Nice work so far!
1/48 Macchi 202 Folgore - Mediterranean Theatre of Operations
Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules
Now we're cooking! 
JKim
Senior Master Sergeant
I really like the detailed molding on the Hasegawa Macchi 202 kits.
- Thread starter
- #45
chris brown
Senior Airman
Thanks for all the encouragement guys. Just a quick update. I've got the wings and the stabs glued on and she's looking like a real plane now. The fit has been pretty good with just a few touch-ups needed where the wings join the fuselage on the bottom both front and back. To make life easier on yourself, I would definitely recommend gluing the wings on and dealing with these seems before gluing on the oil cooler and radiator scoops.
The kit has the wing navigation lights just engraved into the plastic, so using some of the tips I learned on this site I decided to make my own out of clear sprue. First I sawed off the engraved lights on the wings then I rough cut the clear plastic to shape. Once I got it semi-close, I drilled a hole in it where the light bulb would be and added drops of paint into the hole. This is how it looks in its rough shape after being glued in place.
After letting the glue dry, I went back in with a file and sanded the lens to its final shape and followed up with several finer grits of sandpaper and sanding sponges until she looks like this.
An easy upgrade that didn't take much time at all. A coat of future on these and they should really look the part.
The next area I tackled was the landing gear wells. On the real plane the back of the engine and all of its plumbing and wiring is visible here. Hasegawa offers a little bit of detail here but it begs for more. I didn't go too crazy with it but I did add some plumbing and details out of various size wire and plastic rod. All the piping is color coded on the real plane for the various systems (coolant, oxygen, hydraulic, etc..).
The flash in these pics makes the oil wash look way over done, but in normal light it does not show up like this. Here is a pic with the flash off, showing it more naturally.
Thanks for looking in. I hope to get the primer on tomorrow followed quickly by some paint.
The kit has the wing navigation lights just engraved into the plastic, so using some of the tips I learned on this site I decided to make my own out of clear sprue. First I sawed off the engraved lights on the wings then I rough cut the clear plastic to shape. Once I got it semi-close, I drilled a hole in it where the light bulb would be and added drops of paint into the hole. This is how it looks in its rough shape after being glued in place.
After letting the glue dry, I went back in with a file and sanded the lens to its final shape and followed up with several finer grits of sandpaper and sanding sponges until she looks like this.
An easy upgrade that didn't take much time at all. A coat of future on these and they should really look the part.
The next area I tackled was the landing gear wells. On the real plane the back of the engine and all of its plumbing and wiring is visible here. Hasegawa offers a little bit of detail here but it begs for more. I didn't go too crazy with it but I did add some plumbing and details out of various size wire and plastic rod. All the piping is color coded on the real plane for the various systems (coolant, oxygen, hydraulic, etc..).
The flash in these pics makes the oil wash look way over done, but in normal light it does not show up like this. Here is a pic with the flash off, showing it more naturally.
Thanks for looking in. I hope to get the primer on tomorrow followed quickly by some paint.
Last edited:
meatloaf109
1st Lieutenant
Looking good!
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Very nice work there Chris.
Agreed!
Wildcat
Major
Nice detailing Chris!
le_steph40
Senior Master Sergeant
I second that
JKim
Senior Master Sergeant
I used the Jaguar resin kit (no longer available) for the wheel well/engine detailing. But I think your scratch work looks better.
Catch22
Major
Looks great Chris!
- Thread starter
- #54
chris brown
Senior Airman
Thanks guys. I got a coat of primer on and have been fixing seams that still needed some touch ups. I hope to start painting tomorrow.
Crimea_River
Marshal
Good work there Chris. Looking forward to the next batch.
al49
Tech Sergeant
Very nice work
Alberto
Alberto
T Bolt
Colonel
Great work there
- Thread starter
- #60
chris brown
Senior Airman
Time for an update on where I'm at with this build. After getting all the seams tightened up I shot a coat of Mr. Surfacer 1200 primer and then did some pre-shading with some Tamiya dark gray paint.
After that I sprayed the underside color using Model Master Flint Gray paint.
Next came the Hazelnut color which I mixed up using 3 parts Tamiya Desert Yellow and 1 part Dark Yellow. After that dried I penciled in the green splotches to try and free hand them with my Badger 200NH airbrush.
Spraying the blotches free hand looked pretty ratty. I just couldn't get a tight enough spray pattern with my airbrush so I went with plan B and cut out paper masks and raised them up with blue tac to try and give them a soft edge.
This kinda worked but when I pulled the mask up I realized that if I didn't keep the airbrush perfectly perpendicular to the masks that I would get a ghost pattern around the edges that didn't look right.
So armed with this knowledge and the realization that smaller pieces of blue tac under the masks would work better I proceeded to paint the rest of the plane doing small sections at a time. Some edges of the blotches came out too tight and others came out to soft so I now have a ton of touch ups to do but I will get there eventually. I've been itching to get a nicer airbrush, one that is double action, and this model might just push me to break down and get one soon.
Any areas that appear to be missing blotches will have markings or decals going there. So this is how she sits right now. I'm on vacation for a week in Colorado to do a little skiing so even with an extension I wont be finishing this one in time but that's ok, she will get done soon enough. Thanks for looking in.
After that I sprayed the underside color using Model Master Flint Gray paint.
Next came the Hazelnut color which I mixed up using 3 parts Tamiya Desert Yellow and 1 part Dark Yellow. After that dried I penciled in the green splotches to try and free hand them with my Badger 200NH airbrush.
Spraying the blotches free hand looked pretty ratty. I just couldn't get a tight enough spray pattern with my airbrush so I went with plan B and cut out paper masks and raised them up with blue tac to try and give them a soft edge.
This kinda worked but when I pulled the mask up I realized that if I didn't keep the airbrush perfectly perpendicular to the masks that I would get a ghost pattern around the edges that didn't look right.
So armed with this knowledge and the realization that smaller pieces of blue tac under the masks would work better I proceeded to paint the rest of the plane doing small sections at a time. Some edges of the blotches came out too tight and others came out to soft so I now have a ton of touch ups to do but I will get there eventually. I've been itching to get a nicer airbrush, one that is double action, and this model might just push me to break down and get one soon.
Any areas that appear to be missing blotches will have markings or decals going there. So this is how she sits right now. I'm on vacation for a week in Colorado to do a little skiing so even with an extension I wont be finishing this one in time but that's ok, she will get done soon enough. Thanks for looking in.
