The Pacific Coast Models offering is a limited-run, multimedia kit, comprised of resin, photo etch and injected molded parts. Parts were produced by MPM, with Eduard doing the photo etch and Cartograph the decals. Two vacuform canopies are provided. The main parts of the airframe (wings, fuselage and landing gear parts) are injection-molded, and have nice engraved lines. As in most limited run kits, the plastic is somewhat soft, but I found it easy to work with as far as gluing and sanding. The photo etch set has engraved relief, and the decals are beautiful, offering four different color schemes with matched references to Humbrol, Tamiya, Gunze and Molak paints. The paint data also gives FS595B color standards. The instructions come in three parts- the main build instructions with tree layouts and history; a second sheet for installation of the photo etch parts and lastly, full color side and top profiles of the four schemes offered.

Work started with the cockpit and here there are several options. The resin parts are very well cast and the entire cockpit can be done from resin. Looking at the PE set from Eduard, there are also parts from this that can be used including the instrument panel with film backing, various levers and wheels. Since I like PE, I used it all and it built up into a very nice cockpit.

Before the fuselage can be closed, the engine attachment frame must be assembled and attached to the firewall. You can tell that a lot of time was put into this part of the kit (1 resin and 6 injection molded pieces) as it is very visible through the wheel well once the plane is complete. Care needs to be taken with the resin part, which is very dainty and could break easily (but mine didn’t – go figure!). Once this was built and attached to the firewall, the resin tail wheel strut needed to be cut from its backing and installed before the fuselage halves could be closed. The strut is very petite. I installed it but was very concerned about breaking it off during sanding (which I did). With a little fiddling around, the fuselage halves were closed and fit decently. I attached the bottom wing and then the tops and am happy to report the fit was good. I had to do some test fitting and sanding but not that much and only used filler on the bottom fuselage seam. I also added the remaining tail parts with out a difficulty.

The only difficulty with the main part of the airframe was when I attempted to install the support for the gear doors, which is a 4-part photo etch piece that fits across the opening in the wheel wells. I could not get it to fit in either angle or size and ended up using the injection-molded part that is also included. I think this is one of the nicest features about this kit is the option to use one of several kinds of one part (resin, PE or plastic).

While the glue was drying, I turned my attention to the engine and cowling. The engine consists of a resin crankcase and 14 cylinders (but there is an extra which is very nice). Eduard also provides a PE wiring harness. This built up nicely and I then started on the cowling. This was cast in one piece, and is one of the nicest resin pieces I have ever seen and. It was cut free of its casting plug and sanded. Both the engine and the cowling were primed and painted and set aside to be installed at the end of the build. Before you paint the cowling, you’ll need to decide on a color scheme. I chose 169-5 of the 169^th Squadriglia, 16^th Gruppo, 54^th Stormo that had a copper and yellow cowling, overall green with tan and red-brown spots. More on this later.

At this point, I like to finish the undercarriage and all the small bits that will be added on later. The landing gear struts are basic and need a bit of cleaning up. They are enhanced with either resin or PE details. I chose the resin spacers and the PE compression links. While the kit includes molded wheels, the resin wheels are really nice and I elected to use them. I also prepped and painted the gear doors, the retraction struts and the resin door closers. No problems here, just a little patience as some of the parts are small and delicate.

Once the airframe was filled, sanded, re-scribed and washed, I gave it a the bottom a coat of Pactra Italian gray then masked the bottom and applied a topside coat of Pactra Italian Dark Green. Then  I broke out the double-action airbrush to do the spotted camouflage. I thinned Pactra Italian Sand 70/30 and lowered the pressure to 15 psi. I was still getting a little spatter so I added 3-4 drops of Glosscote to the paint the spitting stopped. The key issues to making the brown spots from my perspective are two things I continually need to do. First is to practice off the kit until I get something I like. The second and more difficult part is to be patient. If I start getting cross-eyed or tired, I stop and finish later. I followed the same procedure with red-brown and painted inside the sand color. Once done, I let things dry and gloss coated the model with Floquil Clear.

The decals went on perfectly with no silvering and only a little of the setting solution being used. The decals really pop out well on this model. I over coated with gloss, used some wash on the panels lines, and then flat coated the kit. I followed this with some pastels and it was time to attach the miscellaneous parts which went on without a hitch. The only problem I encountered was one of my own making when I attached the gear door closers upside down primarily due to not reading directions closely. The engine and cowling were last and the model was finished.