Reggiane Re.2000
Serie I or III

Classic Airframes

Classic Airframes' 1/48 scale Re.2000 is available online from Squadron.com

Reviewed by Lynn Ritger

Around noon today, I heard the familiar rumble of the mail truck, and wandered over to the front door to see what goodies the mailman brought today. What goodies indeed! Inside the box addressed to “El Casa Blanco” was the eagerly anticipated Classic Airframes Re2000. “Lunch be damned”, I thought, as I tore open the shipping box and pulled out the kit.

My first look at this kit reinforces the huge strides in overall quality made recently by Classic Airframes. In particular, the surface texture of the fuselage parts must be seen to be believed - delicately engraved panel lines over a silky smooth surface. The wing tree will be familiar to those who have built the previously released Re.2001 (kit 420), as will the major resin components of the cockpit with the exception of the instrument panel. The different colored wingtip lights from the Re2001 kit have been replaced with simple resin bits, and there is a profusion of other smaller resin bits which will need to be attached to the airframe.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

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One nice touch that leaps out immediately is the option to build either a Serie I aircraft with the transparencies extending aft past the cockpit, or a Serie III with the metal fairing behind the cockpit (see the Re2001 or an Mc202 for an example of this). Two vacuform canopies are provided, and they are fantastically clear with nary a ripple; a coat of Future will make these shine like a mirror.

Short of an Accurate Miniatures Dauntless or F3F, there can be few other kits which offer as many different marking options as this one - no less than SEVEN different aircraft are provided for on the two sheets of decals.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

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The set in the review sample are in absolutely perfect register (a claim which is not made lightly) and remarkably thin; from previous experience with the Re2001 kit, I can attest that these Superscale decals will adhere quite well to the surface, and will stand up to both movement on the surface as well as an application of Solvaset.

Getting into the kit itself, there will be few surprises in the course of construction; as is normal with a Classic Airframes kit, careful preparation will facilitate quick construction. A few notes about accuracy are in order:

• The wheels are provided on the common wing sprue, and hence are of the type fitted to the Re2001. I have provided a scan from a copy of the original factory manual for the Re2000 for comparison.

• The cockpit sidewalls are basic, but provide a good base for adding the myriad systems, piping, and so forth which is evident in the pictures provided below (again from the aforementioned manual)

• The wheel wells will benefit from some attention, and again a scan from the manual will prove to be helpful in this; the kit provides two featureless circular resin plugs for the wells proper, but the original item has a ribbed roof to the well. Also note that the circular well is the only area where internal structure of the wing would be visible…the area where the strut retracts should not be hollow as the strut fairings were merely attached to the wing skinning.

• Further details including instrument diagrams, weight/balance tables, and myriad factory elevations and cross sections will soon be available at http://reggiane.tripod.com

None of the above observations should in any way be considered detrimental to the value represented by Classic Airframes’ latest release- this is a fantastic model overall, and will reward the careful builder with an outstanding replica of this delightful aircraft.

For evidence of just how attractive this aircraft will be once built, have a look at John Valo’s Re.2000 build-up recently posted here on HyperScale.

The images below are taken from the manual of a Reggiane Re.2000. They may be helpful to the modeler who wishes to add extra detail to their Falco.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

Thanks to Classic Airframes for the review sample
and to Fred Hocker for providing the Re2000 manual