Ask any number of WWII aircraft enthusiasts to name a cool Italian fighter from that period, and most would respond with the Macchi 202. Mating an Italian airframe with a German DB.601 engine (as used in the Bf-109F), the MC.202 was finally able to take advantage of the superb aerodynamics and handling provided by Italian designers.

One of the biggest drawbacks of the Italian aviation industry at the time was the inability to provide engines of the kind of power that those in Germany, Britain and the US were able to produce. It wasn't until being able to get German-designed engines that the Italian pilot was able to have an aircraft that gave him a fighting chance against modern Allied designs.

What wasn't fixed until late in the Italian war was the pathetic offensive armament. Often these superb planes were hampered with rifle calibre machine guns. When fired against an Allied aircraft, these bullets often failed to do any appreciable damage. The hapless Italian pilot could only hope for a lucky hit to bring down a Hurrican, P-40 or P-38. Later in the war, cannon were installed that helped to even the field somewhat, but by then it was a bit late for them to do any real harm.

This 1993 kit is really quite simple and has relatively few parts. There are no options and while it does have a separate canopy and windscreen, one cannot display the canopy open as it is too thick. Typical of Hase 1/72 kits nowadays, there is no cockpit sidewall detail and the rest of the interior is equally sparse. A decal is provided for the instrument panel and it works well in this scale. The external detailing and overall shape of the kit is excellent. This one surpasses the Supermodel kit of the early 1970s.

Hasegawa's MC202 is a series 2 aircraft, one of the more widely built versions. Two different markings schemes are given, both with the white spinner, fuselage and wing tip markings of the Mediterranean theater. The box art plane is from 91 Squadriglia and is in sand with a particularly heavy overspray of dark green that makes it look like a sand mottling on a dark green airframe. Underside is light grey.  The other is from 386 Squadriglia and is a much lighter green mottling over sand. This one also has white nose that goes back to the start of the exhaust. The decals are well printed and to my delight are not Hasegawa house decals. Instead they are produced by Cartograf of Italy. That means white whites and the excellent chance that they will be opaque enough not to have the background colors bleed through!

Another well done and relatively simple kit. It should provide no surprises and build well. I've seen these at a lot of shows and if you can handle the camo schemes, it will provide a superlative little model.

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