Italeri 1:72 Macchi C.202 "Folgore"

[henryk001]

Fair doos. At the scale you are using PE to add detail is really impressive. I think i would go crosseyed or worse if i tried to tackle
kits in 1/72. Im Struggling with 1/12th. Brilliant work

[dr_gn]

henryk001 said:

Fair doos. At the scale you are using PE to add detail is really impressive. I think i would go crosseyed or worse if i tried to tackle
kits in 1/72. Im Struggling with 1/12th. Brilliant work

Thanks, yes this one is very fiddly. I think it’s got more photo etch than any other model I’ve built so far.

I’ve been following your GT40 build - very impressive work. I’ve got a 1:12 McLaren F1 car underway, but finding time to work on it is difficult.

[dr_gn]

Araldited the flap innards in place:



And filled in the numerous gaps using Milliput, plastic card and sprue dissolved in liquid cement. Also cut out the wingtip light covers:





Plenty of flatting and re-scribing still to do there I think.

Also did a bit of work making a brass spigot for the aerial, drilled out the Venturi and made a more scale pitot head from brass tubes:

[CanAm]

.......drilled out the Venturi ........
You make it sound so simple. How the hell do you drill out something so small so accurately?

[dr_gn]

CanAm said:

.......drilled out the Venturi ........
You make it sound so simple. How the hell do you drill out something so small so accurately?

Just using a micro drill - start it in what you hope is the middle of the hole and angle it while drilling if it’s not centred. Then open up with a larger one.

[mcdjl]

dr_gn said:

Just using a micro drill - start it in what you hope is the middle of the hole and angle it while drilling if it’s not centred. Then open up with a larger one.

So you start with a really small drill, then use a slightly less small drill? I guess we're still talking in the 0.5mm range? I tried it on some part but just ended up snapping it.

[dr_gn]

mcdjl said:

dr_gn said:

Just using a micro drill - start it in what you hope is the middle of the hole and angle it while drilling if it’s not centred. Then open up with a larger one.

So you start with a really small drill, then use a slightly less small drill? I guess we're still talking in the 0.5mm range? I tried it on some part but just ended up snapping it.

Yes.

If you're snapping a drill while just making a dimple in the surface of the plastic, you're doing something wrong!

It really helps to make sure the surface you are drilling is flat (use a stiff sanding stick).

I've got two drill holders - I sometimes use one to hold the part, and the other to hold the drill.

[mcdjl]

dr_gn said:

Yes.

If you're snapping a drill while just making a dimple in the surface of the plastic, you're doing something wrong!

It really helps to make sure the surface you are drilling is flat (use a stiff sanding stick).

I've got two drill holders - I sometimes use one to hold the part, and the other to hold the drill.

I've snapped drills...though i meant the plastic part which felt tin enough to start with.

[dr_gn]

mcdjl said:

dr_gn said:

Yes.

If you're snapping a drill while just making a dimple in the surface of the plastic, you're doing something wrong!

It really helps to make sure the surface you are drilling is flat (use a stiff sanding stick).

I've got two drill holders - I sometimes use one to hold the part, and the other to hold the drill.

I've snapped drills...though i meant the plastic part which felt tin enough to start with.

Ah I see. Then you're putting too much force on the component. Obviously

[dr_gn]

Second stage of filling; the aim is to get the joint perfectly flat, then re-scribe the break line:



Also pva’d the wingtip light covers in place:

[dr_gn]

Whoever designed the original kit u/c actuators must have been having a bad day. I’ve made some new ones out of telescopic brass tube:

[dr_gn]

Sanded the lamp covers to profile and polished them back to transparent, then snapped them off for painting:



Nearly there with the gap elimination:





Quick guide coat shows a couple of flaws, but pretty much ready for re-scribing:

[dr_gn]

More re-scribing. I forgot the rectangular wing root joint covers.

I also drilled it the wing gun ports. Unusually they are on the upper part of the leading edge. Not all 202’s were fitted with them, and they are smaller calibre than the nose guns.

[dr_gn]

Got the windscreen fitted with pva, using the canopy for alignment:



Also made the large and small m/c gun muzzles out of brass tube:





And with the scratch built pitot head in place:

[dr_gn]

Applied the canopy masks:



And masked the cockpit and wheel well openings with Tamiya tape / Blu Tack / Micro Mask:





Also pre-painted the inside areas of the oil and water radiators:



...so that when the ducts are fitted, there’s no inaccessible bare plastic showing:

[dr_gn]

Assembled the radiators:







Also made a start on painting the smaller components:



Flaps almost ready for paint, bit of Mr.Surfacer 1000 needs a final flatting:

[Yertis]

Can I ask what Mr Surfacer is for? I've seen you (and others on Britmodeller etc) mention it but no idea what it does.

[dr_gn]

Yertis said:

Can I ask what Mr Surfacer is for? I've seen you (and others on Britmodeller etc) mention it but no idea what it does.

It's a primer you can get in different thicknesses, you can brush it or spray it, but I mainly apply it locally with a cocktail stick for filling minor or shallow imperfections. Once it's set it's pretty hard and sands back fairly well. It doesn't absorb paint like some other fillers either.

[Yertis]

Thanks for that

[dr_gn]

Drilled out the gun ports, but forgot to add the cartridge apertures. Sorted this by scribing some in:



Got the underside blue and preshading done, and continued with painting the smaller parts:



Next job is to mask for topside painting.