This Special Hobby 1/32 Fiat G.50bis was built for a SAMI review article in 2015 but it was never published.

The second set of photos is the same kit but with some small detail changes made to the kit, as well as being resprayed in one of my favourite Regia Aeronautica schemes... the 'lizard' scheme that FIAT also applied to the Cr.42 and G.55 prototype.

Kit: Fiat G.50bis

Manufacturer: Special Hobby

Type: New Tool

Scale 1/32

Parts: 77 injection moulded, 52 resin, 1 clear part, 31 etch, 2 film 

Marking options: 1 Luftwaffe, 2 Croatian

Although there has been a wide variety of releases of this aircraft in both 1/72 and 1/48 scale, all of varying quality, this is the first time the G.50 has been released as an 1/32 injection moulded kit. It should prove popular with anyone who has an interest in this Italian aircraft. Angelo Picardo has already written a very comprehensive build article of the ‘Regia Aeronautica’ 1/32 FIAT G.50 kit in SAMI’s April 2015 issue. This condensed article of the ‘Foreign Service’ release will only cover certain points not raised in Angelo’s otherwise excellent build.

All injection moulded sprues and most resin parts are common across all three boxings as SH have released a Finnish G.50 as well. Any parts not required are marked accordingly on the instruction sheet. For the Regia Aeronautica release, one item not provided was the dust filter carburettor intake but CMK have released an aftermarket item to cover this oversight. One aspect that might prove tricky for the more ham fisted modeller, such as myself, is the application of tiny resin bumps on the bis cowling. The bumps are very small so I’m sure it would have been quite possible to mould them as part of the injection moulded cowling parts. For this particular model only the smooth cowling was needed which comes as a relief! Amongst the various resin pieces is a spinner specifically for the Croatian G.50 which is the subject I chose for this review.

Another missed opportunity in this otherwise excellent model is to have separately moulded flap and aileron parts. The flaps have missing hinge detail and should have a deeper hinge line on the lower wing. Expert modellers should be able to modify the kit parts to give a more accurate appearance. They may even attempt to model the cockpit doors open to get a better view into the cockpit. The etch seat belt detail does look rather unrealistic but there are no known aftermarket fabric style seats to help improve this highly visible part.

With careful preparation of the well moulded parts, such as removal of any seam lines etc, it is perfectly possible to build this kit without any need for filler. The only area I needed a smidgeon of it was the join between the one piece lower wing and the base of the fuselage. With this kit having a conventional breakdown, I was able to use a favourite build method of mine which is to attach the upper wing parts to the fuselage before attaching the one piece lower wing. This gives me the chance to get a good clean join along the fillet line. The only other error I found in the kit are the stabilisers. The hinge line should be perpendicular to the aircraft centre line when viewed from above. If they are attached as moulded they will have a swept back appearance. It is easy to modify and correct.

I chose to depict the Croatian G.50 with the overpainted camouflage. I used a combination of Xtracrylix and Vallejo paints. The spinner spiral was done by hand and the patchy topcoat appearance was done freehand, following the full colour instructions as closely as I could. The decals were easy to apply, the distinctive Croatian markings making a welcome change from the norm.

In summary, I was so pleased to see this aircraft make its first appearance in 1/32 as an injection moulded kit and it did does disappoint, being an accurate and easy to assemble kit with sufficiently well detailed parts to make it a satisfying build. Areas where it could have been even better would be to have separately moulded flap parts & cockpit doors and less reliance on resin for some of the smaller parts, such as those tiny resin cowling bumps.