While there have been various resin and short-run kits, Italeri’s new MC.200 finally offers a mainstream kit of this fascinating aircraft. The kit parts and engineering are very good, with no flash or visible ejector marks.

Construction starts with building the cockpit tub. The instrument panel builds up with decals, plastic, and resin parts – it’s a bit fiddly in this regard.

The wing construction includes wheel-well detail and a wing spar. The landing flaps are separate; I posed them lowered.

After attaching the wings to the fuselage, I found a large gap on the underside where the two meet. Some putty and sanding filled the gap.

The six-part engine has good detail and builds easily. The cowling is a multipiece affair that goes together without a problem. There is a separate panel to show off some of the engine detail.

The tires are presented in a bulged pose – a bit too much for my taste.

The main landing-gear doors are attached to the gear legs by photoetched-metal parts. These are very small and need to be bent to shape. Italeri should have provided plastic alternatives to help less-advanced modelers.

I painted my MC.200 with a combination of Tamiya spray-can and LifeColour acrylic colors. Decals cover four aircraft in a variety of camouflage schemes. They are well-printed, thin, and apply perfectly.

There are plentiful references on the MC.200. My primary source was Ali D’Italia series No. 8 Aer.Macchi MC.200 (La Bancarella Aeronautica). The completed model matches perfectly to its plans. I also found Wings of Italy: The Italian Air Force in Original World War II Colour Pictures very helpful as it contained color photos of a MC.200 in the scheme I was painting.

My MC.200 was completed in just 18 hours. I found this new Italeri kit an enjoyable project, as it built up nicely and has good detail. The kit can be handled by the average modeler, and if you’re into WWII Italian aircraft you will be happy with it.