Fiat G.50 bis (or bis/AS)

Secter / Pacific Coast Models

Reviewed by Steven Eisenman

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For all those modelers who have prowled ebay looking for the old Sector / Hasegawa Fiat G.50, and paid nearly USD$50.00 for it, your prowling days are over. But you must act quickly!

Pacific Coast Models has reissued the 1/48 scale Sector Fiat G.50 kit in limited numbers and enhanced the old plastic kit with lots of goodies. The box art is just great, having been done by Jerry Boucher, who has often posted his virtual models here at Hyperscale. http://www.btinternet.com/~jj_b/vaw/

For starters, there is now a complete cockpit in resin with detailed side walls and floor and a new seat. It also has resin cockpit access panels, with the little knob handle, that can be left down.

The original cowling was smooth and devoid of detail, but the resin replacement is highly detailed and is designed to accept the new exhaust and intake, also cast in resin.

There is a new fin and rudder cast separately in resin. The fabric surface is far superior to the original kit part. The problem here is that you are still left with the somewhat thick, and very flat looking horizontal stabilizers.

For the bomber version you get two under wing bomb racks and two bombs. The bombs are in three pieces, and great care will be needed cutting the tail fin ring free. As note, the resin appears brittle.

One of the big problems with the original kit is still there - the too shallow wheel wheels. You could do major surgery to deepen them, but in the end I am not sure it will be worth the trouble. But I am sure one or two HyperScalers will take the challenge.

The number of decal options is impressive. The kit comes with the Sky Model Decal set for the G.50. I believe that between the original Sector decals and the Sky decals there are markings for 25 different aircraft. However, all of them, but one, will be for Italian aircraft. The one is the Croatian Air Force with the bright red and white checkerboard crest on the wings and tail. The problem is that you do not know what markings would be appropriate for the fighter bomber version. It would have been helpful if Pacific Coast Models had put in a profile sheet showing the AS version aircraft. Looks like the Ali D'Italia monograph on the G.50 will be required reading. As a suggested alternative, Pacific Coast Models could post the information on their web site.

The other big user of the G.50 was the Finnish Air Force but no markings are supplied for a Finnish aircraft. Aeromaster at one time had a set, 48-144, to do four Finnish, three Italian and one Croatian Aircraft. Time to start asking around. The code designation for the Finnish machines was FA and you could probably do one from what you have in decal spares and other Finnish markings that are available.

The kit has three sets of instruction: One for the basic kit, one for the resin pieces and one for the photo-etched set.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

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For those modelers that want to add to their collection of World War Two Regia Aeronautica aircraft, this kit is a must, so act quickly. For those modelers who want something a little different, this also should be on their "to get" list.

Sample kit complement of Modeldad's Master Card.