Honey, I shrank the tank! Bronco CV3/33

[BarleyBop]

... just when you thought things couldn't get any smaller!




Meet the 'tankette': sounds like the name a piece of women's apparel!
But the Italians were serious about these, and produced many during the interwar period.
Seemed like a good idea at the time I suppose... and face it, who has the bigger cojones, a guy sitting in his King Tiger, or the guy shoe-horned into this thing?!

The build:

As per usual, I get sidetracked with the soon not be invisible.
But the engine and transmission do have a certain Italian flair! Built-in cyclotron!



... and mustn't forget our lunch boxes, ammo and field glasses




Dry fitting probably a good idea.
The driver required more than a little persuasion to get in there: shave a bit here, a bit there, move the legs into right position. Tuck in the elbows! Get that hand on the stick!





Get Buddy to sit up top! "I call shotgun!"



In researching the colours for this build, I was introduced to the pseudo legit world of 'official' camo specifications, and the many internet bun fights about colour.

A particularly interesting post I found with photographs of a museum vehicle made it all too clear how we can be led astray.
1. was it painted in the factory, or in the field
2. how long did those 'original' colours last before the environment, and in the case of my North African desert vehicles, the sun, alter those colours?
3. what else was applied in the field? everything from mud, and gasoline, to paint pilfered from opponents stores.
4. how many coats of paint have been applied in well meaning 'restorations' since then?
5. how accurate is a photo, a republished photo, a photo of a photo on a website on god knows what computer display?

Here is a photo of a museum example of a similar tankette, note the layers of paint: The light top one being added after the war...
Check out the link: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235111205-italian-afv-colours-ww2/



That's what I like about this hobby: no end of rat holes to go down as I while away my golden years!


Cheers!

 

[Andy the Sheep]

I don't want to be a niggler in giving unrequested advice (If so, I beg your pardon) and I'm not diving into the tank colour rabbit hole (any desert yellow will fit) but the Italian tankers overall was blue (as a reference think of the classic lightly washed indigo of the well known jeans brand with red and orange tabs) and not khaki.

 

[BarleyBop]

not khaki

Ya, good catch, you may be right about the tankette crews, (did they wear jumpsuits exclusively all the time?) but give the Italians more credit for fashion sense!

Other references, including the box art and painting guide, seem to indicate that the indigo was definitely the colour of the 'jumpsuit' style overalls, with other combinations including everything from khaki to leather, to the original grey blue of the Italian Esercito Regio and black of the facist 'Black Shirts' ( who were less than useful infantry only I believe)

One of the interesting parts in working on North Africa and the southern Med, is that the combatants seemed less concerned than us about wearing the appropriate uniform, it not being unusual to see Italian and German fellas in Bombay bloomers, or others donning a great coat if you found one, for the cold desert nights.



Or, maybe those two seated figures were the only two I could fit into the tankette!

Cheers!