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Special Hobby 1/48 Aermacchi C.200 I.series Saeta in 1/48 scale

By Ralph Nardone

Has it been 15 years since the model manufacturers finally realized there was a need for more and better 1/48 kits of Italian aircraft from World War II? It seems like only yesterday that Secter released its 1/48 Fiat G.50 kit. Then came Hasegawa with its Aermacchi C.202 and C.205 kits-many of us wondered if Hasegawa would later grace us with a series of C.200s to replace the out-of-scale Smer kit. It wasn't until first Classic Airframes and then Pacific Coast Models came out with limited-run kits of the Saetta. Special Hobby has followed these two kits with one of its own, and it is quite nice, indeed.

What's in the Box

Special Hobby's kit features 41 cleanly-molded styrene parts, along with 44 resin detail parts and two (hooray!) vac-formed canopies. While the box art shows an early Serie I machine, the plastic represents a mix of both early and late Serie I parts. For example, the fuselage halves depict the later mass-balanced rudder, and the resin gun barrels represent the Breda-SAFAT 12.7 machine guns with the extended blast tubes found on the later built machines. The propellor looks to be a composite of the Fiat-Hamilton unit fitted to the first 25 C.200s and the later Piaggio propellor fitted to the later C.200s and the C.202. The bullet spinner used on the Fiat-Hamilton unit is not included in the kit, and the resin hub looks more like that fitted to the Piaggio prop. The blades are seethers-you know, neither or nor-so you may want to do some work to contour them to your liking. The roll-over structure is also included in the kit. To model the earlier C.200s, all one really need to do is leave out the roll-over structure, clip the extensions from the machine gun barrels, and fill and re-scribe the rudder hinge line. Search the parts box for the fairing, add some aftermarket decals, and you've got an early Serie. 1 model.

The styrene parts are molded in a light gray plastic, and are flash free. Molding quality is comparable to some of the second-generation Eduard WWI kits-compared to the Special Hobby Ju-87A kit that I built a few years ago, the moldings in this kit are positively petite. Ejector pin marks are nowhere near the towers of plastic seen on some other Special Hobby kits, but they are still raised up quite a bit and will need to be removed. Panel line detail is lightly engraved-in some cases, it may be too petite and may require a bit of deepening so it won't disappear under a coat of paint. The wings are properly molded-the port wing (and aileron) is longer than the starboard wing (and aileron). Every aircraft manufacturer has had to deal with prop and engine torque-some offset the vertical tail, some build in deflected trim tabs, and some (most notably the Italians) made one wing longer than the other. Fabric detail is limited to nicely done rib tapes. An engine mount and firewall are also included-good thing, too, since they are visible through the wheel well. There is detail in the wheel wells, but it is rather sparse. Unlike the previous Special Hobby kits I've built, the only parts you'll have to scratchbuild according to the plans are the two wing-mounted pitot tubes. Since there is no photoetch included, any detailing you want to do (like those wheel wells) will need to be sourced elsewhere.

The resin parts are cleanly cast in the typical tan-colored resin. Slender parts are protected on the pour blocks by what can only be called a fender cast with the parts. The cowling is a marvel in itself-all of the rocker clearance blisters are cast integrally with the cowl, so there's no need to carefully super glue a dozen or so separate parts to the cowl and then blend them in. The upper bulges are the proper elliptical shape. The exhaust stacks are also molded with the cowling with their fairings. You'll need to exercise a bit of care when removing the cowl from the pour block, but patience will reward you with a fabulous part. A nice touch is the simulated texture on the cowl lip that represents the soldered oil cooler ring. Construction sequence is fairly standard for a single engine fighter kit-cockpit first, then fuselage, wings, landing gear, etc. Color call-outs are listed on the instruction sheets; they equate to Gunze-Sangyo colors (I'll go out on a limb and guess they are the Aqueous Hobby Colors). No color names are given except for the camouflage colors, so those of you who have no source for the Gunze paints will have to translate the codes to your favorite brand. The stabilizers and gear struts are attached with butt-joints, so you may want to drill and pin these parts for added strength.

As to be expected with any limited run kit, the struts and doors are a bit on the clunky side, but a little bit of time and modeling work will cure that if you so desire. The only real issue I can find with this kit is the noticeable blue tint to the canopy. Those who are vac-phobic will take comfort in the fact that there are two canopies included with the kit. They are molded from what appears to be .040" plastic, which makes them easier to deal with than a thinner part.

From the box, the kit offers three decal and camo options-the first is the C.O.s aircraft from the 374 Squadriglia, 153 Grupo Autonomo C.T. featuring a base of Verde 2 with Giallo 4 and Bruno Mimetico random mottling. The second option represents a machine flown by the ace Maresciallo "Giri" Baschirotto from 88 Squadriglia, 6 Grupo Autonomo C.T in the "fried egg" scheme with concentric blotches of Giallo 4 and Bruno Mimetico over a Verde 2 base with Grigio undersurfaces. The final scheme given is for another verde 2, Giallo 4, and Bruno Mimetico random mottle scheme from 6 Grupo Autonomo C.T. The decals look good on the sheet-everything is in register, including Fiat-Hamilton logos for the prop.

I used the Aero Details book on the Macchi C.200/C.202/C.205 as my main reference-it covers all three variants quite well. A quick Google search will help fill in any blanks.

I'm looking forward to adding this model to my ever-growing collection of RA/ANR models. You will, too. Many thanks to Chris Banyai-Riepl for the review sample.