Valiant Wings Publishing Macchi MC.202 Folgore: A Technical Guide

[Mike]

Macchi MC.202 Folgore: A Technical Guide
Valiant Wings Publishing

The Italian Macchi MC.202 was possibly the best fighter to serve in the Italian Air Force during WWII, although it suffered from multiple problems with its ancillary equipment that could sometimes have fatal consequences. A Development of the 200, it was fitted with license built DB601 engine, and evolved into a formidable dogfighter that was held back by its poor armament, which initially consisted of only two Browning M2 derived machine guns, to which a further two were added in the wings later on, only to be removed from the aircraft in the field to save weight.

The book is one of Valiant Wings' Technical Guides, and is No.3 in the Airframe Detail series. It consists of 80 pages, numbered from 3 to 82 for some reason, and is in a portrait format in a "perfect bound" binding. It is written by Maurizio Di Terlizzi with additional text by Richard A Franks, and profiles by Richard J Caruana. It is divided into sections as you would expect, with the chapter headers as follows:

1. Introduction

A brief history of the aircraft.

2. Technical Description

Detailed coverage of the construction and equipment.

3. Camouflage & Markings

Colour side profiles, notes and photographs.

4. Appendices

MC.202 kits, accessories, masks, decals.

5. Bibliography

The pages are packed with information, photos, drawings and diagrams that will be invaluable to those like myself that want to know exactly how the model they are building works. There are detailed breakdowns of the various structures and plenty of colour photos from the few examples that remain in existence today.

Conclusion
From a modeller's perspective it's a handy tome to have available during a build, and as I have Hasegawa's 1:48 offering on the shelves, it will come in handy at some point. It is also useful purely from an interested party's point of view, and I found the introduction to be a good read, with plenty of information imparted. Whether my scatter-brain will hold onto said information is another matter however! Either way, it is wallet friendly, and very well worth the effort of getting hold of a copy.

Highly recommended.

Review sample courtesy of