Eduard Folgore Limited Edition 1:48

[Mike]

 

Folgore Limited Edition

1:48 Eduard

 

 

 

Developed from the earlier MC.200, the Folgore (Thunderbolt) had a new fuselage mated to the earlier type's wings, and housing an imported Daimler-Benz DB601 engine, which Alfa-Romeo eventually license built for later production.  It was fast and manoeuvrable, although it could become engaged in a lethal spin if handled casually, as well as being under-armed with only two machine-guns that were unreliable.  The oxygen system was also suspect, and many missions were aborted due to problems, and no doubt some pilots lost their lives as a result due to hypoxia.

 

It was rushed into production and entered service in mid-1941, although its advanced construction caused some delays, which resulted in fewer airframes than anticipated reaching the field.  Throughout its service life it was upgraded to a certain extent, but late in the war it was renamed to the C.205 Veltro after the introduction of the more powerful DB605 engine, with export sales of converted airframes after the war.

 

 

The Kit

This is another of Eduard's limited edition boxings of other manufacturer's kits, this time taking advantage of their relationship with Hasegawa, who provided the base kit on which the package has been built.  This is one of Hasegawa's good kits, and the surface detail is finely engraved without being indistinct, and the fabric effect of the flying surfaces hits a good median point of being noticeable without being overdone.  To me, a lot of Hasegawa kits are a bit bland in the cockpit area (I know – heresy!), and this is where a great deal of the Eduard magic comes into play, as we'll see later.  Inside the box are three mains sprues and three small sprues in Hasegawa's usual grey styrene, two sheets of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, one of which is nickel-plated and pre-painted, a sheet of yellow pre-cut kabuki-style paper masking material, a bag of resin parts consisting of wheels and filtered air intakes, a decal sheet printed by Cartograf, and of course the instruction booklet.  The sprues are bagged with a little slip of paper stating that they were manufactured in Japan and boxed in the Czech Republic by Eduard, but by now we already know this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First impressions are of course good, as the base kit is well-liked, and all the important areas are to be upgraded with PE or resin detail, backed up by decals from a good source.  Add Eduard's instructions, and a good variety of decal options into the mix and we have a winner on our hands.  There is of course the usual bug-bear that rears its head when Italian paint-jobs are discussed, and that's the old "smoke ring" camouflage conundrum (not really a conundrum, but the alliteration was too much to resist).  Well, you have the option of getting some Smoke Ring decals from that nice chap Mike Grant, testing your airbrushing mettle and doing them yourself, or bottling it and selecting the all-green option.

 

The first item up for construction is the cockpit, which is heavily modified using the PE sheets, with a completely new instrument panel folded and laminated up with painted dials, followed by a comprehensive overhaul of all the cockpit detail, such as the floor, rudder pedals and sidewall detail.  A set of crew belts are included for the kit seat, and the end result should be sufficient for most modellers' needs in terms of detail.  The completed assembly is then sandwiched between the fuselage halves along with the prop shaft, which can be left to spin if you are careful with the glue.  The optional resin filters are added to the sides of the engine bay, and a number of bumps need removal from the cowling sides, depending on which decal option you have selected.  A styrene insert fits top and bottom for finish off the cowling detail, with a small chin-intake added, which would benefit from having its wall thickness reduced by scraping with the edge of a blade.  A neat PE insert behind the pilot's head is inserted after closing the fuselage, which both improves detail there, as well as hiding the seam between the two halves – just don't forget to paint it while you are doing the cockpit.

 

 

The lower wings are full span, with the upper wings split either side of the root, and a short spar between them as well as some additional wheel well detail, which is improved by the addition of some small PE parts before painting and closure of the wing assembly.  A number of access panels on the top skin are filled for this boxing, and a hole is drilled in the underside for four options, although nothing appears to fit into it, so it must be a drain-hole or similar.  The fuselage drops into the gap between the upper wing panels, and the elevators fit into the tail by the usual tongue-and-slot method.

 

The main gear legs will require some alteration before construction, to remove the chunky sections that appear at intervals along their length, leaving you with an almost tubular leg, to which PE parts are added to hold the kit bay doors.  The oleo-scissor links are also folded up from PE, and the replacement resin wheels fit into the two-part yoke on long pegs, which allows them to be left loose, so that the flat-spot can be aligned with the ground later on after they are fitted along with their retraction struts.  The inner bay doors are replaced by new PE units that are laminated up from two parts each.  The tail wheel is replaced by resin, ands here you have two to choose from, again depending on which decal option you are using, with a PE insert detailing the depression in which is sits and handily hiding that portion of the seam.  The aerodynamic fairing around this area is also fixed to pegs, and you have a choice of two.  Mid-way along the fuselage underside a small resin ADF Antenna is fitted for two decal options, and further forward the radiator housing also has optional parts that… you guessed correctly, depend on which decal option you have chosen.  The prop is built up from three separate blades that are fitted to the back plate, then covered with the spinner cap, after you have drilled out the centre-hole with a 1.4mm bit. 

 

 

A number of PE strengthening plates and aerials are added around the wings, at the last gasp, and the clear parts, which are up to Hasegawa's usual standards, are affixed, with the addition of a PE rear-view mirror and canopy levers, plus a retaining strap into the bargain.  Finally, a PE ring and bead sight are added to the top of the cowling in front of the windscreen.  The masking sheet contains all the sections of the canopy for your ease, and even has a set of four doughnut shaped tyre masks for painting of the hubs.

 

Markings

As is usual with the Limited Edition boxing, you get a sizeable choice of decal options, with six in this box with a wide choice of camouflage schemes to terrify you, plus the aforementioned green one for that easy option.

 

• Macchi C.202 VII. Serie, M.M.9066, Maresciallo Ennio Tarantola, 151a Squadriglia,  51 Stormo C.T., Gela, September 1942
• Macchi C.202 XII. Serie, M.M. Unknown, 70a Squadriglia, 3 Stormo C.T., Cerveteri, August 1943
• Macchi C.202 VI. Serie, M.M.8122, 386a Squadriglia, 21 Gruppo Autonomo C.T., Kantemirowka, October 1942
• Macchi C.202 II. Serie, M.M.7711, 378a Squadriglia, 155 Gruppo, 51 Stormo C.T., Gela, August 1942
• Macchi C.202 XI. Serie, M.M. Unknown, 24 Gruppo Autonomo C.T., Olbia-Venafiorita, June 1943
• Macchi C.202 I. Serie, M.M.7860, 71a Squadriglia, 17 Gruppo, 1 Stormo C.T., Udine-Campoformido, October 1941

 

 

Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas.

 

 

 

Conclusion

The Folgore is an attractive looking aircraft that doesn't get built often enough, as well as not receiving the accolades it deserves for its performance.  I've been meaning to build one of these for a while now, so you can imagine how happy this kit makes me.

 

Very highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of

 

 

[Giorgio N]

This look like a very interesting package and Eduard seems to have accurately depicted the differences between the various production series, something that the original Hasegawa boxings didn't always achieve.. this kit has a lot in common with the MC.205 from the same company and some areas are more similar to the later machine, hence the need for additional work as explained by the Eduard instruction sheet.

The only concern for the Macchi "purists" is that the Hasegawa fuselage does not accurately represent the lines of this aircraft, but there's little to do here. Would have been good to see Eduard supplying some detail for the wheel wells, but modellers can add a few more pipes and cables here if they wish.

Small correction: the resin part to be attached on the fuselage undersides is not an intake but the ADF antenna that was introduced on some later series

[Mike]

Thanks for the update - I've adjusted that section

 

18 hours ago, Giorgio N said:

Would have been good to see Eduard supplying some detail for the wheel wells

 

I think I mentioned that they'd added a few greeblies in there, but there is still probably scope for improvement