Hi all

as I wrote in my Yak-3 post (where I have changed some of the fotos) I completed another a/c model besides the Fw 190 and the Yak-3.

This is the Special Hobby Macchi C.200 in the camouflage and markings of GianLino Baschirotto (decals from the kit). I am not totally satisfied with the camo, but it is the best I could/can do ... maybe just a matter of practice...

The kit is a typical short run. Vacuformed canopy, detail in resin some fitting and sanding here and there. The rudder was of the wrong style and had to be changed. Also for this c&m the tail wheel doors had to be left off









A German building article is here: Macchi C.200

cheers

Steffen

Hallo Steffen!

Super model!

I don't know what you dislike about the paintsheme? Looks pretty good to me! Italian camouflages are the perfect challenge to test your airbrush skills. They are often more complicated than german ones!
I also like the odd way the aerial wires are attached. It was surely not something to improve aerodynamics! But at least they could speak wich each other... :-)

Jean-Luc

Hello Jean-Luc

You are right, italian colour schemes are often challenging (this is my first Italian Model but I have much more in my stash) and when I think of the "smoke ring" camo for the C.202 ... I better try to get Mike Grants decals.

What I do not like is that the sand "ring" around the brown blotches is to broad, I have a little too much overspray of sand and brown on some spots and many of them are too round and not irregular enough ... that all is for my taste and not compared to te original. I'm even further away from the real look ...

I'm not sure if I got the real look of the antenna wires but I am quite pleased how they look. Only the first machines had this aerial. From the picture in AoA 34: Italian aces of WW2 pg. 73 you can see that there is no aerial on the tail so it has to be from the fuselage to the wing ... I guess

Many thanks for your kind comment

cheers

Steffen

Looks great Steffen. What an interesting looking plane. That camo job would have driven me crazy - so many possibilities to makes mistakes. Your job on it, though, looks really good.
Leon

Hi Leon

many thanks for your nice comment !

But still the more I look at the pix the less I like my paint job. I have seen a C.202 in this camo sheme last weekend and it was "ages" better

... sometimes I just despair on my own deficiency I can live with some mistakes but this is lack of skills, ....

better stop now before I go and smash it to the wall ... maybe I'll try to touch up the model one day ... is this AMS ? ... at the model show last weekend I bought another Macchi 200 .. this time Italian Kit resin C.200 VII. serie because it was so "cheap" ... I'm doomed

best wishes

Steffen

Hi Steffen,

One nice Mc.200 you have there. Italian camo is hard to do but other than your own concerns I think you have given it a good go and its looks fine.

Yes your aerials are correct that is how they were fitted in the early series. You also had me going with the canopy as the Mc.202 & 205 are both side hinged so I checked my ref and you are 100% correct

Nice work

Ciao
Luciano

Hi Steffan.
Looks great.Everyone is their own most severe critic.Dont be hard on yourself.That camo scheme looks great,and must be a great workout for airbrush skills.
Those Special Hobby kits are "fun" arent they?
Nige

Hi Luciano

many thanks! For camo see my remark just above.

As for the canopy; that is the strange thing with Italian fighters of the "O-serie" or “Generazione Intermedia”. The early series have closed cockpits but the Italian pilots of that era did not like it so all were opened up (C.200, G.50 ... I'm not sure about the Re.2000, but it was mostly used by non Italian forces)

thanks for looking up the aerial reference. I was sure the antenna comes out of the fuselage and goes to this point at the wing (got an according reply on the Stormo! board a year ago as I started the kit) but I was not sure about the short antenna masts on the wing though I remember I have seen it somewhere ...

best wishes

Steffen

Thanks Nigel

Yes, the kits are "fun", but I've build worse kits (CA Claude comes to mind)

BTW I will start my FA 223 soon ... how long it will take to finish that is far beyond me

cheers

Steffen

Hi Steffen

What a beauty! I've got the kit, but have never got 'round to tackling it - and I think you've done an excellent job on the camouflage - I've whiled away many a happy hour contemplating the best way to replicate it in 1/48.

I love WW2 Italian aircraft - and I've actually been busy taking a bunch of photos ready for reviews to add in the near future.

All the best - and keep 'em coming!

Rowan

Steffen that is an awesome paint scheme, and very well done. I am definetly going to have to build an Italian aircraft if their camo schemes are that snazzy.
Great build and airbrushing.
Andy (++)

Steffen, you are too hard on yourself, the camo looks pretty well done to me I have been putting off doing a "Smoke Ring" scheme until I was confident enough to do it. I realised that to be able to do it properly I would require a double action gravity fed airbrush. I now have no more excuses. If you are using a single action syphon fed airbrush then you are to be congratulated, if you have a double action gravity fed type then any problems you feel you have will probably be down to paint thinning and pressure. In any event the model looks great so don't get mad with yourself.
Mal

Hello Rowan, Andy and Mal

you are too forgiving ... but thanks for your kind comments

@ Mal: As for the airbrush. I use an Aztek 470 (which is double action) but it is already ~15 years old. First I tried the sand coloured nozzle but it worked better with the white (for Tamiya colour). I do not think thinning was the problem but just the worn out air gun which still is good enoght for normal paint jobs. Maybe pressure was an issue but I reduced it much.... maybe too much

Still I am satisfied with the build but I do not like my camouflage

Thanks again and best wishes

Steffen

I too, really like your model Staffen, it is not often that we are treated to Italian subjects.

I'm sure there are many amongst us, me included, who would like to attempt a scheme such as this, although will hold back due to lack of confidence. I think that you have made an excellent job of the painting and are to be congratulated.

I always find pleasure in seeing other peoples models and you should be proud of it. It looks the part.

I look forward to the next one.

Mark

Thanks Mark

it is very kind of you ...

As for what's next:

What is almost finished at the moment is a Ju 87 G-2 in the c&m of Rudel (hard to find other big gun Stuka aces that can be proven by photos, I'll do Korol on the G-1) and a Tamiya F2A-2 Buffalo which was just a fun build to get some motivation back ... until the decals blew into a 1000 pieces when hitting the water. Hope I get the Yellow Wing decals soon .. no ace this time

I'd like to finish my Hasegawa P-40E soon (have seen a lot of nice builds recently, mine will be Russian) and the Hasegawa Fw 190 A-3 ... which I wanted to build as Egon Mayers A-4 with intakes on the cowl but maybe I choose another markings from the decal stash

besides I must finish the Fw 200 (one day) but it is such a wrong kit that I have to find my inner peace first

not to speak of all the started projects that are stuck or just put away...

best wishes

Steffen

Hallo Steffen,

mir gefällt dein Flugzeug sehr gut mit der Tarnung !!!
Ich weiß nicht, warum du nicht zufrieden bist, also ich wäre zufrieden !
Ich baue normalerweise Fahrzeuge und bin von Flugzeugen nicht so begeistert aber bei deinem muss ich sagen Hut ab !
Mal was total andres, trotzdem, oder vielmehr gerade deshalb interessant.

Weiter so !

Hallo Martin

Danke für den freundlichen Kommentar! Ich baue eigentlich eher Flugzeuge und nur ab und an ein Fahrzeug und ich finde hier einige Modellbauer unglaublich gut! Manchmal kann ich da einige Kritikpunkte auch nicht verstehen. Am Wochenende wäre mir fast jemand "ins Gesicht gesprungen", weil ich gesagt habe, dass man bei Panzern nicht so genau arbeiten muss wie bei Flugzeugen .... wenn alle Räder/Ketten den Boden berühren passt das schon :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

Was genau mir nicht gefällt hatte ich ja schon geschrieben gehabt - sandgelb zu breit, teilweise zu viel overspray, die Flecken sind insgesamt zu rund und zu regelmäßig. Die rechte Seite gefällt mir übrigens besser als die linke.

Auf der anderen Seite verbessert man sich ja auch nicht, wenn man immer zufrieden ist...

viele Grüße

Steffen

Ganz genau! :-)

Very nice Macchi Steffen. I too love those old Italian planes and especially the camo schemes. I built a Folgore a couple of weeks ago and while it didn't attract much attention, it was a fun project and a real challenge doing the camo. I'd like to try the ghost ring sometime in the near future.