1:100 Semovente da 75/18 Italian SPG

The best Italian combat vehicle of the war

The Semovente da 75/18 came about from a simple line of thought: take the chassis of a medium tank, remove the turret and build a howitzer of 75 mm caliber into a low armored superstructure. The designation after the slash gives the barrel length in multiples of the caliber, that is eighteen. The short barrel did not give a high muzzle velocity, but on the other hand it fitted into the vehicle along with a sufficient supply of ammunition.

The shaped charge changes the rules

The paradox of this weapon lay in the fact that against armored targets it was more effective than Italian tanks with anti-tank guns. That was made possible by high-explosive ammunition with a shaped charge, whose penetration does not depend on the speed of the projectile in flight. The low silhouette moreover helped the vehicle in defense, where it could be dug in almost up to the roof.

Service and building

The vehicles first appeared in North Africa and accompanied Italian formations until Italy left the war, after which part of them were taken over by the German side. The chassis changed gradually according to which medium tank was coming off the production line at the time.

A model of this size builds mainly on the outline, which is unmistakable thanks to the sloped front wall. A desert scheme with a sand base and brown patches stands out well if the edges are lightened and the joints between the armor plates are underlined with a dark wash. The vehicle also looks good in a position dug into a firing emplacement, with only the top edge of the superstructure and the gun muzzle showing above the ground, which at the same time shows plainly where the advantage of the low silhouette lay.