I first posted this in the general modeling discussion forum, but took Tigerman’s advice and posted it here-
I have built a Hasegawa 1/72 Fologore about two years ago, and I have decided to tackle those pretty aircraft again. Hasegawa has some more kits, as well as smer, what are you opinions and advice on these kits?
Hasegawa- 1/48
Fologore?
-Tauro?
-Fiat G55?
-Saetta?
Smer-
Fiat G55?
If there are any other Italian monoplane fighters (radial or V engine okay) let me know what they are and how good of a kit it is?
The only Smer kit of an Italian aircraft I 've dealt with is a SM-79 Sparviero and it was so bad its still unbuilt at the bottom of the stash and will probably remain there. Ca’nt go wrong with the Has offerings ,when they do come up on evil bay be prepared to spend some coin.
TREYZXOR10R
I have the Spaviero in 1/48 from trumpeter and from the dry-fits I’ve conducted so far, it fits perfectly!
But Smer kits aren’t that bad if you like to clean up your models and such.
They are very spartan yes, but great models if you like to scratchbuild alot!
I’ve build their 1/48 Supermarine Walrus and yes, at first I hated it, but when it was finished, I loved the result!
What else could you buy? there are some Special Hobby kits
Some bombers,
Fiat BR. 20
Breda BA 65, also got a two seater version of that one
a trainer, the Nardi FN 305
As the fighters, a IMAM Romeo RO-57 ( 2engine’s) and some Fiat G.55’s(war and post-war)
Italeri has some to, (no wonder, that brand is from Italy!)
The Mc.200 Seatta 2a Serie (that’s with a ‘bubble canopy’)
a normal Mc. 200 Seatta with open canopy
A CR. 42 Falco
The Reggiane 2002 Ariete,
(I have made that one myself, pretty nice build, only have to watch out with the wheels, you need to pay some attention to line 'em up good.)
Also, their F5E Lightning, (lockheed’s P-38) has some post-war markings, (I don’t know if they are from after the war, or after Mussolini fell…
Something else you could do is buy an Italeri Stuka, Italy used some Stuka’s theirselves,
so you could make some markings yourself and build a Stuka.
@echolmberg:…In Italy we have only:pizza,spaghetti and mozzarella (I forgot one thing:mafia)…
@ninetalis: several italeri kits are reboxing of other brand for example the Mc200 is the same of tamiya’s…at lower price…and so also the Cr 42 Falco,the Avenger is the famous Accurate Miniature.The me262 Nachtjager,an other example,is the good old Dragon-trimaster kit…the new F-16 (various version) is the most celebrated Kinetic (but our decals sheet is more beautiful).The italeri decals are awesome and are printed by cartograf…
At the end I can say:before to buy…study what’s in the box!!!Hi all from Italy!!
P.S. we haven’t only pizza,spaghetti,mozzarella…we have also Berlusconi…if you want we gift you!!
Actually Italy did have some fine fighters, but most were developed too late and too few in numbers to make an impact in the war. The best one made in any quantity was the Macchi MC.202 Folgore. It first saw action in September 1941 over Malta.
Although GreatModels webstore is now defunct, the site is still up and offers an excellent search engine. Using the advanced search, use parameters of Italian, Aircraft Models and 1/48 - this will net you a two page listing - mind you it also includes older and modern aircraft.
The Fiat G.50 should be mentioned, if for no other reason that it was Italy’s first all metal monoplane design.
In 1 48 Hasegawa is king for the MC 202 and 205. They have some minor inaccuracies as far as extra panel lines here and there but the fit and external detail is stunning. They pop up on ebay all the time and go for 20-$30 bucks so very affordable. For the MC200 Saetta, the Classic airframes kit is a bear, but the Italeri offering is a new tool and a very good model, just very spendy. I believe Hasegawa re-boxed the Smer kit of the G50? I’d say the winner for the G55 is pacific coast models. They kit it in 1/48 and 1/32. I haven’t built a Tauro kit but heard they are a tough fit and inferior to Hasegawa.
Echolmberg, There are good italian fighter planes yeah, (I know you’re just kidding)
Actually they have very good fighters, like the Macchi C 202 and such.
BUT,
The design of the Macchi wasn’t build for mass-production, and there armament were mostly underpowered… they didn’t pack quite the punch as a Spitfire or Bf 109…
Italian Starfighter, I know some of their kits are reboxes, but except for the Mc 200 and Cr 42 I don’t know any Italian planes in 1/48 that are reboxes, and even so, you save alot of money by buying the Italeri kit instead of the Tamiya versions. (and actually, allmost everything they rebox is much cheaper (like it should be). Just saying you know…
Nathan T, Hasagawa reboxing a Smer?!
I wouldn’t even believe it even if I saw it!
The problem with the G.50 was that it wasn’t much faster than the biplanes the Regina Aeronautica used, so outclassed it rather quickly. The Veltro was also a good fighter, but neither it or the Fologore were built in large numbers. Probably due to a shortage of engines… Most Italian fighters built later in the war were fine as far as performance was concerned, but they didn’t pack a punch (think most of them had only two MGs!)
ItalianStarfighter: Yeah, the Cartograph decals are excellent, often they make a cheap kit they came with better! (You forgot the Fiats, Minis, [Innocenete My Dad has one] and Alpha Romeos)[t$t]
Nathan T: Seems that a lot of new Italiari Kits are pricey, I get it if it’s a 3- engine bomber in 1/48, but a Fighter in the same scale???
Yes, the G.50 was a pre-war design hence being under powered and under gunned right from the outset of the war. It still was good enough for some pilots to achieve ace status in, including some Finnish pilots as well (of course talking 1941 here). Again, I only brought it forward in recognition of it’s importance in the early phase of Italy’s air force.
The Folgore fighter incorporated the Daimler Benz DB 601A-1 engine as supplied by Germany until they received license to build their own. Yes engine manufacture was slow. Armament originally was two 0.5" but later series added two .303" in the wings and one production batch added a 20mm cannon under each wing.
Later aircraft designs were on par in the weapons department. Reggiane Sagittario for example had three 20 mm cannon and two 12.7 mm