Italeri is an Italian company that was Tamiya’s closest competitor until DML appeared on the scene. They launched their Allied products by acquiring a number of molds of Dodge vehicles and the M155mm "gun" from Peerless Max. They produce an M4A1 Sherman that has stood the test of time, and an M7 Priest that is always popular—when it’s between reissues and you can't find it!

This company is rather schizophrenic when it comes to marketing. In the 1980s Italeri had a licensing agreement with The Testor Corporation that allowed the latter to rebox Italeri kits under the Testors label. The Testors versions were distinguished by actual photos of the models on the box (Verlinden’s work appears on several) and better directions. These kits can still be found on hobby store shelves, sometimes at different prices than their Italeri counterparts.

Italeri also provided the lower hull and running gear for DML’s line of Sherman tanks in the 1990s. While Italeri acquired the molds of some Heller figure sets (“Allied Support Troops” among them), they sold off other figure and vehicle molds to the Russian company Zvezda, most notably the M3 White Scout Car and M1 57mm antitank gun. Recently, the European company Bilek has been producing Italeri’s Dodge vehicles under their own label.

Overall, Italeri’s AFV kits get mixed reviews from modelers. The most frequent criticisms center on lack of crispness in the details, missing details (the Dodge ambulance has no exterior door handles!) or dimensional problems. The company had the misfortune of coming out with its M8 and M20 armored cars on the heels of the Tamiya releases, and their best assets were lower list prices. Indeed, Italeri prices its kits a good 20-30% lower than similar AFVs from Tamiya, which for many modelers makes up for any perceived shortfalls in quality.

As far as Italeri figures go, there’s little to recommend them. They are stiff, rather crudely sculpted and detailed, and the faces are like characters out of some 1940s Universal Studios zombie movie. No amount of skill can redeem them and they’re best left as fodder for younger modelers. Their weapons and accessories sets are generally mediocre, though the Garands, carbines and 81mm mortar found therein and in figure sets were better than Tamiya’s earlier (or only, in the case of the mortar) versions.

Recently Italeri has come out with some interesting subjects, including the Alligator, Buffalo, and DUKW amphibious vehicles. They went head-to-toe with Trumpeter's release of an LCM (3) landing craft, was was generally favored over the competitor. And the company still has the distinction of originating the only plastic 1/35 scale U.S. antitank gun (Monogram’s 37mm gun is 1/32 scale), and the 105mm and 155mm howitzers.

In the listing below, the stock number of the Testor box versions are in parenthesis. Other Italeri spin-offs are at the end of the list.

Figures and Equipment

Armor

Wheeled Vehicles

Amphibious Vehicles

Artillery

Ships

From BILEK

From HELLER

From ZVEZDA