From the First World War onwards, the Italian Regia Marina devoted a great deal of attention to the development of small and fast ships, generally armed with torpedoes. The moto-torpedo boats, better known as MAS, were civilian ship variants. Results achieved during the First World War were notable with the sinking of the Austro-Hungarian naval cruiser Vienna and the Szent István on behalf of Commander Luigi Rizzo. The Italian Navy continued to work on improving the performance of the small but fast moto torpedoes, as they were not better suited to either narrow seas or shallow waters such as the Adriatic. The MAS 500s, equipped with Isotta-Fraschini petrol engines built during the Second World War and more powerful and reliable, were dropped both as moto torpedoes and as anti-submarine platforms for dropping depth charges. They reached a top speed of 40 knots and were armed with two 450 mm torpedoes.

Caution. Not suitable for children under 36 months!

• Scale: 1:35
• Length: 450 mm
• Age recommendation: from 14 years
• Contents: kit, instructions, decoration