Part 1: First Look

MSRP: $33.95 The Macchi C.205 is considered by many to be one of Axis Italy's best fighters of WWII. The Veltro, or "Greyhound", was flown by Italian aces Luigi Gorrini and Vittorio Minguzzi with great success in the fierce air battles over Italy during the war. Like so many other advanced fighters of that period, the Veltro came into service too late to make a measurable difference in the outcome of the war. Hasegawa's latest 1/48th scale version of this fighter comes well bagged and protected. The 75+ parts are molded in Hasegawa's standard hard gray styrene and the instructions, decals and box art are up to their usual high standards. All parts are crisply formed and flash-free with some ejector marks and few surface imperfections that should be easily dealt with during construction. The canopy is nicely molded with a thin cross section. The decals appear slightly thick on the backing sheet but not enough for me to consider tossing them. This kit comes with markings for two aircraft: one from the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (ANR) 1 Gruppo Caccia 3 Squadriglia Code:5-3 (June 1944) and another from the ANR 1 Gruppo Caccia 2 Squadriglia Code:22-2 (July 1944). As far as accuracy is concerned, the kit's 220mm wingspan compares favorably to the original Veltro's wingspan of 10.59 meters. I expected nothing less from Hasegawa.

Since this is a first look review, I'll hit on some of the things that I think will make this kit a winner for someone like me who appreciates a kit that looks great without having to rely on a lot of expensive, aftermarket parts: The cockpit. The 13 pieces that build into the cockpit of this fighter will provide enough detail to please a detail freak like me without too much effort. The instrument panel has finely-molded details which will allow the builder the option of painting and drybrushing the panel or using the included decals. I think I'll use the decals as a guide but plan to use paint and drybrushing on my Veltro. The only minus I can see here is the lack of seatbelts and buckles. The wheel wells and landing gear. Like the cockpit, these two areas are multi-piece assemblies that should go together without much effort. There are some round ejector pin marks but I'm hoping they'll be hidden in the final model. On the upside, they don't appear to be too deep, so removal shouldn't be a big chore if they do show. Panel lines. All are nicely scribed and of the recessed variety. The panel lines on the wings are especially well done. Instructions. Last, but not least, the instructions are very well done and will allow me, a novice at building airplanes, to build this kit without a lot of confusing sub assemblies. The plans are written in both Japanese and English with painting instructions for two distinctive Italian schemes. Although the color references are for the Gunze Mr. Color range of paints, the RLM equivalents are provided to make matching easier if your local hobby shop doesn't carry Gunze paints. To sum it all up, this is a great looking kit that I'm hoping to build into an excellent representation of this late-war pasta machine. After reading the instructions, I'm anticipating very few problems and am hoping for a quick and fairly easy build. Check back for part two of this review to read more. Thanks to Hasegawa (via DragonUSA) for providing this kit to IPMS/USA for review.

Information, images, and all other items placed electronically on this site are the intellectual property of IPMS/USA ®.