WWII Italian Style: 1/48th Hasegawa C.202 Folgore

Released in 2005, this kit appears to be another fine example of Hasegawa's crisp molding with fine scribed detail and good fit. For my purposes (not knowing much about Italian aircraft) it suited me fine, however for the purist the kit has some minor issues, but still provides a good base to start.

Notable Kit Features:

• Good raised details in the cockpit

• Finely scribed panel lines and exterior details (maybe too fine?)

• Better than average parts fit

• Good overall shape

Build Inspiration:

My main focal point of this build was to try and accurately replicate the Breda camouflage applied to some of the C.202s. I chose the markings of Italian ace Capitano Carlo Miani CO 360 sqn. 155 Gruppo 51 Stormo circa August 1942. He was a veteran of the Spanish Civil War and saw action over Malta in WWII.

Heads-Up Report:

• Some ejector pin marks

• Deepening of some of the engraved panel lines especially in the control surfaces will improve the look

• The pit behind the engine firewall and in the open wheel wheels could use some detailing if you are so inclined.

Note: If you build this kit out-of-the-box you'll end up with a C.202 with all panel lines, louvres and access hatches that you would normally find on a late model C.205 Veltro. Hasegawa designed the C.202/205 kit family to offer the range of early Folgore to late model Veltro with a minimum rework involved. The actual aircraft vary a bit, if you care about this level of detail. As I was focusing this build series on the paint finish I did not venture into any corrections here and even added errors of my own, just to pile it on.

If you want to get into the finer points of these aircraft types, I will recommend looking at Werner Scheibling's builds and references: Macchi C.202 by Werner Scheibling (Hasegawa 1/48) (hyperscale.com)

Kit Additions / Modifications:

• Built Out of the Box with the exception of the custom decals

End Result:

The kit has the typical desert finish colours of Verde Oliva over Nocciola Chiaro done in the particular style of the Breda facility during WWII. This upper surface was worn over the undersurface of Gregio Azzurro Chiaro. The base camouflage colours were airbrushed on with a bit of variance for weathering effect. The green camouflage was hand painted with a select pointy brush using carefully thinned paint (enough to properly flow and yet cover in one pass). Patience, review for consistency, magnifiers and a steady hand got the job done.

The After-Build Report:

This Hasegawa kit is a good starting point for a C.202 build as these are still the best Macchi C.202 (and C.205) kits available in 1/48 scale (much better than the earlier Tauro releases). I would still recommend this kit. For more detail in a single package, see if you can find Eduard's Limited Edition release which (from what I understand) adds resin and photo-etched parts to Hasegawa's sprues to deliver an outstanding result (obviously at a higher price).

Completed build #232 - April 2020 using the 1/48th scale Hasegawa #JT32:2200 kit.

Feel free to comment or ask any questions - Keep on building, gain experience, challenge yourself if you like, but try not to stress yourself out over the build - it is suppose to be an enjoyable hobby after all - Cheers