To many, the Macchi C.202 is the epitome of Italian aviation during WWII. It is the design of this aircraft that caused the US to think that they were being exported to Japan when the first Ki-61s were seen. Because of this, the Ki-61 was given the allied code name of  'Tony'.

Though supplanted in production by the even more potent Macchi C.205 in the last months of the war, the 202 continued to soldier on. Many 202s were rebuilt to 205 specs by swapping out engines. According to the book, every extant Macchi C.202 is actually a back-dated MC.205 and even the 205s that exist were originally converted from 202s!

For some stats, the book is 8 1/2 by 11 inches, 64 pages, card cover, lots of photos and drawings with many of the photos in color. There are also a half dozen profiles and some of the color photos are period shots from the war.

The author, Maurizio Di Terlizzi, is a very accomplished modeler whose creations have won awards wherever they are shown. The January 2001 issue of Scale Aircraft Modeling shows a Bf-110 that he has done and it is truly an impressive model. Combining this talent with his writing produces a book that is a must for modelers. He knows what we seek in a book and gives it to us.

This is a continuation of his previous book on the Macchi C.202. This edition concentrates on later construction 202s. Like the first volume, it is full of very interesting photos which include some more period color images. There are also a half dozen well done color profiles and a large modeling section. Also like part 1, the book is in both Italian and English. There are some very curious sentences in the English section, which make it obvious that it was not written by someone who speaks English as his primary language. The occasionally unusual syntax does not take away from the impact of the book at all.

Basically, the book is in three major sections with several minor pieces. The first section is a short verbal history of the type with a very large number of photographs. The pictures are all quite interesting and of aircraft from a number of units. A few are a bit poor, but of historical interest. 

The second section is on modeling the MC.202 using the Hasegawa 1/48 kit. Like the previous edition, all references are to 1/48 modeling. Maurizio has included two of his models as references. He takes you through a step by step construction of the kit, pointing out areas that need improvement or pitfalls in construction that you may need to be aware of. Even in this section, there are period photos or closeup shots of museum aircraft used to demonstrate a point.

The final major section is that of camouflage. There were several different patterns used on the Folgore, each dependant on which factory built the aircraft. Like the Germans, production was spread out amongst a number of other aircraft manufacturers who had available production space. This led to the variations in coloring and markings that are seen.

Other minor sections are reviews of decals and aftermarket accessories as well as a bibliography and an appendix which has things like aftermarket part numbers and Folgore series construction and serial numbers.

Overall, this is a very good book and one that should be on the shelf of anyone who is interested in WWII Italian aviation in general and the MC.202 in particular. 

This book and other WW2 Italian AF subjects can be obtained direct from the importer at the link below.

Review copy courtesy of  the fine folks at Pacific Coast Models Inc.

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