Italeri's Reggiane Re.2000 GA offers the options of dropped flaps and early- or late-style canopies that can be posed open or closed. There are markings for aircraft from three different air forces: three Italian, two Hungarian, and one Swedish.
The kit presented no fit issues, and flash around the flaps and the wings was easy to clean up. I filled in sink marks in the fuselage sides near the tail and on the tops of the wings with Tamiya's primer, then sanded them smooth. I'm not sure it should have the antenna mast (Part 18A); it is not shown in the assembly instructions, but appears in the painting and decal instructions. On the Eastern Front, the aircraft could have been fitted with different radio sets.
A nicely detailed cockpit features recessed instrument dials, rudder pedals, and sidewall detail. Italeri has provided a decal for the instrument cluster if you don't want to paint it. The pilot's seat has molded-on seat belts, but there are no instructions for painting.
The hardest thing was choosing one of the six schemes. I chose the colorful markings of a Hungarian Héja (Hawk) of the Magyar Kiràlyi Honvéd Légierö (Royal Hungarian Air Force), 1/2 Dongo Vadasz Szazad (fighter squadron).
My painting of the yellow stripe around the fuselage does not match the artwork in covering part of the vertical tail. That is because the horizontal tail pieces are farther forward on the kit; without a photograph reference for these markings, and with the decal fully covering the tail fin, I went with what I had. I painted with Testors colors according to the instructions, masking the complicated camouflage scheme with small bits of Silly Putty.
The decals rested easily on a bed of Micro Set. To correct an error in the decal instructions for the tail's national colors on the tail, the decal should be 8D, not 6D. I applied Testors Dullcote after the decals were dry.
It took me 15 hours to build this little gem, with about five hours painting the camouflage scheme. A walkaround book would help overcome the confusing instructions and scant documentation on this little bird. As it is, I'd recommend this kit to intermediate modelers.
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