PCM Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario

[dennismcc]

After the Spitfire IX got to the paint stage it was time to pick another kit or kits to build, I decided to go for a pair of P47’s, a razor (Trumpeter) and a bubble top (Hasegawa) to my surprise I did not have the Trumpeter kit so I bought one from eBay.

However I had found that building the PCM kits had been challenging but satisfying to finish so my mind wandered to the PCM section of the stash and my hand closed round the Reggiane Re 2005 kit and that was that.

I have a few PCM kits in the stash and they need to be built otherwise they might just end up in a skip when I shake off this mortal coil.

The P47’s therefore will have to wait, I did build a couple of P47’s a few years ago both Revell and both finished as SEAC aircraft so the P47 is represented in my display cabinet.

So I started to sort out my references and searched the internet for other people’s builds and reviews of the kit, there are not many builds out there but most builds had favourable comments.

A few years ago I did build some Italian subjects three of them 21st Century kits of the C205, Me109 and Stuka and then the PCM G55, astonishingly looking back at these I found that this was in 2010, my how time flies.

But at the time I did build up quite a lot of information on WW2 Italian aircraft notably from the Stormo website and made lists of the available paint, this was all saved as an Xcel spreadsheet.

I noted down the Italian colours and their model paint versions, as I am an enamel user these were all Humbrol, Colourcoats, and Testors Model Master paints.

Back to the Re.2005 it was one of the three Series 5 aircraft, all being powered by a licence built DB-605 engine, the Fiat RC 58 Tifone 1,475hp engine.

The three fighters were the Macchi C.205V Veltro, Fiat G.55 Centauro and Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario, none of which were built in large numbers but they were all very capable aircraft.

I found some notes on the operational use of the Re2005 on the internet.

In May of 1943, the first Sagittarios entered service with the Regia Aeronautica. The first prototype and several of the zero series aircraft were used operationally by the 362a Squadriglia, 22o Gruppo at Naples-Capodichino starting in May 1943, being used to defend Rome and Naples.

The squadron had developed a rather daring method of attacking Allied B-17s which involved diving head-on with all guns blazing, then flipping the aircraft over on its back and diving away at the last minute.

The Reggiane had good behaviour in close dogfight and , according to General Minguzzi, who flew both Re 2005 and Spitfire, was even better than the Spit in tight turns and handling.

The operative life of the Sagittario was concluded by the Armistice , that came in the September 1943.

As mentioned I had already built a C.205, and a G.55 so the Re2005 was a logical next step

The Re2005 paint scheme was not up to the usual attractive Italian schemes, they were completed in Verde Oliva Scuro 2 on the uppers and Grigio Azzuro Chiaro 1 on the undersides.

Sadly there are no surviving Re2005’s, just an aft fuselage section.

And a very fine looking aircraft it was.

And the surviving fuselage section.

The kit box

 

And the contents

I always forget how many photos I can attach so I will start afresh.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

 

[dennismcc]

And carrying on with the contents of the kit box.

The kit instructions which I managed to lose, luckily Kagemusha very kindly rescued me and made me a copy of his for me.

And so the journey begins.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

Edited January 12, 2023 by dennismcc

[LSP_Kevin]

Nice project, Dennis! I look forward to following it.

 

There's no limit on the number of images you can add to a single post any more.

 

Kev

[scvrobeson]

Looking forward to the project.  The 2005 really is a gorgeous aircraft. Italian design really never goes out of fashion.

 

 

 

Matt

[Out2gtcha]

2 hours ago, scvrobeson said:

 The 2005 really is a gorgeous aircraft. Italian design really never goes out of fashion.

 

 

+1!

 

Its almost like a cross between two halves of a coin..........look at it from the side and it looks like a strange Me-109 with a wide vertical fin, and if looked at from above/below, you might think its a Spit, save the horizontal stabs. 

[dennismcc]

13 hours ago, LSP_Kevin said:

Nice project, Dennis! I look forward to following it.

 

There's no limit on the number of images you can add to a single post any more.

 

Kev

Thanks Kev, as usual I forgot.

3 hours ago, Out2gtcha said:

 

 

+1!

 

Its almost like a cross between two halves of a coin..........look at it from the side and it looks like a strange Me-109 with a wide vertical fin, and if looked at from above/below, you might think its a Spit, save the horizontal stabs. 

The Italians sure built some nice looking aircraft and had some pretty amazing colour schemes, this one though is a bit of a Plain Jane

5 hours ago, scvrobeson said:

Looking forward to the project.  The 2005 really is a gorgeous aircraft. Italian design really never goes out of fashion.

 

 

 

Matt

Welcome aboard for the ride, it's a PCM so it could be "interesting", and yes naturally the Italians showed some real design flair.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[dennismcc]

Well off we go, I'm not an Italian WW2 expert, luckily for me the Stormo website has some very good information on the subject.

Amongst my meagre Italian reference shelf section is this 3 book collection which I find very useful.

Now to see how it all goes together, patience is required here, sadly it is something that I do not have in great quantities.

First of all I cut the parts from their sprues and cleaned then up, the smaller parts were left with some sprue “tails” so they could be held while painting.

Mating surfaces were given a clean up on some sand paper.

The surface finish looks shiny enough but they felt gritty so were polished up.

Then out with the Tamiya tape and test fitting.

This went very well apart from some small gaps at the wing roots and some overlap on the wing/fuselage join, nothing as bad as the other PCM kits that I have built. I did read that PCM changed the firm who made the plastic parts for their kits to Sword for this one.

The resin parts were given a wash in warm (not hot) soapy water to make sure that they were really clean as usual my good wife’s strainer came in handy here, the parts were then left on some kitchen roll to dry.

Here is a photo of some resin parts from another kit getting the treatment as I forgot to take a photo when I did this kits resin.

Then it was time for some paint, looking at the official requirements on Stormo I found the following:

For standardization purpose, Tavola 10 ordered that all interiors had to be painted Grigio Azzurro Chiaro, itself probably a finish coat, as it had little of blue. This happened at least by Spring 1942, but probably the same paint was yet in use before.

As the Re 2005 was a late war entry I decided to go for grey, Grigio Azzurro Chiaro and airbrushed all the interior parts with an old tin of White Ensign Colourcoats ACRA15, which came out rather nice.

However digging a bit deeper on Stormo I came across this:

Here in the cockpit of the 2005 was found a light grey-green (FS 24272). Reggiane also used other kind of greens, at least a darker grey-green for inner fuselage and a grass green (FS 34230) for separate parts as ammo boxes or fin (2001)."
dott. Stefano Lazzaro

And so the Verde Anticorrosione Mike Starmer Humbrol mix that I made up for the last Italian build was brought out and all were airbrushed again, though the wheel wells may return to GAC when I paint the undersides.

As was pointed out, Italy was at this point of time losing the war so a bit of artistic licence can be used when paint is concerned.

50:50 Humbrol 78 and white 34.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

 

Edited January 13, 2023 by dennismcc

[Kagemusha]

6 hours ago, Out2gtcha said:

 

 

+1!

 

Its almost like a cross between two halves of a coin..........look at it from the side and it looks like a strange Me-109 with a wide vertical fin, and if looked at from above/below, you might think its a Spit, save the horizontal stabs. 

 

It's actually a development, of sorts, of the P-35, from which the Italians designed the Re.2000, so you could say it's a cousin of the P-47.

[Kagemusha]

17 hours ago, dennismcc said:

 

And the surviving fuselage section.

 

 

 

The fuselage section is at Vigna Di Valle, north of Rome, outstanding museum in the most beautiful of locations on the edge of Lake Bracciano.

[dennismcc]

59 minutes ago, Kagemusha said:

 

The fuselage section is at Vigna Di Valle, north of Rome, outstanding museum in the most beautiful of locations on the edge of Lake Bracciano.

I've heard of the museum and it sounds really great but I have  never visited it, it's a bit far on the bus from here, though we were in Rome in July so who knows.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Jim Barry]

Sweet. Enjoy little espressos while you build it ! 

[dennismcc]

12 minutes ago, Jim Barry said:

Sweet. Enjoy little espressos while you build it ! 

Thank you, I will.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[John Stambaugh]

Have looked for this kit but always more $ than I was willing to pay.

 Certainly does look to be a handsome bird. Will follow along with you Dennis and happy modeling. 

[Troy Molitor]

Love all your efforts Dennis.  Looking forward to this one as usual.  Love the Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario.  

 

[dennismcc]

13 hours ago, John Stambaugh said:

Have looked for this kit but always more $ than I was willing to pay.

 Certainly does look to be a handsome bird. Will follow along with you Dennis and happy modeling. 

I haven't seen what these kits are going for these days, I bought them as they came out a long time ago, it's a shame that they have not been modernised and re released, I know that Kitlinx does sell some PCM models but not many.

Happy to have tyou along for the ride.

12 hours ago, Troy Molitor said:

Love all your efforts Dennis.  Looking forward to this one as usual.  Love the Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario.  

 

It sure is a looker Troy, I hope to do it justice.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis