this is, of course, the old Italeri kit re-boxed. It dates from the late 1970s, but is one of their very best armour kits ever. In fact, it puts a lot of recent Japanese 1/35 armour to shame, especially when you take the price differential into account.
What impresses you most is the quality of the moulds. The fit of most major components, especially the suspension arms, is so good that you don’t really need glue. The running gear can be made to work, and actually does! Other working features include the bow and commander’s machine guns, the commander’s hatch and the rear deck gun clamp.
Another feature is an insert for the engine bay, which includes all the basic detail you need. You only have to dress it up with piping and wiring for it to look really stunning.
I won’t say too much more, becuse it’s destined to be the subject of a review (not in FSM) but I’d say - if you see it, and the subject interests you, buy it. Piccies follow. the model was totally OOB except for the commander’s M2, which is from the Academy 1/35 US Machine Gun set.
Just saw this one, Chris–I loved this tank, I built one like, 20 years ago. It was a great build then, and it holds up fine today. You did it proud for sure!
I had this model when it was still in an Italeri box. I am a big fan og Pershings and Pattons so that when this model arrive in our hobby shop I got one of the first kits. It is really a great kit and I agree with you that it is comparable to presernt kits. I think Dragon patterned their M46 and Tamya’s T26 from this kit.In fact Dragon has an engine exactly like Italeri’s.
I painted/ weathered the tracks by assembling/ painting them on the vehicle. After a base coat of Humbrol enamel matt black (for the whole vehicle) I first gave them a couple of dilute hand-brushed coats of Citadel acrylic Codex Grey, and then picked out the track pads (internal and external) with Humbrol acrylic Extra Dark Sea Grey (the tyres are Citadel acrylic Shadow Grey).
I then gave the whole track, inside and out, an overall wash of diluted Citadel chestnut ink, repeated once, to add grime and depth. Then, at the very end of the build, I dusted on some tan shades of Conte Crayon powder.
I didn’t add any more weathering, because my memory of having seen these things in Germany in the 1960s as a kid was that the Bundeswehr kept them very clean. At the time, the Bundeswehr was not especially popular with the West German people as a whole, and tended to keep to barracks a lot of the time.
that transmission is the same basic CD850 as used in everything from the M46 to the M60 tanks. It’s painted before it leaves the factory a very thick (almost rubbery) gloss white paint. Even the bolt heads are painted. The hoses and wireing harnesses are a very dark grey/black. We’ve gotten back many units for upgrades and rebuild from Germany in the past, and they were always still that same gloss white.
Useful info, Gary. I was just using a bit of artistic licence, plus choosing colour for maximum contrast within what was reasonably likely, given that it would be dark inside the engine bay, even with the hatches open. The engine bay photo has been heavily pushed to bring out detail which is difficult to see on the real thing.
Thaks for that, Matt. As it was, a certain amount of Photoshopping took place, but all I did was to bring out what was essentially there more effectively. The base colour isn’t actually OD, but Gelboliv RAL6014, which is effectively the Federal German equivalent of OD, and their standard military vehicle colour well into the 1970s, when they started to adopt the standard NATO 3-tone camo. Some of their stuff is still painted this colour. Many of the bridges carried by their Biber bridge-laying tanks, for example.
Over a base coat of Humbrol matt black, I sprayed first Humbrol 66 (their dark version of OD), then Revell 42 (Gelboliv), then Humbrol 86 (Olive Green) and 142 (Field Drab - now, annoyingly, discontinued). Three coats of Future followed, followed by decalling and another coat of Future, and then a burned umber pin wash over recessed detail.
Three coats of Humbrol Mattcote were followed by a light dusting of light brown, olive green, and tan Conte Crayon dust, which I find holds highlights better than standard dry-brushing with acrylics.
Chris, wanted to add an extra “thank you and kudos” for all the extra technical and construction information you added (not OD, I stand corrected, learned something new!). A great build and mini-lesson, all rolled up in one! Cheers mate
Thanks again guys. I don’t really think I did anything all that special. It’s a classic example of “it helps when you’re cooking with good ingredients”. The real kudos should go to Italeri’s designers and mould-makers back in 1979.
Next up will be a Hobbyboss 1/72 Leopold railway gun, and a Revell Germany 1/72 Biber bridge-laying tank - with maybe a couple of Hummers to cross the bridge.
It’s kind of funny how they paint the cases. All the others that use a “cross drive” are painted white. The only oddball is the X1100 used in the M1 tank and the X300 used in APC’s. That paint is so thick that it’s hard to sand blast it off a surface! If my memory is right I think the CD850 uses the same TX automatic transmission fluid that the M1 tank uses, so oil stains will have a reddish tint to them.
Hi! I liked your post and pictures so much that I picked up this kit at my LHS this AM. Really nice job on the build and paint. I agree that it is a very nice kit except for maybe the tracks - kind of stiff. One question I have though, does anyone make US Army decals for this version of the Patton? I’d like to make mine a US version. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
I especially like the third and fourth pictures the best.