Ship Modelers Database
Anteo (tugboat)
Preserved/in service (type) — represents a class of Italian steam harbour tugs; many such tugs remained in use in Italian ports for decades
Anteo is the name given to a Mantua/Panart model kit (Art. 743, 1:30 scale) representing a typical Italian steam-powered harbour tug of the type built in large series in the years before World War II. Rather than a single, individually famous ship, it depicts a generic but historically grounded Italian port tug design — the kind of vessel that towed and assisted larger ships in commercial harbours.
Kits of this ship
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Plans
No plan sets listed for this ship yet. Know of museum, archive or publisher drawings? Add them so the next builder can find them.
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Build logs
+ Link a build log- Anteo Harbour Tug. Panart [COMPLETED BUILD]
Ken · Ships of Scale
Extensive multi-page (7+ pages, 162 replies) build log from kit unboxing through hull planking, painting, and detailing to a finished static-display model.
- Anteo Tug Boat- Kit build by Panart Italian version.
Dgraham · Ships of Scale
Builder admits he rarely photographs progress and only posts the finished RC tug, so it lacks typical in-progress build documentation.
- Anteo2 Deck Planking
boonsp · Ships of Scale
Detailed in-progress post on deck planking technique for the builder's ongoing Mantua/Panart Anteo build, with step-by-step photos.
Resources
+ Submit a resourceVideo
- Anteo 1/32 RC 1938 Steam Tug – First Sail at Beveridge ParkVideo
Documents a 1/32 scale live-steam RC model of the 1938 tug Anteo on its maiden run, useful for hull form, deck layout and steam-plant installation reference.
- Final Steam Test – Anteo Tug (RC model)Video
Shows the completed live-steam machinery test of a scale Anteo tug model, helpful for modelers planning a working steam propulsion system.
- Rimorchiatore ANTEO.mpg (RC model running trials)Video
Footage of a finished radio-controlled scale model of the harbor tug Anteo underway, useful for checking proportions, color scheme and deck fittings.
History
Specifications
The real-world prototype was a coal/steam-powered harbour tug of modest size typical for in-port towing and mooring work. The Mantua/Panart model kit renders it at 1:30 scale, finished length about 890mm (35.5in), with a double-planked plank-on-frame hull, laser-cut ply frames and decks, cast and turned metal fittings, and photo-etched brass for bulwarks and windows.
Service history
Tugs of this type were built in large numbers in Italy before the Second World War for mooring and towing maneuvers in commercial ports. Several manufacturer descriptions note that vessels of this class were built in Italy before WWII, incorporated into the Italian Navy during the war, and some remained in use in Italian ports for a long time afterward. Other listings reiterate that these tugs were built during the period antecedent to the Second World War as steam-engine vessels for domestic port service, mooring maneuvers, and clearance work, and remained in service in Italy's most important commercial ports, occasionally modernized.
Notable facts
Modelers should note the name "Anteo" is shared with several unrelated Italian naval vessels (an LST transferred from the US Navy in 1962, and the modern COMSUBIN submarine rescue ship A 5309), which can cause confusion in research — none of those is the subject of this tugboat kit. The kit has been a popular subject for scratch-detailed build logs on forums such as Model Ship World and Ships of Scale, where builders have documented double-plank-on-frame construction, brass photo-etch detailing, and paint-matching the kit's distinctive blue-green/emerald hull color scheme.