Early War French Collection

Throwback Thursday

I don't see any Germans chasing them so they must be on the attack.

The French.  Long maligned by the most amateur of amateur historians.  There is no end to jokes about the supposed cravenness or lack of ability in the martial sphere when talking about the French.

The Panhard armored car.  I was tempted to run the infamous "Panhord", but couldn't afford/find that many of them.

When I first picked up my copy of Blitzkrieg a few years back I was taken by how powerful their tanks were –much better than the Germans at the time.  I decided to build matching German and French forces focused on the battle of Hannut.  For the French, I chose the 29e Dragoons Regiment of the 2e DLM (Division Light Mechaniques)  This unit had a mix of H-35 and S-35 tanks. 

On the Assembly line.  I used a an ink pen to trace the the line along the camouflage.  

The original force would consist of the French tank army box set, an additional pack of 3 H-35 tanks and a box of 105mm Howitzers.  This would me several options for a mix of Hotchkiss and Somua tanks.  I could even field a recon company using the H-35s.

Original force:
10x H-35 (with options to switch out barrels)
7x S-35
5x Panhard 178 armored car
4x 105mm Howitzers with staff, command, observer

I spent a lot of time researching the French paint schemes, unit details, ect.  When I couldn’t find any suitable decals for serial numbers, I decided to print my own.

Serial numbers for the Hotckiss tanks were chopped up Sherman decals.

I went deep on the details, going so far as matching serial numbers on specific tanks.

Painting white sucks.

I also experimented with several new techniques.  I tried using weathering pigments for the first time.  Unfortunately, I never could get the subtle dirty look to survive the matt varnish step.  Maybe that is just better suited to something you will leave in a display case?

Later on, I added an infantry platoon, AT guns, and trucks.

I wish the helmets looked a little better, but overall the detail on the sculpts really pop with a little wash.

I like to base my guns far back so the barrel does not extend beyond he edge of the base.  This increases survivability in case one is dropped and makes for easier storage.

I have two more S-35, Some Laffley 45mm gun-trucks, and the broken down S-35 Objective to paint someday.

Light tanks swarm over the hill towards the Germans