Italeri - VOSPER 72'6'' MTB 1/35 Scale

Britain’s Motor Torpedo Boats were small, lightly built, and exceptionally fast attack craft designed to approach larger enemy vessels, launch their torpedoes, and leave before anyone could organize an effective objection.

The 72'6" Vosper was powered by three Packard gasoline engines producing approximately 4,200 horsepower. With all three running, the boat could reach nearly 40 knots—more than 45 mph—while carrying torpedoes, machine guns, depth charges, fuel, and a crew of men who presumably knew the hull contained very little armor.

Italeri recreates this famous Royal Navy coastal craft in impressive 1:35 scale. The completed model measures almost 25 inches long and contains 395 parts, including 86 photo-etched components. Its size allows the builder to explore the hull, wheelhouse, weapons, deck equipment, and rigging with a level of detail rarely possible in smaller-scale warships.

Speed Was the Protection

The Vosper’s long, narrow hull was designed to plane across the water rather than push slowly through it.

Three engines drove three separate propeller shafts, giving the boat the acceleration and maneuverability needed for night attacks, coastal patrols, convoy protection, and operations in confined waters. The 72'6" Vospers served in the English Channel, North Sea, Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, Pacific, and Black Sea.

Their usual method was straightforward: approach quickly, attack something considerably larger, and depart even more quickly.

MTB 77 was commissioned on May 28, 1942. It operated in the Mediterranean until September 8, 1943, when it was lost to German aircraft off Vibo Valentia on the coast of Calabria.

A Full-Hull Model Nearly Two Feet Long

The kit is built around a large one-piece hull and a separately molded one-piece deck. This construction preserves the Vosper’s sleek hull shape while avoiding a long and potentially troublesome seam running down the center.

The deck attaches to the hull with nine screws, providing a strong foundation for the extensive fittings and superstructure above. Propeller shafts, three propellers, rudders, stabilizing surfaces, exhaust outlets, portholes, and other underwater and hull details are separately represented.

Subtle planking texture is molded into the deck. Hatches, vents, lockers, cleats, fairleads, anchor equipment, life preservers, and numerous working-deck fittings gradually transform the large open surface into a convincing wartime vessel.

A display stand is included for the completed full-hull model.

Torpedoes Along Both Sides

The Vosper’s principal weapons were its deck-mounted torpedoes.

The kit provides four large 18-inch torpedo tubes arranged along the sides of the boat. Their prominent position makes them defining features of the completed model rather than equipment largely hidden beneath a deck.

The launch tubes are assembled from multiple components and fitted to detailed supports incorporating photo-etched metal. The torpedoes themselves are separately modeled, allowing their warheads, propellers, and metallic bodies to be painted before installation.

Depth charges, release racks, ammunition containers, and additional weapons complete the boat’s offensive equipment. Because coastal operations frequently brought the Vospers within range of enemy aircraft and shore positions, defensive machine guns were less of an optional accessory than a matter of continued employment.

Defensive Armament and Deck Equipment

The kit reproduces the Vosper’s Vickers gun installation with its circular mounting, ammunition equipment, sights, and controls. Additional machine guns and their mountings are positioned around the wheelhouse to provide close-range and antiaircraft protection.

The weapons are surrounded by the equipment required to operate a small fighting vessel: ammunition lockers, ready-use containers, fire extinguishers, storage boxes, boat hooks, anchors, ropes, life raft, navigation lights, ventilators, and deck hardware.

In 1:35 scale, these details are large enough to receive careful painting and weathering. They also provide ample opportunities to add chipped paint, salt staining, fuel marks, worn deck surfaces, and the other evidence that the boat spent its working life at sea rather than beneath polite museum lighting.

Inside the Wheelhouse

The multi-part wheelhouse includes an interior driving position with controls, steering wheel, instrument panel, seating, and navigation equipment.

Windows and portholes are supplied as precisely cut clear sheet rather than thick molded inserts. This helps maintain a more convincing scale appearance around the wheelhouse and hull openings.

Photo-etched surrounds and clear-view screens add further definition to the windows. The open bridge includes additional controls, seating, railings, and fittings, leaving much of the navigation area visible on the finished model.

There was no room aboard a Vosper for a spacious bridge, an admiral’s dining room, or unnecessary furniture. Apparently, 4,200 horsepower consumed most of the available hospitality budget.

86 Photo-Etched Details

The included photo-etched fret provides 86 metal components for the finer areas of the boat.

These include porthole surrounds, railings, brackets, screens, antenna components, torpedo-tube supports, fittings, and other details that benefit from the thinness and sharp edges of etched metal.

Some of the larger pieces require careful bending, so photo-etch experience—or at least a willingness to negotiate firmly with brass—is useful.

Rigging thread is supplied for the mast stays, aerials, and associated lines. The main mast, secondary mast, yards, navigation lights, antennas, and photo-etched Yagi arrays create a busy and convincing communications fit above the wheelhouse.

Three Royal Navy Marking Options

The decal sheet provides markings for three Royal Navy boats:

• MTB 73

• MTB 77

• MTB 79

Markings include hull numbers, draft indicators, instrument details, the White Ensign, and a nameplate for the display stand.

The predominantly gray camouflage schemes may appear simple, but they offer considerable room for tonal variation and weathering. Different shades across the hull, deck, weapons, and superstructure prevent the completed model from becoming one large gray object with torpedoes.

A photographic reference manual is included, providing historical images and detail photographs useful during construction, painting, and weathering.

Kit Features

Large 1:35 scale full-hull model

Approximately 24.8 inches (63.1 cm) long when completed

395 total components

86 photo-etched metal parts

Dedicated Vosper 72'6" MTB tooling

Large one-piece hull

Separately molded one-piece deck

Screw-reinforced hull and deck assembly

Four detailed 18-inch torpedo tubes

Separately modeled torpedoes

Detailed Vickers gun installation

Additional defensive machine guns

Depth charges and release equipment

Detailed wheelhouse interior

Steering wheel, instruments, controls, and seating

Open bridge with navigation equipment

Detailed deck planking

Numerous separate hatches, vents, lockers, and fittings

Three propeller shafts and propellers

Detailed rudders and underwater fittings

Die-cut clear sheet for windows and portholes

Photo-etched porthole surrounds and clear-view screens

Photo-etched railings, brackets, and antenna components

Detailed masts and communication equipment

Rigging thread included

Decals for MTB 73, MTB 77, and MTB 79

Display stand with nameplate

Photographic reference manual

Italeri Skill Level 4

Crew figures are not included. 

Assembly, paint, and cement are required and sold separately.