Latin Arrow

Historical Background

In 1936, the Regia Aeronautica issued a new specification to Italian plane manufacturers for a new monoplane fighter powered by a single radial engine, a top speed of 500km/h, climb rate of 6,000m in 5 minutes, a flight endurance of two hours and armed with two 12.7mm MGs. Macchi's renowned lead designer, Mario Castoldi responded by designing a modern monoplane fighter with low-set, all-metal cantilever wings, retractable landing gear and enclosed cockpit. Power was provided by the 870hp Fiat A.74 radial engine. Flight testing started from December 1937 and production started in June 1939. The plane was shown to be highly maneuverable although underpowered and once the shooting starts, undergunned.

Mario Castoldi was the Italian equivalent of Reginald J. Mitchell, the designer of the Spitfire. The Saetta was actually the descendant of Macchi's pre-war Schneider racers, the same way the Spitfire descended from Supermarine's S.6B. However, unlike the Spitfire, the relatively low-powered engine  (just 870 hp) and poorly-designed cowling restricts its performance. To make matters worse, the official requirement emphasised visibil Dtormo.ity over aerodynamics resulting in an ungainly hump-backed appearance. Nevertheless the Saetta has the best performance among the first-generation Italian monoplane fighters. The first batch of the C.200 (now nicknamed Saetta - 'Arrow') was delivered in August 1939 to the 10° Gruppo of the 4° Stormo. The pilots of this elite unit however opposed the adoption of the C.200, preferring the more manuverable Fiat CR.42. The fighters were then transferred to the more receptive 6° Gruppo of the 1° Stormo and 152° Gruppo of the 54° Stormo. Early series of the Saetta were equipped with fully-enclosed cockpit with sliding canopy. However the pilots, having transitioned from open-cockpit biplane fighters such as the Fiat CR.32 and Fiat CR.42 Falco initially disliked it. So much so that aircraft from serie VII onwards were given a partially open cockpit.

The Saetta saw combat in June 1940 and gained a healthy respect from the Allied pilots. Basically having similar performance with the Hawker Hurricane, it possessed a better climb rate and could out-turn and out-dive the latter. The Saetta was later developed into the MC.202 Folgore with the Daimler-Benz DB601 engine with improved performance figures. 1,153 units were built  between 1939 and 1943 and fought over the skies of the Balkans, Mediterranean, North Africa and the Eastern Front. At the time of Italian Armistice, only 33 were available of which 23 were transferred to Allied airfields in southern Italy. The Saetta were only used for a sort time by the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force although they soldiered on as training aircraft until 1947, despite severe sparts shortage. 

The Kit

Italeri released it's new-tooled 1/48 kit in 2011. The kit was laid out on two grey styrene sprues, one clear sprue, a small PE sheet and a small-ish decal sheet for four marking options (despite the 'Super Decal Sheet' claim on the box). Parts are nicely done (on the sprue) with clean (if a little deep) panel lines. The PE sheet is mostly concerned with the seat belt / harness, landing gear cover mounts and the alternative parts for the cockpit console. In short, a simple, nice kit to add to the rather neglected Regia Aeronautica  - but more of this later. The four markings options are :
1. 369a Squadriglia / 22° Gruppo Autonomo CT, Russia 1941
2. 365a Squadriglia Gruppo Autonomo CT, Napoli, Italy 1940
3. 85a Squadriglia / 18° Gruppo, Araxos, Greece 1942
4. 150 Gruppo Autonomo CT, Tirana, Albania 1941

Construction

As usual, construction starts with the cockpit. I elected to use the combination of decals and PE parts for the console. The interior was painted pale green using a mix of Tamiya XF21 Sky and XF5 Flat Green. The PE for the harness was the bended into shape and painted using XF64 Red Brown and XF16 Flat Aluminium. Once completed, the fuselage halves were closed up and it's here that I realize that something is not quite right with the fit. However, a little bit of filler sorted out the fuselage seam lines.

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Skipping the engine/cowling step first, I decided to do the wings. And this is where I realize that the trailing edge is rather thick and that there is quite a gap between the main wing structure and the flaps. When the tailplanes were attched, I also realized that that forward edge is rather out of scale. I chose to ignore them as this is an OOB built anyway. The engine and cowling were next. The parts for the engine were actually quite nice. There were some slight gaps for the cowling assembly its Ok with some filler. The fit of the entire assembly to the fuselage however was quite tight but I shaved off some plastic from the male joint on the fuselage and everything were alright. When I joined the wing assembly to the fuselage, the biggest gap occured at the trailing edge. Large enough that I spend quite a bit of filler and super glue to cover it. The easily breakable parts such as radio aerial, landing gears and pitot tubes were painted but were left off the model for now. I did dry-fit the MGs and to my dismay, I found that the the guns cannot be fitted parallel to the fuselage as the cowling was in the way, so the guns were later fitted in a slightly oblique angle.

Painting and markings

Italeri, like Tamiya has a habit of only quoting their own range of paints in their instruction sheet. However, since Tamiya also released this kit under their flag, I managed to get the Tamiya equivalents. I decided to do the first option with its 'scrambled egg' camouflage pattern. Besides, it was also the one with the most colourful markings. The underside was painted a mixture of XF66 Light Grey and XF2 Flat White. The green was painted using XF67 NATO Green. The scrambled egg pattern were painted XF59 Desert Yellow and XF64 Red Brown. The cowling was painted XF3 Flat Yellow.

Once dry I started to apply the decals. The kit's decals were printed by Cartograf so the quality is great. I'm not sure about the 'title plate' (my description of the inscription 'Macchi MC200' and the empty and full weight info) at the base of the fin, though. Photos on the internet shows that it is yellow whilst the kit decal is in blue. The decals were then subjected to the Mr Mark Softer treatment.

Finishing

The small bits such as pitot tubes and radio aerial can now be attached - less the venturi tube on the starboard side of the fuselage, which was devoured by the Carpet Monster (Arggh!). This was followed by the propeller and the cockpit transparencies. The windscreen is OK but the side windows have less than perfect fit. The almost complete kit was now subject to sludge wash and afterwards I subjected the model to a final spray of Flat Clear.

Conclusion
Despite its shortcomings, Italeri should be congratulated for bringing another of Regia Aeronautica's mainstay fighter during the early part of the war. Previously, the only Saettas in this sclae are the limited run Pacific Coast Models and Classic Airframes kit. Having said that, Italeri should really pay better attention to their quality control - I heard that their Reggiane Re.2002 Ariete were terribly received by modelers....