"Carta Armatura" Carro Armato P43 bis tank

In September 1943 Fiat and Ansaldo began development of a new "Heavy" tank design which could be comparable or better protected than the German Panther.

The result was the P 43 bis (an "improvement" on the existing but unproduced P43). The tank design featured heavily sloped armour (80-100mm), a 450 HP engine (possibly derived from the engine in the T34) and various main gun options ranging from the 90/42, the longer 90/53 and the larger calibre 105/23 guns. These designs never passed the wooden mock-up stage.

Last year Rubicon Models in cooperation with Heer46 brought out a model based on the plans.

Like the Krupp Steyr Waffenträger I bought last year, this is resin kit. The hatch for the turret is safely in the zip lock bag (and not shown).

The casting is smooth and required no work (I washed it with some scouring cream just in case).

Like the Waffenträger the parts go together easily. This has not been glued together (I will undercoat it before assembly).

The flat piece is the bottom of the vehicle.

The tank does not seem to have either a coaxial or hull machine gun. I might add an AA machine gun to the cupola.

For Weird War and Post 45 games, the plan is to assume that Fiat Ansaldo managed to actually build them in quantity and supplied them to German forces.

Rubicon Waffenträger - base coated

So I decided to try the Rubicon Waffenträger is a subdued splinter pattern, masked using masking tape.

Rubicon Waffenträger - Put together

The Rubicon Waffenträger is such a well moulded resin kit that it can be dry fitted together.

 The only part of this kit that is glued together is the rear part of the gun's breech.

Holes have been drilled in the rear hull plate and plastic rods added as formers for a tarpaulin.

A hole was also drilled to pin a Rubicon German Jerry Can on the rear hull plate.

Rubicon Waffenträger - Breech detailing

Though the interior of the Waffenträger turret is very small, I have started work on adding some details such as the guard protecting the gunner from the recoiling breech.

I positioned the separate spent round buffer then drilled the holes (the one in the trunnion parallel to the barrel much deeper than required) in the parts. I then bent a piece of 0.7mm brass rod into a right angle, the short end being slightly longer than the distance between the back of the trunnion and the hole in the spent round buffer. I could then assemble the three parts at once with Superglue. Once set, the long end of the rod was cut back to the bottom of the spent round buffer.

Once I have the mounting point assembled in the turret I can add the gun sight to the barrel assembly.

Rubicon Waffenträger - crew test

I was testing the crew figures from the Warlord Games SDKFZ 139 Marder III in the new resin Waffenträger.

The gunner is sitting in the turret in position.

I suspect it might interfere with the elevation of the gun.

Currently the bits are just in place, not glued.