Isotta-Fraschini Armoured Car (1/50)

  • Next card project is this British armoured car that was built in 1915. The model is available as a free download from:


    Landships (Models)


    The Isotta-Fraschini was a light armoured car constructed on an Isotta-Fraschini car chassis in London. In 1914, there were concerns that Britain could be facing a German invasion and it was recognised that there were few, if any, armoured cars in Britain to support the cavalry. The armoured car was paid for by funds raised from the officers of the Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry, a territorial cavalry regiment, and was completed in 1915. It is believed to have only been used for training (and not sent overseas).


    The kit is by Alexander Bondar.

  • The main body, cut out and scored where required.....

    You can see where I've also cut out the observation holes and coloured the white edges. The separate panels are to be glued on the inside, as they represent sliding armoured plates.


    The printed access hatches are to be layered with separate panels and hinges.

  • I've been cutting out panels and hinges, which takes a while. This photo compares one component that I've edge-coloured (left) with one just cut out (right).....

    I've been doing the edges first with a light green marker pen, then going over them again with a brown pen. There is a little 'bleed-through', but I actually like that as it resembles better a weathered appearance.


    The print, itself, incorporates light weathering, but I will definitely be adding more.

  • Armoured rear wings......

    The two grey chassis horns will be glued to the inner side of the wings after the wings are glued to the bodywork.

  • Body shell assembly..... Slow work, I started glueing at the top and worked downwards.... The grey spreader plate was the final glueing.....

    I have also started adding weathering along join lines, simulating dirt and rust...

  • Wheels.... The spokes are double-thickness..... I found it easier to cut out the outer circles with curved scissors (the insides were cut out with a scalpel).....

    The green rim and grey tyre were curved on foam after cutting out the glue tabs and scoring.....

    Before glueing on the second half, it was used to trim the spoke lengths.....

    One assembled wheel, after colouring edges etc.

    I haven't yet glued on the hub.

    Three more to go.

  • I've completed the four road wheels. The printed front (bottom) and rear (top, shorter) axles are shown.... These are meant to be rolled up into tubes, but I opted to use thin wooden dowel that I coloured black.....

    The dowels are inserted through the body... The punched holes are a perfect fit.....

    To fix each wheel to the chassis, I made up some hubs from plastic tube. These are glued to the inner wheel and fit over the axles.....

    The hub caps are also shown. After the rear wheels are attached, the armour-plated wings are slotted over the axle, glued to the body, and the chassis horns attached.....

  • Wheels being attached to axles.....

    Looking at the front, it seems the turning circle would have been very big 😄


    I've also reinforced all the fragile joints with dilute PVA.

  • The varnish will be done tomorrow. In the meantime, I took a couple of low-light photos and the searchlight/headlamps pick up and reflect what little light there is.....

    I will call it COMPLETED at this stage and post further photos in the Gallery tomorrow (after varnishing).


    Thanks for the interest and thumbs up 😄👍🏻✂️