Monday 13 August 2012

3 DLM - part 4 - tanks

The division's tank component is made up of four battalion-sized units.  Two of these are equipped with medium 'cavalry' tanks and two with light tanks.  The mediums above are Somua S.35 tanks - arguably the best of the French tanks in 1940.  These are both metal models by Skytrex.
The light tanks should generally by of the Hotchkiss variety, as these were designed to be fast enough for 'cavalry' operations.  Equpiment shortages mean that my division has one battalion in Hotchkiss H-39 and the other with Renault R-35.  Both are RAFM metal kits, and as the turrets are the same casting (in both real life and 20mm) it's close enough.  The Renault is the one with the trailer (pinched from the Chenilette Lorraine which featured in an earlier post...)  The French practice of painting the national colours in the form of a roundel on the dome-shaped commander's hatch is in my view, something to be encouraged!

10 comments:

Archduke Piccolo said...

Beats painting a bulls-eye on the side of the turret, anyhow! :-) These make a fine-looking outfit. I've near on been tempted to build an early war French army, and it's seeing stuff like this that make the temptation so hard to resist. Maybe it's just as well I have so many unfinished projects clamouring for my attention... :-(

Tim Gow said...

Archduke Piccolo
I've plenty more French units to post so no doubt your resolve will soon crumble! You mention 'unfinished projects' as if there is such a thing as a 'finished project'. Crazy talk.

Paul said...

Those Frenchies showed so much promise in the armour stakes, too bad their high command displayed absolutely none of the panache their eastern counterparts rammed home to them in 1940.

Nice work as per usual Tim.

Peter Douglas said...

Tim

Great stuff. I love the roundels on the cupolas although they do remind me of gigantic eyes staring upwards!

Cheers

PD

Tim Gow said...

Paul
Yeah, but they look good. And that matters.

Tim Gow said...

Peter Douglas
They're watching you!

Broeders said...

Great looking tanks, Tim. Like the turret hatches!

Tim Gow said...

Phil Broeders
It is greatly to the French Army's credit that having bought a load of nice looking tanks they didn't just paint them all green.

Geordie an Exiled FoG said...


Just back from my Cornish holidays

Cracking WWII French Posts
Magic Stuff

:)

Tim Gow said...

Geordie
I thought you'd been a bit quiet lately!