Thanks guys
Mark, your Baltimore turned out great. Brilliant work on that old kit.
Not that I know much about British aircraft markings, but it looks to me like the markings, especially the side rondels, were fairly diverse between aircraft on Malta. I think you did a great job of matching with the ones you used Mark.
Excellent job overall when you consider the old Frog kit was not a great kit to begin with. You have brought it out far better than I would have imagined possible. Cheers.
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Thanks guys, you’re really too kind. I stayed away from Frog kits for years cause I heard that they were terrible. Turns out they’re not all that different from Airfix, Hawk, Aurora, Revell or Monogram kits of the same vintage. No, they’re not the modern Tamiwaga wonder kits, but they’re decent if simplified representations of the plane. A lot of care, some strategic touch ups, a bunch of elbow grease and you can get a decent result.
LOLOL the photos show that most of my “Internet Research” was for naught. It looks like No. 69 Squadron didn’t have 2 letter codes while in Malta, just aircraft identifiers after the roundel. My source suggested N, B, D, and Z as squadron codes, looks like that was wrong. I went with D because my last name starts with a D. 
The front plane in the third picture has a strong resemblance to the plane on the Frog box and the one on the (missing) decal sheet. They had a plane number of FA469, the one in the photo might be FA463, almost got that right. I kept the FA469 in homage to the original kit. I snagged roundels and letters from Kits World. They only had 3 sizes of the fuselage roundel, a large one with a thin yellow ring, a small one with a thin yellow ring and the one I chose (goldilocks style) thick yellow ring cause it fit the best. 
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Very nice build, Mark. Sometimes it can be really satisfied creating a great result out of old school kits.
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Wow, that is a serious decal sheet. Did it come with the kit?
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It’s Xtradecals Battle of Malta set. This is the second sheet covering Axis subjects. Mostly 109’s, but also includes a Stuka, JU88, this one and a MC202.
The first sheet covers the RAF defenders. Mostly Spits and Hurricanes, a Blenheim, Beaufort and Beaufighter.
One of my goals is to do both sheets in their entirety. I did start a build log over the old site about it. Started one of the 109’s. Had a disaster airbrushing the yellow nose and it kinda fizzled out. If I’d started with something easier to paint, I think the project would have gotten more off the ground.
But, this Macchi has been a success so far, so off to a good start after all.
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Stephen, I love the plan!
I have a lot of those plans.
The most ambitious one being building one of each of the fighter types ever in service with the Royal Danish Air Force post WWI.
Another one of each aircraft from the falklands war. I could go on.
Actually this campaign actually saw me fulfill another plan: building the old Airfix Ark Royal from my childhood to a higher level. Very satisfied it got done 
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Cool, they sound interesting. You should do a build log. At least with a Falklands project, there aren’t many types involved.
A themed long term project is good to keep to keep coming back to I think. Half of the fun with this idea was sourcing some of the kits. Airfix’s new Beaufort plugged one gap and I’ve some Italian bombers to the pile. They were wacky looking things!
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Decals went down well. Xtradecal sheets always work well. Only used a little bit of Gunze Mr Mark Softener to help them. Nearly put the fasces on the wrong wings till I noticed they were the wrong way around. Luckily, I was able to switch them over before they set.
I also added some decals to the propellers from Kopro’s Italian logo sheet. Very nice little sheet. Has enough for about a dozen or more aircraft.
Bit tricky to get the camera on my phone to focus, but they do look good on the blades.
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Looks good, Stephen!
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Oh that is coming along magnificently. It really is a very striking aircraft painted this way.
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Thanks guys.
The cammo has definitely grown on me while working on it. Certainly won’t be the last Italian aircraft I build.
Hoping to get it finished up over the weekend.
Really nice, but WOW, that looked hard.
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Thanks Mark.
It wasn’t too difficult to do. I spent far longer fiddling with my airbrush in an attempt to spray fine enough to do it. All to no avail. Could probably airbrush the pattern on something larger though.
In the end I went old skool.
Slightly thinned light khaki, stippled with an old brush. The brown was Vallejo’s Modelair German armour red-brown used straight from the bottle. Thin enough to do the job. Didn’t really take long. The tricky bit was trying to follow the pattern on the instructions and profiles.
Close up, it’s obvious how it was painted, but at arms length, the colours do blend quite well.
A coat of matt and little weathering should improve it even more.
I’ve really enjoyed doing this one, went together without any trouble. Even scratch building the missing oil cooler and undercarriage doors were quick jobs that went well.
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Well gee that’s kinda disappointing, I was sure you used magic. 
I think I’ve tried one Italian mottled camo and one German dotted camo and neither looked good. Heck I even had trouble with the RAF desert camo on my Baltimore and that was pretty simple. so I see yours as outstanding.
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Thanks Mark,
Yours turned out fine. Nice looking aircraft.
I might try the same method on something else. I’ve usually stayed clear of Italian and a lot of Luftwaffe if I thought the mottle would be tricky. I think using acrylics helped. Before I used to use Humbrol enamels and the finish would always feel a bit ‘gritty’. These dried smooth and flat.
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And… Done.
So here she is, 1/72 Macchi MC200 Saetta of 81 Squadriglia, 6 Gruppo, 1 Stormo. Based Trapani-Milo, Sicily, December 1940.
Built from the 1/72 Hobby Boss kit, with decals from Xtradecals Battle of Malta sheet.
Been a fun campaign, great to see so many interesting subjects built.
And thanks for the extension.
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Looks awesome. Really love the paint job!
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