Macchi C 202 Folgore

[matrixone]

Here is the start of my build of the 21st Century Toys Macchi C 202, I hope to be able to show you the good and bad points of this model as I build it and post updates of it.

Here is a pic of the cockpit parts before assembly, they look O.K. but the instructions are not very clear as to the exact placement of the cockpit sides to the floor and could be a problem.


Here is the fuselage, the panel line detail is overdone and not very crisp but might look fine after the camo is painted. Also check out the holes for the metal screws in the fuselage sides, easy to fix but will take a little extra work to do.


Here is the right horizontal stab, the 21st Century Toys logo is molded into the part, was this really needed? A little bit of sanding will take care of it but I would like it better if the logo was put on the inside of the fuselage or wings.

So far I would rate this model poorly but I have to remind myself this model only costs about as much as a 1/72 scale Tamiya or Hasegawa kit and has very nice decals too.


Matrixone

[Excalibur]

Nice to see a less common plane in 1/32 scale although the panel lines & look of the plastic reminds me of Matchbox.  

[Sisko]

I wonder if a couple of coats of spray putty would tone down those panel lines?

Be interesting to see how this comes out.

[nev]

Looking forward to seeing your turn this ugly duckling into a graceful swan    

[Brian da Basher]

I'm going to enjoy seeing what you do with this Matrixone. I've heard a lot about this maker and I think you've got some very good (and cost-effective) base material to work with.

Brian da Basher

[matrixone]

Thanks guys!

After some primer and after the camo paints are added I think those panel lines will look much better than they do now. I have built a couple large scale Matchbox kits before and the panel lines on the Macchi are a little worse than the Matchbox kits.

Next Sunday night I will post more WIP pics.

Matrixone

[matrixone]

No pics in this update, I wanted to warn anybody building this or the other 21st Century 1/32 airplane kits that the plastic (at least in my kit) is a very hard plastic and is not as easy to work with as the plastic in most other kits. It takes more effort to sand and does not glue together that well. I found that using a little Testors tube glue and Tamiya extra thin liquid cement works very well with this plastic.
The kit provides plugs to cover up those massive holes for the metal screws (which was not needed), but my kit shorted me one of those plugs so I 'borrowed' one from my Bf 109F kit only to find out the holes in the 109 kit are smaller and did not fit very well in the hole.
The worst thing about this kit is the fact that the landing gear MUST be installed before the wing halves are joined together and the wing is joined to the fuselage, this will make painting the model more difficult.

21st Century Toys are expanding their line of kits and will be making a Bf 109G-14, Macchi C205, and I think a P-51.
The Bf 109G-14 is one that I will buy mainly because of the fantastic decal sheet included in the kit, the choice in markings are very good and I might use some of them on one of my Hasegawa kits.

Matrixone

[Allan]

Matrix
I'm going to keep my eye on this build for sure. It'll be fun coming along for the ride.
Allan in Canberra

[matrixone]

Allan,
Sorry for the lack of pics but there is not much to see so far on this model plus the weather is so dark and overcast today the pictures would have looked like crap anyway. Right now I am filling and sanding the low spots on the plugs on the lower wing and fuselage.
By next weekend I will have something to show on this build plus a couple pics of my other build...a what-if Japanese Ki-100. A very weathered Ki 100.

Matrixone

[Allan]

Can't wait to see the Ki-100, Matrix

Allan in Canberra

[madcatter]

Matrix, a couple things about that Folgore:  If you do a little trimming and take some care on the landing gear you can rig it up to fit in after paint.  I had mine all together and in primer when one mysteriously fell out!  I managed to weasel the other out.  As they will be glued in place when done, there's no need to have a smooth hinge operation.  Fiddle with it, I'm sure you'll see what I mean.

Also, those screw plugs don't sand for crap so make them recessed just enough to get a skim of filler.  For the missing one, melt some sprue in the hole.

Last (I think), watch the dihedral, or lack thereof.  My wings are flat as a board, more so than a Hurricane so you may want to file down the wing join a little.

Not that I'm worried how it will turn out, I've seen enough of your work!

-N8

[matrixone]

Thanks very much for the info madcatter!

I already have the plugs glued in and putty smeared over them. The landing gear problem is not that bad, I am so used to kits where you can add the landing gear legs after assembly/painting that it seems really strange doing it any other way.

The dihedral (or lack of it) is noticable and I will attempt to add some to it but the Macchi did not have very much to begin with so this might not be too hard to fix.
The 21st Century Toys kit of the Bf 109F also has a very flat wing and my plans are to use a razor saw and cut a notch out of the wing spar and carefully bend it and re-glue it to the proper shape. The 109 would look funny without the correct dihedral.

Matrixone

[Dork the kit slayer]

So thats where the Matchbox trenchdigger retired to.

Im sure you'll soon turn that into a show piece.  

[matrixone]

Thank you Dork!

I think the deep panel lines will not look near as bad after the primer and camouflage paints are on it. After looking at the mainwheels and dry fitting them they look undersized to me but I keep reminding myself this is only a $10 kit and am lucky to have a Macchi C 202 in this scale at all.


I found a cure for the lack of dihedral in the lower wing, I carefully cut a line on the INSIDE of the wing and cut a V shaped notch in the molded in wing spar with my razor saw (making sure its lined up with the correct panel line on the outside surface of the wing) and then dunking the wing in hot water to soften the plastic and bending the wing to the desired shape. After two tries it worked! Using this method should also work just as well on the 21st Century Toys Bf 109F which also has the lower wing molded without dihedral.
All those plugs for the screws are puttied and sanded smooth, now I can proceed with the rest of the construction of this model.

As for the Ki-100 I had wanted to take my time painting the cockpit area but the details on the model are too different from the actual Ki-100 cockpit to try and paint it and have it look like the real thing so I won't waste much time on it.
This Ki-100 will be a what-if but I don't have too much information on Japanese markings or decals to work with so I'm not sure what I will use but the kits decals are crap and the white areas are an off-white color and the reds look far too bright for a late war airplane to me.
Today I ordered the Kagero Ki-84 book and it comes with a free decal sheet so there might be some markings that I could alter to fit my Ki-100.

If it does not rain this weekend I should have a couple pictures to post by Sunday.

Matrixone

[Allan]

Let me assure you, Matrix, that those Sunday photos are waited for with much anticipation.
One day I'll have to talk to you about using hot water to straighten out a few parts of my Revell 109F. Your expertise and skill will be very useful.
Allan in Canberra