TMN: Lightning strikes twice? Italeri's new 48th scale Folgore...

Italeri goes down a scale with their new-tooled Macchi M.C. 202 Folgore. We look at colour choices, CADs & other details about the model in our preview...

Lightning strikes twice? Italeri's new 48th scale Folgore...

Macchi M.C. 202 Folgore

From Italeri

No #2840

1/48th scale

100% new mould kit

Photo-etch included

Six (6!) marking choices in the box

Available in the first weeks of August.

Product Link on the Italeri Website

Italeri follows up their larger sale Italian Thunderbolt with the new incoming 1/48th scale model kit dedicated to the Italian WWII fighter Macchi M.C. 202 “Folgore” will be with us in September

The Subject:
The introduction of the Macchi MC 202 Folgore was a significant development for the fighter squadrons of the Italian Regia Aeronautica. Stylishly designed from an aerodynamic perspective, it was fitted with the powerful German DB.601 engine produced under licence by the Italian aeronautical industry. The engine and overall aeronautical performance of the aircraft provided the Regia Aeronautica with a fighter capable of actively engaging Allied fighters.

Luftwaffe Macchi MC202 Folgore in Luftwaffe service with II.JG108 White 214 in 1942

The flight performance compared to the previous generation of fighters equipped with radial engines, such as the Fiat G-50 and the Macchi Mc-200, was in fact much better. Manoeuvrable and fast (it was able to reach 600 km/h), it was armed, in the early versions, with two 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns installed in the nose. Only in later versions were the armaments improved with additional machine guns installed in the wings.

A captured C.202 Folgore in North Africa, thought to be in the hands of No 3 Squadron RAAF.

During late 1941, it commenced offensive operations over Malta and in North Africa, where Italian and German forces were engaged in heavy combat against British and later American operations. The C.202 continued to be used in North Africa as late as mid-1943, by which point the type was withdrawn to support defensive efforts in Sicily and the Italian mainland following their invasion by Allied forces. It also saw limited use on the Eastern Front. Following the 1943 Armistice with Italy, the type was mostly used as a trainer aircraft. It was also operated by Croatia.

Rare wartime colour photos of the Macchi C.202 "Folgore"/C.205 "Veltro".

The Macchi C.202 was flown by almost all of the most successful Italian aces. During mid-1942, in North Africa, the Folgore achieved a kill/loss ratio better than that of the Messerschmitt Bf 109. The Australian ace Clive Caldwell, who fought a wide variety of German, Italian and Japanese fighters during 1941–45, later stated that the C.202 was "one of the best and most undervalued of fighters". The type also had well-known design flaws: in particular, like the C.200, the C.202 was prone to suddenly entering dangerous spins. Its radios were also unreliable, routinely forcing pilots to communicate by waggling their wings.

The C.202 was lightly armed relative to its contemporaries, with just a pair of machine guns that had a tendency to jam. To improve its performance, it was developed into its successor: the Macchi C.205 Veltro.

Macchi C.202 "M.M. 9476(?)"Shown in the markings of the 90ª Squadriglia, 10° Gruppo, 4° Stormo, was dramatically displayed in Gallery 205 above the World War II Aviation diorama at the US National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian, Washington, DC.

The kit from Italeri
The Macchi M.C. 202 “Folgore” in 1/48th scale will be available from the first week of August. The kit contains plastic from 100% completely new moulds made with the most advanced design and production standards, great attention to detail and the introduction of innovative solutions such as the cockpit with 3D decals from Italeri.

The photo-etched parts included in the box

Plastic parts – there are two sprues in grey, with a clear sprue for the transparencies. The main fuselage sprue also has the engine, which can be posed open to the elements with the cowling off.