trickyrich Posted August 15, 2016 Share Posted August 15, 2016 Well it looks like I’m the first cab off the rank for this one, only because I head off to work again today….and I need another distraction from the beast that is the Ta-152!! Ok as usual with GB’s I tend to try and do something a bit different, in this case I’m jumping up from my usual scale of 1/48th to 1/32nd plus it’s a full resin model! So here it is, Craftworks 1/32nd Macchi C.202/205. This was produced by a US firm in the late 90’s (they also produced; P-40C, P-36, La-5, Macchi C.200, A5M4 Claude) and is now quite rare, I’ve only ever seen one available and this was it! These are full multi-media models with resin, PE, white metal parts with lots of other stuffed supplied as well! The fuselage is cast in one piece, the same with the main wing, the casting throughout the whole model is quite nicely done with nothing warped, which is nice. These are the smaller resin bits. These are the bits if I was going to build the earlier C.202 version. Here is the white metal bits, they even supply you with some chain and wire, plus one small square of plastic?? The PE bits, IP dials and some beautiful “dry rub” decals. This is the canopy, no clear resin of vacform stuff here, you have to make your own, resin framing for the front and folded PE for the main part. This will be fun, at least they have pre-cut it for me, there are two sets! 4 sheets of decals!! From what I’ve read these are the best part of the model. There are squadron markings and serial numbers for every C202/205 ever made…..not for the person who has trouble making there mind up! This is the only scheme they supply details for. Now for the scheme I have a cunning plan……..decals! I’m probably going to give these a go, worse case I’ll revert back to the usual blotches. Well I’m looking forward to this one, have been dying to bring out one of my big resin beasts. I originally was planning to build the 1/48th Hasegawa version of this one with full Eduard extras, could be a fall back plan if things go wrong, plus have a pair of 1/48th SM.79’s (one resin one plastic) as a further one. As this is my last big GB for this year, one of the last two may come out if there is time! 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted August 15, 2016 Share Posted August 15, 2016 Good choice Rich...sprinkle the fairy dust on that and it'll look ace...I'm ignoring winged things for this one 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arniec Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 (edited) Nice to see this one. The scheme is the same as in my model of the 21st century models. This is the RLM 74/75/76 scheme. But you have more than enough other decals to make whatever you want. I will follow this one closely. Cheers, Edited August 16, 2016 by Arniec 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krow113 Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 (edited) . Edited August 16, 2016 by krow113 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles87 Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 I'm in, looking for tips for improving my 21st Century Toys kit. The decal sheets look pretty comprehensive and I like the ' smoke rings '. John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mottlemaster Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 Looks like the perfect Ta-152 antidote . I want one and when do i want it ? NOW. Is the canopy like one of the RB Productions p/e canopy's which can look fantastic ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted August 16, 2016 Author Share Posted August 16, 2016 I'm in, looking for tips for improving my 21st Century Toys kit. The decal sheets look pretty comprehensive and I like the ' smoke rings '. John They are nice looking deacls, I have a 1/48th set for the Hasegawa one, I got them before this best showed up. Everything I've read so far has been quite positive about them, guess I'll find out soon! Looks like the perfect Ta-152 antidote . I want one and when do i want it ? NOW. Is the canopy like one of the RB Productions p/e canopy's which can look fantastic ? You are not wrong, at least I know this one will require some work.....I wouldn't have suspected the Ta-152 to have required as much as it has! I'll have an update on that one soon! arr I know the canopies you're talking about, a , wee bit simplier, I heard that the canopy on this one is a bit large! The shape is simple enough if I have to remake it a bit smaller. The front section is case resin and very nicely done......if that's too big then I'm stuffed! As far as resin models go this is a nice one, a bit easier to build than say a Plant Models one. But still enough to know you are really building a model, plus there may be a wee bit of scratch building required. I have noticed that I'll need to shim the chin section by around 2-3mm! But after what I did on the Sukhoi's or the B-51G this one should be a breeze. Bad news though is you probably won't see one of these beasts for sale for quite sometime if ever! If you do don't expect to pay less than ~$160 USD or more, to make it even worse I go mine for $59 USD, thought it's meant to have a figure with it, mine was missing it....may be that's why mine was cheap! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rom1 Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 wow! interesting kit! I didnt know it. Have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob85 Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 Really looking forward to your work on this Rich, looks a challenging kit! Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted August 17, 2016 Author Share Posted August 17, 2016 Really looking forward to your work on this Rich, looks a challenging kit! Rob hmmm, hopefully challenging won't be a work used in this build the 152 is bad enough! I've pretty well been through everything on the model and have a good idea of what I'm in for! The other day as a result of pure frustration with the 152 I ended up removing most of the larger resin blocks off bits and pieces as well as giving everything a nice bath. There are only two concerns with this build (so far) and both are fit issues, one is the wing/fuselage join, hopefully some careful prep work should help solve that one. The other is the 205 nose section, as mentioned earlier it will need to be shimmed by about 2-3mm. But to do that I'll have to put the wing on first which means the cockpit will be first up. Well first up after cleaning up the mould joins on the wing and fuselage. I had read somewhere that there was some kind of issue with the rudder in it's position...i think??? Going over the drawing and doing some comparisons, nothing stands out, other than it's a bit on the thick side. I really don't want to try and thin it down, because once you go past the nice smooth surface of the resin it's bubble central! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arniec Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 I would leave the tail as it is. That will save a lot of time. And if you don't see it, than the rest will not see it either. Cheers, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted August 17, 2016 Author Share Posted August 17, 2016 I would leave the tail as it is. That will save a lot of time. And if you don't see it, than the rest will not see it either. Cheers, I may do that yet. I've finally found the piece I read about issues with this model. Other than the tail which seems to be out of position by a few mm in this scale and shape (that's easy to fix) plus some panels lines which are either missing or in the wrong place. The only "big" issue is the main canopy is over scale, seeing as I have to build that from scratch as it is that shouldn't be a problem. I have thin sheet brass and rod, so I may have a go at manufacturing my own! I don't think I'll try and make the "perfect" C.205 and well be happy to leave some stuff as it is.....which upset the rivet counters for sure! I would really like to get this one out of the way as I'd still like to build or at least attempt one of the SM.79's! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arniec Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 (edited) Maybee you could trim the edge a bit to give it a better look and if it stays open, than nobody will notice.Cheers, Edited August 17, 2016 by Arniec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted August 17, 2016 Author Share Posted August 17, 2016 I think that is mainly what it needs, the leading edges are quite flat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBaron Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 That looks a schweet kit Rich. I'm off to see what else Craftworks do. Best o' luck with this (including that canopy framing!) Tony 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted August 17, 2016 Author Share Posted August 17, 2016 That looks a schweet kit Rich. I'm off to see what else Craftworks do. Best o' luck with this (including that canopy framing!) Tony thanks for that. Good luck with your search, they've seemed to have disappeared in the 2000's. The also started to produce 1/48th Hydroplanes around this time, but in the 1/32nd scale they had plans for some really drool worthy models; Bf-109K, Me-262, Ar-234, plus some others I've forgotten. If you happen to come across anything interesting i'd be interested to hear about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 That does look to be a stunning kit Rich. Really looking forward to seeing your work on it! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted August 23, 2016 Author Share Posted August 23, 2016 Well I haven't been able to start this one due to still being at work but that hasn't stopped me from doing some prep work. Have been doing lots of research into the 205's and which squadrons used them, it would have been much simpler to have built the 202! I've narrowed down the colour scheme to an aircraft from 360 Squadriglie , 155 Gruppo which was based at Monserrato Sardinia around May 43. So she'll have the "smoke" ring camouflage that was pretty much standard from the factory at that time. So this also means now she'll be a series I aircraft that has the 7.7mm machine guns rather that the later series III aircraft with 20mm cannons in the wings. Which will make life a bit easier as the models ones looked pretty crap! Plus I have managed to dig up plenty of info on the colours used on these aircraft, plus I managed to match up the colours to paints that will make life easier. Finally the exhaust pipes are moulded into the lower cowling and are quite poorly done, so these will be replaced with a set of DB605 ones from Quickboost. They are just just so noticeable in this scale so they had to be either fixed up or replaced. The old ones will have to ground out, which will be a simple choice. So I think I'm almost all set for this build, to make it fun (ok I have a strange sense of humour!!) I'll be building a 1/48th version as well, probably in the grey colour scheme with a few bits of AM added!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 This should be interesting, I built the 21st Century 205 and thoroughly enjoyed the build, a really beautiful looking aircraft, Thanks to my wife I have the Craftworks MC202, she bought it for me for Christmas secretly one year when they were on sale at Telford and managed to hide it from me until the big day. Cheers Dennis 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted August 23, 2016 Author Share Posted August 23, 2016 This should be interesting, I built the 21st Century 205 and thoroughly enjoyed the build, a really beautiful looking aircraft, Thanks to my wife I have the Craftworks MC202, she bought it for me for Christmas secretly one year when they were on sale at Telford and managed to hide it from me until the big day. Cheers Dennis Gosh I wish my wife was that nice to me! You're luck to have one of them, I don't know how many were produced but they are super rare now. There's a bit of work required by the looks of it but don't think there much more than there would be with an Anigrand or Planet Models kit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted August 26, 2016 Author Share Posted August 26, 2016 Well a bit slow on the first real update, not too much to show as I have mainly been cleaning up mould lines and removing more resin blocks, plus all the usual stuff I have to do first day back at home. First up the main fuselage, the main mould line is on the bottom, which is nice as it’s easy to hide. A simple bit of sanding and a wee bit of filler should have sufficed, bit no as some funny discoloured dots started to appear! Unfortunately the photo of these were blurry but this is what it led to….. ………BUBBLES!!! Arr the joys of resin! As this resin is a bit on the softer side I’ll use filler to fill these, if it was a bit harder super glue. This is the second coat, you can’t get rid of bubbles like this in one go. Luckily these appear to be the only ones…..so far! Next to fiddle around with was the lower cowling section, as mentioned earlier I think it’s too shallow and will need shimming to fit. So to check this I first cut a plastic disk to the size of the spinner (it’s not quite but will suit my needs) and attach it to the nose. After a few test fits it appears I’ll only need a very thin piece of card. This will work out well as I have to make/remake the upper exhaust shroud. The exhaust is pretty crap as it is so they’ll be replaced with Quickboost units from a Bf-109G-6. Once they arrive this whole section will be removed and rebuilt. What I did notice is that the rear of the lower cowling to fuselage join is pretty poor with a rather large step! I’ll need to re-profile this section from the front of the oil coolers back. This won’t be a fun job but it shouldn’t be too hard. The rear wing to fuselage join is actually quite good. What you can’t see is the main upper wing to fuselage join, I spent quite a lot of time on this and I should have a relatively simple join to fix once the wing is one. Speaking of the wings I had to add a couple of PE panels into the wheel bays, no fun task at all! But before I can do any of this I need to get the cockpit out of the way. I’m not going to get carried away super detailing this area as most of it will not be seen as the cockpit opening is quite small! All the detail is either PE or white metal, it would have been so much nicer if they’d stuck to resin! The instructions are REALLY vague as to where everything goes so I had to use reference photos. I’ve added some additional lines to the joy stick that were missing plus I need to add some bit to the front of it, plus I need to add some ducting on the LHS near the skid plate. The sidewalls are close to done, there’s a panel missing on the RHS, just wasn’t supplied, plus is have small really small white metal bits where I have no idea where they’re meant to go! The white rod on the RHS is the Rudder Control rod, it just went exposed along the cockpit sidewall! The linkages and supports cannot be seen on the real thing….looks very odd! Well they’ve been given a coat of grey and gloss so I can start all the detailing work on them. Once the detailing has been done some of these lovely dry-rub decals can be added! The IP’s are made of really thin PE (brass) so I’ll have to add a plastic backing plate. The Tamiya flat black is just too flat so I’ll need to give it a coat of semi gloss, plus it may help it stay on the PE a bit better. The back of the dial sheet has been painted white, those dials are really stand out now, nice. I really don’t know how this will all fit in the cockpit as there are no mounting points for the IP….this will be fun! Finally just a couple of extra bits, the front section of the cockpit and the air intake, I need to add a small door to the air intake. And the spinners, there was a big difference between the two types! With luck I’ll have the cockpit done and fitted this weekend. As mentioned earlier I’ll now be building a 1/48th version, it’ll be a series III version with the 12.5mm guns. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mottlemaster Posted August 27, 2016 Share Posted August 27, 2016 Great up date which clearly shows the challenges the kit is providing and how you are overcoming them . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire Posted August 27, 2016 Share Posted August 27, 2016 That looks a bit challenging, like most resin kits. Cheers Dennis 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted August 27, 2016 Author Share Posted August 27, 2016 Great up date which clearly shows the challenges the kit is providing and how you are overcoming them . That looks a bit challenging, like most resin kits. Cheers Dennis actually it's not too bad at all. Once I get the cockpit done and fitted it's all a case then of just getting the joins sorted out. Unless I get too distracted this should...hopefully, be a fairly quick build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted August 27, 2016 Share Posted August 27, 2016 Plenty going on there Rich . It must weigh a ton. Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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