Italian Tank Carro Armato "M13/40", 1/35 scale

 

This is one of my current builds in progress… an Italian Tank, Fiat Ansaldo, Carro Armato "M13/40", in 1/35 scale, made by Italaerei. It's a very old kit that I picked up at an estate sale about 15 years ago. I actually started the build back in March of 2015 and put it back in the box after some assembly, of which I have no recall on why I didn't finish it.

 

The Carro Armato M13/40 was an Italian World War II tank designed to replace the M11/39 in the Italian Army at the start of World War II. It was the primary tank used by the Italians throughout the war. The design was influenced by the British Vickers 6-Ton and was based on the modified chassis of the earlier M11/39. Production of the M11/39 was cut short in order to get the M13/40 into production. The name refers to "M" for Medio (medium) according to the Italian tank weight standards at the time, 13 tonnes was the scheduled weight and 1940 the initial year of production.

Which brings me back to today, in January 2024! My intention is to try and finish this for an IPMS show in March, which is possible, considering how much has been completed so far. Now that I'm retired, and I'm not totally bogged down and exhausted from a work-a-day life, I've slowly been decompressing and regaining my desires for my hobbies, model building being chief among them. As I looked through my stash, I could have dug out a fresh model, untouched, but upon seeing this oldie, figured it'd make a nice reentry vehicle! 

I've not decided what scheme to go with yet, but my initial gut reaction is a unit that fought in 1941 Greece. I'm coming to that conclusion based on having noted a picture of a tank from that timeframe and front which was darker in color, rather than the typical desert sand you normally see. It will be placed on my first-ever built diorama...I've been wanting to do one for years!

The pictures I'm about to post won't have much detailed descriptions, as the assembly thusfar was so long ago, but here we go!!!

This one started, as all armored models start, with the lower hull and cleaning up flash and pin marks.

 

 

And assembly of road wheels, sprockets, and suspensions...

 

Placed on the lower hull...

 

 

 

 

 

Compared to many German tanks, this small tankette has much less wheel assembly! Next up was the top hull plates and turret...

 

 

 

That's about as far as I got seven years ago! Onward we will go!