Yes I will buy this kit. Great subject and fully equipped with PE set and 3D clockwork. The plastic looks excellent with fine detail. Quality decals with guide. Beautiful booklets, and an engine 🤩. Thanks for the review.
Great review Alex. Re the camo decals showing up green over a yellow background, maybe that's on purpose as green will be more obvious if one is missed? I think masks would be better as you could paint one colour, mask off, paint the other, then removed the masks, and you'd dodge the green issue. Do you just paint one colour then apply the decals? In which case green might be an issue if it's bright green. I think the 3D instrument decals just means they're supposed to /look/ 3D rather than actually /be/ 3D. Regarding the price, there is some PE included and I think a lot of modellers of this kit would buy after-market sets so the overall cost of the model would be about the same. The lack of canopy masks is a menace though and for the price I think Italeri should have included them.
Just seen this in my local model shop. I thought wow! I love Italian planes and large scale models. Then I spotted the price. Back on the shelf it went. Kit prices are becoming silly.
Regarding the box size, my guess would be that Italeri (or manufacturers in genereal) use standardized box sizes for their models if they fit in one that's already existing. Would make sense since a) they can use the same cardboard blanks / manufacturer and just print the kits box art on it b) it looks better and is possibly easier to manage and present it in stores when every box in a series of familiar models has the same size
Preordered as soon as I got the notice. When I started building models, 1/32 was the only decent scale for detail and modification. Not enough Italian aircraft in the field (of this scale.)
Good, fair review of what looks a nice kit with decent detail and options. Seems weird compromise to get the 3D decals and PE but no mask set. The Kotare Spit price is similar if you add on a decal 3D set and that doesn't have an engine. Personally the price is probably what we will see for this type of kit. Have seen a few kits that have a lot of empty space in them and whilst that is misleading it must also add to shipping costs as you get less kits in a container that must get added to the cost.
I want it! It's a little questionable in its box sizing and price, but god I love this plane its its large scale, especially considering its a new tool
Another excellent overview. This appears to be a good product an Italeri deserve credit. There is a lot to like about this model but, and this is just m.o., £115.00 is a little steep. I think Italeri are aiming a little high and trying to emulate the big boys and they're not quite there. The price point is more in the £70/£80.(Still expensive at that, mind, but much more reasonable.) I concur with your final thoughts.
Hi Alex, Thank you for this detailed review👍🏻. Great kit and beautiful plane! Italian air force is not often represented. About the big box, it's silly, it's obviously to make it look "BIG", I guess it worked back when kids made models but now it's just a waste of cardboard, shipping cost and potential parts damage, I'm not sure that the BIG impact worth it. About the price...ouch! I might wait a little bit on this one. The good part is that it might shut-up Italeri systematic bashing, I built many of them without noticeable issue, most of their kits are old so if you compare with Airfix or Revell from the same era, it's about the same. I don't know why that is, people repeating what they heard without knowing or expecting kits to build like Lego, I'm not sure. Good continuation👋🏻
I have to agree about not understanding Italeri-bashing - for a long time they were my go-to manufacturer, producing nice kits at decent prices, and often of more unusual aircraft (like the X-32 and X-35 when the JSF program launched). Much of their 1/35th armour is also quite nice!
I like the kit , It's an interesting subject but I won't be buying one , too pricey for me. The Airfix spitfire was a must buy for me, it was moulded in the UK , it is enormous, it has a high parts count it builds beautifully, and is very good value for money. Too many new and recently reissued kits are way overpriced and not worthy of consideration, I believe that the manufacturers are just chancing their arm over pricing. Thanks very much for your honest review, as I said , I love the kit but not the price.
89 euros it cost from a Bulgarian site. Most expensive kit in my 32-strong stash. Will have to wait as I gradually gain experience in this hobby, I enjoy building them but, then again, I also enjoy owning them. I've come to realize those shiny boxes waiting for their turn make my day watching them as much as my finished ones. And, sorry to say this, this is a gorgeous aircraft, so whatever value for money you think that Spitfire is, well, I think we've had enough of them, and they never did look anything as pretty as this. Airfix need to grow out of it if they want to grow outside of the British market. If they want to.
I have to disagree with your last point on the Spitfire - the reason so many manufacturers make Spitfires is because they sell - in a way Italian aircraft don't. You might be fatigued by them, but the market in general isn't - simple law of supply and demand. I do think Airfix could be a little more "global" in its outlook, however, and push the envelope a bit, but then they are a British brand, so hardly surprising they have more British subjects - just like Italeri do more Italian subjects...nothing wrong with that!
@@MannsModelMoments Spitfire is, and always will be, a popular theme in scale modelling. Looks to me though that the Airfix catalogue mirrors it's popularity in Britain, not globally. I would hope they become more diverse to increase their reach.
I’m not too keen on the price of the kit. I’d feel very tempted to get some metal landing gear for it, once available. Anything else that would make better sense for detail is also a consideration. I was certainly looking forward to this kit but, still find myself slightly underwhelmed.
This is a tough one. It's a very attractive subject presented well as far as details and extras goes, but the price gives me pause. As far as aftermarket goes, maybe masks and undoubtedly wheels and tires. The tires in the kit are so weighted and bulged that the ground crew would get a thorough chewing out by the pilot. I'll wait for some full build reviews before I pull the trigger given Italeri's inconsistent track record.
The one problem Ive had with Italeri is accuracy on their wing length. The Folgore and Machhi were designed with longer wings on the port side. about 8.5 inches which is only a few mm at scale but the Macchi kit I did had symmetrical wings and this one looks pretty even also but cant tell.
You are correct. The MC 200 Saetta and MC 202 had asymmetric wing lengths and one wing was indeed 8.5 inches longer. In 1/32nd that equates to 6.7mm. Get your rule out and measure from the wing keel centre line. If one wing is just under 7mm than the other, you know Italeri has done its homework. Easy.
Thank you for pointing out the ridiculously sized box. It seems many manufacturers don't think people will spend as much is a box is correctly sized. Kits are boxed with more empty space in them than snack chips. I would have considered this kit, but count me out because of the misleading box size.
I did the 1:72 Macchi last month, this looks nice and has PE Im interested. Looking for after market has been difficult since i started and thus im a fan of the profipack concept.
I've been working on this kit for a while now and in my opinion it's not worth the money. For the same amount of money any Border Model, Tamiya, Arma Hobby, Kotare and even the new Airfix kits blow it out of the water even for less. It is the subpar Italeri production. Ejector pin marks and seam lines everywhere. Some small parts have some deformation, or at least the mold is horrible by default. If you start working on it. Don't use the supplied tubes. They are horrible. Too stiff and too thick, especially the white ones. As I said in my build video, the only saving grace is that it's a Macchi C.202 Folgore and that there is no competition for it really. If this would've been a Spitfire, people would be furious.
@@MannsModelMomentsThe proof is in the pudding as they say. I was very excited in my review, but as I started to build it, the excitement did diminish. It's a decent kit, but not a 100 pound decent kit. Maybe 50.
