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!

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/);

AUTOBLINDA AB41 1/72 ITALERI Model Kit Armoured Car Panzerspähwagen AB41 201(i) nº7051

Welcome to my first review of 1/72 vehicle, the Autoblinda AB41 of Italeri.

Let´s go on with the subject then;

BOX ART >> A nice realistic illustration, which correctly depicts the vehicle. It could be more sensational, but it's ok. The rear of the box is very useful, as it gives three camouflage schemes, something that is very appreciated and will save long hours in search of something more exciting than the typical camo.

THE KIT - 9.5 >>

There is not much to say, it is just and plainly exact and perfect. Everything fits, there is no problems, no errors. This has a great merit, as it is a vehicle with many angles, there are many possibilities of some plate that doesn't fit, but no, everything has been well done and you will not need putty to fill cracks nor anything like it.

The final sensation is of museum-like perfection. The only small thing you could complain about is that maybe the cannon is too fine, but you could also say that other companies make  the cannons too big for 1/72.

EXTRAS - 2.0 >>

You don't get many really, just four cans of petrol. No man, no little diorama, no boxes, nothing. It would have been nice to have included the driver in the illustration, but well, nothing can be perfect.

POSSIBILITIES - 7.0 >>

You have a couple of nice possibilities for this kit besides the most typical ones, not many but interesting all the same. The first is camouflaging it for the Germans (as they named it, Spahpanzerwagen 501), and there is more than one camo. The other option is to make some other italian camo with green like the one showed below.

PRICE/VALUE RATIO - 7.5 >>

It can be found for a moderate 10 GBP on eBay. I was lucky to find it on retail for 7-8 €. 

HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE - 7.0 >>

"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"

Only 550 were made, but all saw active combat, and it was the most common armed car in the Italian army, so it has quite good historical importance. The germans made a further 120 as Panzerspahwagen AB41, which shows that it was a useful vehicle. Probably the most important armed car that wasn't made yet in 1/72.

WARGAMING - 8.0 >>

It is approved with the "Alzo Zero" label as suitable for wargaming, as lately with all Italeri kits. It is quite easy to build the model .Maybe the wargamer will not glue some of the more fine details to handle it more easily, and it will have a lot more detail than a die-cast or other ready made models. 

OVERALL - 9.0 >> 

Knowing it's importance, a such good quality kit for a reasonable price like it has, you just have to buy it. It is also very needed for wargaming, to represent the Italian armed cars. Italeri has done honour to their homeland and has given a very much needed representation of many Italian vehicles, which to this date had only existed in 1/35.

IMAGES OF FINISHED JOBS

Model kit made by myself.