Thursday, April 11, 2013

1:24 SCALE ITALERI CARGO TRAILER: MATCHES RECENT IVECO STRALIS TRACTOR KIT



Much of Europe’s freight is hauled by efficient highway haulers like the Italeri Iveco Stralis we reported on last week. And now here’s a matching semi-trailer from Italeri, designed to match that kit.


A key point of the 580mm (22.8in) long semi-trailer is that Italeri supplies decals for the Mon Jean (‘My John’) company of France, one of two liveries also supplied with the Iveco tractor kit. So if the two are used together, you’ll have a fine (and large) 1:24 scale rig, ready for the road.



Diorama possibility
Don't forget that Italeri also makes same-scale highway sections, providing plenty of opportunities to make big (really big) diorama displays. You can have a look at this here.



Father and son
The other decal scheme in the kit is for the somewhat funereal Dussol Pere et Fils design. Funereal or not, the markings will look good applied over glossy airbrushed black, even better when oversprayed with satin varnish and given just a little careful weathering, especially round the triple-axle roadwheel assembly.



About semi-trailers
The latest-generation semi-trailer featured in this kit is a typical Euro-haul standard-size container. The real thing has its own brakes and lights, with side impact protection built in. Normal loads top out at the 40-tonne mark, and there at a dozen or more independent trailer manufacturers, turning out a thousand-and-one custom variations for individual hauliers.

Components
It may be 'only' a trailer kit, but there are plenty of finely-moulded parts to assemble, making a result good enough for a standalone display piece. We'd recommend having a load on show in this case, either inside with the rear doors open, or even better, partly unloaded with a couple of 1:24 scale figures to give a sense of scale and set off the model well.
Summation
Nifty kit for truck fans; will look good behind the 1:24 scale Iveco Stralis kit, also by Italeri.

Italeri truck kits here and here.