ISO container is a standardized reusable steel box used for the safe, efficient and secure storage and movement of materials and products within a global containerized intermodal freight transport system. "Intermodal" indicates that the container can be moved from one mode of transport to another (from ship, to rail, to truck) without unloading and reloading the contents of the container.
Length of containers, (each with a unique ISO 6346 reporting mark), vary from 8 to 56 feet (2.438 to 17.069 m) and height from 8 feet (2.438 m) to 9 feet 6 inches (2.896 m). There are approximately seventeen million intermodal containers in the world of varying types to suit different cargoes. Aggregate container capacity is often expressed in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) which is a unit of capacity equal to one standard 20 ft × 8 ft (6.10 m × 2.44 m) (length × width) container. Italeri released a kit of a 20’ ISO container which is widely used nowadays.
Review of the Kit
The kit is comprised of 2 plastic sprues containing 11 parts and a single decal sheet. The details are great while the ejection marks are located inside the container, special care is required to putty them if you want to leave the doors open. The twist locks are really nicely molded; they have to be firmly glued on to their supports.
The assembly is rapid – it takes less than 15 minutes. You need to take attention on the fact that the two #11 parts are for the rear of the container. This is unclear on the instruction set.
The rear wall, floor and roof need to be glued together to obtain the full length. Please ensure the angularity of these items before gluing them together to the walls.
The floor detail can be improved since it is generally wooden beams. It is also missing the loops in the bottom parts of each wall. The locking system is nicely done but Italeri messed up the handles direction since they should be symmetrical.
Conclusion
This iconic piece of modern warfare is a must have.
The details and the build is so easy. It will be a great item to experiment all kind of painting techniques.
I hope to see a lot of AM manufacturers releasing decals. This kit is highly recommended.
SUMMARY
Highs: Easy to build, nice detailsLows: A bit pricey, lack of details on the locking systemVerdict: A must have for modern modelers. Hope to see a good decals option from AM manufacturers
Back to Europe, I am living in Paris since december 2011 with my Wife. We have a nice 6 years old daughter, and a 3 years Baby boy.
I am doing AFV modern era. I started when I was a teenager , back to business after 10 years of break due to Sport (Baseball, yes european plays baseball) and Unive...
He Mario,
It is indeed a great addition to dressing up a diorama or on a flat-bed.
Not to high jack the thread but some extra on the kit.
There are some additional photos of the 20' container here
And build up and painted shots of the kit here
If I am out of line with the links please tell me and I will remove them.
No problems with the additional info JW, it is always good to have more references. I just saw your own short review of the container. Would you like to submit it to the site as the regular review which will be featured in the review section?
Mario
Seb,
The handles direction is not necessarily messed up. There is a few systems of these handles and one of them includes asymmetrical handles, so it is not a mistake. One minor issue however is that all asymmetrical handles I saw had the upper handles pointing to the right and the lower ones to the left, while the Italeri parts are a mirror of that configuration. But as I wrote, there is several configurations, so I cannot tell if the one in the kit is wrong, or just rare.
Several systems visible in this stack:
And some "drafted" containers by the Dutch Ministery of Defense in Kundus.
Here Dutch soldiers are loading them to go home.
The picture comes from a Dutch Army website.
LINK
This kit is a very welcome accessory. Now all we need are some new decals for logos and stencils as might appear on freight containers in various war zones around the world.
People have done a lot of innovative things with these containers.
Comments