Macchi C.202 Folgore - Hasegawa 1:48

[Julien]

Macchi C.202 Folgore

Hasegawa 1:48

The Macchi C.202 Folgore (Italian for Thunderbolt) was constructed by Macchi Aernautica as a development of their earlier C.200 Saetta. The original C.200 features an air colled radial engine, however the C.202 would feature a licence built Daimler-Benz DB601Aa engine. This along with a redesigned more streamlined fuselage would bring the speed upto 372 mph it's speed and manoeuvrability were comparable with other fighters of the time. It did have its problems, chiefly that it was under armed and was susceptible to entering dangerous spins. In addition the radios and oxygen systems were highly unreliable often leading to 50/60% of pilots returning to base. Over 1100 were built, and as well as serving with the Italian forces they were used by Croatia during WWII, and after the war Macchi we able to sell some surviving aircraft to the Egyptians where they would be used in combat against Israel. The Italian Air Force used them in the training role until 1948.

The Kit
This kit was originally released by Hasegawa in 1995, and has been re-released in various boxing since then, the last being in 2006. For the release now Hasegawa have reverted back to the box art and decal options of the original 1995 kit. The kit arrives as 3 main sprues, 3 small sprues, and a clear sprue. As you would expect from Hasegawa the parts are well moulded and all the parts are crisp.

Construction begins as with most aircraft, in the cockpit. The main cockpit is made up from the bottom section, two sides and the instrument panel. The seat is added, with the control column, a rudder bar, and some ancillary controls to the cockpit sides.

Once the cockpit is completed it can be placed inside the fuselage, and this then closed up. The panel on top of the nose with the guns is added as a separate insert, and oil cooler are added; and also the tailplanes at this stage.

The wings are the next major construction step. These are of a conventional lower one piece wing, to which the left and right top wings are added. The undercarriage bay must be constructed and installed before the top wings are added. Once complete the wings are added to the main fuselage.

Once the main aircraft is built its on to all the small parts to finish off. The main landing gear is constructed and added. The lower radiator is added along with the tail wheel n the exhausts. One last item is the propeller. For this kit it is three separate blades which must be added to the hub. Finally the canopy is added.

Decals
As mentioned this new release brings the same decals as the original 1995 kit, for two option. A smallish decal sheet has the national markings and a few others as the aircraft did not seem to have much more in the way of markings. The options supplied are;

• 363-2 363 Squadriglia 150° Gruppo 53° Stormo, Italian Air Force (Blotch camo)
• CL111 Commander 153° Gruppo Italian Air Force (Ring camo)

Conclusion
This is good re-release from Hasegawa. The kit has not been available for a while now. Overall recommended if you want/need a C.202 in your collection.

Review sample courtesy of
UK distributors for

[rarekits]

[Giorgio N]

Nice to see the Hasegawa kit back ! It's still the best Mc.202 in this scale. The best but not necessarily a perfect kit as the fuselage is not particularly accurate and would benefit from a lot of modifications, so much that it's probably not worth starting. The parts also share some details that are for the later Mc.205 and some work is needed even if the fuselage is not corrected.

The decal sheet could be better too: first of all it's not clear if the CLIII number and the stripe for the 153° Gruppo aircraft were red, it's very likely that they were blue. The various "MC.202" titles were also mostly in light blue and not yellow as reproduced here

Then there's the tail cross: the two aircrafts proposed were manufactured by different factories. This resulted in a different camo scheme (only Macchi built aircrafts had the famous smoke rings pattern) and also in different shapes of the cross. The sheet only has one style

Last but not least, while it's true that the Macchis did not carry many markings, the serial numbers were carried and I can't see any on the sheet. The aircraft marked CLIII had serial number 9083, I can't find info for the other one.

Finally a note on the description of the aircraft: it's true that a number of aircrafts were sold to Egypt (16 IIRC), however these had been converted into Mc.205V, therefore they can't be considered true Mc.202. The Mc.205V is to the Mc.202 pretty much what a Spitfire IX is to a Spit Vc, several 205s were in fact converted 202s.

[rarekits]

both airplanes very nice designed, the MC205Veltro a development of the 202 but much more powerful because of the Daimler Benz engine produced under license by italian factory FIAT and resulting in a 'new' aircraft. Anyway a nice cell, good maneuverability, good firepower, all in all an excellent fighter

[GREG DESTEC]

A cool type to model, especially with those camo choices. Pity the Hase kits are so expensive these days

[Julien]

UK Retail is £32 and I am sure you can get it for less if you shop around. Does not seem to bad to me.

Edit In fact just had a look on Amazon and you can get it for £23.26 inc postage http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hasegawa-Scale-Macchi-Folgore-Model-x/dp/B0017TFHY2/ref=sr_1_4?s=kids&ie=UTF8&qid=1430386837&sr=1-4&keywords=macchi

[BerndM]

Build this one, a while back. Great kit !

[rarekits]

anyway,

quality first !