Reviewed by Rob Mackie |
The Attilio Regolo is available from Pacific Front at a cost of US $45. White Ensign Models in the UK also carries Regia Marina kits.
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Regia Marina, an
Italian resin caster, makes the Capitani Romani
class light cruiser Attilio Regolo.
Originally designed as "ocean scouts" or destroyer leaders, the three ships of
this class carried eight 5.3" guns and were capable of 40 knots. Protection was
sacrificed in the interest of speed and armament, and the float plane, deemed unnecessary
when the ships entered service in 1942, was deleted. The kit consists of 76 resin cast
parts. There is no white metal or etched brass. Casting quality is excellent. The hull is
an impressively complete casting reminiscent of B Resina, but with finer detail. The
stacks, deck structures, and most gun tubs are cast in situ. Molded-in detail abounds. There is a very clear exploded view drawing to guide you through construction. All parts are numbered and correspond to the parts list. The operational history is in Italian, but this is not a hindrance to construction. The aforementioned drawing is quite sufficient. The Attilio Regolo as built carried a pole mast which was replaced by a tripod in 1943. Resin pole and tripod legs are included. Use these as templates to fabricate brass rod replacements. This is an easy step, even for the beginner, and the model will look much better for the effort. The Attilio Regolo was painted in a complex four color dazzle scheme. The instructions show 3 variations as well as the appropriate Humbrol colours . Give careful thought to applying the scheme. You will probably want to paint prior to affixing fittings and guns. This is a high quality kit suitable for ship modelers new to 1/700 resin. Add brass railing and masts and you will have an exquisite addition to your collection. Highly Recommended. |
Watertight doors,
paravanes, hose reels, gun tub bracing, wavebreaks, anchor chains … they’re all
there on the hull casting. Building the Regolo consists of affixing the many small resin
guns and fittings. Unlike B Resina, Regia Marina excels at producing small parts. The
crane and rear bumpers are jewel-like and have a nice "in-scale" appearance.
There is very difficult to achieve with resin, but Regia Marina succeeds. The same can be
said for the other small parts. There is a minor amount of flash to be removed and one of
the gun directors had a large void, but other than these minor problems the kit was
flawless..