telepatu Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 Last group build was so much fun, so I'll take the plunge again and dip my toes into the water 😛 As first entry I selected the small motor boat from Italeri, M.T.M. Barchino. These small modified recreational motor boats were designed to be driven towards an enemy ship. The boat would break up upon collision with the target and the 300+ kg depth charge like device would sink under the ship and detonate a few meters under water. In May 1941 three MTMs managed to sneak into Suda Bay harbour in Crete and sink the cruiser HMS York and tanker Pericles. There is only one sprue, a small PE sheet and a reference manual in the box. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomber_County Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 Excellent, never seen one built…… 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landlubber Mike Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 Nice choice! Â Looking forward to this one! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 Terrific choice and I also have never seen this kit built before. Will be following 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlrwestSiR Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 Same here, this will be the first one I've seen done. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinM Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 A subject I have never heard/seen this should be interesting. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telepatu Posted January 4, 2023 Author Share Posted January 4, 2023 Basic structure built.Top seems to fit nicely, that's not glued yet. This is quite small even in 1:35 scale, Tamiya Extra thin posing next to it for scale. 12 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark31 Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 Will follow this intresting subjet. Â Mark 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 Very nice progress 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinM Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 Is small so in real life looking at the box cover maybe 15'? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telepatu Posted January 5, 2023 Author Share Posted January 5, 2023 9 hours ago, KevinM said: Is small so in real life looking at the box cover maybe 15'? Good eyestimation, the MTM is 5.6 meters long (~18 feet). 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telepatu Posted April 20, 2023 Author Share Posted April 20, 2023 I guess it's time for a small update. The next step was the tiny photoetched hinges on top the boat. I managed to lose at least two or three of of them while trying to glue them in place. Luckily, Italeri had provided plenty of spares. I almost gave up on them, but there they are, with unnecessarily large globs of glue.. Some priming to be done later. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted April 20, 2023 Share Posted April 20, 2023 Nice work on the hinges and a good thing Italeri provided extras.  2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telepatu Posted May 4, 2023 Author Share Posted May 4, 2023 The motor boat has been primed and it has gotten couple of layers of greyish paint on top as well. I was going to do some painting on the depth charge but I'm losing interest in this project. The internal parts are most likely going to be hidden anyway. Here is one picture of the driver's seat. The pe dashboard turned out quite nice just by painting it. The kit had decals, but they didn't provide much more detail in my opinion. Not much will be seen anyway once the driver's cabin is installed. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaS Posted May 11, 2023 Share Posted May 11, 2023 Looking good. Wonder if there are any Italian sailor figgies to go with it? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telepatu Posted May 30, 2023 Author Share Posted May 30, 2023 On 5/11/2023 at 3:52 AM, GazzaS said: Looking good. Wonder if there are any Italian sailor figgies to go with it? Sorry, somehow I missed your question. 😬 There is one "Luigi" in the box to stand proudly on the side of the boat. I would have liked to have a sitting driver inside the boat, but that'll do. Figure painting was a new thing for me. I have watched some youtube tutorials, but there's so much to learn 🥵 Black rubber suit doesn't make it any easier to make it less boring. I have pretty much finished the boat, I'll post some pictures of the finished model later. Br, Jani  4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted June 2, 2023 Share Posted June 2, 2023 Nice progress for sure and even a figure - looking good and 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telepatu Posted June 6, 2023 Author Share Posted June 6, 2023 Last progress pictures before "ready" pictures. The pilot's office is rather plain, but not much can be seen after the flotation device is attached c. This is a life raft for the pilot, the idea is to eject the cushion before impact. The driver would float on the surface and avoid the effects of the underwater explosion. Italians were not doing any kamikaze runs. The boat driver would most likely be captured, as the poor pilots early implementation of a SUP board doesn't even have a paddle. Of course, it would be quite a long paddle from Crete to Italy as an example. The driver figure is here for showing the scale. These were quite small boats. The 330 kg charge was quite effective in the attack on Souda Bay, Crete. Six small boats managed to damage the heavy cruiser HMS York and an oil tanker, Pericles. All six Italian sailors survived the attack, but were captured by the British. I was planning to paint the interior in more detail, but lost interest in the middle of the build. The top hatch and explosive remain unglued, so I have the option of returning to that part later. Br, Jani 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 Some mighty nice progress  1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telepatu Posted June 8, 2023 Author Share Posted June 8, 2023 I'm not entirely happy with the figure, but now it is time to move on to next builds. I'm not really happy with the weathering on the boat either. More pictures in the ready for inspection section soon. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinM Posted June 8, 2023 Share Posted June 8, 2023 I still find it quite interesting and a worthy subject matter and the weathering might actually be overdone seeing these probably were put to use rather quickly? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telepatu Posted June 10, 2023 Author Share Posted June 10, 2023 On 6/8/2023 at 10:58 PM, KevinM said: I still find it quite interesting and a worthy subject matter and the weathering might actually be overdone seeing these probably were put to use rather quickly? Yes, that was my thought as well. I don't know if they had separate training boats, which would have become dirtier during their lifetime. Some surviving specimen were rather dirty. I retrospect I should've done more weathering on the sides since the top is "greasy". 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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