Astrokit 1/48 Macchi MC-200 Saetta (Thunderbolt)
By Terrence J. Miesle
The Macchi 200 series of aircraft (‘200, ‘202, and ‘205) are a clear example of aircraft design evolution. The MC-200 was based on a radial engine, as were most Italian pre-war designs, and was under-armed with only two fuselage-mounted 12.7mm (50cal) machine guns. It was however, a sturdy, maneuverable aircraft substantially better than previous Italian fighter designs. It featured an innovative anti-torque mechanism; one wing was longer than the other. The Saetta saw action in Italy and North Africa, and flew the most operational sorties of any Italian fighter. It became the progenitor of a very successful line of fighters, the ‘202 and ‘205, which were able to mix it up with the best allied or axis designs. Close to 1200 MC-200s were built, and nearly as many MC-202s, while less than 500 MC-205s were completed. These were soundly designed and nimble, if not numerous, warplanes. The Saetta was refitted several times during its lifetime. The Series I design (modeled by Astrokit) featured a fully enclosed canopy that its pilots did not like in the warm Mediterranean and North African climes. As a result, the ‘200 were refitted with a semi-enclosed canopy and a spine addition that increased pilot protection and streamlining. Classic Airframes is supposed to release a Saetta late series III or IV kit. Note that my subject is a late Series I update aircraft with several refits. It has different canopy siding (less enclosed) than later models, lacks the antenna staff and wire, and employed a secondary oil cooler. The Kit Enclosed in a very attractive box with artwork rivaling that of the major manufacturers, compartmented inside to cradle tightly plastic-wrapped parts is a kit of very high quality tan resin. I don’t have a lot of experience with resin kits, but this must be considered very nice for this type of resin. There The fuselage is cast in two pieces of solid resin, with cockpit detail equal to True Details molded right in. This means the cockpit floor will have a seam down the middle, but since the cockpit looks fairly tight this shouldn’t matter too much. One phenomenal feature is the wing root detailing on the fuselage. This would give a modeler the option of building the plane as though it was just coming out of a shipping crate, or was receiving a rebuild. Unfortunately the wing does not have similar details, though that would make for a rather tenuous joint. Wings and tail surfaces are single piece casts. The cowl is cast in two exquisitely thin pieces. All other resin parts were cast on several trees, some parts in duplicate, which is an appreciated touch. This includes the tailwheel so, if you wished, you could remove the wheel from one and the strut from the other and combine them to provide a more realistic appearance. The canopy is vacufomed, and a plastic sheet is provided with marked glass panels for the semi-enclosed cockpit version. This is not indicated in the instructions but a nice painting on the boxtop will aid in the glass panel placement. Also included is an engine and collector ring, not quite of Verlinden quality, but similar to Engines & Things and more than adequate. They have cast this with a lot of detail such as wires and in many cases the lifter rods are actually separate from the cylinder bodies. I did not try to cut the others free, the viewing angle is limited by the cowl. Cleaning and preparation All parts were cleaned with a soft toothbrush and dilute dish soap. I use a colander in the sink when cleaning small or brittle parts such as resin. I started by inspecting the parts, which is when I noticed one of the cowl halves was missing a corner. This was easily fixed by placing clear tape under the cowl part, and flowing superglue in several batches over the area. After it had cured, I cut the excess away and sanded to shape with medium then fine Flex-I-File sanding sticks. The same cowl piece had a miscast on the bottom, the carburetor intake. The missing region was built up with gap-filling superglue (GFS) and then cut and gouged it to match the other, undamaged, side. One propeller tip was chipped, and this method was also used to mend it. Some trailing edges of the wings had small chips in them, primarily because the resin is a bit brittle, slight repairs were necessary. Interior The references included in the kit instructions indicate an Interior green color. I used Testors Model Master (TMM) Interior Green within the cockpit and cowling. The cowl interior can be seen as well as part of the engine from behind, so attention to color and detail is necessary. I built a 1/48 Hs-123 years After the green was sealed with Testors Dullcoat I applied a black wash with TMM Flat Black. This, in turn, was sealed and a series of progressively lighter drybrushing phases with lightened Interior green followed (Photo), with sealing steps in between. Black instrument dial faces, control boxes and various details were painted here, including the leather map case and oxygen tank, though it was doubtful whether these would be visible once the fuselage was completed and the seat was in place. Fuselage I filled the wing root details with superglue and sanded them flat. I did this to provide the greatest possible surface area for glue to hold. It may not be needed, but I felt more comfortable this way. I would rather do more work at this stage than face repairs later. The fuselage sides I applied GFS to the nose section first, then when that was dry I worked back as the glue dried. The rear section was a bit bowed, so I was able to get some GFS between the sections and then use accelerator to fix the area. This was sanded smooth with a Flex-I-File sanding bow where I could. This is a GREAT tool, it lets you use a really light touch. I did use sanding sticks where the bow was impractical. At this point I really began considering which marking scheme I would use. In doing so, I realized the Series I aircraft the model represents was only very briefly used, and if I wanted to model an aircraft of significance I would have to perform a few modifications. Most visible would be the addition of an aft cockpit fairing and armor. Even Series I aircraft were retrofitted with the bulkhead and partially enclosed cockpits. Fortunately, the MC-200 and MC-202 had essentially the same fuselage, and a copy could be made from the Hasegawa kit. I formed a replica of thermoform plastic using the MC-202 as the master. The kit has a pair of runners along the cockpit, which were removed, partial windscreens will be added later in their place. After adjusting the fit, the bulkhead was glued in place. Wings I decided to pose this plane in a landing configuration. This meant depicting flaps down and elevators up. This is a bit tougher with a resin kit this than an injection molded one. The flaps were segmented, with a small section in the wing root/fuselage and the much larger section in the wings proper. First, I marked the flap hinge points with a permanent ink marker. Then I used a hobby knife blade to scribe the outlines of the flaps in the wing, as deep as I deemed safe. After trying to chisel the resin out - very unsafe - I used a sanding drum in a Dremel tool to make the gouge. When doing this sort of activity, I strongly urge you to do so outside. For the fine finishing work, I used a chisel-blade hobby knife and sanding sticks. When I had a nice, smooth, thin surface I marked out the wing stringers. The MC-200 had surface stringers, not full struts, which made life substantially easier for me. Small strips of styrene were glued in place. Wider pieces were glued in as hinge attachment points. The flaps themselves are constructs of styrene strips and sheet. The sheet was cut to size for each flap section, then framing was made from styrene strips. These were superglued in place, afterward I used a bit of Tenax-7 along each joint to make sure I had good attachments. After this, I marked the hinge points and cut notches. I rounded the hinged edge slightly and thinned the flap structures into a wedge shape to simulate the shape of a flap. I set these aside for later painting. The elevators received similar treatment; I removed them from the horizontal stabilizers and cut hinge notches. Strip styrene was shaped into hinge attachments on the stabilizers. The rudder was allowed to remain neutral, as were the ailerons. I attached the wings with GFS, and Engine I painted the engine cylinders with TMM Exhaust Metalizer, drybrushed them with TMM Chrome Silver and finished the wiring in black. The collector ring was more heavily drybrushed with Chrome than were the cylinders. The engine block was Gunze-Sangyo H305 Light Blue Grey, and a light black wash was applied, then drybrushing with TMM Chrome. The engine looks very nice, indeed. I found I had to remove a portion of the cylinder heads to allow the cowl to fit correctly. I’m not sure whether the engine is oversized, or if the thickness of the cowl (thin though it is) made this necessary. In any case, the engine looks like a really tight fit now, as I suspect it should. Priming and cleanup I primed the model with TMM Flat White, then inspected it for blemishes and mistakes. I had to fix a few panel lines, a couple of filler mistakes and sinkholes. Thanks to John "eagle eyes" Lester for finding several sinkholes before I primed. After fixing several errors, the model was re-primed and allowed to cure for a couple of days. Paint scheme The Aeromaster Decal sheet for MC-200 allows one to produce a wide range of ‘200s and a good number of ‘202s with the various badges, insignia and markings. I painted the underside Gunze Sangyo (GS) H315 Camouflage Grey After this had cured a day, I removed all masking, then re-masked areas to be painted yellow. The wingtips up to the flaps received TMM Insignia Yellow, as did the propeller tips. Decals I used the Aeromaster decals for this aircraft. It is notable that the early Saettas apparently lacked almost all warning labels and stencils. I hope this is correct, because compared with American and German aircraft, it’s bare-naked. The Italians apparently had a lot more confidence in their aircrews than most other nations. I had to use the Tauro blue legate insignia, as I had destroyed one of the Aeromaster insignia. Weathering I sealed the plane with GS Dullcoat. The cowl and engine had not yet been attached, though the top joint of the cowl was superglued prior to this. Most washing and detailing concentrated on the flaps, which needed some contrast. I didn’t want to weather the plane too heavily, so I used the lightest touch possible. Black wash on the darker areas highlighted the panel lines, grey wash Finishing The plane was beginning to take shape. I painted the propeller, windscreen, and cut cockpit side panels. The wheels received hubs the same color as the underside and wheel wells, while the tires were painted PolyScale Grimy Black - a nice rubber color. The exhaust pipes received TMM Gunmetal, drybrushed with TMM Rust and given Dullcoat. The engine was installed, and the cowl fitted over it. I glued it closed, fixed the gap and installed the secondary oil cooler beneath the primary. Landing gear was attached after it was weathered and detailed. The entire model was given another layer of GS Dullcoat, the canopy attached with Elmer’s White glue, and a final inspection. I thought the panel lines on the top were a bit too faint, so I penned them with a Micron 0.005" drafting pen. If you don’t know about these little gems, go to your nearest craft or art store and ask, they’re permanent ink and available in several sizes and colors. Conclusion I intend to make this model part of a diorama, which is why the flaps are down and elevators are up. That is also why there is a hole in the underside, near the center of gravity. As it turns out, the landing gear are quite sturdy, but I had been challenged by making a diorama and will continue. I was delighted when I scooped up this kit at a model show. My enthusiasm has not waned upon building it. I am highly impressed with Astrokit’s sculpting and casting; I can’t say enough about this kit. As my first resin kit, I really couldn’t ask for more. I have seen the Classic Airframes MC200, which looks nice in the box, though I have not seen one built. I have also seen the new Craftworks Macchis in 1/32 scale, which look unbelievable. If you are hankering for a Saetta in your collection, and I think it would complement anyone’s hanger-o-planes, you now have 3 good options in quarter-scale and above. Source: Aero Detail 15: Macchi C.200/202/205 Dai Nippon Kaiga Co., Ltd. August 1995
History
were no pinholes, the pressure casting and mold making techniques of Astrokit must be seen to be appreciated.
ago with this same type of cowl, which gave me some experience and foresight.
were sanded smooth with 400-grit sandpaper on a glass plate. The rear fuselage was a bit gouged by Astrokit’s sanding or molding process, but upon dry fitting I found this made almost no difference. When satisfied with the fuselage conditions, I taped it together with scotch tape and checked the alignment. I used a few reference points: The control stick attachment point, the nose panel lines, the vertical stabilizer slot, and to a lesser degree, the undersurface panel lines. I found a slight misalignment with the undersurface, and decided to use the upper surfaces as the primary guides.
Resin dust should not be inhaled.
sanded the excess away. I found the wings a bit thicker than the wing roots, and decided to fill the step on the fuselage with putty rather than sand the wings to a narrower shape. I felt I could more uniformly work with the softer putty. Otherwise, the wing fit is good. The panel lines align well, I re-scribed where superglue covered details. The only difficulty I had was of my own making. I had a bit of difficulty with the gaps remaining inside the flap trough after attachment. Tedious scraping and sanding was the only cure.
(Griggio Mimetico), then masked the grey areas. The base coat of this MC-200 is GS H302 Camouflage Green 2 (Verde Mimetico 2) and has spots of both browns; Camouflage Yellow 4 (Giallo Mimetico4) GS H071, then over-sprayed with H084 Camouflage Brown (Bruno Mimetico) for the attractive two-tone brown spots. The spots are applied to the cowl flaps, but not the cowl itself. The cowl front, actually a radiator, received an airbrushed coat of Testors copper and hand-brushed PolyScale interior green inside. Please note, at this point, the cowl was in three parts: the sides and front.
(TMM Euro 1 Grey) on the undersurface provided a bit of grime. The wheel wells were detailed at this point, then washed with black.
ISBN4-499-22651-1