Monday 26 November 2012

M14/41 Compagnia Carri

The Italians are coming...in their little tanks! Well I've been hard at work trying to paint the first batch of models from my newly acquired collections of 1:300th scale models. I'm still waiting for a few other purchases to arrive so I decided to have a go at some Italian tanks first. This is the HQ and first two platoons of M14/41 tanks from an Italian Compagnia Carri (Tank Company). I need to buy a few more of these to bring this company up to three platoons but in the meantime these will get me started.




The M14/41 was a slightly improved version of the earlier Fiat M13/40 with a more powerful diesel engine. It had a limited production run as it was already considered obsolete by the time it entered service. Despite the upgrade the M14/41 was unreliable, cramped, and caught fire easily but and was only really suitable for recon missions.

12 comments:

  1. These look nice, shame they will be little bonfires in the sand.

    You really did a great job on the basing and labeling, add's a lot to the finished models

    Ian

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    1. Thanks for the thumbs up. I've changed the labels slightly so the first coloured box contains a letter corresponding to the type of unit it is (ie A for Armour, HQ for commanders etc). The idea is that I can more easily mix and match units without having to change the labels.

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  2. Molto bueno. Nice work Lee and I'm very happy you've got the 6mm bug.

    A note of caution though. You do know that Italian tanks were armoured with essentially tin cans welded together. Against anything with a decent gun on it (6 pounders for example) these have the expected lifespan of a chocolate button in a microwave.

    I'd hide them behind something more robust (like a camel) until the last possible moment.

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    1. Oh yeh, these are cannon fodder for sure. I've read some hair raising reports about the predecessor (the M13/40) which had armoured plates bolted to a frame. One good hit from a HE shell could cause the rivets/bolts to break and the plates to drop off like a clowns car at the circus!!

      I think the Italians often get a bad press but frankly it would take a brave man to climb into one of these piddly little tin cans and face the enemy.

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  3. Just be sure to bring the marshmallows.

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  4. Great miniatures Lee, and it takes a brave wargamer to even contemplate Italians in the desert. Couple of quick questions - what size are the bases you are using and from who....and i'd love a detail of how you have done the labels.

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    1. These are mdf versions of the FOW small bases (25x32mm) from Warbases.co.uk

      I wrote about how I did the base labels a while back, check out this link.

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    2. Sorry I actually meant what did you print them in? Word/Excel and what sort of printer.

      thanks,

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    3. Ah right... I made them in Excel using the font Tahoma 12pt Text size. I didn't define the print area but just set the page to 35% normal size (on A4 plain paper) although you may have to experiment a little until you get the size right for your purposes. I printed these on my work printer (shocker!) which is a Ricoh Laser-jet but I have also used my home printer (a HP Laser-jet) for other labels. I glue them in place with PVA and when dry give them a coat of varnish to seal them in place.

      Hope that helps.

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  5. Hah, little to say about my own country pitiful history of aroured vehicles.
    Suffice to say that some infantry units were forced to adopt a homemade AT device called "Boma Passaglia" (Passaglia bomb) which was a lunch can filled with explosive, using a frag grenade as fuse. They were unreliable and totally Dangerous...for the user.

    Little we have learned it seems. Ariete C4 is still a wannabe leaopard 2A4, and any comparison with Leo 2 A6 and abrams is impietous....

    At least on the airforce side things are brighter :D

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