1:72 Reggiane 2000

An Italian fighter that served mostly in foreign colors

The Reggiane Re.2000 flew in 1939 as an all-metal cantilever low-wing monoplane with a radial engine and with an agility that made an impression on the Italy of the day. Even so, the Regia Aeronautica showed little interest in it and the machines went for export: in Hungary they flew under the name Heja, in Sweden they received the designation J 20 and patrolled over the north of Europe. The striking feature is the deep fuselage with an elliptical wing, which is why the aircraft is often mistaken in photographs for American designs of the same period. Not many photographs have survived, so a model of this type is a welcome change at shows.

A divided cover and its boundaries

The cockpit has a divided cover with distinct ribs. The film is applied to the individual panels, pressed against the frames, and the paint is then laid on regardless of where the boundary runs. Anyone who has tried this step once rarely goes back to trimming strips of tape with tweezers under a magnifier, because the saving in time for the same result is noticeable.

• 1:72 scale, the Special Hobby kit
• Aimed at the clear areas of the cockpit
• No decals; the set serves for spraying
• Suitable for matte and gloss lacquers
• The parts are lifted off once the last coat has dried

Italian aircraft are often sprayed in multicolored mottled camouflage, and a masked cockpit makes it possible to spray the whole fuselage at once. The mottles can then be carried smoothly across the whole spine without having to break them off to protect the glazing.