[Serpiko]

PROS:

- Cheap
- Easy
- Good fitting
- Fine decals


CONS:

- Old kit
- Basic detail
- No internals
- Fragile gear



THE PLANE

One of the first monoplane fighters of the Regia Aeronautica (together with the Fiat G.50, to which it was slightly superior), the Macchi C.200 "Saetta" featured the typical perks and flaws of Italian fighter planes of that time: excellent handling, sturdiness and flight behaviour, but limited firepower and engine performances: in fact, both the MC.200 and the G.50 shared the same engine (Fiat A.74 RC.38, 840 HP) and armament (2x Breda-SAFAT 12,7mm MGs) of the CR.42 biplane.
Nevertheless, just like its FIAT "cousins", the Saetta kept serving the Italian air force throughout the conflict, fighting with (and against) newer fighter types.

HISTORICAL NOTE: odd at it may seem, the first MC.200s featured a modern, fully closed "bubble" canopy. Unfortunately, it proved hard or impossible to open in flight due to air pressure at high speeds, thus preventing the pilot to bail out: therefore, later series were equipped with an open or semi-open canopy.



THE KIT

Here we have one more of Revell's "oldies" but, unlike some of the others, this one doesn't suck!

In the picture, you can see what's in the box. The sprues show some age: most lines are raised, the detail level is basic and a few smaller parts tend to be approximate; but, on the other hand, there's not much flash and engine parts are more detailed than expected.
This kit provides no internals, but a crude seat and a pseudo-pilot figure. No gauges panel, nor floor, nor either gear bays: with the gear lowered, you'll be able to see the ground through the model. Anyway, this will be noticeable only by looking straight into the (narrow) cockpit, so it's not too serious.
Also, gear up/gear down is the only option here. No ordnance is provided, since the kit depicts an early MC.200 (probably a serie III) without bomb racks.
While the sprues are molded with sand-coloured plastic, this release is supposed to be painted differently: the decal sheet provides markings and serials for either an Italian or German machine, both of which share roughly the same paintscheme.




BUILDING

This kit turns up to be a quick and easy build because, despite minor inaccuracies, the overall fitting is surprisingly good. Look at the pictures and consider that I didn't use any filler at all; only a few minor adjustments were needed.

The fuselage gets assembled very soon this time, since there is no cockpit to be built and the only "internal" is the seat-floor piece. Elevators can already be added as well.
Sensibly, the engine block can be built separately. All parts have small pins/slots to help you finding the correct position, first among each other and then onto the fuselage. However, they're a bit crude so, once again, DRY FITTING is the keyword. First, the two cylinders groups must enclose the pin that will support the prop. Then comes the cowling: the front part fits a bit tight, so the engine needs to be pushed in (mind cylinders angle). The rear part of the cowling works as a cap. Last comes the lower filter (it may give fitting troubles).
You need to choose between raised or lowered gear before building the wings because, unusually, a raised gear requires the closing panels to be added from the inner side of the wings. Anyway, wing halves fit on each other good enough, and so do the completed wings and the fuselage.
If you're building the model wheels down, the construction of the gear is quite simple, but there are a few nuisances. First, the wheels don't fit very tightly between their pins on the legs, thus needing to be glued; then, while the legs are solid enough for the (small) model, their supporting pin is extremely thin. It appeared to "melt" under the glue, failing to keep the legs steadily enough while drying. Be prepared to manually hold each leg in position until the glue has dried enough, and do NOT set the model standing on its own legs until it has TOTALLY dried. Even then, the Main gear will remain quite fragile. Luckily, no such problems with the tail wheel.
It's now time for the last bits: the canopy (maybe slightly oversized, but still acceptable) and the two MG barrels on the nose (they are possibly set a little too backwards). Note that the kit does NOT provide the tensioning antenna behind the cockpit, nor the small tube on the right of the fuselage. I worked them out from spare parts.




PAINTING AND DECALS

The boxare clearly shows the particular camouflage that you're supposed to paint on this model. I chose the Italian version, with the yellow engine cowling and the white fuselage band; and this band has to be painted, since there's no decal for it.
I used dark green as the base color, which probably isn't 100% accurate, but it's good enough for me. The first mottling layer was painted using sand yellow RLM79; then, a second layer was painted using earth brown. All was done using hand brush only. The final result of such a work may vary a lot depending on your "hand"; anyway, my advice is to paint the two mottling layers with different "grains", i.e. brown spots should be slightly smaller than the sand ones.
The German machine wears the same camo scheme, with a few differences: the upper side of the engine cowling is camouflaged, while wing tips are yellow, and so is the fuselage band. Also, it should look like if former Italian markings have been painted over.
Speaking of the decals sheet, there's very little stenciling, but the provided decals are very finely printed (see the close-up pictures) and can be easily applied without any hassle.




CONCLUSIONS

This Revell M.C.200 kit shows its age and, nowadays, it is surely far from the state of the art; yet it gave me exactly what I expected from it: a cheap, quick, easy build ending in a decent model, whose colourful paintscheme makes up for the lack of details. Not a contest winner, but a respectable "2nd rower" straight OOB. At least, it DOES look like a M.C.200!
Besides, despite the mentioned nuisances, it is really simple and even a total beginner could build it (painting... well, that's another matter :roll: ).
For these reasons, I think I can recommend this kit, but keep in mind that it competes in the "economy" league.

So, YELLOW LIGHT! (almost green! )

[Deutschmark]

Nice review again Serpiko
And a nice build of a undog kit, I know that kit well built
Many of them when I was a kid for 69 cents each :) I just dated my self :lol:

Deutschmark

[Serpiko]

Nice review again Serpiko
And a nice build of a undog kit, I know that kit well built
Many of them when I was a kid for 69 cents each :) I just dated my self :lol:

Deutschmark

OMG... 69 cents of DM, $, or Drachmas? :mrgreen:

[Deutschmark]

This was the box back then and it was 69 cent USD :mrgreen:


Your review brings me back to that time
Deutschmark

[LeBigTed]

Hi Serpiko,

A nice review, as always ;o)

You've here a nice bird with an original paintscheme :wink:

By the way I wanted to ask you, what technique(s) do you use to weathered your models ? Sometime it looks like a pencil, sometime it looks like a wash, isn't it ?

And my last question is...


So... What's next ?

I would like to have some time to do modeeeeeeeeeeeeels...

Cheers ;o)

Ted

[Serpiko]

Hi Ted ,

I'll share my secret techniques with you - practice them wisely! :mrgreen: LOL

First of all, since I use to paint by hand brush only, fading is hardly an option, so I almost never make a pre-shading.

In order to highlight panel lines, I use to complete the "clean" painstscheme first, then I trace the paneling with a dark eyeliner pencil. Its soft point "fills" the engraved lines and, incidentally, the excess is usually enough to dirty the surrounding surfaces by wiping it with soft paper. It's easy but, unfortunately, it doesn't work with raised lines.

When I need to weather interiors (i.e. cockpits or gear bays) and the pencil proves unpractical, I use a very diluted mixture of water and paint (actually, it's little more than dirty water).
In order to get dirty tyres, rather than painting them, i paint a strip with such thin paint and actually roll the tyres on it, then immediately on paper to dry them.

Then, I draw "smoke" trails behind exhausts and shells ejectors with a charcoal pencil, and fade them a bit by wiping with soft paper.



As for my next job... it's going to be a representative of the most produced warplane of all time! :wink:

[LeBigTed]

Hi Serpiko,

Thanks for the explainations, I will try them as soon as possible ;o)

As for my next job... it's going to be a representative of the most produced warplane of all time! :wink:

Can't wait...

It will be a Po-2 (most produced Biplane), an Il-2 (most produced Combat monoplace), or a 109 (most produced Fighter) ?

I have to ask DM if there is anyway to have a subscrition to your review Serpiko :mrgreen: :)

Have a good day !

Ted