1:35 Beretta MAB 38 A

The Beretta MAB 38 A submachine gun in 1:35 scale

This set of small resin weapons from the brand Royal Model will complete Italian figures and the equipment inside vehicles. The castings capture the shapes that usually get lost on ordinary plastic parts: the ribbed cooling jacket of the barrel, the front sight, the shape of the magazine and the profile of the wooden stock.

A weapon even opponents valued

The Moschetto Automatico Beretta, that is the Beretta automatic carbine, came out of a design by Tullio Marengoni in 1938 and became known for its accuracy and its reliability in dust. It had two triggers, the front one for single shots and the rear one for bursts, and a wooden stock that made it behave more like a carbine than like a usual submachine gun. Italian units used it in Africa, in the Balkans and at home; after 1943 German formations reached for captured examples, and the weapon went on being made in altered versions long after the war.

Working with tiny castings

The small parts are fragile, so cut the gates off under a magnifier with a sharp blade and level the remains with a fine file. A piece of double-sided tape on a stick makes holding them easier while painting. Suggest the metal with a dark graphite tone with the edges lightly polished, and build the wood from a brown base toward a brightened pattern of growth rings. Add the sling from a thin strip of foil or from lead foil.

Where the set fits

• with Italian figures in 1:35 scale
• in interiors and on the fenders of vehicles as equipment
• with dioramas from the fighting in the Mediterranean
• for replacing coarse plastic weapons from a kit

The set is unpainted; paints and glue are not enclosed.