Fiat 508 Coloniale Todt Organization Italeri 1:35 model kit

 Just realized I still had this to post! the Fiat 508 Coloniale. A lovely little kit, quite easy to build yet rewarding, of a unusual subject. Thankfully, the back of the box gave you very good options, one of them a tree leaf camo that was wonderful. I very carefully executed it, handbrushing it took a good few sessions! if only all the boxes had such good choice of versions, I wouldn't have any unpainted kit in my collection. I took the extra step of printing Todt Organization flags, to add them, as I thought it fitting, as the poles looked weird without holding anything!

Review; Italeri 1:72 Cannone da 149/40 with crew nº6165 (Italian Heavy Gun Waterloo 1815) Wargames approved

Today we review a combined set of infantry of artillery, the Cannone 149/40. Let's see what it can offer to us.

    The Box 

 I didn't know that this kit was originally made by Waterloo 1815, until some time after. The artwork is correct, but it makes look the cannon smaller than what really is.

The artwork is quite good, depicts what it should, and gives a good sensation of Italian colonial era. Could be a bit better but it does the job. The box is quite gigantic for such a small kit, which I always don't like (it makes me feel ripped off!).

 The Kit 

I am usually in favour of fast assembly kits, being my basic interest wargaming, (although I also enjoy building anything), but this fast assembly was made too fast. It is at level that you don't need glue nor any kind of previous knowledge, easier than a Lego building set.

The main criticisms for this is that the cannon move up nor down, which usually is the minimum feature you ask for in a gun. Is not just that, but the wheels also cannot be made to turn, and they are fixed in the firing position. With good painting you can get a good realistic result, but nearly everything is moulded together and can look a solid block instead of a intricate piece of machinery.

You get a one box and two bunches of projectiles too.

 The Figures

The figures are expressive and quite nice, very finely moulded, where you can see all the detail, but again we have problems. Their dimensions! they measure all of them 1,95 metres at the least! they look huge and gigantic along other, proper 1/72 figures. They even look tall along other Italeri modern figures, which are already big. The other criticism they might be a bit static, as only two men are actually doing something besides standing there. No wonder why the Italians lost the war, if they were so static as this set suggests!

On the positive side, you get a good quantity of men, a very generous one, and the figures are full of expression, you can see clearly all their faces.The commander giving orders is very expressive and well made.

   The Verdict

There is no kit alternative to this gun and men, and it is a interesting subject, not one which we are tired to see everywhere, so my veredict, is even considering their problems and limitations, is that they should be bought and built! they are made to please the wargamer, but the modeller can also improve the kit. The crew will be useful to man other artillery, although they will possibly look strange along smaller figures or artillery, so very careful distribution will have to be planned.

My version

There wasn't much to choose, I was thinking at first that it also participated in the war in plain green, (and I even painted it like that at first) but I couldn't find any reference, and all the same then the crew wouldn't have been accurate, so I repainted it in sand colours. To make something, I painted the crew green as wearing the early uniform.

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Italeri AUTOCANNONE 3 RO with 90/53 AA Gun Lancia 3Ro + Italian Artillery Crew 1:72 Alzo Zero Wargames Approved nº7508 Italian Army truck with cannonAq

Today we make a very complete review, one that is a model kit and at the same time a set of soldiers, the Italeri Autocannone 3 RO.

 A quite impressive and big box, with the yellow round so you know it's not the typical Italeri kit. The artwork itself is a bit dull, and it almost shows the troops more than the vehicle itself. But the subject is too interesting to get distracted by the box.

THE KIT -7.5 >>

Being a fast assembly kit the score is a 7.5. I quite like fast assembly kits, as normally I don't see the reason to make a cab into 23 pieces when you can do it in one or two. Modellers that want further detail can add them buying a special resin set or improving with photoetched and plasticard. 

One of the curiosities of this set is that inside the box there are two sorts of plastic; hard plastic for the truck and semi-soft for the crew and the barrel of the cannon (presumably to avoid breakage). 

The kit itself is basic and of easy assembly, nearly not requiring any glue, but still with good detail. You really get a better result than with some old model kits still reissued today. 

One of the bad points is the lights, which should be round and are blended with mudfaces, and don't even detail with them, which sticks out quite a lot because the other things, even if made in few pieces, still have very nice detail.

The other issue is the dimensions. It is made to fit nicely with the figures, but these are a very large Italeri type.

The resulting kit is very sturdy and ideal for wargaming. With some improvements and dedication, can also become a first class model too.

I would have liked, however, to be able to fold up the feet, to make the vehicle into a moving position. But I understand that would have required many extra pieces, so it will be left to the expert modeller with lots of free time, to cut, sand and create.

EXTRAS - 8.5 >>

8 crew is a good extra really. Maybe some ammunition boxes or something like that would be welcome, but it is something you will have to provide looking in your box of spares.

Now we'll speak about the crew;

Sculpting - 8.0;

Nicely done, with a lot of detail and absolutely no flash. The projectiles are blended with the bodies, but it's not too important. 

These figures will not look too good along other 1/72 figures, like Caesar, and not very well either with Italeri's reissues of Esci sets.

Historical accuracy- 10.0;

Completely perfect, everything is right.

Funness - 5.0;

The other thing is the funness. These are absolutely official, completely and perfectly geared up as soldiers. I think it would have been nice to see some loaders bare chested, men without helmet , more casually dressed, or with the tropical one that was commonly used, like in here;

But I suppose it's not too important as Italeri does another artillery set where the crew are all wearing  these helmets, the Italeri 149/40 artillery.

POSSIBILITIES - 4.0 >>

Green or sandy, that's the question here. This vehicle was used until the 1970s, but it wouldn't have changed nearly anything.

So the possibilities here are doing a tanker version, 

PRICE/VALUE RATIO - 4.0 (eBay) 7.0 (Retail) >>

It is surprising that some Italeri models are nearly just not to be found on eBay. I found only one example, which at 12,00 € + 9 € shipping is very expensive in my opinion. In  I bought it retail  for 12 €, which is fair, considering is a big and bulky model of a lesser known vehicle with 8 crew. 

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HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE - 3.5 >>

"The historical importance score is determined by how many were built, and how much operational service they had, and how much influence they had on the conflicts they were involved in"

Just 150 were built, so it is not a Sherman in production terms. But nevertheless all of them did fight and were in the end destroyed, and there are plenty of wartime photographs. As with a lot of Italian vehicles, they were produced in small quantities but saw a lot of operational use. 

You can find out more here; http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/90/53_su_Lancia_3Ro

WARGAMING - 10.0 >>

This is one of the few model kits made especially for wargaming, as stated in the box. Easy assembly, good results, sturdy build. A 10.

OVERALL - 8.8 >> 

Italeri has made a great choice giving us a model never made before which still had it's share of operational importance, and is nice and powerfully looking such as this one. Thanks to Italeri we can at last represent the Italian Army decently, which without Italeri would be completely impossible, besides buying overpriced resin kits. 

In one phrase; At last a new and interesting vehicle for this period.

IMAGES OF FINISHED JOBS  (click on the pics to see them bigger)

Model kit made by myself.

Thanks to José Manuel Chasco, I can show you another great way of building this model (pics taken from this review; http://www.1-72depot.com/miniatures/1-72/scale-models/italeri-172-7508-autocannone-3-ro/);