This kit was built for a SAMI review article in 2015.

Manufacturer: Sword 

Product Number: SW72086

Scale: 1/72

Make: Reggiane RE.2002bis ‘ultimo’

Type: Limited run Injection moulded

Status New Tool

Panel Lines: Recessed

Parts: 53 Plastic 3 Clear

This is the fifth 1/72 Reggiane kit to be released by Sword, the others being the RE.2005, 2 versions of the RE.2001 and the RE.2002. This kit is essentially the RE.2002 with additional fuselage parts to build the ‘ultimo’ variant. The main modification was the lowered thrust line of the radial engine, together with a close fitting cowling, presumably to allow the pilot a better forward view. This is the only RE.2002bis ‘ultimo’ kit that I know of.

Cleanly moulded in the now familiar glossy blue-grey plastic, this is a fine looking model albeit in a rather flimsy end opening box, with accurate outline shape and nicely rendered panel details. It is only the smaller parts that give away its limited run nature.

Swords folded A4 instructions will be familiar to anyone who has purchased kits from Czech based companies, with hand drawn exploded style diagrams that are easy to follow. There is one exception. There are parts for two types of carb intakes, but the instructions only describe how to apply the shortened style used for the Luftwaffe aircraft. It is not clear if the Italian prototype used the same one or was fitted the original longer intake seen on the original RE.2002 and depicted in the kit diagrams. The aircraft profiles in the instructions are also based on the original RE.2002 so do not show the altered engine thrust line or revised cowling shape which adds to the confusion.

With the rather small cockpit opening, it is not worth spending too much time working on the cockpit, whose detail is more than adequate. It is only let down by having a rather over scale seat. The only area that need some care during assembly was to get a smooth join between the separately moulded cowling section and the fuselage. As with all kits with a conventional breakdown I always glue the top wing parts in place first after closing the fuselage. This ensures a strong clean join to the wing fillet and neatly avoids any filling and loss of detail. The one one piece lower wing can then be glued in place. Once all main joints have been cleaned up and all main components glued in place, the undercarriage was also installed, leaving just the wheels off until the camouflage painting stage was completed.

I used acrylic paints throughout the build, using a combination of Citadel and Xtracrylix brands. The decals had a extremely thin varnish which meant I lost some of the stencil decals during application, so take care!

This is a neat addition to Swords fine range of 1/72 Reggaine kits and helps to complete the set. It is now possible to build all the Reggianes in this scale, using all of the Sword models, Special Hobby’s RE.2000 variants and even RS Models RE.2006!