This is by far and away my most favorite (and, to my eye, most aesthetically gratifying) class of ship. I love each one and all of the different paint schemes applied. It is indeed a long term ambition of mine to have an example of each ship in each paint scheme. Including a hypothetical postwar Impero and a hypothetical Spanish example. To that end I have amassed an embarrassment of relevant Trumpeter kits.
A minor point, I wish that someone would make a dedicated PE set for the Littorio and Vittorio Veneto. I elected to build this iteration out-of-the-box with only generic ladders and railings. With that in mind, I went for the solid plastic kit supplied catapult and did my best to make it work. I have a proper set for my 1/700 Roma but I did not feel inclined to purchase a duplicate set or to rob Peter. Had to make struts for the Ro.43, which is anachronistically in the prewar/early war bare metal with recognition stripes. By the date my rendition is supposed to portray, the aircraft would have been green.
For this build, I went with the scheme applied in May 1942, using a number of competing references as well a my modest collection of photographs. There are plenty of minor contradictions that need reconciliations and in the case of one minor details, I even contradicted the photographs! They removed the red and white air recognition stripes late that year and so chose to omit them. I like this arrangement because it gives the viewer a chance to appreciate the shape of the foredeck. I also have done plenty of red and white decks in the past and I have a several projects lined up that will include them (like my 1/350 Littorio). Obviously, it's also a much easier job to paint! A little anachronism is the lack of radar; I was unable to source one and decided not to make one since this was supposed to be a quick project. Eventually, I'll have to take some better photographs, alas, I've dismantled my photobooth for the time being - I want to make a larger setup that can accommodate 1/200 capital ships.
I made the jack and the admiral's standard and I raided a 1/350 Roma for the flags - this kit does not come with any markings aside from the name and the aircraft insignia.
In any case, this is what Trumpeter's kit looks like more or less OOB.
