1 Divisione corazzata "M"

My first post for a very long time. Thought I catch up and post pictures of an old little diorama depicting a Pz IV serving the Italian unit 1 Divisione corazzata "M" during exercises in 1943. The "M" stands for Mussolini. It was a Black Shirt armoured unit equipped with German AFVs (Pz IV, Pz III, Stug III). It never saw any combat as a unit and didn't oppose the overthrow of Mussolini in July 1943.

The tank is the old Esci/Italeri with some minor improvements (on the turret and the driver's hatch). The Italian tank crew figures are made by Waterloo 1815.

How would the Italians have performed if they had been equipped with better tanks and other heavy equippent from the start?

Americans over there!

So here it is, the completed ABM 42 diorama. It's a scene from Sicily 1943, with a camionettisti unit having some minor problems. I imagine they are passed by another Italian unit. The vehicle commander is pointing to in which direction the american forces are.

ABM 42 finally ready painted!

I've had this Italeri ABM 42 painted in base colour more than a year but not until now have I finished it. Finally! It was fun to paint and since it hasn't got any roof you can see inside the vehicle for a change!(compared to a tank that's almost always closed for view inside)

I painted it as a vehicle belonging to 113a Compagnia Arditi Camionettisti in the Italian Army, Sicily 1943. The driver is made by Waterloo 1815, from their set with Italian tank and vehicle crews.

 

I'm not that used to paint desert camouflage but I'm satisfied with the result. I've also tried to imitate the look when paint is scraped off from areas that are frequently walked and touched on by the crew, exposing the bare metal under the paint.

A desert Ferrari packing guns!

And here comes the rest of the crew, also from Waterloo 1815. The commander in the middle is from the figure set X MAS ("deci mas", not "christmas"!) and the two others are from the Folgore paratroops light artillery set. I've changed heads on the two seated/lying figs, so they got the bustina cap instead of a paratroopers helmet.

And finally the base on which I plan to put them when it's finished.