Italeri 6580 105mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M7 'Priest' 1/35 Scale Model Kit

Italeri was founded in the early 60s, with that enthusiasm that only the unbridled passion of youth can create. Since they were boys, the two founders of Italeri loved airplanes and military vehicles. Soon they were no longer satisfied with the models available at the time: they wanted something more and better. What they wanted was not available, so they decided to produce it themselves. Their hobby turned into an accurate research, and became the motivating force to produce the models that modelers want, with no imperfections whatsoever. Thus the company asserted itself, always increasing his range of products and growing. Also thanks to the imagination and the talent of the founders and of their colleagues, Italeri in time became a leader in modeling! Item is brand new and in its original factory packaging. Listing images are stock pictures provided by the manufacturer or the distributor. The deployment of self-propelled artillery during the Second World War was very quickly adopted by all of the combatants. Following the innovative use of mobile artillery by the German army at the outset of the conflict, the need for artillery pieces to be as mobile as tank battalions was universally recognised. The Allies initially mounted their first self-propelled artillery units on half-track vehicles, but the most effective solution manifested itself with the introduction of the M7 Priest. Using the hull of the M3 Lee medium tank the M7 was armed with a 105mm M2A1 howitzer. It was deployed operationally for the first time in 1942 by British troops who gave it the nickname "Priest", due to the position of the machine gun in the front of the vehicle which resembled a Church pulpit. Robust and reliable, it had a plentiful supply of ammunition and provided effective indirect support fire. It was used by both the American army and the U.S. Marines on all fronts throughout the course of the war.