Italeri S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer and brand of

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic polymers, synthetic or Semisynthesis, semisynthetic materials composed primarily of Polymer, polymers. Their defining characteristic, Plasticity (physics), plasticity, allows them to be Injection moulding ...

scale model A scale model is a physical model that is geometrically similar to an object (known as the ''prototype''). Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small protot ...

s of

airplanes An airplane (American English), or aeroplane (Commonwealth English), informally plane, is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, ...

military vehicles A military vehicle is any vehicle for land-based military transport and activity, including combat vehicles, both specifically designed for or significantly used by military. Most military vehicles require off-road capabilities and/or vehicle a ...

helicopters A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

ships A ship is a large vessel that travels the world's oceans and other navigable waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished from boats, ...

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construct ...

s, and

cars A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

. The company was founded in 1962 by Giuliano Malservisi and Gian Pietro Parmeggiani to produce accurate scale model kits with attention to detail.

History

The company was founded in 1962 by Giuliano Malservisi and Gian Pietro Parmeggiani. Since childhood, they had loved

and

, but were not satisfied enough with the scale models on the market available at those times. They began to produce models themselves, first as a hobby, and later turning it into a business. The first name of the company was "Italstamp" and the first scale model kit was released with the brand "Aliplast", a 1:72 model of the Italian fighter Fiat G.55. The company name changed to "Italaerei" and, ten years later, it was contracted into "Italeri", easier to use and to pronounce not only in Italian language. The logo consists of an airplane silhouetted over a red and a green stripe. The company, located close to

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, started to produce product lines characterized by a certain “uniqueness” on the subjects. In particular Italeri used to have a wide range of Italian subjects. During its lifetime Italeri has also acquired the Supermodel and Protar brands.

Product lines

Italeri has a wide portfolio of scale models. It has designed famous Italian aircraft used by the ''

Regia Aeronautica The Royal Italian Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') (RAI) was the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Regio Esercito, Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was ...

'' during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, from the small biplane fighter

Fiat CR.42 Falco The Fiat CR.42 ''Falco'' (Falcon, plural: ''Falchi'') is a single-seat sesquiplane fighter developed and produced by Italian aircraft manufacturer Fiat Aviazione. It served primarily in the Italian in the 1930s and during the Second World War. ...

Savoia-Marchetti SM.82 The Savoia-Marchetti SM.82 ''Marsupiale'' is an Italian bomber and transport aircraft of World War II. It was a cantilever, mid-wing monoplane trimotor with a retractable, tailwheel undercarriage. There were 875Pini 1994, p.1. (plus one prototy ...

three-engine bomber. Italeri has also produced, in 1:72 scale, the

Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 The Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 ''Sparviero'' (Italian for sparrowhawk) is a three-engined medium bomber developed and manufactured by the Italian aviation company Savoia-Marchetti. It may be the best-known Italian aeroplane of the Second World War. ...

, nicknamed "''gobbo maledetto''”, which translates as "the cursed hunchback". Italeri also put great attention to

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Italian Army military vehicles such as AB armored cars series, the small L6 recon tank, and the rare (produced in few numbers) P-40 heavy tank. They have also produced a series of 1:35 scale motor torpedo boats of World War II such as the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

PT-596, the metre-long model of the ''

Schnellboot E-boat was the Western Allies' designation for the fast attack craft (German: ''Schnellboot'', or ''S-Boot'', meaning "fast boat"; plural ''Schnellboote'') of the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II; ''E-boat'' could refer to a pa ...

'' ''S-100'' of the German ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...

'', and the MAS of the Italian ''

Regia Marina The , ) (RM) or Royal Italian Navy was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy () from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the changed its name to '' Marina Militare'' ("Military Navy"). Origin ...

''. The small assault boats 1:35 series also includes the Italian '' Barchino'' and '' Maiale'' and the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

'' Biber''. Italeri also produces of 1:24 scale model

s, trailers and

semi-trailers A semi-trailer is a trailer (vehicle), trailer without a front axle. The combination of a semi-trailer and a tractor truck is called a ''semi-trailer truck'' (also known simply as a "semi-trailer", "tractor trailer", or "semi" in the United Sta ...

. In recent years, Italeri introduced the Photographic Reference Manual (PRM) for some kits, in which the subject of the scale model kit is described with a high level of historical information and modelling details. The first kit to be accompanied by the PRM was the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

patrol torpedo boat A PT boat (short for patrol torpedo boat) was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II. It was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, and it was valued for its maneuverability and speed. However, PT boats were hamper ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Model manufacturers of Italy Toy soldier manufacturing companies 1:25 scale models 1:18 scale models