1:100 FIAT-SPA AS42 Sahariana with Breda da 47/32 AT Gun

FIAT-SPA AS42 Sahariana with the 47/32 gun in 1:100 scale (Zebranomodel)

A small collector model of the Italian AS42 Sahariana desert vehicle in the version with the 47 mm anti-tank gun. The 1:100 scale is at home on tabletop wargames and in larger dioramas, where the point is the whole picture of a battlefield rather than a single vehicle. The finished piece fits in the palm of your hand, and a whole collection in this scale takes up a fraction of a shelf.

The real subject

The AS42 Sahariana was created for the Italian long-range desert units in North Africa. The four-wheeled vehicle, derived from a truck chassis, carried fuel and water cans along its sides so that it could run for several days without resupply. The armament varied by version: the 20 mm Breda automatic cannon, a 20 mm anti-tank rifle, or a 47 mm gun as here. The Italian army received the first machines in the autumn of 1942 and a desert group first took them into action in November of the same year.

Building and painting tips

Cut the parts off a little away from the shape with a sharp blade and sand the remainder flush. Match the type of glue to the material of the parts: super glue holds on resin, cement for plastic on polystyrene. At a small scale the result is decided by color and shadow, not by the number of parts. After the base desert sand shade, run a dark wash through the recesses and bring out the edges by drybrushing. Pick out the cans and the tools on the sides in a different shade, otherwise the whole vehicle merges into one surface.

Who the model is for

• for players of tabletop wargames of the Second World War
• for collectors of Italian vehicles in a single scale
• for dioramas of the North African theater
• for modelers who want a short build with no demand on display space

The model is supplied unassembled and unpainted. Glue, paints and accessories are not included in the package, unless stated otherwise.