Part 1: First Look

MSRP: $45 Italeri's new Autoblinda AB 40 armored car in 1/35 scale follows the Italian firm's announcement of the mark's later versions, the AB 41 and 43. The AB 40 was the prewar design with a turret that supported two machine guns instead of the later version's single 2cm gun. These armored cars saw service in the Italian and German armies. Italeri has chosen to depict the AB 40 in its' railroad configuration. In the mid-90's Dragon produced several armored train cars that continue to show up at model shows, often medaling. If you are looking for an attention getting subject or just a chance to build something without tracks this is a kit to consider. The strength of the euro against the dollar has increased the US prices of European kits, adding to the pressure Italeri has to offer more value in their kits. Some recent releases have included resin parts and research booklets to help justify the additional cost. The Autoblinda AB 40 doesn't include any of these goodies but is far from lacking in features. The Autoblinda 40 comes with rail road ties and rails molded separately. It's been pointed out by another reviewer the separate track components let you build a more realistic base then the toy like plastic railroad bases molded with ballast and tracks combined. Part of the fun will be choosing the proper ballast using kitty litter or your own preference. The kit comes with four tires for attachment to the armored car's recessed spares compartments on either side of the vehicle. You can model a road version of vehicle if you are willing to delete the rail guides and leave the spares recesses empty. Although one of my kit's rubber tires has a slight manufacturing defect it will be easily hidden during the build. Otherwise the tires are nicely modeled with manufacture's markings and no seams to remove, a real time saver. One nice feature is the packaging. This is the first Italeri kit I can remember opening that has clear plastic sleeves for the sprues. The model's box is a slim line design with box art that will help you in the kits assembly and finishing. That's important because I had trouble finding references for the AB 40. If one of your pet peeves is the marginal quality of many builds used for the photographs on the side of model boxes you will be impressed with these. Italeri's builder did a great job finishing the kit and the views of the finished model will be helpful during your build. The hull of the AB 40 is built up from separate panels instead of a molded box so some experience with this type of kit will be helpful for aligning the panels. For example four rib-like parts are used to connect the two sides of the hull. Slow setting glue should be used on the attachment points for the ribs to give you time to fit the front plates and insure the other hull parts are fit precisely. The bolts on the plate armor are not over scaled and are reasonably faithful to those in photographs I found in Chamberlain and Doyle's Encyclopedia of German Tanks of World War Two. The hull sprue appears to be the same one used for the AB 41 and 42 kits. My references said the later models had a wider superstructure to support the larger turret but I doubt that will create a problem for most armor modelers. Hatches have detail on both sides with injector pin marks that will be very easy to remove. There is no interior detail provided for the main compartment so you will have to scratchbuild it if you want to show the AFV with open doors. There is some interior detail for the turret but a figure posed in the open hatch is a better option. The parts are nicely molded in the light tan colored plastic similar to that used by Tamiya and a favorite of many armor builders. The kit has a full component of tools, searchlights and fiddly bits to add detail to the hull but not enough to make this a tedious or time-consuming build. The folded radio antenna was slightly distorted on the sprue and will be a challenge to remove so replacing it with brass rod will help. Markings are provided for two AB 40s in unnamed units in Yugoslavia, one Italian in 1942 and the other a confiscated machine in German service during 1944. The German markings provided are only four Balkenkreuz, while the Italian version offers some nicely rendered license plate style markings. A new challenge for some armor builders will be finishing the rail road wheels with a polished steel look. The kit also forces you to build a base which is helpful if you are going to handle your finished models or transport them to shows. Thanks to Italeri for the review kit of this fascinating and unique subject. Highly recommended.

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