Taurus models 1/48 Macchi MC202 "Folgore"

[RangerNeil]

OK - you can blame Digger for this one - I didn't mean to start it for a while!!
This is the Taurus models release of Macchi MC202 "Folgore" - probably Italys best WW2 fighter. If you've never heard of Taurus models - join tbe club!! Neither had I until I scored this one in an auction. For some reason I thought it was Italeri until it arrived. Anyways - here is the box contents:

Assembly instruction












Painting & Decal guide












Decals


Sprues








Actual assembly won't start until I clear the Flycatcher and Viggen but first sights are the sprue gates are incredibly thick and there is a lot of flash that will need cleaning off - especially on the smaller parts.

[DRUMS01]

I think most of us are with you on this company. I've seen the name around but have never seen one built or on the sprue for that matter. From what i could see, it looks like the control surfaces are all separate and could be posed and you have an engine as well (yippie). Some of the detail looks soft while other areas look good. Looks like some of the sprue connections are rather large so I hope that doesn't cause you any issues while removing the parts. I see some seam and flash is present too. And the instructions for the cockpit look a little vague but there doesn't appear that we will be able to see much once it is enclosed. Are you going to add a harness/seatbelts or a pilot?. So what do you think so far? I'm sure with your skills you'll pull off a great build!

This aircraft to me is the prettiest ones in the Italian inventory of WW2. I know I'll enjoy watching the camouflage going on it as that is one of my things about the Italian war birds.

[digger303]

I think there was a Italeri reboxed as Taurus in 1/32.

[Stokesy44]

I think there was a Italeri reboxed as Taurus in 1/32.

Ouch. Not the kind of ancestry you want to find out!

[RangerNeil]

Well - I've made a start - and the start is not promising!! I've used 9 parts and spent nigh on 2 hours cleaning flash off and sanding to get them to fit. In fairness the main engine parts (block and cylinders) went together fairly well. The shaft for the prop (part #4) needed the head reduced in thickness by at least 50% as it it sits in a cup on the front cover (part #5) which in turn sits flush on the front face of the block. What I think is the air intakes (part #13) lined up with with the supercharger (part #14). However the positioning of parts #16 - generator, part #17 - generator and part #110 - rear oiling tube have no guide as to actual placement plus part #110 only has a passing resemblance to the illustrated part!!

[RangerNeil]

It gets better and better - NOT.
Moved onto the engine bulkhead today:




The brown item (part #24) in the middle is supposed to sit flat against the bulkhead. As can be seen it doesn't! The flanges for the main undercarriage struts prevent it.


You can see how the struts go here:


I think I need to take that brown item off and modify it to fit as intended. And there is no indication of where parys #27 and #28 are meant to go....

This is NOT boding well either for fitting the interior to the fuselage or assembly of the major items......

[digger303]

Made loads of progress since I've been away.

[RangerNeil]

Made loads of progress since I've been away.

Seriously does not feel like it mate!! Feels like for every step forwards theres 2 or 3 back. Anyways - todays progress:
The engine is now in the support cradles.


I modified the brown "oil tank" to clear the flanges for the undercarriage legs. I also, having first checked to make sure they'd clear the wing openings, fitted those undercarriage supports as it was obvious fitting them once the bulkhead was in the fuselage would have been a nightmare.
One of the two round objects on the back of the engine had to be relocated - I think it was the one labelled as "starter motor". I had to guess where they went as, quite frankly the instructions are crap! Once you try fitting the engine to the cradles, though, it becomes glaringly obvious.
I should now be fitting the exhaust stubs - but I'm going to leave those until I can dry-fit the sub-assembly into the fuselage halves as they have to fit through a narrow slit.

There is an air scoop that goes under the engine - once again the parts on the sprue don't match the assembly diagrams - can you spot the difference?




Moving on - the cockpit floor is assembled, just need to add the pilots seat. Again that will wait until the sub-assembly is in the fuselage so I can get it to line up with the headrest. A couple of handles need to be done semi-gloss back too. I had to drill a hole for the rudder pedals as one was shown in the diagram but didn't actually exist!!!


Finally the fuselage halves are being detailed. And it's at this point I realised not only is there a LOT of flash but some of it is so thick its hard to tell whats flash and whats the actual part. Which is really worrying me as regards the rest of the build.


Adding the platform for the guns (part #34):


I found it easier to tape the fuselage together, drop the engine sub assembly, drop the gun platform in and join them that way. Letting this set overnight.


The instrument panel has a decal to go on it - I think these location "blobs" are too high to expect a decal to conform so sanding them down may well be in order......

[digger303]

You have not yet begun to putty
Stirling work over coming those problems.

[RangerNeil]

You have not yet begun to putty
Stirling work over coming those problems.

Fairly sure thats in the imminent future mate.....

[DBMiller]

This is one of the nicest looking fighters of the war. Good luck with the build.

[RangerNeil]

This is one of the nicest looking fighters of the war. Good luck with the build.

Thanks the MC-202 may well be nice looking but this kit is absolute crap!! Even worse than the AModel Mi-V-12.

I went to fit the guns last night - cue 2 hours of cut and shut surgery that included taking 2mm of the length of the barrels and to be honest it looks awful. The guns are in 2 parts for some odd reason - the barrel/breech are a 1 piece moulding then theres a tiny part thats the muzzle. The sprue gates were so thick and so close to the part it was impossible to get off cleanly. Held one in tweezers to sand it, held the second and PING!! Gone to the land of never find!! So I made 2 replacements from 2mm rod, drilled out with a 1.2mm. Worked OK.


The surgery on the guns is NOT my finest, no where even close.


Just to make sure every thing was aligned I taped the fuselage halves together whilst the engine/guns assembly were cemented into one half.




Note the missing portion of undercarriage leg that vanished whilst taping the fuselage halves together. By an amazing streak of luck its the same dia & length as one of the track pins from a Tiger 1.
I swear this kit is the closest I've ever come to binning one....


I did think of building it with the engine covers off but now I intend to build it closed up.

In the meantime does anyone have any idea what colour "Mimetic" is? Its called out in the colour scheme and is used on the scoop under the engine.




I've tried Google but that comes up with the name of a range of paints

[DBMiller]

It's crazy that new kits can be so bad.

[digger303]

Mimetic.....is the camo I always thought for Italian planes all that swirly lines type of thing.

[RangerNeil]

Mimetic.....is the camo I always thought for Italian planes all that swirly lines type of thing.

Interesting!! The scoop is on the underside and would normally get a coat of the Italian underside light blue. Its odd thats the only part calling for this finish..... Oh well - think I'll go wth the blue, not enough mojo left on this project to go digging!

So - onto the progress!
The fuselage halves are joined - and no filler was required!!
Tail planes are assembled and fitted - again, no filler.
Wings are assembled - again so far no filler required.
Colour me absolutely amazed after all the crap fits so far

However there is one issue I need to solve - the engine is kicked up at the front so I need to find a way of drawing it down. I'm thinking maybe a drop of debonder on the rearmost (lower) mount points.

[RangerNeil]

Wings are on. And with the fit I'm now used - bad!! I think Diggers prophecy is about to be filfilled - LOTS of filler!!






Gunports in the engine cowl are opened up:


And the prop is almost done:

[Stokesy44]

Coming together nicely.

That thing must have been an absolute pig on the ground with the pilot sitting so far back. Must have been like driving a Ford Capri!

[Garion77]

My local hobby store has lots of kit from that brand. Never dare buying one because I saw that lots of them have been sitting on the shelves for a while....now I understand why !!
But your doing a great job with despite all the problems !

[RangerNeil]

Progress continues - slowly.
Firstly the air intake under the engine was missing the mounting point, it wasn't actually moulded onto the top half of the intake even though shown on the instructions.


I had to trim 2 mm off of that new piece to get it to sit properly. At this point I'll make the observation that a good many parts were missing similar sections - outer halves of the under carrage legs and both halves of the tail wheel were missing the axle pins being the most annoying after the intake.

Wing roots are now filled and sanded.






As can be seen the engine has had the nose-high attitude corrected and all the lower parts of the nose are in place. However there is now a bigger, more serious problem - the upper engine covers will not fit as everything is too high.






I'm thinking at the moment the only solution is to remove everything above the support cradles ahead of the firewall - thats the guns, supercharger, iterrupter gear etc. I honestly can't see any alternative ......

Other than this the rudder, elevators, ailerons, flaps are all on so getting close to paint going on once I solve the engine cover issue.

[Stokesy44]

Ouch, that really is poor by the manufacturer.

Cant see a way out except pulling most of it out. Nightmare but at least it will save the kit and you can concentrate on the paint job.

[digger303]

Engine won't be seen anyway so it's not that bad to lose it.

[Stokesy44]

Engine won't be seen anyway so it's not that bad to lose it.

A good point, well made

[digger303]

Engine won't be seen anyway so it's not that bad to lose it.

A good point, well made

But Neil will KNOW it's not there

[RangerNeil]

Engine won't be seen anyway so it's not that bad to lose it.

A good point, well made

But Neil will KNOW it's not there

At this point in time its either accept its not there - or chuck the whole thing in a bin. Which is sorely tempting as I've no idea if the decals are any good at the moment!!

[RangerNeil]

Latest status: Someone gIve me a hammer - PLEASE!!

I cleaned the top of the engine off and the cover still wouldn,'t fit.... Ended up javing to sand the bearer frames as thin as pssible and retain integrity. So it now fits - but poorly. Same goes for the gun access doors. I couldn't be bothered to sort this out as, AFAIC its just gonna get a quick paint 'n decal then get pushed to the back of the display!!




And with tne top coat of "Nocciola Charro 4" applied.

[Stokesy44]

At least the paint has gone down nicely.

There really ought to be some consequences for companies that produce kits this bad. Maybe a public flogging or a few hours in the stocks. Seems reasonable to me as compensation for mojo sapping junk.

[digger303]

You could flip it over and have it half immersed in water or swamp as a crash scene....just saying not all is lost.

[RangerNeil]

You could flip it over and have it half immersed in water or swamp as a crash scene....just saying not all is lost.

Good ideas- but in all honesty I am so sick of this thing I just want it off the bench & gathering dust somewhere!!
That said - todays first job was fixing the undercarriage supports. Avid readers of my ramblings may recall one managed to get broken and half lost to the unforgiving floor monster. I'd taken a quick measure of the survivor and a Tiger 1 trackpin was just the right size so today both of the support legs were so modified.




With that done the final colours started going on.

[Stokesy44]

Such a shame a great subject is being spoilt by a poor kit. I admire your perseverance.

Maybe see if there are any other Folgore kits out there which may be a better build? Help wash the taste away?

[RangerNeil]

Such a shame a great subject is being spoilt by a poor kit. I admire your perseverance.

Maybe see if there are any other Folgore kits out there which may be a better build? Help wash the taste away?

Yeah - good idea. I think either Tamiya, Italeri or Hasegaw make one. Its really annoying because the level of detail provided with this one could have made for a stunning finished model.

Oh well - this one is what it is. I picked the - for want of a better word - "block" cammo scheme rather than the "smoke ring" one in the hopes the Dark Green overlay would hide the poor fit of the panels from a distance. I think it might have worked!






Just needs a gloss coat now then its time for decals - and I am praying like hell the decal sheet is OK, not going to break up as soon as they hit water....

[Stokesy44]

Nice work on the camo.

You were right about other manufacturers. Hasegawa definitely do a 1/48 Folgore.

[Garion77]

You nailed this difficult camo perfectly ! nice job !

it's true and sad what you say about the details... it's like some Eduard kits, they all have beautiful and stunning detail but some of them don't go that well together...well not as a Taurus kit

Great work !

[RangerNeil]

Decals went on tonight. Amazingly they went on perfectly!!!




Next step - matt clearcoat then fit the canopy parts and work out how to rig an aerial wire!!

[Stokesy44]

Great result on the decals

[digger303]

A win on the decals

[RangerNeil]

All finished bar the aerial wire - going to leave that till I feel happier.

[digger303]

Nice to have it finished and the decals help a lot.
Well done for the perseverance, I might not have seen it to the end.

[Stokesy44]

Nice to have it finished and the decals help a lot.
Well done for the perseverance, I might not have seen it to the end.

What he said!

[RangerNeil]

Thanks guys!! I have to admit - this one was the closest I've ever come to binning a kit without finishing it.

[Stokesy44]

Great perseverance

[Garion77]

Nice job on an awful kit ! you surely nailed it ! Congrats !

[Elve1984]

Nice build Neil!