1/32 - Macchi MC.202 Folgore by Italeri - released

[Homebee]

Italeri is to release in 2022 (?) a new tool 1/32nd Macchi MC.202 Folgore kit - ref. 2518

Source: https://www.italeri.com/uploads/news/v3MVLXcbbQoOMhc7K6EQf04r6mGnCp3M2cEDY6a6.pdf

 

 

V.P.

 

Edited August 2, 2023 by Homebee

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

WooooooHooooo !!! 

[Phas3e]

 

I will be keeping a sharp eye on this.

 

and with the ICM Yaks, Revell Hurri and 109G-2 I think most of my purchases this year will be in 1:32

[HL-10]

And about time too!😀

[sandokan]

Nice news!!! Wow

[JohnT]

And a national pride reason to get it right and make a stunner of a kit to put out on the hobby shop shelves. The Italian designers did make some nice looking designs 

[redcap]

After their excellent CR42 Falco in 1/32, I would much rather ICM have tackled this great and long overdue subject in 1/32 (for quality and price) but let's see what Italeri do with it and what price they bring it in at. Italeri are a middle of the road hobby company at best, yet charge almost AAA company prices for their products.

 

Gary

[spitfire]

Great news, Italian subjects are a long neglected area for model builders (1/32 scale), I do have the PCM and 21st Century kits in the stash but a modern new tool kit will be much appreciated.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Sturmovik]

Can I get uhhhh, this Pasta Fighter with a large Coca Cola?

[k5054nz]

Some more news that will make a lot of people very happy! Wow!!

[Giorgio N]

A very interesting announcement and a kit that I may buy when it's finally issued. Hope Italeri will do their homework, none of the existing mainstream kits got the shapes of the Folgore correctly so they have a chance to finally give modellers an accurate model. Fingers crossed....

In the meantime I'll have another look at my 21st Century 205... I really should start this at some point, I even went as far as buying resin wheels and exhausts...

[MDriskill]

Very exciting - one of my very favorite aircraft of all time. As others have said, I sure hope they do their homework on some subtle shape and detail aspects of this beautiful machine that are usually missed.

 

And in my childish fantasies, it has options for early and late variants, and is followed by a C.205 Veltro. And just a little later - properly re-tooled 1/72 scale spin-offs, LOL...

 

Edited March 9, 2022 by MDriskill

[Col.]

How good have the recent Italeri 32nd scale kits been? The only ones I can think of are the F-104 and Tornado but they seemed to be alright from the reviews I did see. Can we reasonably expect something of the same quality levels in this one?

[Giorgio N]

11 minutes ago, Col. said:

How good have the recent Italeri 32nd scale kits been? The only ones I can think of are the F-104 and Tornado but they seemed to be alright from the reviews I did see. Can we reasonably expect something of the same quality levels in this one?

 

The F-104 was their first kit and is a mixed bag. Detail is quite nice, not all always correct for the various options but overall good. Surface detail on this kit was good in some areas and not so good in others. In particular many panel lines were not consistent over the whole surface. Criticism was directed at the decal sheet, at least in the first issue, as Italeri made several mistakes even in basic things like roundel sizes. Said that, others who have the same kit found my observations on the surface detail a bit too harsh and I've seen great models built from this kit (mine is still in the box... one day I'll have to start it)

The Starfighter was followed by the Mirage III and this IMHO featured a much nicer surface detail while retaining the positive aspects of the F-104 kit.

I've not seen the Tornado so can't comment on it, people seem to like it, apart maybe from one aspect common to all these kits.... price !

Many have wondered if the price that Italeri ask for these kits is right for the quality of the plastic. That brings me back to the F-104... yes, my comments may have been harsh but this was a €90-100 kit when first issued. I'd have probably been less harsh on a €60-70 kit but for 100 I'd have expected something a bit better. Similar comments seem to have been directed to all other 1/32 Italeri kits. Revell reboxed the Mirage III and sold it for €60-70, IMHO a fairer price compared to the original Italeri €90. I'd go even further and say that for this money is a very good kit.

Of course there's nothing we can do about it, Italeri have to decide their prices based on their business model. In any case what we get from these kits is a serious improvements over the previously available kits and this will be even more so for the MC.202 considering the alternatives..

These are: a simple assembly but toylike from 21st Century; a good short run from PCM that is hard to find in general and impossibile to find at a decent price; a resin kit from Craftworks, that was not bad but still a full resin kit; a very old and very basic vacform from ID...

All these previous kits are OOP and even the 21st Century kit is becoming expensive on the second hand market. The Italeri kit at least will be easily available in every hobby shop or from online retailers. I'm not expecting Tamiya quality but if the kit is like their Mirage III it will be good enough for me. It will likely not be as cheap as say the Revell 1/32 Spitfires but if this is a problem the solution is simply to keep an eye on special offers, many Italeri kits are often sold at reduced prices by large online shops.

[Robertone139]

On 1/20/2022 at 2:25 PM, spitfire said:

Great news, Italian subjects are a long neglected area for model builders (1/32 scale), I do have the PCM and 21st Century kits in the stash but a modern new tool kit will be much appreciated.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

Shall it be one though.

[Col.]

22 hours ago, Giorgio N said:

 

The F-104 was their first kit and is a mixed bag. Detail is quite nice, not all always correct for the various options but overall good. Surface detail on this kit was good in some areas and not so good in others. In particular many panel lines were not consistent over the whole surface. Criticism was directed at the decal sheet, at least in the first issue, as Italeri made several mistakes even in basic things like roundel sizes. Said that, others who have the same kit found my observations on the surface detail a bit too harsh and I've seen great models built from this kit (mine is still in the box... one day I'll have to start it)

The Starfighter was followed by the Mirage III and this IMHO featured a much nicer surface detail while retaining the positive aspects of the F-104 kit.

I've not seen the Tornado so can't comment on it, people seem to like it, apart maybe from one aspect common to all these kits.... price !

Many have wondered if the price that Italeri ask for these kits is right for the quality of the plastic. That brings me back to the F-104... yes, my comments may have been harsh but this was a €90-100 kit when first issued. I'd have probably been less harsh on a €60-70 kit but for 100 I'd have expected something a bit better. Similar comments seem to have been directed to all other 1/32 Italeri kits. Revell reboxed the Mirage III and sold it for €60-70, IMHO a fairer price compared to the original Italeri €90. I'd go even further and say that for this money is a very good kit.

Of course there's nothing we can do about it, Italeri have to decide their prices based on their business model. In any case what we get from these kits is a serious improvements over the previously available kits and this will be even more so for the MC.202 considering the alternatives..

These are: a simple assembly but toylike from 21st Century; a good short run from PCM that is hard to find in general and impossibile to find at a decent price; a resin kit from Craftworks, that was not bad but still a full resin kit; a very old and very basic vacform from ID...

All these previous kits are OOP and even the 21st Century kit is becoming expensive on the second hand market. The Italeri kit at least will be easily available in every hobby shop or from online retailers. I'm not expecting Tamiya quality but if the kit is like their Mirage III it will be good enough for me. It will likely not be as cheap as say the Revell 1/32 Spitfires but if this is a problem the solution is simply to keep an eye on special offers, many Italeri kits are often sold at reduced prices by large online shops.

Thank you for taking the time to reply Giorgio. I'd forgot about the nice Mirage III kit and as you say it was significantly cheaper in the Revell box than Italeri's own.

[mike c]

Can't wait for this one.

[Homebee]

Box art

Source: https://www.italeri.com/en/article/816

 

 

V.P.

[Phas3e]

I wonder if they will put smoke ring decals in there for the SD sheet, I have the 48th Hase rebox Mc205 with them and while they arent the best I would like to see them in 32nd.

[spitfire]

Yes please, I've just taken delivery of some smoke ring masks from LF Models, so will try them out before this one is released.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Missick]

5 hours ago, spitfire said:

Yes please, I've just taken delivery of some smoke ring masks from LF Models, so will try them out before this one is released.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

Nooo, you should try free hand. 

Anyway,  this will be a winner for sure!

Looking forward to seeing one in my hands.

[Homebee]

Source: https://www.italeri.com/en/article/824

 

Quote

Dear Friends, we are proud to show you the preview of our new incoming 1:32 scale model kit dedicated to the Italian WW2 fighter Macchi M.C. 202 “Folgore”.

 

The kit will release the highest level of realism: 100% completely new moulds made with the most advanced design and production standards, great attention to detail and the introduction of innovative solutions such as the cockpit with 3D decals. We are proud to share the first pictures of box artwork, 3D rendering, super decal sheets, photoetched parts, and color profiles.

 

Historical Profile.

 

The introduction of the Macchi MC 202 Folgore was a significant development for the fighter squadrons of the Italian Regia Aeronautica. Stylishly designed from an aerodynamical perspective, it was fitted with the powerful German DB 601 engine produced under license by the Italian aeronautical industry. The engine and overall aeronautical performance of the aircraft provided the Regia Aeronautica with a fighter capable of actively engaging Allied fighters. The flight performance compared to the previous generation of fighters equipped with radial engines, such as the Fiat G-50 and the Macchi Mc-200, was in fact much better. Manoeuvrable and fast (it was able to reach 600 km h), it was armed, in the early versions, with two 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns installed in the nose. Only in later versions were the armaments improved with additional machine-guns installed in the wings. 

 

The Macchi M.C. 202 “Folgore” in 1:32 (kit no. 2518) will be available from the first part of August.

 

In the next days we will present you more images of the plastic parts, the box and the final assembly tests.

 

 

V.P.

Edited June 17, 2023 by Homebee

[Phas3e]

 

Looks like all we need is the funky Italian seat belts, and maybe open up the wheel wells and shes good to go.

 

I'm more excited by this than the Kotare Spitfire 🤩

[hopkp]

3 hours ago, Phas3e said:

 

Looks like all we need is the funky Italian seat belts, and maybe open up the wheel wells and shes good to go.

 

I'm more excited by this than the Kotare Spitfire 🤩

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere recently that the wheel wells on the MC.202 should be enclosed (as Italeri seems to have depicted), that they're only open on the one in the Italian Air Force Museum because some panels are missing - which led to an assumption that was the standard arrangement. Others on this forum probably know more.....

 

P.S. Ditto re. the Kotare 1/32 Spitfire - or any other 1/32 Spitfire for that matter. A 1/32 Macchi MC.202 is WAY more interesting.....and hasn't been done to death a thousand times over! 🙂

Edited June 18, 2023 by hopkp

[Giorgio N]

5 hours ago, hopkp said:

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere recently that the wheel wells on the MC.202 should be enclosed (as Italeri seems to have depicted), that they're only open on the one in the Italian Air Force Museum because some panels are missing - which led to an assumption that was the standard arrangement. Others on this forum probably know more.....

 

P.S. Ditto re. the Kotare 1/32 Spitfire - or any other 1/32 Spitfire for that matter. A 1/32 Macchi MC.202 is WAY more interesting.....and hasn't been done to death a thousand times over! 🙂

 

The wheel wells were open as on the prrvious MC.200. Later a cover was introduced to keep sand away when operating in the desert but this was not always used as had to be removed for certain maintenance jobs