1:24 SCALE ITALERI CARGO TRAILER: MATCHES RECENT IVECO STRALIS TRACTOR KIT

Much of Europe’s freight is hauled by efficient highway haulers like the Italeri Iveco Stralis we reported on last week. And now here’s a matching semi-trailer from Italeri, designed to match that kit.


A key point of the 580mm (22.8in) long semi-trailer is that Italeri supplies decals for the Mon Jean (‘My John’) company of France, one of two liveries also supplied with the Iveco tractor kit. So if the two are used together, you’ll have a fine (and large) 1:24 scale rig, ready for the road.

Diorama possibility
Don't forget that Italeri also makes same-scale highway sections, providing plenty of opportunities to make big (really big) diorama displays. You can have a look at this here.

Father and son
The other decal scheme in the kit is for the somewhat funereal Dussol Pere et Fils design. Funereal or not, the markings will look good applied over glossy airbrushed black, even better when oversprayed with satin varnish and given just a little careful weathering, especially round the triple-axle roadwheel assembly.

About semi-trailers
The latest-generation semi-trailer featured in this kit is a typical Euro-haul standard-size container. The real thing has its own brakes and lights, with side impact protection built in. Normal loads top out at the 40-tonne mark, and there at a dozen or more independent trailer manufacturers, turning out a thousand-and-one custom variations for individual hauliers.

Components
It may be 'only' a trailer kit, but there are plenty of finely-moulded parts to assemble, making a result good enough for a standalone display piece. We'd recommend having a load on show in this case, either inside with the rear doors open, or even better, partly unloaded with a couple of 1:24 scale figures to give a sense of scale and set off the model well.

Summation
Nifty kit for truck fans; will look good behind the 1:24 scale Iveco Stralis kit, also by Italeri.

Italeri truck kits here and here.

INCOMING - HOT STUFF FROM ITALERI

There's a good variety of kits coming from Italeri this month, ranging from World War II AFVs to pan-Euro highway trucks.


First off is the German Sd.Kfz.251 Flammpanzerwagen flome-throwing half-track, a hold-in-your-hand sized model of this widely-used Wehrmacht AFV. The kit may well please aircraft modellers, as it's to 1:72 scale. Pleasingly, Italeri includes two figures.

To standard 1:35 military scale is the 'upgraded mould' Pz.Kpfw.VI Tiger 1 tank, a mid-war version from 1943.   Components for two versions are supplied, as are detailed tracks, decals for four tanks, and a photo-etch sheet.

This brand-new tool model car kit is really interesting, featuring the Fiat 508 Balilla, a popular Italian car produced in the 1930s. This Italeri version is the military 508CM Coloniale model, used by Mussolini's forces as a staff car. Italeri includes original Italian markings, and a set of iron crosses, suitable for the period when German forces ran Italy.

For diorama fans, Italeri has two useful accessory set, both to 1:72 scale. The Urban Accessories set would fit perfectly in a 1930s-40s period model, while the PSP Pierced Steel Planking set suits virtually any temporary airstrip setting. Both kits are new moulds.

Coming into the jet age, Italeri has a 1:48 scale upgrade kit of the Nesher/Dagger, based on the Dassault Mirage fighter-bomber. Decals are included for six variants, from Argentina and Belgium to France and Israel.

Staying in the mid-jet age era, here's a 1:72 scale model of Ed Heinemann's classic naval design, the A-4 Skyhawk. This is the humpback OA-4M two-seater, in US Marine Corps markings. The real thing was tiny - it didn't need folding wings aboard an aircraft carrier - and so is the model, with a wingspan of just 116mm (4.4in).

Down to earth, but up in scale is the 1:24 scale Scania Streamline 143H 10-wheel medium truck. Just one minor complaint here - the supplied decals and colour scheme are not wildly exciting, so there's plenty of scope to research something with a bit more oomph.

  

Plenty of Italeri stuff here, including the excellent new 1:72 scale Short Sunderland flying boat.

  

1:48 SCALE V-22 OSPREY FROM TAMIYA-ITALERI WITH OPERATIONAL MARKINGS

SMN REPORT
Here’s an interesting piece of transnational cooperation: Tamiya and Italeri in league to produce an operational standard V-22 Osprey with a unit marking decal set for Okinawa deployment.

The kit itself is nicely produced, full of light external detail, and to this largish scale, there is plenty to see inside the nose transparencies. These are moulded in crystal-clear plastic, so giving maximum opportunity for producing convincing flight deck detail, as your efforts will be highly visible to the outside world.

Decal set
The decal set is neatly produced, and is something of a conversation piece, as V-22 deployment to Okinawa in the Pacific has been fraught with difficulty. Plans last year were met with local opposition that threatened to shut down the US Marine Corps Futenma Air Station.

Opposition to the military
Supposedly about safety issues, opposition is more about objecting to any large presence on Okinawa island - the US military has been there since the 1945 Battle of Okinawa - so we’ll see how the story plays out.

Stowed for carrier storage
Meantime, the kit is highly satisfactory, though we’d like to see a fully-stowed option (below) with folded prop blades for the wing-engine combo. Meantime, it’s only a kit-bashing option, and something of a challenge at that, as the pic shows.

Summation
Neat version of an existing kit, in 1:48 scale, making it big enough to allow plenty of detailing options.

Present-issue V-22 Osprey kit available here; Japan deployment release available soon.

STOP THE TRAFFIC WITH THIS 1:24 SCALE ITALERI HIGHWAY

REPORT BY MAT IRVINE

Italeri is a kit company that besides making a wide variety of cars, trucks, ships, aircraft and military, also produces many accessory and diorama kits.

One brand-new release is this 1:24 scale ‘Guard rail and road section for display’, a diorama base intended for trucks or other road vehicles.

What’s in the box?

You get two identical runners, each with a section of road surface, guard rails and a STOP sign. Decals provide relevant highway markings, and each runner has 25 parts, so you get 50 in all, plus the decal sheet. The road sections are 229 mm (9 in) wide by 187 mm (7.4 in) long - so making up both gives you a display base nearly 380 mm (15 in) in length, plenty big enough for the average 1:24 scale truck. If you want to display a full-length tractor-trailer combo though, you'll best add a second kit to give it more space. As the box detail indicates, the kit is suitable for European and US trucks, but could be adapted easily to make it suitable for virtually any country.

Crash barrier

You can build the crash barriers ‘high’ or ‘low’, and build either version as a single section, or use both to double the length. You can also extend the road ad infinitum, though you have to buy additional kits for this. As Italeri puts it, ‘Modular kit. Buy additional boxes to extend your road.’

Left- or right-hand highway?

The kit is intended for countries that drive on the right, but for those that drive on the left, the kit can be converted by the simple expedient of reversing the whole lot left to right, while fixing the STOP sign and decal to the other end of the road. The octagonal sign will need swivelling 180 degrees, and a new hole drilled for its post, and instead of your model vehicle facing left, it will face to the right. 

Wide geographical choice

The fact that the kit’s STOP signs, on the pole and on the road, say just that - ‘STOP’ - is fortunate. Many countries use the same word, so the kit can represent virtually anywhere in Europe, North America and Australasia, though you’d have to hand-paint an ideogram for places like China or Iran. There’s an interesting selection of STOP signs here. 

Sign origin

Incidentally, the octagonal stop sign was a US invention, first used in 1915. Besides road junctions, it also appears on US school buses as a fold-out ‘flag’ to indicate traffic must come to a halt from either direction when children are getting on or off the bus.

Summation

A useful accessory kit that will set off a 1:24 scale truck very well indeed.

Thanks to The Hobby Company for the review kit.

Italeri trucks, trailers and accessory kits available here.

INCOMING - 1:72 SHORT SUNDERLAND FLYING BOAT FROM... NO, NOT AIRFIX, BUT ITALERI

SMN REPORT

This could be the 1:72 scale kit sensation of the year, and it’s about to land in the model stores anytime now. The Short Sunderland, nicknamed Fliegendes Stachelschwein (Flying Porcupine) by enemy aircrews for its defensive firepower, has been somewhat shortchanged in the kit department until now.

Good looking

We have high hopes for this latest production from Italeri, as the detail looks terrific, and it comes complete with such niceties as internal cockpit fittings and metal-etch components.

Airfix Sunderland

The old-stager Airfix kit has been around for many years, and in its day represented a high-water mark for large-scale kits. Of course, it’s still in production, but we have to say that it’s more than time that someone came up with something to raise the bar.

Well done Italeri

We’re looking forward to having a close look when it arrives. Meantime, congrats to Italeri for bringing the big flying boat to market. 

Old timer still on sale (above) forms centrepiece for this excellent diorama from The Society of Scale Modellers, Malta. 

Looking ahead

Now for the 2013 wish-list. How about really making us happy with a Short Mayo composite - the fabled piggyback flying boat-seaplane combination from the late 1930s? Yes please - IWOOT!  

Short Mayo composite (above) in 1938. 

Massive range of Italeri kits to view here.

SOFT-SKINS - THREE MILITARY VEHICLE KITS FROM ITALERI

REPORT BY MAT IRVINE:

Italy’s home-grown model company, Italeri, is one of those still producing a wide variety of kits. However, as is so often the case in the world of takeovers, it has over the years acquired virtually all its rivals in the country, including Protar and ESCI. These have greatly increased Italeri’s own vehicle catalogue, especially those from ESCI, and has led to a new kit trio ‘of mixed parentage’.

Unique to ESCI

ESCI had made a number of vehicles that were not made by anyone else in 1:24/5 scale, such as the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen, long wheelbase (LWB) Land Rover, and an early Toyota Land Cruiser four-wheel drive (4WD). In addition, ESCI made a series based on the Jeep CJ-7, though none were the classic CJ-2 military version, but this was one Italeri itself had made. 

Extra parts

Consequently, Italeri has issued three military soft-skinned vehicles from around the globe using both its own and ESCI tooling. These are a reissue of an Italeri original, the Willys Jeep, now supplied with an extra runner for a mounted M2 machine gun and associated paraphernalia. 

Land Rover

Next comes the Land Rover. ESCI originally did four versions of the LWB Land Rover. The civilian version was reviewed in Scale Model News but the company also made a military paratrooper-type version. This is now reissued ‘as is’ by Italeri, as it had already included the appropriate military equipment.

Toyota with new Armed Pick-Up body (in grey) and one from the ESCI Safari version (white). The Armed Pick-Up is actually an early Toyota Land Cruiser that started with ESCI.

Combo kit

The third release in this unofficial set of three is a combination kit, as it is based on the ESCI Toyota Land Cruiser. The basis is the ESCI kit, but Italeri has added a new runner for the machine gun. Though now it is called an ‘Armed Pick-Up’ and oddly, Toyota has not been credited. 

Styrene or vinyl?

The three kits show the slightly different approach ESCI had, compared to Italeri, when it came to vehicles. The Italeri Jeep has engine detail and opening hood, but all-styrene tyres. These are in two halves but separate to the wheels, making painting easier. ESCI however tended not to include separate engines - just the sump/oil pan underneath - but did include standard vinyl tyres. All three however, do include full under-chassis detail and four-wheel drive set-ups. 

The original ‘raw materials’  (above), the ESCI Land Rover 109 Paratroopers (top left), and one of its Toyota releases (bottom left). The Safari version is shown, as ESCI didn’t do a military version. At right, the original Italeri Jeep. 

Combat duties

With a continuing multitude of armed conflicts across the world, these types of vehicles are often pressed into skirmishes, and so the models are ideal for diorama possibilities. From my point of view, it is also nice to see such vehicles in 1:24/5 scale, instead of 1:35  ‘military scale.’ A few examples have appeared - MPC’s 1:25 Jeep, Hasegawa’s 1:24 Jeep and Kubelwagen, but it’s always nice to have more options. And if your views are more peaceful, well they can all be built ‘stock’, less the guns.

Assembled sizes

All three vehicles are moulded in a light grey plastic, with the Jeep having around 140 parts. When assembled it is 138 mm (5.4 in) long. The Land Rover has a similar component count of 140. It’s a little larger than the Jeep at 158 mm (6.2 in) long, while the Toyota has 90 parts and is 149 mm (5.9 in) long.

Change of names

Incidentally, Italeri has gone through three trading names in its lifetime. It started as ‘Aliplast’ in the early 1970s, but is only thought to have ever issued one kit under this name, as it soon moved on to ‘Italaerei’. Presumably this was thought to be too much of a tongue-twister, so the name was simplified to the current ‘Italeri’ by the 1980s.

Thanks to Italeri's UK importer and distributor The Hobby Company for the sample kits.

Plenty of Italeri Jeeps on view here.

ITALERI INCOMING - COUGAR HELICOPTER UPGRADE KIT

Italeri's 1:72 scale Eurocopter AS 532 Cougar helicopter kit has received an upgrade to the moulds, and a four-country super-decal sheet. This looks like a worthwhile job and the revamped kit should make a useful addition to the helo’s fan’s build-list.

Wide range of markings

You now get decals for four air arms, those of Sweden, France, Spain, and Thailand. And if you want to add more you can, because the Cougar - an upgrade of the Puma - has been a big success around the world, with a user base totalling some 40-odd countries.

Moulding quality

Detail on this upgrade kit is really well done, though there’s always room for more, especially at the relatively small 1:72 scale. The pic of the Turkish machine (below), used for combat search-and-rescue, gives an idea of just how much fine detail there is on the full-size helicopter. It's worth pointing out that there are no crew figures supplied, so if you like humans aboard your helicopters, you will have to supply your own. When assembled, the kit has a main rotor diameter of 226 mm (8.9 in) 

Summation

An upgrade that’s worth having for helicopter fans. The Cougar will be in stores soon, meantime there are more Italeri helicopter kits, including our favourites, the massive Sikorsky MH-53 Pave Low III and ‘Night Raid’ edition of the MH-60 Black Hawk. See them all here.

And plenty more Italeri kits here.

Four service markings supplied in the kit (above) and one of the many options (below), an AS 532 in Bulgarian service.

APRIL ITALERI - MARKING 30 YEARS SINCE THE FALKLANDS WAR

Yesterday’s 30th anniversary of the Argentina-UK conflict saw Italian kitmaker Italeri releasing models of some British aircraft used in that short but bloody conflict.

On offer from Italeri

A 1:72 scale double-kit sees the Westland Wessex UH.5 and Sea Harrier FRS.1 in the same box, and at just over 200 mm (7.9 in) long each, the two models are well matched in size. A second Harrier kit to 1:72 scale features the GR.3 variant, this design without the Sea Harrier’s raised cockpit. A second 1:72 scale Wessex is also available, the HAS.3, nicknamed the ‘Camel’ for its humpback dorsal radar fitting. This kit offers three sets of decal markings, the others just one.

 

Other types involved

There are plenty of other models relevant to the Falklands War, including the British Vulcan bomber and HMS Hermes aircraft carrier. However, we’d most like to see Argentine aircraft such as the Super Etendard, Mirage III, Skyhawk, Pukara, even British-supplied Canberra bombers.

French and Soviet deltas

Other jets on release this month include the blended-wing Dassault Mirage 2000 from the 1980s. The 1:72 scale kit comes in Italeri’s ‘My First Model Kit’ packaging, which means you get paints, cement and brushes, plus a set of useful modeller’s tools. There’s also a DVD video tutorial in the box.

Cold War warrior

The MiG-21 is to 1:48 scale and models one of the classic aircraft from the Cold War era. Four sets of markings are included, and the fuselage is a multi-piece assembly, unusual perhaps in what is not a particularly large model - when assembled, the Italeri MiG-21 measures 328 mm (12.9 in) long.

DIY jet

The MiG-21 was one of the most widely built jets ever, and many still fly today, with 44 in private hands in the US alone. Negotiating price for your own Soviet jet? Dig in your back pocket for around $450,000 USD... IWOOT!

More kits from Italeri in April

Other releases this month include two in 1:35 scale, a US Army M113 personnel carrier, and a ruined church window, suitable for dioramas. 

A further helicopter kit features the 1:72 scale ‘Night Raid’ Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk, while trucking fans get a nifty 1:24 scale DAF 2800 NTT eurohauler. A set of 1:72 scale Prussian Cuirassiers is for historical warfare enthusiasts, providing 17 cavalrymen and their horses. No assembly is needed, apart from sitting the men on their mounts - but you’ll need plenty of time for painting all those uniforms!

Falklands Harrier here.

More Italeri kits here.

Last but not least - Argentine Super Etendards, supplied by Dassault of France.