For me, patriotism called for a "Regia Marina" (the navy, not the company) subject and trouble came along with it. Italian warships of World War Two are beautiful but tough subjects to build in every aspect. In the end, even if the model was not 100% complete, I felt like my patience was running out. The Delphis 1:700 scale Gorizia has been my first resin kit and the fascination that this media has had on me is such, that I have a hard time looking at plastic kits again.

Assembly
The Delphis instructions are vague in some steps, with part’s descriptions being slightly cryptic and one the whole, leaving a lot to the imagination or in my case, supplementary documentation and references. Mast and support rods for the decks on the superstructure are not provided. The supposed-to-be openings on the decks where these support rods pass through were barely open and misaligned. Drilling them out proved to be a thrilling experience. Many details have been scratch-built, using resin film left when the parts were removed. The flying bridge structure and some of the weapons were damaged during shipping. Gun barrels are cast integral with the turret, were slightly bent and needed a lot of sanding to achieve an acceptable shape as I didn't have the will to replace them.

The photo-etch used on Gorizia was a mix of Regia Marina, Gold Medal Models (figures and 1/700 Naval ships fret) and Flagship. The supports with the inverted "V" shapes along the main railings have been made with thin copper wire. In photos I have seen, these posts served as supports for biminis during particular situations and are present on almost any Regia Marina unit of the time.

Paint and Diorama
The camouflage has been airbrushed while the foc'sle aircraft recognition stripes were hand-painted, all using Model Master enamels. Weathering was done with Citadel colors inks (chestnut, brown and black) and oil colors were used for the wood deck. The airplane insignia and ship’s flag were hand painted. The dock is entirely scratch-built, using scribed Evergreen styrene sheets and beams. The two buildings and the crane are from Skywave. The water is a glass pane backed with a creased aluminum foil. Oil paints were used for the color and then coated with acrylic gloss varnish.

Two Japanese books published by Kaijinsha, whose covers are seen below, have been my main source of inspiration. The website Regia Marina Italiana (http://www.regiamarina.net) can be seen for more historical information on the Regia Marina.

Saluti,
Patrizio Carlucci
3darts.com

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