TMN: Preview: Italeri's new 32nd scale "Early" Veltro strikes in November...

Italeri has given us the "early" version of their successful Macchi M.C. 202 Folgore, due for release next month. We have sprues, art, decals & colour choices in our preview...

Preview: Italeri's new 32nd scale "Early" Veltro strikes in November...

Macchi M.C. 202 Early Series

From Italeri

No #2524

1/32nd scale

Photo-etch & 3-D printed decals included.

Six marking choices in the box

Available in the first week of November

Product link on the Italeri website

The "early' version of the Macchi M.C. 202 “Folgore” will be Italeri's latest release in 32nd scale, arriving in November. The new kit includes new parts, 3D decals and photo-etched parts, and a super decal sheet featuring six alternative versions.

The Subject:

The Macchi M.C. 202 Folgore Early Series (primarily Serie I through III) debuted in 1941 to provide the Italian Regia Aeronautica with a modern, high-performance fighter capable of matching contemporary Allied aircraft. Brainchild of designer Mario Castoldi, the Folgore utilised the proven wing and tail structures of the earlier M.C. 200 but wrapped them in a beautifully streamlined fuselage engineered around a liquid-cooled inline engine. This powerplant was the Alfa Romeo RA.1000 R.C.41-1 Monsone, a meticulously license-built copy of Germany's Daimler-Benz DB 601Aa.

The early-production airframes were sleek and agile, boasting a top speed of 600 km/h and featuring self-sealing fuel cells alongside an enclosed cockpit. Despite its excellent handling, the aircraft was dangerously under-armed; the earliest blocks relied exclusively on two 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns mounted in the upper cowl. Visually, these introductory models are identified by their unarmored windscreens, the absence of a radio mast, and a lack of sub-wing plumbing or structural hardpoints.

Two members of the 31st Fighter Group groundcrew are manually cracking a Breda-built C.202 MM.91825, 356-6, as a third sits in the cockpit.

As Italy's wartime demands intensified, latter versions (such as Serie VII through XI) underwent targeted upgrades to resolve the fighter's lack of hitting power and inadequate defensive protection. The most significant combat enhancement came with the integration of two wing-mounted 7.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns, complementing the existing cowl weapons to finally give the Folgore a four-gun layout.

The Macchi C.202 in the National Air and Space Museum is one of only two remaining in the world.

To protect pilots from head-on engagements and tail-chasing fire, later variants added a thick, bulletproof armoured windscreen and reinforced steel plating behind the cockpit seat. External configurations evolved as well: later production runs standardise a prominent radio antenna mast behind the canopy, added underwing racks to carry external fuel drop tanks or light bombs (standardised by Serie XI), and introduced specialised tropicalized dust filters (M.C. 202 AS) to prevent the engine from choking in the harsh sands of North Africa.

MC 202 at the Vigna di Valle Museum

The kit from Italeri

The sprues of the kit. There are five grey plastic sprues. Upper and lower wings and posable flying surfaces...

The sprues – either side of the fuselage with an open engine and removable cowling option

The upper and lower wings sport a possible flying surface option, with a frame you can see to help mount them to the fuselage at the right aangle.

The Alfa Romeo RA.1000 RC.41-I Monsone, a licence-built Daimler-Benz DB 601, inverted V-12, liquid-cooled, 33.9 litres, engine, wheels and propellers on this sprue...