I knew Tamiya did a kit of this subject (Italian tank M13/40) in 1/35, but I didn’t know Italeri did one also, back in the 70s. I got mine by accident in a goofy eBay trade (worked out well for both parties, but I got this oddball Italian kit).
So it’s been a fun little build, except that the old rubber-band tracks disintegrated on me. Cool, though - good excuse to go with Friuls, which ended up looking purdy!
So pics are on the way. But meanwhile, I was wondering if any of you fellow treadheads know anything about this kit? Is it the same one as the Tamiya? Also, anyone know who makes markings for it (most of the kit decals shattered)?
Thanks~
Jerry
The Italeri kit is way superior to the Tamiya kit of the same tank. It is better detailed and more complete. Model Victoria makes a superb set of resin individual track links for this kit that snap together. It is set #4034 and RCR makes detail and update sets for it as well.
Jerry - Great job on the M13/40! You should read “Iron Hulls and Iron Hearts” an excellent read about the Italian armor in North Africa. Here’s a review on Missng Lynx. I just re-read it. It is interesting that when the German troops were corsetted with the Italian units it wasn’t to stop the Italians from running, it was to be able to help the Italians with the better German heavy weapons. The Italian war machine did a belly flop into the sand on what equipment they gave to their troops. Consider also that the Italian expeition force to Russia was stronger than their forces in North Africa and many infantrymen never fired a shot until the time of battle.
http://missing-lynx.com/reviews/axis/ironhulls_fdesisto.html
Rob - Do you have a reliable source for the Model Victoria sets? I have the set for the Semovente but buying off of Evil Bay is not what I call reliable.
Mike T.
I do not recall where I got the RCR items from, but I think I got my Model Victoria stuff from Blast Models http://www.blast-models.com/
Cool - Thanks for the info, guys!
Rob, it is a pretty good kit. Excellent fit and pretty good detail, especially for its age. I’m doing the Friul tracks already, and still looking for markings. Although, to be honest, it looks just fine with the markings I was able to salvage from the kit.
I hadn’t really had any interest in this area of armor study, until I ended up with this kit.
I’ll post some pics within a few days. Still have to complete one of the tracks, and then after a few minor treaks it’ll be ready.
Thanks!
~Jerry
Jerry;
The best Italian armor markings that I have seen so far are the ones for Model Victoria. I bought them off of Evil Bay.
Rob, Blast only had a small portion of the Model Victoria line available. Here’s MV’s home page
http://www.modelvictoria.it/en.htm
Pacific Coast Models has the RCR items including markings listed on their catalogue. That looks like a large set of markings, but I haven’t seen the set up close.
http://www.pacmodels.com/index.shtml
Mike T.
Get that camera working! I want to see this kit.
Grant