German / Italian Topolino
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2022
- Messages
- 1,162
So thanks everyone for following along, appreciate the encouragement as I try to work through the HOWS of the crazy WHATS that I commited myself to building!
Next one will be straight OOB! (Any bets on how long that will last?)
locomotive
Member
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2025
- Messages
- 21
I have got to get me one of those wee saw blades! The damage I could cause with that!Sobering to think that I've got better surgical tools than they did in the trenches in WW1...
View attachment 140867
locomotive
Member
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2025
- Messages
- 21
That looks truly excellent. Well done that man.
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2022
- Messages
- 1,162
How to get ahead in the Regio Esercito
After trying a zillion positions all afternoon, shave a little here, twist a little there, put the steering wheel in so that he clears it, slope his butt so he's leaning outta the car, opening the door and pulling through his firearm...
Head is just too big!
Back to the tickle trunk, finally settle on bare head yelling, with his feathery helmet on the seat.
This head is from Hornet... they have a great selection.
Tomorrow I will fill some gaps, put creases back in clothes, sand and prime.
In case you are wondering why it took all afternoon:
I cut his right mid sole, ankle, knee, and drilled out his shorts.
The left leg rotated from the cut knee so he can put his weight down, and severed his hip to swing the leg out.
The torso is rotated a bit
Butt was reshaped so it contacts the seat in New position
Right arm was cut at wrist, elbow and shoulder and I must of played with that over an hour so that it cleared the steering wheel, looked relatively normal, and he could grasp his weapon.
Bored out his neck and shaped the new neck and head to be looking to his left,
Oh, and have the hand land in right spot on the door!
Enough for today!
After trying a zillion positions all afternoon, shave a little here, twist a little there, put the steering wheel in so that he clears it, slope his butt so he's leaning outta the car, opening the door and pulling through his firearm...
Head is just too big!
Back to the tickle trunk, finally settle on bare head yelling, with his feathery helmet on the seat.
This head is from Hornet... they have a great selection.
Tomorrow I will fill some gaps, put creases back in clothes, sand and prime.
In case you are wondering why it took all afternoon:
I cut his right mid sole, ankle, knee, and drilled out his shorts.
The left leg rotated from the cut knee so he can put his weight down, and severed his hip to swing the leg out.
The torso is rotated a bit
Butt was reshaped so it contacts the seat in New position
Right arm was cut at wrist, elbow and shoulder and I must of played with that over an hour so that it cleared the steering wheel, looked relatively normal, and he could grasp his weapon.
Bored out his neck and shaped the new neck and head to be looking to his left,
Oh, and have the hand land in right spot on the door!
Enough for today!
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2022
- Messages
- 1,162
When I started back into models, I didn't expect that I would spend as much time researching as building. Not so much that I'm looking for historical accuracy, more that I got drawn into the stories of the machines and the people that built and used them.
A case in point: while looking for accessories for my Italian vehicles and figures, there weren't that many kits available.
However, reading about the state of the Italian army in North Africa, I learned that they had the same problem: for the most part poorly trained, sparsely equipped with mostly inferior vehicles and weapons. They had numbers (in the hundreds of thousands + colonials), but often didn't have the trucks to effectively move them.
A lot of their equipment was from the interwar period, with a significant amount of WW1 gear!
Libya had been colonized by Italy from 1911...
So that knowledge led me to this:
Many articles are unusable, but a little digging pointed to several items that I can use.
Evviva!
Now I also know how to say Hurrah in Italian
A case in point: while looking for accessories for my Italian vehicles and figures, there weren't that many kits available.
However, reading about the state of the Italian army in North Africa, I learned that they had the same problem: for the most part poorly trained, sparsely equipped with mostly inferior vehicles and weapons. They had numbers (in the hundreds of thousands + colonials), but often didn't have the trucks to effectively move them.
A lot of their equipment was from the interwar period, with a significant amount of WW1 gear!
Libya had been colonized by Italy from 1911...
So that knowledge led me to this:
Many articles are unusable, but a little digging pointed to several items that I can use.
Evviva!
Now I also know how to say Hurrah in Italian
Jakko
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2024
- Messages
- 638
Vehicles, yes. Weapons, no, not really — the only poor weapon the Italians had was the Breda model 30 light machine gun. Everything else was at least on a par with that of their allies and opponents, or even of higher quality (Beretta model 38 SMGs for example).
Part of the problem appears to be the low opinion that both the Germans and the British had of the Italians, which appears to have been largely because the rank and file didn't feel much like fighting a war out in the desert for no obvious reasons.
Another reason for the bad reputation of Italian weapons of the war seems to be a misunderstanding of those weapons and their intended use. According to some modern historians, what was actually going on is that the Italian army was ahead of its time by recognising the uselessness of having rifles capable of hitting man-sized targets at a kilometre away. This is why they went to carbines as the main infantry weapon, many with fixed sights set for 200 m (off the top of my head) because that's a much more realistic combat range and it simplifies training a lot. Of course, then they went and fought a war in one of the few places in the world where having sights with markings out to 2 km may actually be useful …
Certainly if you're ever going to build the biplane from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 1:35 scale
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2022
- Messages
- 1,162
Yup.
I probably overstated my case, but my understanding is that because of the 'colonial' nature of their long occupation, they were not as prepared to fight a modern army when the need arose.
Good point about the quality of some of their firearms, if only the rank and file were all so equipped.
I read that in the conflict, the British and the Germans were impressed with their artillery units though.
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2022
- Messages
- 1,162
So I tried something...
Caledonia, your feets (goggles) too big!
I know I have goggles somewhere... no luck finding them.
So I tried paring down and thinning styrene tubing I had on the bench, a tad too big!
I guess I'll have to sculpt them outta putty.
His buddy in the car is wearing a kerchief over his face, so this guy should have something!
Caledonia, your feets (goggles) too big!
I know I have goggles somewhere... no luck finding them.
So I tried paring down and thinning styrene tubing I had on the bench, a tad too big!
I guess I'll have to sculpt them outta putty.
His buddy in the car is wearing a kerchief over his face, so this guy should have something!
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2022
- Messages
- 1,162
You bet! They are thin, so a bit delicate, but pretty aggressive. And the kerf so thin that it removes a minimum of material. The set I have came on a metal sprue, with a variety of blades. My favourite is double sided in a point, so really good when plunge cutting.
Eventually, I bought a set of inexpensive handles, so that the blades are always available, without the hassle of changing them out (tight fit).
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2022
- Messages
- 1,162
... so here he is, at first glance looking like a little boy sitting on the curb.
I like and dread this step, after primer goes on... in some sense all that rework of the pose, new body parts, sanding, filling and prepping get unified under a new skin of paint.
But the scary part (just like thinking you did a good job of taping and mudding drywall) is that the even coat of primer will highlight every bump, gap and rough detail that you missed!
So, more filling, scraping and sanding!
Oh, and the goggles?
I kept the ones that looked too big, sanded and bored, painted, and filled them with some of that tinted Kristal Klear... they still need some paint touch up to narrow the metal rims.
The real test will be when the figure is painted and we see how they look on it. I did find some rather boring ones on a remnant sprue after all, so that is the backup plan.
The angle of the eye cups conform to his rather narrow face, so that the lenses are on a similar plane. I may reduce the angle if that looks better on his face.
Cheers
I like and dread this step, after primer goes on... in some sense all that rework of the pose, new body parts, sanding, filling and prepping get unified under a new skin of paint.
But the scary part (just like thinking you did a good job of taping and mudding drywall) is that the even coat of primer will highlight every bump, gap and rough detail that you missed!
So, more filling, scraping and sanding!
Oh, and the goggles?
I kept the ones that looked too big, sanded and bored, painted, and filled them with some of that tinted Kristal Klear... they still need some paint touch up to narrow the metal rims.
The real test will be when the figure is painted and we see how they look on it. I did find some rather boring ones on a remnant sprue after all, so that is the backup plan.
The angle of the eye cups conform to his rather narrow face, so that the lenses are on a similar plane. I may reduce the angle if that looks better on his face.
Cheers
John Waller
New Member
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2024
- Messages
- 8
Looking great Brian, terrific details. Those Beretta MP 38/42s Jakko mentioned were very popular with German troops after the Armistice.
Here are some recent ebay images of Topolinos/Simcas in German service
Here are some recent ebay images of Topolinos/Simcas in German service
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2022
- Messages
- 1,162
Thanks John. This little mouse was supposed to be done in a few weeks... as usual, I got sucked into details - but loving it.
Great pics!
And interestingly, the vehicle shots illustrate one of the decisions I agonized over: bumpers or no? Well, you can see which way I went.
Cheers!
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2022
- Messages
- 1,162
So more filler, shaping and sanding, next a quick second go with primer.
Example of a lucky accident: I removed the nozzle from the plastic putty tube to clean it out, under running water. As it happens, even though I thought blowing air through would be sufficient, a bit of humidity was trapped and overnight, 'conditioned' the next bit of putty I used today.
It went on really well and flowed into the little crevices without being too thin.
Praise to the model gods!
Example of a lucky accident: I removed the nozzle from the plastic putty tube to clean it out, under running water. As it happens, even though I thought blowing air through would be sufficient, a bit of humidity was trapped and overnight, 'conditioned' the next bit of putty I used today.
It went on really well and flowed into the little crevices without being too thin.
Praise to the model gods!
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2022
- Messages
- 1,162
Ha! Just noticed the circled areas... I hadn't seen any prior evidence in photos when I had surmised that paint would have easily worn off chrome bits like the grill... made my day!
