The Scania 3-series is a truck model range introduced in 1987 by Swedish truck manufacturer Scania. It is the successor of the 2-series. The 3 series came in a range of different engine sizes and horsepower from 9.0 liter 230 horsepower all the way up to 14 liters V8 500 horsepower engine. Production of the 3-series was stopped after the 4-series were introduced in 1997.
The Scania R143 is generally considered to be the best European tractor unit of its time. It is affectionately honored by truck enthusiasts and has an unwavering reputation as a reliable and groundbreaking workhorse.
- Highly detailed plastic parts molded in blue, gray, black and clear
- Chrome parts
- Waterslide decals
- Illustrated instructions
- Scale: 1/24
- Length: 9.52″ (242mm)
- Skill level: 3
- Kit # 3910
- MSRP: $74.99
- Street Price: $46.99
Presenting the recently released Italeri 1/24 Scania 143M Topline 4×2 truck Italeri 3910. This is the end result of 20+ hours of work. I did allot 15 hours of build time for this model kit submitted by our friends over at Hobbico. Unfortunately, the way I visualized ahead of time this build was not possible.
There are fitting problems around this model kit and parts are not clearly presented on the instructions as to where they should exactly go or its orientation. Right on Step 2, there is a part that isn’t identified and I had to go through the sprues to locate it. That part is actually 17C.
There is a very thin flash around the major parts that if not cleaned -I did with a medium-coarse sanding stick- will become more obvious after a coat of the base color. The chassis parts have a thick mold line in some areas more than others. This is within what I call normal for any automotive model kit parts so some scrapping with an old Exacto blade is due. There is a lot of dry tests fit to do before committing your part or sub-assemblies to cement. That’s the major reason why this kit took over 6 hours over my allotted time to build it.
I painted all cab sides separate, added decals and then put the whole cab together. BTW, I did use Tamiya TS-44 Brilliant Blue as the base color. The front nose of the truck was sealed with Tamiya TS-13 Clear but once again it proved to be a little ‘hot’ on the decals. I have been experiencing this with the last auto model builds. For the rest of the cab sides, I switched to ye olde Testors Glosscote. The chassis was painted using Tamiya XF-7 Flat Red sealed with a coat of Testors Dullcote. I found the decal set of great quality, well printed and the clear carrier in the proper thickness.
There will be some leftover parts for your spare box or kitbashing needs. At that size, the engine makes a nice canvas for super detailing. The roof of the cab not necessarily needs to be cemented in place. It can be opened to reveal the interior of the cab. I plan on adding further details like seat belts and other truck stop goodies inside. I wish the front visor would have been molded in clear so I could use Tamiya Smoke color to tint it. Unfortunately is does come molded in blue.
The 1/24 Italeri Scania 143M Topline 4×2 truck model kit took more time to build than I anticipated. But I wouldn’t hesitate to build another one. It requires some heavy elbow grease to build but that’s what this hobby is all about.
Highly Recommended!
My sincere thanks to Hobbico for this review sample.
