Fiat G.50 "Freccia" (Arrow)
Guiseppe Gabrielli began design work on the G.50 in April 1935 and the first of two prototypes flew on February 26, 1937 with test pilot Mario de Briganti at the controls. de Briganti found the aircraft had a tendency to spin and other problems that continued to plague the type through it's service life. Initially, the G.50 featured an enclosed cockpit with a rearward sliding canopy, but resistance from air force pilots led to the type having an open or partially enclosed cockpit after the first 45 pre-production series types were completed.
With the exception of fabric-covered control surfaces, the G.50 was an all-metal design. The G.50 was also designed with a fairing for the non-retractable tailwheel that was more often than not removed in the field. The G.50 was powered by a 840hp Fiat A.74 R.C.38 14-cylinder radial engine that enabled the aircraft to achieve a disappointing top speed of less than 300mph. Service ceiling was just over 32,000ft, although I wonder just how effective a pilot in an open cockpit would be at that altitude. Range was advertised at a mere 416 miles. Armament of two 12.7mm Breda-SAFAT machine-guns was woefully inadequate in an age of six and eight gun platforms.
The G.50 made it's operational debut during the Spanish Civil War when 12 pre-production G.50s joined the Italian Aviazione Legionaria just weeks before the Republican surrender. These aircraft operated with Spanish markings. Besides serving with the Spanish, 10 G.50s were supplied to Croatia and 35 to Finland where they served with some distinction against the Communist invaders, due more to the skill of the Finnish pilots than the quality of their equipment. There were a number of unique prototypes built that didn't see production, the last of which was the G.50bis A/N, which was a two-seat fighter-bomber designed for use on the aircraft carriers Aquilla and Sparviero, neither of which were completed. Apart from the two prototypes, 778 G.50s were built, 350 by Fiat and 428 by CMASA, a subsidiary of Fiat.
This is Hasegawa's 1/48 Fiat G.50, kit number SP139. This kit was originally produced by a Japanese company called Secter. I have never built or even seen any kits by this company till now, but if the others they may have done are in any way comparable to this one, I'd certainly recommend them.
The kit consists of 46 parts molded in medium grey plastic and 1 clear part for the windscreen. All parts have recessed panel lines. Fit overall is quite good, but there isn't a lot of interior detail. The cockpit is very sparse with only a floor, seat, stick, instrument panel and rudder petals. There is no sidewall detail molded on the fuselage sides. The engine is pretty basic, consisting of a single basic row of cylinders, but the prop and spinner obscure most of it. The wheel bays are void of detail as well. All of parts and completed components fit together very well with minimal cleanup. There was no need of any filler, Tenax easily filled the seams and there were no gaps anywhere. You might want to be careful and test the top deck before applying any glue. Two parts comprise the top deck of the fuselage, on fore and one aft of the cockpit bay, I'm assuming it was designed that way to facilitate other versions of the G.50. None of this detracts from the kit's overall appeal of what is a very interesting looking and often colourful machine.
Markings are provided for three aircraft. No. 1 is from 352º Squadriglia 20º Gruppo which carries light grey on the lower surfaces and light sand with blotches of brown and green. The forward two-thirds of the cowling and the spinner are yellow. The white cross cover the whole width of the tail. No. 2 is from 359º Squadriglia 154º Gruppo that carries the same camouflage scheme as No.1 except that the entire cowling is yellow and the spinner is red. there is also a broad white fuselage band halfway between the cockpit and tail. As with No.1, the white cross covers the whole width of the tail. No.3 is from 162º Squadriglia 161º which has medium grey lower surfaces and sand with green blotches on the upper wings and sand and green striped camouflage on the fuselage sides. This aircraft also carries the white fuselage band like No.2 and a red spinner and the white tail cross only covers the rudder portion. All paints used were Testor's ModelMaster enamels.