fun kit from Hobby Boss. The cheapness (but no quality control issues and great fit) make them great kits for those who want to jump into scale modeling.

References:

http://www.letletlet-warplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Bf109G.pdf

Hobby Boss 81751 Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6 (Gerhard Barkhorn)

Kit#: 81751.

Price: Can´t remember

Decals: Two options (Erich Hartmann and Gerhard Barkhorn).

Notes: Easy assembly Bf 109G-6.

History:

From the LET LET book about the Bf 109G: "The Bf 109G "Gustav" was the most important variant of the Bf 109. It was also built in the largest numbers, in particular during the last years of the war. The Gustav was fitted with the new Daimler Benz DB605 engine, giving 1475hp.

Externally the (early) Gustav was similar to the preceding "F" model. The most visible differences were the lack of the small triangular cockpit window and the addition of small air openings on each side of the nose.

The Bf 109G-6 was the most important Gustav version, and was built in the largest numbers. It could be fitted with a DB 605AM/AS or ASM engine. It was armed with two MG 131 machineguns in the nose and one MG 151/20 cannon firing through the propeller hub (this part wasn´t in the LET LET book). The Bf 109G-6/U4 was armed with a single MK 108 30mm cannon firing through the propeller hub, and had two MG 151/20 cannons fitted under the wings as the Bf 109G-6/R6.

This combination was regarded as the most suitable for daylight bomber interception, although it lacked the performances to meet Allied fighter escorts on even terms. 

Like the Bf 109G-5, the G-6 could be fitted with WGr 21 mortar launchers under the wings."

The Kit:

The kit has 78 pieces moulded in dark grey/clear plastic, and comes in four sprues of grey plastic and three clear ones (one has a solid canopy, the other one has a separate canopy, and the third one has a windscreen and the armoured headrest).

The kit has recessed panel lines, no flash, and is covered with tiny rivets that may make some people leave this model aside and go for the Hasegawa offering.

The instruction sheet comes as an 8-page booklet with 12 steps in black and white.

Construction:

I began by painting with Revell 78 all the cockpit parts and the fuselage of the aircraft. When the paint was dry, I began building the cockpit.

The cockpit is more or less detailed. I first attached the seat and the rudder pedals to the floor and then the trim wheel and the control stick. 

The control panel is the final step for the cockpit assembly, and it´s a three piece construction. It was build and left to dry before being glued to the cockpit floor.

Before adding the cockpit to the fuselage halves, one has to add what a small part of what I guess is the throttle to the left side of the fuselage. I glued it on, left it dry, and then added the cockpit. The cockpit didn´t fit. So I removed the little piece and put it on the box. You also have to glue the exhausts and make a hole for a circular antenna before closing the fuselage halves.

Step 3 is where I brain farted (too early, yeah I know) and, instead of glueing together pieces B8 and A17 to make the rear bulkhead (part B8 had two small notches for the headrest), I glued the incorrect part D8 (a single rear bulkhead piece) to one of the fuselage halves. 

With that added, I went ahead and glued both fuselage halves and left them to dry.

Step 4 deals with the addition of the horizontal stabilizers and cowlings, which maybe the easiet step of the entire build. I also glued the air intake at this time. The inner part of the cowlings (the ones that surround the exhaust) are some milimitres longer than the area where they have to be glued, so trim them a bit and test fit.

I skipped step 5 and went straight to 6, adding the oil cooler and the tailwheel cover at this time. I also built and painted the propeller assembly with the colours for Hartmann´s aircraft.

Steps 7 and 8 have you build the wings, and the instructions tell you to open holes for the underwing cannons and for the two kidney shaped pieces that allowed for the installation of bigger wheels in the real aircraft. The first ones weren´t opened because there weren´t any underwing cannons on Hartmann´s aircraft, and the latter ones were already open, so I glued those two pieces without hesitation. Do not glue piece D10 (I guess it´s a fuel tank), it won´t let the wing assembly seat flush with the fuselage.

I jumped above steps 9 to 11 because they dealt with the installation of the fuel tank (again, not applicable for Hartmann´s aircraft) and the landing gear, and went straight to painting.

Colours and markings:

Instead of using the inaccurate painting instructions of the kit, I chose to use the ones that came on the Eduard Bf 109G Royal Class kit, which has decals too for Barkhorn's aircraft. Since the aircraft was built by Erla in 1943, the place was painted with the saw-toothed camouflage pattern. I first painted the fuselage with RLM 74/75/76, and after it had dried, I painted the wings entirely with RLM 75, and then I traced with a pencil the saw tooth RLM 74 camo. Since the RLM 74 is darker than the RLM 75, I was able to cover those areas in three coats, leaving no trace of paint ridges on the wings. With the painting stage completed, I glossed the aircraft for the decals.

I used the kit decals, following the instructions of the Eduard kit. They performed well without using Microsol, but I used a bit just to be sure.

Final construction:

With the aircraft decalled, I brused two coats of Revell´s flat varnish and left it to dry.

The landing gear came next, and it doesn´t have a very positive attachment point, only a pin over a hole, so you´ll have to hold it until the glue sets. Once both gears were dry, I glued the tailwheel, the main gear doors, and the propeller.

The canopy was the last part to be added. It was painted in RLM 75 and later glued with clear glue to the cockpit opening.

The small aileron mass balances were left on their sprue because I didn´t want to lose them, should I ever move my model from my shelf.

Conclusions:

Another easy assembly 109 for the collection. I really like these Hobby Boss kits, one can build many of them at the price of one Tamiya 109G-6 (even though the Tamiya kit is far superior).

References:

http://www.letletlet-warplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Bf109G.pdf

Hasegawa 7455 Kawanishi N1K2-J Shiden-kai "301st Fighter Squadron" (Kaneyoshi Mutoh)

Kit#: 7455.

Price: Can't Remember.

Decals: Two options.

Notes: I used spare decals to make this kit as Kaneyoshi Mutoh's aircraft.

History:

From the instructions: "The Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force Shiden-kai was developed from the Navy Kyofu seaplane fighter. Replacing the floats of the Kyofu with a landing gear and fitting the airframe with the compact but powerful Nakajika Homare engine, the IJN fighter went into production in 1943 and was provisionally asigned to units in October 1944. The IJN, however, found a lot to be desired with the new fighter and it was sent back to the drafting tables, where modifications to the fuselage, main wing positioning and automatic combat flaps were added. The finished product was the intercepto Shiden-kai. The prototype made its maiden flight in January 1945..."

The kit:

Coming inside a top opening box, the parts are moulded in dark grey and clear plastic, and come bagged in two separate bags. Easy to follow instructions are included, albeit with a bit of broken English.

Decals offer options for two aircraft of the 301st Fighter Squadron:

1) N1K2-J "343-23" of Petty Officer 1st Class Tomokazu Kasai, April 1945, Kanoya Naval Air Base.

2) N1K2-J "343-22," April 1945, Kanoya Naval Air Base.

Both aircratf are painted in Dark Green uppers with natural metal undersides.

Construction:

I began construction on the cockpit. All the parts were painted in Interior Green, black and silver where appropriate. The cockpit is divided into two sidewalls and one floor. Once the cockpit was fully painted and dry, I glued all the pieces together, and left them aside.

Next step are the wings. Before closing them you have to add the wheel wells, which were painted in steel, according to the instructions. You also get the options of opening two small holes for the footstpes. Once the wells were installed, I glued the upper wings into the single lower wing. 

Back to the cockpit, I glued it to the fuselage, together with the other fuselage half. After gluing both halves, I glued the wings and the horizontal stabilizers. The flaps were glued in the down position, since I thought the aircraft looked better with them that way.

With an almost fully complete aircraft, I began work on the engine and engine cowling. The engine face is glued into the cowling flaps, which can be posed in the open or closed position (I chose open). This is the stage in which you have to glue the exhausts to the cowling, then the cowling is glued into the nose of the plane. The engine was painted black, and then glued to the cowling flaps piece. The last part of the engine to be glued was the cowling.

Colours and Markings:

Kaneyoshi Mutoh's aircraft was painted in Dark Green over natural metal undersurfaces. I painted the upper surfaces with Revell's 40 Black Green, and the lower sides were painted first in grey (primer) and Revell 91 Steel. The aircraft was then glossed up for the decals.

I used a mix of decals from the kit and from other Japanese fighter spares, the Hinomarus came from the kit, the number 4s on the tail were masked (as well as I could) and painted white, and the other letters came from my 1:48 Zero and J2M3 Raiden (both too in 1:48). After that, the aircraft was matt coated.

Final Construction:

I painted the wheels and landing gear struts, the landing gear doors were painted too. The fuel tank was painted in the Japanese Grey Green colour, and the clear parts were the last pieces to be glued.

Conclusions:

This is another good kit from Hasegawa. It was a fun build without difficulties, and it left me yearning for more Japanese aircraft.

Tamiya 61018 Mitsubishi J2M3 "Raiden" (Yoshihiro Aoki)

Kit#: 61018.

Price: Can't remember.

Decals: Three options.

Notes: Canopy fits more or less ok, lower wing has a gap when glued to the fuselage.

History:

The Mitsubishi J2M "Raiden," or "Jack" for the Allies, was a WW2 Japanese fighter first flown on March 20 1942, and introduced into active service on December of the same year.

It was designed by Jiro Horikoshi, the creator of the famous A6M "Zero," for an specification that requiered the aircraft to be a high altitude interceptor against high-flying bombers. Thus, it sacrificed maneuverability for armament, speed and climb performance.

The J2M3 model was produced in parallel to the J2M2 version, first appearing in October 1943, with the first units being delivered to operational units in February of 1944.

The "Raiden" first appeared in combat in the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 19-20 1944.

Due to the lack of a supercharger, the aircraft suffered at high altitude, ironic, since it was produced to bring down the B-29 Superfortress.

The aircraft was retired with the surrender of Japan on August 20 1945, with 671 units produced since 1942.

The Kit:

This kit is not new being listed by Scalemates as a 1973 release. As such, the kit comes with finely raised panel lines and engraved detail for the ailerons, flaps, rudder, and some other areas.

The kit comes with three sprues, two in light grey and one in clear. The parts were cleanly molded, with no flash visible and without any sign of warping.

Build options include lowered or raised landing gear and a spinning propeller.

Tamiya provided two set of instrucions, one in Japanese and another in English, plus a coloured profile page showing the left side of two of the model´s decal options. Each instruction sheet is divided into six construction steps, alongside written instructions on how to paint the interior.

There´re three decal options for the kit:

1) J2M3 Genzan Flying Group, November 1943, based at the Kagoshima airfield.

2) J2M3 of the 302nd Flying Group, flown by Lieutenant Sadaaki Akamatsu, March 1944 to August 1945, Atsugi airfield.

3) J2M3 of the 352nd Flying Group, flown by Lieutenant Yoshihiro Aoki, April 1945, Kanoya airfield.

Construction:

I began by painting the entire cockpit, as indicated by the instructions, with silver (Revell 90), and picking up the details with with black (Revell 08). The inside of the cockpit was painted with Interior Green (Revell 48).

I left aside the cockpit in order to focus on the instrument panel. This is a flat piece of plastic that needs to have two decals applied. I painted it with Revell 45, varnished with clear (Revell 01), left to dry, and added the decals. They were then covered with flat varnish (Revell 02).

With the decals dry, I installed the control panel to the right hand fuselage half, while also gluing the cockpit (great fit) and the tail wheel in the extended position.

I cut the wings from their sprue and glued them together, and while they were drying, I assembled cowling (which contains the propeller shaft and its backing plate).

I glued the wings to the fuselage, and the assembly had a gap where the end of the lower wing  joined the fuselage. After the assembly was fully cured, I used CA to cover the area, while rescribing the panel lines that got lost due to the sanding. 

With the aircraft more or less fully built (with the landing gear and other small parts left out to ease the painting), I began painting the aircraft.

Colours and Markings:

The colour scheme for the Raiden was really simple, dark green over light grey (as told by the instructions, and that´s what I also saw while checking internet photos) with a black antiglare panel and yellow leading edges. After looking at several internet photos and seeing the constant variation of shades on the upper surfaces (from a really dark green to dark green with a bluish tinge), I decided to use Revell 40 Black Green and Revell 371 Silky Light Grey (because the matt 76 version wasn´t available). 

I brushpainted the upper surfaces with Revell Black Green 40 until it was fully covered. 

With the black green cured, I masked the demarcation line for the light grey, and began brushing Revell's 76 Light Gull Grey for the undersides.

After the lower sides were fully painted and cured, I painted the wheel wells with light blue (Revell 49), and with that dry, I masked and painted the antiglare panel with black (Revell 08). The ridges between the black and green were sanded away with wet sandpaper.

The yellow leading edges were first masked and then painted with yellow (Revell 15).

The aircraft was then fully covered in clear varnish, to give the surface a smooth surface for the decals.

I had decided to use the decals for Yoshihiro Aoki's aircraft, the one with the lightning bolts on the sides. This gave the aircraft a lot of colour. All the decals were cut individually from the decal sheet, placed in hot water, and then placed over the model. The most important decals were the lightning bolts, which were placed without issues on the fuselage.

Final Assembly:

I painted the landing gear struts in black with silver oleos, glued them to the aircraft and left them to dry. I also added the fuel tank. 

The propeller was then built up and glued into place.

Conclusion:

This is my second Tamiya Raiden. I bought it at a low price at Hannants London, and it looks great alongside my other Japanese aircraft.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_J2M

Hasegawa 9846 Kyushu J7W2 Interceptor Fighter Shindenkai "Jet Version" (302nd Naval Flying Group, 1947)

Kit#: 9846.

Price: Can't remember.

Decals: Two Options.

Notes: Includes resin pieces to transform the J7W1 into the J7W2.

History:

From the kit's instructions: "In May 1944, the Kyushu Aircraft of Japan received an order from the Imperial Navy for a trial manufacture of the 18-shi (experimental) Interceptor that became known as the J7W1 Shinden, and Lieutenant M. Tsuruno of the Naval Aviation Technology Centre was appointed as designer in chief. Higher maneuverability and high speed were required for this aircraft to fight against the heavy bombers of the Allies. To comply with such demands, contrary to the usual aircraft, the propeller was located at the tail, main wings moved to the rear, and a pair of small horizontal fins called canards were located on the nose. This distinctive design allowed it a remarcable reduction in weight, resulting from the smaller main wings by the additional lift proveded by the canards. And without the propeller in front, weapons could be located in the nose for more efficient attacks.

Following the completion of the first prototype in June 1945, there were three test flights on August 3rd, 6th and 8th of 1945, and recorded a total of 45 minute flight. However, the war was over in the following days and the Shinden did not see any actual battle.

The Imperial Japanese Navy, encouraged by the previous success of its propeller driven Shinden prototype, had plans to build a jet powered Shinden Kai, but historians haven't been able to ascertain exactly how far along this project was at war's end."

The Kit:

Originally released in 1981, the kit has stood the test of time perfectly. It´s molded in light grey plastic with fine raised panel lines, no flash, a nicely detailed cockpit, and comes with the figure of a standing pilot. A label "Made in Japan" is displayed proudly on one of the sprues. One of the good parts of this kit is that you can leave the propeller assembly and the canards off the model until after painting and decalling, in case you need to add more weight in front of the aircraft. The landing gear is also long and skinny, and is wobbly and fragile as a consequence, so let it thoroughly dry before placing the aircraft on its wheels, and don´t go around moving it too much after that.

To convert the regular propeller driven Shinden into the Jet powered version, Hasegawa included three resin parts for the air intakes and the jet nozzle. There're also several optional armaments and fuel tanks included as new parts on this kit to embelish the undersides of the aircraft.

There're two decal options included in this kit:

1) Japanese Navy, 302nd Naval Flying Group, 1947. Painted in IJN Dark Green over IJN Green.

2) Luftwaffe, 1947. Painted in RLM 81/82/76.

Construction:

I had decided early on to build this Shinden as the propeller driven version instead of the jet powered one, so I left the resin parts inside the box and used the air intakes needed for the J7W1.

I began by painting the control stick, cockpit tub, rudder pedals and cockpit framing with Revell Sea Green 48 (the colour callouts mentioned "Interior Green"). I painted the instrument panel and the oxygen bottles flat black, and another bottle in red. The grip of the control stick was also painted black after the interior green had dried, and the rudder pedals were over painted with silver. The complete cockpit was then glued into one fuselage half.

With the cockpit in place, I began to ponder how and where should I add the nose weight. Hasegawa recommends to place 1g as forward as possible in the nose, but I chose to add 10g above the nose gear well.  Since the shape of the nose gear well ends up in an angle, I glued two cut sprues to the sides, let them dry, and glued the weight after that. The nose gear well was then glued in place. 

I then decided to glue the fuselage halves. I first test fitted them, to see if there would be any troublesome areas, and after checking there were none, I glued and taped both of them together. While the fuselage was drying, I thought I wouldn´t have enough weight in front of the nose, so I glued a smaller weight to the nose gear well.

I set the fuselage to one side and began to work on the wings. These are the usual single lower half and two separate upper halves. They were glued together and left to dry for some minutes. After that, the two vertical stabilisers were glued to the wing. These are a loose fit, and will have to be held until the glue dries enough for them to be left hanging alone.

I concentrated on the canards by gluing the two separate guns. I left this piece aside until the end.

I mated the fuselage and the wings together, a simple assembly with a nice fit. This left me basically with the complete airframe, sans the engine and the other parts. With the aircraft in this stage, I went to the paint shop.

Colours and Markings:

I painted the upper surfaces with RLM 70, and the lower ones with RAF Duck Egg Blue, since to me it looked the same as the late green used by the Japanese Army and Navy Air Force late in the war. Then I painted the yellow leading edge ID bands, left them to dry, and then glossed the entire aircraft to prepare it for the decals.

I chose to use the Japanese option, just because I liked it more than the German one. When finished, I matt coated the aircraft and left it to dry.

Final Construction:

After decalling, I glued the landing gear struts in place. These are long, skinny, and won´t resist much movement, so once the model is on its wheels, one should leave it alone. Before proceeding further, I left the landing gear legs to dry thorouhgly before adding the wheels.

While the aircraft was lying upside down with the landing gear drying, I built the propeller assembly. The engine front plate was painted with the fuselage colours, and internally painted silver. Then the propeller shaft was added and trapped by adding a circular piece that glues to the back of the engine plate (don´t glue the shaft to the circular piece if you want the propeller to spin). The propeller was glued to its backing plate, and then the spinner was glued to the backing plate. I put CA into the propeller hole and then pushed it into the propeller shaft, securing me a spinning propeller.

I glued the wheels to the landing gear, and then added the landing gear doors. I next glued the propeller assembly, and with a bit of fear, I put the aircraft over its wheels, and it didn´t colapse. However, the main landing gear struts did flex a bit forward, and to secure them, I cut two toothpicks, and CA glued them to the base the main landing gears, preventing them from moving forward. Since the weight I had added earlier was enough, I glued the canards in place.

Before completing the plane, I painted the clear parts. After cleaning them up, I dry fitted them, and glued them with Revell Contacta Clear.

Conclusions:

The Shinden has to be my favourite WW2 Japanese aircraft, I´ll for sure buy some more when I come across them. The landing gear may look weak, but letting it dry properly and adding the pegs at the base will make it sturdier.

References:

Kit instructions.

Tiger Models 102 Nakajima Ki-84 "Hayate"

Kit#: 102.

Price: Can't remember.

Decals: One option.

Notes: Includes decals and stickers for the markings.

History:

From Wikipedia: "The Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate is a single-seat fighter flown by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in the last two years of World War II. The Allied reporting name was "Frank"; the Japanese Army designation was Army Type 4 Fighter. The Ki-84 is generally considered the best Japanese fighter to operate in large numbers during the conflict. The aircraft boasted high speeds and excellent maneuverability with an armament (up to two 30 mm and two 20 mm cannon) that gave it formidable firepower. The Ki-84's performance matched that of any single-engine Allied fighter it faced, and its operational ceiling enabled it to intercept high-flying B-29 Superfortress bombers. Pilots and crews in the field learned to take care with the plane's high-maintenance Nakajima Homare engine and a landing gear prone to buckling. The difficulties of Japan's situation late in the war took a toll on the aircraft's field performance as manufacturing defects multiplied, quality fuel proved difficult to procure and experienced pilots grew scarce. Nevertheless, a well-maintained Ki-84 was Japan's fastest fighter. A total of 3,514 aircraft were built."

The Kit:

This kit is one of several egg planes done by Tiger Models. The sprues were bagged in four separate bags. Parts are moulded in dark green and clear plastic. A single full colour instruction sheet is included with the model, and there's only one decal/sticker option.

Construction:

This kit was really simple, five construction steps and one painting and decalling section. I began by painting all the cockpit parts (seat, instrument panel and control stick) in Interior Green and black respectively. Then I glued all the pieces together and place the cockpit inside the fuselage. I next assembled the propeller and placed it in front of the cockpit. I also glued the tailwheel into place. 

When I tried to close the fuselage, I realised I had put the engine askewed, so I had to force it into place, while at the same time breaking the propeller shaft. Disappointed but not discouraged, I went on, knowing I'd be able to glue the prop back with CA.

The wings were assembled next, but I deviated a bit from the instructions and glued the ailerons in place (they can be placed without glue so they can move freely). After that, I glued the wing into the fuselage.

Colours and Markings:

The painting instructions indicated me to paint this kit with Japanese Army Green and Japanese Army Grey for the upper and lower surfaces. Not having any of those colours, I chose to use RLM 70 and Duck Egg Blue for the upper and lower surfaces. I then painted the yellow leading edge ID bands and painted the guns black. The exhausts were painted with Revell's 83 Rust. I then glossed the aircraft for the decals. 

There were only 8 decals for this model, and all performed well with the use of some Microsol.

Final Construction:

I painted the landing gear and the fuel tanks, which were then placed in their respective places after the paint was dry. The propeller was also glue in place with CA. The clear parts were also painted and place over the cockpit.

Conclusions:

My first egg plane. It was a fun build between more serious projects. I'll make sure to pick some more if I ever find them.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakajima_Ki-84

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.