Fiat G.91 has its roots in 1953 NATO competition for a light fighter bomber jet aircraft that would be used across many NATO member states. The design required a low cost and simple to operate aircraft, that could work from primitive airstrips and be reasonably armed. The first prototype’s maiden flight took place in August 1956 and the design was selected as the winner of the competition. Italian Air Force received its first aircraft in 1961, followed by West Germany in 1962 and Portugal in 1965. Portugal used them extensively in combat in Africa in Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and Angola. One G.91 was sent to Greece as evaluation aircraft and even though both Turkey and Greece were to receive 25 aircraft each, the deal never happened.

Italian Air Force operated G.91s until 1995, West Germany until 1982 while Portugal retired theirs in 1993. 756 aircraft were built between 1956 and 1977.

The kit

This was my first Meng aircraft build and since I’ve heard nice things about some of their other kits, this one left a lot to be desired. The cockpit is overly simplified and the ejection kit reminded me of 80s’ kits. Cockpit wasn’t much better. The fit was mostly OKish but the disappearing panel lines didn’t add anything to the pleasure of building this model. The good part is that the parts count is relatively low and once you sort out the chores, you’ve soon got a model ready for painting. I’ve used Xtradecal decals and they wanted to silver a bit, despite smooth surface and use of setting solutions. To round things up – it is far from being the best kit out there, but it is the best G.91 in 1:72 scale! So if you wanna have one in your collection, go for it.

The good:
– very nice subject
– decals appear to be good quality
– relatively low parts count

The bad:
– simplified cockpit
– disappearing panel lines
– no rivet details
– soft details in landing gear area
– decals don’t include regular AMI markings – just PAN

Link to the in-progress article: https://vvsmodelling.com/2026/08/03/meng-172-fiat-g-91r-1-gina-build-article/

Model Data
Company: Meng / DS-004
Scale: 1:72
Aftermarket: Xtraedcal X72175 Fiat G.91R, Sparkit MB Mk.4 ejection seat

Paints used: Mr.Paint
Camouflage: MRP-040 Gunship Grey FS36118, MRP-101 Dark Green, MRP-077 NATO Black
Metallics: MRP-008 Duraluminium, MRP-147 Burnt Iron
Other: MRP-004 White, MRP-173 Tyre-Rubber