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Italeri 1/35 Fiat 508 CM Coloniale

By Brian Medina

Overview

The Fiat 508 CM was a lightweight, 2 wheel drive vehicle used by German and Italian troops in WWII, almost exclusively in the desert environments of North Africa. The 508 line was originally developed in the private sector in the late 1930's and later developed as a platform on which several variants were produced for use in military service during the war.

The 508's powerplant was an 1100cc in-line four cylinder capable of producing up to 32hp. The "Coloniale" version of the 508 was adapted to avoid ingress of sand and sinking in soft terrain. While generally used for HQ operations and transporting officers, this adapted version was also well equipped with it's larger tires and reliable engine to also be used for advanced recon duties.

The Kit

Italeri's "100% New Mould" 508 CM, kit No. 6497, consists of 98 parts on two gray sprues. You'll find them bagged together in the side opening box along with a small decal sheet, instructions, and an ultra thin sheet of acetate with precision cut windows for the build instead of the standard injection molded clear pieces.

The moldings are generally crisp and clean with little flash here and there. However I think there are a few too many parts with excessive attachment points and/or points that are too big (ex. radiator fan). The plastic is a bit soft, mold seam lines are not too bad, but do seem a hair on the larger than normal side. Ejection pin marks are very minimal and in nearly all cases are in hidden areas.

There is an issue with some sink marks on all four doors. The manner in which Italeri designed the doors - complete door interior and exterior in one piece - means the large map pockets on the interior sides create sink marks on the exterior of the door. One fix would of course be to correct this by way of filling and sanding them smooth, but I chose to go ahead use the blemish to my advantage and enhance the effect instead (more on that in the build review).

Instructions are grayscale, in a 3-D CAD format, broken down into 14 steps with a few substeps within those. There are four options for markings in this kit, with color profiles of each scheme located on the rear of the box. Color callouts are given in both Model Master and Italeri acrylic paint colors.

Steps 1 though 4 involve getting the frame and attached components together. These include the engine with radiatior, intake/exhaust pipes, fan, belts & pulleys, front and rear suspension and driveshaft.  To finish with the frame work in step four, the wheel halves are put together. If you're a modeler who likes your vehicles to roll, you'll need to be sure to place the inner half of the wheel on the axle first, then glue the retainer on the axle, then glue the outer wheel to inner wheel. Alternatively, you can forget the retainer and just glue the wheel halves together, leaving the wheels/tires off until after painting and weathering.  The tires are nicely detailed with tread and "Fiat" hubcaps, however without careful fitting and glueing, seam sanding will likely destroy much of the tread detail.

The next two steps are where the interior is built up. There's enough knobs, switches, and levers included in the interior that no further detailing is necessary, but there's plenty of opportunity for superdetailing here as well.

The last seven steps build up the body and all the "fiddly" bits that go on it. Construction of the body of this vehicle is done in an interesting way. The base of the body is molded in one piece and spans bumper to bumper and includes the front fenders. The side body panels are one piece, also bumper to bumper length, and have both interior and exterior details on them as well as the inner and outer wheel wells.

The front section of the passenger compartment is another separate piece, consisting of the dash board, windshield frame, and firewall, complete with some details molded on for the engine bay. Finish off the body by attaching the rear panel to the two side panels and base. Italeri did mold the driver side door seperate, so the modeler can choose to pose the door open to show off interior detail work or glue it in the closed position. The hood was also molded in left and right halves and the option is there to have the left side open to show engine detail.

The canvas roof on is made up of four sections, a top, a rear, and two side panels (door windows). All but the top section require installation of the clear acetate windows before final assembly. It appears with a little minor surgery, a modeler could also vary the roof in a number of ways such as no side windows, or no roof and side windows at all.

Conclusion

This is an interesting subject with a modest parts count. I think this kit could be just the ticket for those looking for a quick, easy build. It could also be the subject of a superdetailed build perhaps included in a diorama. Either way, this kit appears to have the makings of an enjoyable build leaving the modeler with this unique, often overlooked subject of Staff vehicles. One thing I think this model is lacking is some stowage and/or tools. But I suppose thats what the spares box is for.

While still appealing to the veteran modelers, this model would probably also be a great first model or first "armor" model for those looking to expand their modeling horizons,

Thanks to MRC and Internet Modeler for the opportunity to review this kit. Watch for my build review of this kit coming soon to the pages of Internet Modeler.