Macchi C-202, by Italeri

[Dpgsbody55]

I've made a bit more progress on this model, but not as much as I'd hoped.  So the coolant radiator is now done and mounted, and the last of the control surface hinge covers are also done.

 

Starting with the radiator, this has three sets of etch screens which mount into the plastic radiator body, then you turn it over and mount another three screens.  Here's what those screens look like on the etch fret.  From left to right, they are inner, middle and outer, and they are not quite rectangular so have to be fitted the right way up.  The other three have been removed and glued into place.

 

 

The radiator body has two halves which are glued together.  I painted the insides in flat black before mounting one set of screens.  These need to be removed from the fret carefully and kept flat, with all the fret attachment points also carefully removed.  Once that was done and the parts cleaned up, I simply dropped them into place in the plastic radiator body, and very carefully ran a bead of extra thin CA around the edge.  Once dry, I turned the radiator body over and did the same on the other side.  Not difficult, but be careful not to glue your radiator with the thin CA to your fingers.  Ask me how I know......   Once both sides were dry, I ran a small paint brush over the grey plastic edges loaded with flat black paint, as the edges will be visible later.

 

 

This was then mounted into the model after the radiator bay top surface was painted.

 

 

 

While this was going on, I built up the radiator duct and painted this inside in Grigio Azurro Chiaro, or a light grey/blue which is the underside colour.  The kit does provide radiator flap operating arms, and these were also painted and mounted to the plane and the rad duct then added and taped down hard.  Here it is with the control surface hinge covers also fitted, though the camera flash has washed out the underside colour and obliterated some of the hinge covers.  There's six in total on each flap and four (two top; two bottom) on the ailerons.  It's time consuming, but not that hard as long as you have something like a wax pencil to place them.

 

 

Here's a closer look at the radiator.  I'm very happy with the results and the radiator itself looks better than most of my other attempts at this.  You can also see the hinge covers on the inner flaps.

 

 

Front view.  Sorry about the partially blurred photo, but my arms need to be twice as long to get a better depth of field shot.

 

 

The hinge covers went on next.  These are small pieces of etch brass, about 2 X 2.5mm.  They also need careful clean up when removing them from the etch fret and they're not always easy to remove.  Thankfully I had only one disappear into the never never, but the kit provides more than you actually need.  This applies doubly so to the aileron hinge covers, as the instructions are wrong.  The ailerons have four hinges on each one.  Only the inner and outer hinges have covers in reality, but Italeri's instructions have you putting one over all four hinges, top and bottom.  The second outer hinge is to be left exposed for lubrication, and the third inner hinge has a hole used to disassemble a fitting bolt.  Further, on the lower side of each aileron, where the wing is marked for placement of the hinge covers, the outer hinge cover placement does not match the upper hinge placement, which is in the correct position.  I placed the lower outer hinge cover in the correct position, then applied some Mr Surfacer to each of the now superfluous hinge cover placement marks on the top and bottom wing surfaces to fill these incorrect fitting grooves.  The next picture shows where the hinge covers should go.

 

 

 

So that part of the model is done, and I'm presently working on the exhausts.  I'm using the Aircraft in Pixels set, which are much finer than the kit part, just as I did with my last build (Airfix's Spitfire IX).  I hope I haven't gone too far here as the AiP parts are very fine.  Almost see through.

 

 

These are being painted right now and I've yet to take a photo of that, so that and the mounting of them is for next time.  This could be a while as I'll also be adding the exhaust shrouds common on Daimler Benz powered single engine planes.  If you look at the top picture, that's them to the right of the radiator screens.  Looks like fun...  

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

Edited August 1 by Dpgsbody55

[Furie]

You've made great progress on your MC 202 Michael.
I was convinced that such a modern model could be built OOB...
I was wrong!

[MikeMaben]

Soldier on Mike 

[Dpgsbody55]

On 8/2/2024 at 12:48 AM, Furie said:

You've made great progress on your MC 202 Michael.
I was convinced that such a modern model could be built OOB...
I was wrong!

 

Thanks.  This is a model I've wanted for many years.  Readers may recall my constant calls for one in the wish list subjects . 

 

I think you can build this OOB and have a good model to display, but I've chosen to use a fair amount of aftermarket to build it as best as I can but with a time limit as I want to finish one more model this year after I finish this, and there's been some interruptions to my workbench time.  I also confess I got a bit carried away when I saw the Aircraft in Pixels website.   Some of what I'm using is very optional, but I regard a few of the aftermarket addons I'm using as a must as long as they're available.  Specifically, I'm referring to the control surfaces, undercarriage and wheels.  The control surfaces could be much better, especially the ailerons.  The wheels in the kit look like they're grossly under inflated rather than weight bearing, and the undercarriage I'm using circumvents the issues of paint and masking as well as my clumsiness due to the possibility of my breaking them, as I have with the tail wheel.  I think I would always use aftermarket seat belts too, as the kit ones look wrong to me and I've found the seat belts I've used easier to deal with, as this is one detail that always frustrates me.

 

Others here have built excellent renditions of this model, here and here.  There are much closer to OOB than mine, and both are first rate.  This is a model I'd happily recommend, but in saying that, all models seem to have issues as the long list of tweaks elsewhere on this site would suggest.  This one is no different.  I'm just glad I've now got a model of the Macchi fighters to keep my ICM Fiat CR-42 company.  Italian WW2 aircraft are sadly under represented in terms of LSP kits, so you can be sure I'll be buying more and showing them here as I build them.  I also hope we see more built here.

 

20 hours ago, MikeMaben said:

Soldier on Mike 

 

Will do, Mike.  I'd put my best foot forward, but they both look the same to me.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[JayW]

On 7/29/2024 at 12:56 PM, Dpgsbody55 said:

Sorry if I've rambled a bit, but I hope this answers your questions.

 

On the contrary Michael - fascinating stuff that I just did not know.  Thanks.  I didn't realize just how few of these aircraft were manufactured.

[Thunnus]

Great work Michael!  Now it looks like a proper Folgore. Just curious... have you had a chance to look at the AiP spinner yet?  I've just glanced at it and it appeared significantly shorter and rounder than the kit spinner.  Honestly, I was expecting a more "subtle" difference but I'm no expert.  I'm sure you'll get to it eventually but I was curious what you thought.

[Dpgsbody55]

23 hours ago, Thunnus said:

Great work Michael!  Now it looks like a proper Folgore. Just curious... have you had a chance to look at the AiP spinner yet?  I've just glanced at it and it appeared significantly shorter and rounder than the kit spinner.  Honestly, I was expecting a more "subtle" difference but I'm no expert.  I'm sure you'll get to it eventually but I was curious what you thought.

 

Thanks.  It does look good so far, but the exhausts are presently fighting me.  I'm using the AiP parts here, but will have more to say in my next update, whenever that will be.

 

As to the spinner, I'm one of those who thinks the kit part is too flat, which is why I bought the AiP part.  I haven't got to that part of the build yet, other than to start on painting the prop blades.  However, since you've asked, I had another look, and I'm still happy with my purchase.  I'm presently finishing Luigi Caliaro's excellent book on the Macchi fighters and have compared the AiP and kit spinners.  The AiP part has what looks to me to be a more correct shape.  The kit part is 1mm longer and the hole in the spinner tip is too large when you look at period pictures.  I think these two issues are what contributes to the kit part looking too much like a witches hat, as the real thing had a slight but noticeable curve to it.  The kit spinner, and just that part, is 16mm long, and the AiP part is 15mm long with what looks to me to be the correct size hole in the tip.  So I'm definitely using the AiP sinner set in the finished product.

 

 

Hope this helps,

Michael

[Dpgsbody55]

So the exhausts are finally in place, and this has been an exercise in frustration too.  There have been days where I just did not want to look at this model and I've considered packing it in entirely.  I don't think it's entirely out of the woods yet, either, as I'm concerned that removing the exhaust masking later will cause damage.  That's a bridge I'll cross later, though.

 

Here is the model with the exhausts starting to go in.  I'm using the Aircraft in Pixels set which are a far better shape than the kit exhausts.  I always start from the rear and work my way forward, but in this case, the first exhaust pipe has to get wiggled into place between the second pipe and the exhaust shroud.  Then you put the etch brass shroud over the that.  The first problem I encountered was that the mounting tab on each exhaust pipe wouldn't go into the respective hole in the cylinder head .  The next problem was that the cylinder head holes for the exhausts don't line up with the exhaust port in the fuselage as the back of the engine sits too high .  The third problem was that I had to use CA glue to fix the now filed down exhaust pipe tabs into the respective cylinder head hole which means little time to get each pipe lined up properly .  I'm fairly certain that I got this part wrong and in trying to fix one, it simply broke away from the engine leaving the mounting tab in place and the subsequent problems that caused.  Kit exhausts will be used next time, which I'm certain will at least alleviate some of these issues.

 

 

While wrestling with the exhausts, I had the model stood tail down and it slipped, and this happened.   Now I have a glue line to deal with and it's right across some of the raised detail.

 

 

At long last, I got all the pipes into place, but not without having to make adjustments to the exhaust shroud to get the etch brass part of it to fit.  Part of it got filed back as the exhausts have fowled the shrouds .  Then the etch brass part got some more adjustment so the upshot of all this is that I will be doing things very differently when I eventually get to the C.205.  Here is a picture of hammered excreta, but at least I've got the last pipe of the oil separator in place, and it lines up with the respective hole in the engine cowling .  None of these pipes line up at ninety degrees to the engine as all have to be swept back a little.

 

 

The next job was to get the etch brass part of the exhaust shroud in place and this simply butts up against the model and is attached with CA glue.  Why on earth this simply couldn't be molded into the model in to the fuselage as in other DB-601/605 engine models like the Messerschmitt 109 I do not know.  Only the front part of the exhaust part has to be separate, and a plastic part is all that is required.  Next time, I shall make the shroud parts out of thin plastic and glue them in place.  I can see how they have to be a separate part as the first exhaust pipe would never go in, and this is a consequence of the build sequence Italeri have imposed.    I checked the engine mounting sequence when it was attached to the bulkhead at that part of the build, and test fitted the fuselage halves too, and I thought I had it all lined up.  So what has gone wrong since then, assuming I have done something wrong, is beyond me.  You can be sure that when I get to the C.205 later, I'll be adopting a very different build sequence.

 

Here is the model with the shrouds now in place, as well as the cowling.  You can just see the oil separator vent pipe in the cowling hole at the front.  Placing the exhaust shrouds was another nightmare and the only way I could figure it out was to hold it carefully in place then dribble thing CA on part of it so as not to glue my digits as well, then do the same with the rest.  Fun.  NOT.  The cowlings were placed on after the exhaust shrouds were glued on, as I'm sure I'd have accidentally glued that in place too with all the thin CA floating about.

 

 

Regarding the cowlings, the back one fits very well, but I had to grind parts of the front cowling out.  The worst part was one of the gun troughs which fowled the brown oil separator pipe coming out of the top of the engine.  It may be that I placed the extra part too high, but I blame AiP for that as they provide no instructions or picture of the placement of that part.  The engine mounts also slightly touch the cowling, so that area was ground back a little too, as was a part at the top of the engine that touched.

 

 

So here is the model as it is now.  The cowling fit is OK, but could sit about 0.5mm closer.  Not going to worry about that.

 

 

From here, I'll be tidying up those exhaust shrouds and the joint where the elevator broke followed by the gun cowlings, then attempting the AiP air filter and the last of the small easily broken parts before paint starts.  That's for next time.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[MikeMaben]

Looks like your experience as a brain surgeon is coming in handy Mike. 

No giving in now.

[Steve Eagle]

Having finished one of these, the following applies. “Modeling experience required”. 
It turned out ok, but definitely a challenge getting there. 
 

[amurray]

12 hours ago, Steve Eagle said:

Having finished one of these, the following applies. “Modeling experience required”. 
It turned out ok, but definitely a challenge getting there. 
 

Having followed this build, reading Steve's comments above and having followed the LSP Pacific Coast Models builds of this aircraft I am very disappointed.  The 202/205 series is among my favorite aircraft.  I know it would be very expensive but is there anything to be gained by kit-bashing the PCM and Italeri kits?

 

And please do not misinterpret my comments.  Mike is doing an incredible job.  It's just that I don't have the time or the talent to build an acceptably accurate kit now that i know the shortcomings of both.  I know, I know, it doesn't have to be be perfect but when modelers can identify significant shortcomings in kits one has to wonder why the producers of those kits can't do the same.  It frustrates me.

[Biggles87]

It’s definitely fighting you!

John

[quang]

At long last we’ll see how the AiP spinner looks on the Italeri kit.

[Dpgsbody55]

On 8/11/2024 at 3:46 PM, MikeMaben said:

Looks like your experience as a brain surgeon is coming in handy Mike. 

No giving in now.

 

Yeah, I know.  But I began to get a bit bored with brain surgery, so I went looking for a new challenge.  I did consider rocket science, but this seemed like more of a challenge.

 

On 8/11/2024 at 8:49 PM, Steve Eagle said:

Having finished one of these, the following applies. “Modeling experience required”. 
It turned out ok, but definitely a challenge getting there. 
 

 

Ah.  That's my problem.  I've only got sixty years worth of that.  I'm obviously not yet qualified.

 

On 8/12/2024 at 9:14 AM, amurray said:

Having followed this build, reading Steve's comments above and having followed the LSP Pacific Coast Models builds of this aircraft I am very disappointed.  The 202/205 series is among my favorite aircraft.  I know it would be very expensive but is there anything to be gained by kit-bashing the PCM and Italeri kits?

 

And please do not misinterpret my comments.  Mike is doing an incredible job.  It's just that I don't have the time or the talent to build an acceptably accurate kit now that i know the shortcomings of both.  I know, I know, it doesn't have to be be perfect but when modelers can identify significant shortcomings in kits one has to wonder why the producers of those kits can't do the same.  It frustrates me.

 

Please don't be put off by my comments as it's quite possible I've done something wrong.  The engine being too high at the back indicates this, especially as no one else appears to have had this problem, looking at other builds.  This may well be the root of my problems with the exhausts.  It's certainly causing an issue with fitting the air filter, but that one is easily fixed.  Next time, I'll use the kit exhausts too, as I may be able to adjust the way they fit more easily and I won't have to use CA glue to fit them.  I've never built an Italeri kit before, and I've heard they do things a little differently.  I've learnt a lot building this, and now I know the pitfalls, I think the next one will be easier as I'll build it differently, starting with the fuselage first.

 

Yes, the kit does have it's issues and although I've never built the PCM kit (or even seen one in the local hobby shops), from the builds of that kit that I've seen here, I still think the Italeri kit is a better model.  Yes, they've overlooked things, but part of that issue is that they based their kit on an inaccurate restoration.  There's not many of these around - one Macchi built C.202 in the Smithsonian, and one Breda built C.202 in the Museo Storico dell'Aeronautica Militare just outside Rome, so not much to go on.  There are two more C.205's which are converted from C.202's, but an upgraded C.202/205 is not the subject of this build.  I think it was the Breda built C.202 near Rome that was used in the design of this kit.  But plenty of other kits with issues, as a look through the Tweak List section of this very site will indicate.

 

So please don't let my experience put you off building one.  Hopefully you'll learn something from my mistakes.

 

17 hours ago, Biggles87 said:

It’s definitely fighting you!

John

 

I'm in the twenty first round out of fifteen rounds.  I'm not giving in .

 

14 hours ago, quang said:

At long last we’ll see how the AiP spinner looks on the Italeri kit.

 

Good, I hope. 

 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Gun covers are sorted, the exhaust shrouds cleaned up, and I'm just working on the air intake.  Hopefully an update soon.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

 

 

 

[Thunnus]

Despite the troubles, the model is shaping up nicely now. Thank you so much for covering the good, bad and the ugly with this kit.  I've definitely noticed more than a few shortcomings and strange engineering choices in my brief time playing with it but the addition of untested aftermarket products like AiP definitely muddies the waters even further.