Well I went by a LHS earlier today and decided to pick one up. For under $20 it sounded like a great deal and a nice way to get a good size cruiser modle in to my collection. Upon getting it home and opening the box to examine the contents, I was pleasantly suprised. I think I will get my monies worth. But now, does anyone here know of any good sites they can recommend for WWII Italian ships reference?
Is this a “new tool” or is it the old Tauro kit re-boxed?
Thanks
The Tauro kit is 1/400, this one is 1/350. But, it is a repop of a Banner kit according to what I have seen elsewhere. One sleek looking cruiser.
I read about the last battle of this ship today, good stuff! She was even boarded by the Royal Navy prior to being finished off.
So, what color/shade of light gray did the Italian Navy use in early WWII? What company makes a good version of that shade?
Stikpusher:
When I built my Tauro Gorizia I used Tamiya’s IJN light grey in a spray can no. AS-2 and their AS-1 dark green for the lower part of the hull. I know they are Japanese colors but I liked the results. I believe WEM makes the exact colors but they are enamels which I try to only use acrylics when I air brush due to the smell (I paint inside). I know for some this maybe sacrilege but I reasoned that after exposure to the salt and the sun they were a pretty close match.
Michael Lacey
Thank you for the recommendations Michael. I am curious about the two different bottomside colors used by the Italian Navy. What is the story behind the green and red used? Is there anyway to know which one the Pola had at the time of the Battle of Cape Matapan? From the few period color photos I was able to find, the Italian Navy used a very light blue gray color- IJN gray may be just the ticket there. The White ensign colors are not found in any of the LHS around me, but I do have access to Testors, Humbrol, Polly Scale, Tamiya, Gunze, and Vallejo. Enamel or Acrylic does not matter to me, I work with both.
Stikpusher:
I did a little checking on the anti fouling color for the hull bottom. I’ve got a copy of Warships No. 23 with a color drawing of her in 1940. This shows a black boot strip and a red bottom. I looked on Model Warships . com and they have a section under cruisers entitled Calling all Zara , Pola fans. I read through this thread and the consensus was her bottom was probably red. The key appears to be where a ship was originally built. If it was at Trieste then the bottom was green. However like any ship it could have put in for repairs at other bases and been repainted red or start out red and end up green. It kind of comes down sometimes as to what color you like. I couldn’t really tell with the Gorizia so I did green as I liked the color. One thing appears pretty certain, these cruisers had natural teak decks from the stern to about a third of the way forward and the rest of the deck was a dark grey. From about the front main turrets to the bow, the deck was painted with diagonal red/white stripes to let the Italian air force know they were one of theirs. I’d suggest that you ask on Model Warships.com as they have some real experts over there. I’ve was wondering how do you like your kit? I was thinking of getting one. Anyway I hope I’ve been able to help.
Michael Lacey
Thanks again Michael. I can only attest to how it looks in the bos at this point, but overall I dolike the looks of it. Now mind you I have not built a ship kit in almost 30 years so my expereince there is mainly with all the larger kits of that era. The moldings look nice and the clean lines of the ship are well represented. I am sure a set of PE could really make this kit a real eye catcher with railings and cerainly being needed and hatches and ladders for the superstructure. I am suprised at how big this kit is being roughly 21" in length. For the price of under $20 that you can find it for, you certainly getyour money’s worth.
Are you sure it’s from HobbyBoss and not Mini Hobby? Hobby Boss’s kits are never that cheap. Under $20 for a 1:350 battleship is a deal. And the name of the ship is R.N. Pola, not RM Pola for sure. I know because I had one built in the past. You’re right about the PE upgrade, at least there should be PE railings:
That is from my all-ship page:
http://www.falconbbs.com/model38c.htm
In the same page you’ll find USS CV-2 Lexington Carrier, USS Los Angeles Class “Dallas” Submarines, USS Mobile Bay and IJN Destroyer type koh “Yukikaze”, all in the same scale (1:350).
Yes it is certainly Hobby Boss kit. I picked it up from a LHS a couple weks ago now. From what I have read it is a re issue of the Mini Hobby kit. And yes, it is most affordable. The RM was my doing as I did not know the Italian designation for a warship and used the initials for Regia Marine (sp?). Looking at yours MM I am getting some ideas for building mine… she is a sleek beautiful ship.
HI — the proper designation I believe is REGIA NAVALE . I think thats what the R.N. are supposed to mean . tankerbuilder
Thanks for your information, tankerbuilder. I also thought the “N” should be “Navy” but I don’t know how to spell it in Italian. I’d suggest stikpusher to use proper name, i.e., “R.N. Pola” when posting his finished work. I searched for this name the other day and found my own page of this very ship I showed here in the first page of Google.
It’s not a direct “clone”, but the Banner/Hobbyboss/Minihobby Pola is definitely a scaled-up copy of the Tauro 1/400 kit, the parts and sprue layout are virtually identical. Tauro actually produced all 4 of the Zara-class cruisers in this scale - I’m currently building their kit of Fiume which is quite different in appearance to Pola, with a tiered bridge incorporating the forward mast tripod, and a narrow forecastle deck. I built the Minihobby Pola a couple of years ago, this was before I’d really got the hang of PE and scratchbuilding details so I may try rebuilding it one day!
For their age, though, they’re quite good kits (as is the 1/350 Pola copy, though some of the details are slightly softer). And as far as I know, all of the Tauro kits more or less accurately represent the differences between the individual ships.
It’s a shame there isn’t a PE set for any of them - though you can use generic PE sets such as ladders, rails and hatches, there are numerous areas such as the RO.37 aircraft, ship’s boats, AA guns (which were Italian-designed 37mm and 20mm types) and the mast “starfish” which could benefit from a dedicated PE set. Maybe if the Hobbyboss kit remains in production and available at retail (I don’t think the original Banner/MHM issue was around for long) we might see one from the likes of GMM or WEM?
Having a specific pe set for Pola would be great! It would be better if the manufacturers would start offering more kits of Italian ships; they were absolutely beautiful. I used to have Tauro’s R.N. Zara in 1/400 scale and would love to have it in 1/350, as well as Conte di Cavour, Giulio Cesare, Littorrio, etc.
One can only dream!
Bill Morrison
I just bought the Reggia Navale POLA; I was inspired by the impending release of R.N. ROMA by Trumpeter. I would love to do it justice. Does anyone know if there is any kind of upgrade set for it yet? If not, what specific PE sets would be appropriate?
Bill Morrison
Though I already have the Mini Hobby’s Pola built and shown, I’ve just got the Hobby Boss’ Pola too. Couldn’t resist its price which is damn cheap, price including shipping from HK is only $18.68. Generic PE rails will be used. But the queue to be built is a long one.
I’ve got this kit. Looks pretty neat. My plan is to build oob except for the addition of photoetch rails from Gold Medal Models 1/350 extra railings set. And, I’ll be going with the paint guide included with the kit. Not sure if I’ll be 100% accurate or not - I just got the thing for a quick, cheap build.
One detail I’ve noticed not on the kit is that there is a bipod strut on both sides of the main superstructure leaning aft. It should be an easy scratchbuild. I’ve also seen a color diagram showing all four ZARA class cruisers painted green below the waterline.
Bill Morrison
I can find two sets specific for this kit, but both are for armament only- brass gun tubes from Aber and Master Models.
Now that my Graf Spee is nearing completion, and I have an idea of how to approach a ship kit better, I am looking at tackling this one soon. I am looking at generic railings and some other PE for this ship.
Thanks for the reply! I have the Master Models barrel set and have ordered the WEM railing set and water tight doors. But this model is screaming out for a dedicated detail set!
Bill