Italeri 1/720 Admiral Graf Spee Reissue

Italeri has re-issues their 1/720 kit of the Kriegsmarine ‘Pocket Battleship’, Graf Spee. She was commissioned in 1936 and originally called ‘Panzerschiff’ – armored ship – armed with 11″ guns in two triple turrets and designed to out run what she couldn’t out fight.
Admiral Graf Spee was deployed to the South Atlantic in the weeks before the outbreak of World War II, to be positioned in merchant sea lanes once war was declared. Between September and December 1939, the ship sank nine ships totaling 50,089 gross register tons (GRT), before being confronted by three British cruisers at the Battle of the River Plate on 13 December. Admiral Graf Spee inflicted heavy damage on the British ships, but she too was damaged, and was forced to put into port at Montevideo. Convinced by false reports of superior British naval forces approaching his ship, Hans Langsdorff, the commander of the ship, ordered the vessel to be scuttled. The ship was partially broken up in situ, though part of the ship remains visible above the surface of the water.

This kit (No. 502) was originally issue in the 1980’s and has the has the option for full hull or waterline display