Mesdames et Messieurs...
Today we will meet another pioneer of modern warfare: one of the forerunners of the concept of self-propelled artillery: with you, one of the first attempts to develop an effective self-propelled artillery, the prototype Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75Mle -1897 (Renault FT-17 Tracked 75Mle (1897).
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| Final version of Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75mm Mle 1897 prototype - France - 1918 |
History:
We can consider the First World War almost as a laboratory for testing new weapons and new tactical doctrines in the military field. The ubiquitous infantry and artillery were present, but now they faced the new challenges generated by the widespread use of automatic weapons, planes and the massive use of artillery barrages... And all these new factors demanded mobility from the previously static front lines. At the beginning of the conflict, around 1915, the French High Command identified increasing the mobility of artillery as a key point, as animal traction and the primitive wheeled trucks of the beginning of the conflict were ineffective to move and supply artillery across the convulsive terrain of the Western Front.
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| Horses pulling heavy howitzers British Royal Artillery - Western front - 1916 |
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| French artillery horse drawn - 1914 The gun is a 75mm Mle 1897. Note the number of soldiers and horses for an artillery piece |
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| A horse drawn an Obusier de 155 mm C on the road along the Somme Canal - 10 July 1917. |
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| A heavy artillery tractor truck Latil TAR and his de Bange 155 mm long cannon mle. 1877 resting on your way to Battle of Verdun - 1916. |
The logical option was to use tracked vehicles. The need was such that requests made by the Ministry of Munitions and the High Command of the French Army were answered by french manufacturers and dealers, which resulted in several track vehicles that were tested and used for the purpose of transporting artillery.
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| Holt tractor used as artillery tractor by the French Army in the Vosges - Spring 1915. |
Among these vehicles, some were successful enough to be produced, such as the Renault FB artillery tractor and the Schneider CD artillery tractor. But the focus of these vehicles was that they transported or pulled the artillery, but the artillery had to be unloaded or equipped beforehand to be able to fire, which also meant a waste of time.
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A French Renault FB Artillery Portee carrying a heavy cannon on the Western front. |
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| Schneider CD artillery tractors loaded onto trucks for transport to the front. Clermont, September - 1918. |
What today seems like a simple and easy idea, but at the time, it was a revolution, is that the weapon could be fired from the vehicle, allowing quick installation of the battery and subsequent mobility to avoid counter-battery fire. In this article, we will see some SPG prototypes developed by Renault, using the FT-17 light tank chassis, in response to requests from the French High Command.
Renault Self-Propelled Guns prototypes:
The most logical way to do this would be to use the chassis of the tank in use. As the Renault FT-17 light tank had been in operation since 1917, we can say that the attempt to install light field guns on these chassis would be a great option, as it would allow for a standardization of the material used and ease of logistics.
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| Renault FT 17 light tank Takom kit #1003 box art |
In May 1918, technical studies began for the installation of these cannons in FT-17 chassis without turrets, with the Canon de 75 mm modèle 1897 (75mm Mle 1897 field gun) and the Canon de 105 mle 1913 Schneider (105 mm Mle 1913 field gun) being considered.
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| Canon de 75 mm modèle 1897 |
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| 75mm Mle 1897 field gun (Imperial War Museum) |
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| Canon de 105 mle 1913 Schneider |
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| Canon de 105 mm long modèle 1913 Schneider Camp de Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan - France - 1914 |
From 1918, the GHQ of the French Army received and approved these studies. On May, 1918, a specification was issued for the construction of prototypes based on the Renault FT light tank equipped with the 75 mm Mle 1897 field gun and with a crew of 4 (driver/Commander + three gunners), carrying 100 rounds of ammunition and a total weight of 5 - 6 tons. The intention was to build an SPG that could be used for counter-battery fire and in a possible anti-tank artillery role. Lets see:
Renault FT-17 Chenilles - 75mm Mle 1897 protoype:
The first prototype of the SPG produced and designed by Renault, had its field trials carried out at the factory field test in August 1918 and the vehicle was delivered for official testing by the French Army in the Bourges Military Establishment (Pyrotechnie, l’Atelier de construction (ancienne fonderie de canons) et l’Entrepôt), on 18 September from the same year.
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| First version of Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75Mle -1897 in tests at Renault factory testing ground. August - 1918 |
The first version of the vehicle it was extremely minimal, with the removal of the turret and front superstructure of the light tank, with the driver being practically "slotted" between the two tracks of the tank.
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75Mle -1897 (early) Notice the driver's station: totally unprotected, including suspensions and tracks, dangerously exposed right on the driver's side. One wrong arm movement and.... |
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75Mle -1897 (early) From this angle of view we can see how dangerous the driver's position really is... |
The 75mm Mle (1897) gun was installed just behind and above the driver, firing into the rear of the vehicle, over its tail. The gun elevation was +24° and depression -4°, increasing the maximum range of the weapon (the original gun angulations were −11° to +18°). This range could be extended slightly with the vehicle positioning itself over an obstacle or an elevation.
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| The 75mm Mle 1897 aiming in reverse, in maximum depression. Note the absence of the engine cover. |
The horizontal transverse of the weapon was performed with the movement of the vehicle, in a rough way, and there was the possibility of a fine adjustment in the horizontal transverse in 3° left and 3° right.
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| Horizontal transverse of 75mm Mle 1897 |
The vehicle's ergonomics were quite awkward, with the driver having to leave his station for the weapon to fire (...before we criticize our French friends, we can't forget that this was repeated years later, with the British Archer Self Propelled Gun 17 pdr Valentine Mk I ).
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75Mle -1897 ready to open fire, with the weapon at minimum elevation. Notice the gunner (from the back) with his left hand on the trigger, in the breech of the gun. See the next pic, below... |
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75Mle -1897 firing. Notice the total recoil of the weapon, with the breech invading the space of the driver. |
During the tests, the prototype underwent an update, with armored side protections up to the top of the tracks, in the driver's station and the installation of two (totally unprotected) seats on top of the superstructure, for the gunners.
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75Mle -1897 "late" Notice the side walls in the driver station and the two seats for the gunners, with the cannon between them, in the top of superestructure. Also note the ammo rack, with a capacity of 40 projectiles, just below the gun. |
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| The new driver station... still exposed, but much better protected from tracks and suspensions... |
The Renault FT 17 Chenilles 75mm Mle 1897 carried 40 rounds of ammunition in a rack positioned just below the gun, between the driver and the engine's firewall. The manufacturer was unable to meet the amount of 100 projectiles contained in the Army Requisition.
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75Mle -1897 "late" roaring in the test field, with full capacity. Driver (red), two gunners (green) two reserve-gunners (deep blue) and a true "tail-end-Charlie" (or Charles...) in the rear skid (light blue). |
The final conclusion of the tests was that although the Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75Mle 1897 presented a stable firing platform and behaved reasonably well in the cross country field, the smaller ammunition carrying capacity and the strange ergonomic arrangement of the handling and driving of the vehicle were very negative factors.
An attempt to remedy this deficiency in the transport of ammunition by the Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75Mle 1897 was the construction of the Renault FT Chenilles porte munitions, but the results of this binomial were not considered satisfactory.
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| Renault FT Chenilles porte munitions - prototype |
In the end, the Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75Mle 1897 was not approved for entry into production by the French Army. The ultimate fate of this prototype is uncertain, perhaps being dismantled and reverted to tank-gun standard.
Renault FT Chenilles 105 Mle 1913 Schneider prototype:
Renault also built a vehicle armed with the Canon de 105 mle 1913 Schneider (105 mm Mle 1913 field gun), which necessitated a reconstruction of the FT-17 chassis. Very little is known about this version, but the photo of the prototype indicates a weapon placement similar of the Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75 Mle 1897, with the weapon pointing and firing backwards, over the engine compartment. Another important detail is that the 105mm Mle 1913 gun was installed in a considerably lower position than in the 75mm Mle 1897 prototype, perhaps in search of greater stability when firing the larger caliber weapon of this prototype. In the photo, we can also see that the entire mechanical part of the chassis is exposed, at the rear of the vehicle, in clear evidence that the vehicle was not fully finished for the tests.
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| Prototype Renault FT Chenilles 105 Mle 1913 Schneider Notice the radical modification in the light tank profile... |
Renault FT Chenilles 75 Mle 1897 STAV prototype:
The French Army Headquarters sent a request for the "Section Technique Automobile de Vincennes" (STAV) (Technical Section of Vincennes) to develop an SPG on a Renault chassis FT-17, capable of carrying 150 rounds of ammunition (half-day firing) and using the Gramme naval mount, for the 75mm Mle 1897 cannon. The front part of the chassis of a Renault FT-17 light tank was cut out and the floor of the vehicle was reinforced to accommodate the naval support of the weapon. The driver was relocated to the middle portion of the vehicle, similar to the Renault FT 75 BS tank prototype. The weapon's crew sat on an unprotected bench at the rear of the chassis while the vehicle was moving. The prototype was built by Renault and had a full turning traverse (360°) and elevation from -8° to +40°, with elevations above +10° requiring the firing to be carried out in line with the rear of the vehicle. Ammo capacity was 120 rounds. The only prototype was completed on October 9, 1918.
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| Renault FT Chenilles 75 Mle 1897 STAV prototype |
Renault FT Chenilles 75 Mle 1897 STA prototype:
The prototype "Section Technique de l'Artillerie"- STA (Artillery Technical Section) it looked very interesting project, with a total relocation of the mechanical components of the "host" vehicle. The 75mm Mle 1897 gun was accommodated in the middle-rear portion of the vehicle, with the engine repositioned in the front and the driver in the center of the chassis. The entire rear portion of the FT-17 chassis was rebuilt to create a platform for the crew and the gun. The weapon could be raised from -5° to +41° with 11° traverse. The vehicle had the capacity to carry 90 rounds of ammunition. The SPG appears to have been built by Renault and shipped to Bourges in late October 1918. Later modifications to the Renault FT Chenilles 75 Mle 1897 STA included an extension in the rear deck, with the addition of a folding earth spade, to absorb the gun recoil during firing. Another interesting detail was the installation of an 8mm Hotchkiss MG, for local defense.
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| Renault FT Chenilles 75 Mle 1897 STA prototype - front view Notice the the most functional aspect of the vehicle, with 8mm MG Hotchkiss, for close defense. Also note the engine starter crank in the front of the hull. |
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| Renault FT Chenilles 75 Mle 1897 STA prototype - rear view Notice how the crew traveled crammed into the back of the vehicle. The earth spade is raised and 8mm Hotchkiss MG covered with a tarp. |
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| Renault FT Chenilles 75 Mle 1897 STA prototype - rear view Notice the crew in firing position The earth spade is lowered and the 8mm Hotchkiss MG ready for action |
But with the end of hostilities, none of these prototypes was converted into a production vehicle, but all of them were important test benches for uncovering problems and finding solutions for the development of modern self-propelled artillery, which would later be used. on the battlefields of WWII.
Specs:
| Renault Ft-17 Chenilles - 75mm Mle | |
|---|---|
| Type | Self Propelled Gun |
| Place of origin | France |
| Service history | |
| In service | trials only - prototype |
| Used by | France |
| Wars |
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| Production history | |
| Designed N° built | 1918 one or two prototypes |
| Manufacturer | Renault |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 6.5 tonnes |
| Length | 5.00 m |
| Width | 1.74 m |
| Height | 2.14 m |
| Crew | 4 = 1 comm/driver + 3 gunners) |
| Armor | 8 mm |
Main armament Rate of fire | 75mm Mle 1897 field gun elevation: +24°; -4º drift: 3° left ; 3° right max. range: 11.000 m 28 rounds/min max. 6 rounds/min practical |
| Engine | Renault 4-cyl, 4.5 litre gas - 39 hp @ 1500rpm |
| Power/weight | 5 hp/t (3.7 kW/t) |
| Transmission | sliding gear; 4 fwd x 1 rev. |
| Suspension | vertical springs |
| Fuel capacity | 95 litres (about 8 hs) |
Operational range | 60 km |
| Max speed | 7 km/h |
The kit:
Another commission work, which was built in parallel with the Renault FT 17 ammo carrier (which you will see in the next article...) from Vargas Scale Models 3D printed kit. The box art is a profile in colors, of the vehicle... All of these Vargas 3d printed kits were purchased by my client, who is expanding his collection of pioneering WWI vehicles. I'm building them in sequence, a real assembly line!!!
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75mm Mle mod 1897 Vargas Scale Models box art |
The kit components are the hull-chassis in one piece, the (very good) sets with the suspensions / tracks, 75mm gun, tail skid plate, individual parts and the details according to each variant.
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| Kojak with another 3D printed by Vargas Scale Models... We are getting specialized in this type of kits... |
The instructions are two sheets, printed in colors:
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| Page one of the instructions. The 75mm projectiles, although shown, are not included in this kit. A suggestion to you, Luis Vargas!!! |
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| Page two of the instructions. |
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| The tw o FT-17 girls, side by side: the feeder and the killer... The ammo carrier you will see in the next article!!! |
I have the habit of inspecting the weapons of the kits, mainly in resin or printed kits, because the warping of these parts is almost a characteristic of these materials. And unfortunately, once again, I found a severe warpage on the 75mm gun: the distal portion of the cannon (tube) bent to the right. A mishap, no doubt... but generally with a dip of this part in boiling water, we manage to make the material more flexible to allow for the correction of warping. But first, lets recall some technical terms of the nomenclature of a cannon. We'll use these terms later on...
But back to our kit...
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| The tube features drift to the right, mon Commandant!! |
But when we look more closely, we notice printing irregularities on the surface of this tube. I didn't even try to heat the water and try to straighten the tube...the surface irregularities are simply irreversible...
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| Printing irregularities (bulbs and depressions) on the surface of the tube of barrel, all around its perimeter... |
Good thing that the jacket of barrel and the muzzle brake of the gun are perfect. This problem needs radical surgery, with the extirpation of the damaged portion. The correction will be carried out by a styrene plastic tube that, thanks to the Immortal Gods, I have in stock... Blessed Plastruct!!!
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| The tube of the cannon warped and full of irregularities in his surface, visible in this photo. I will excise the portion between the red arrows... |
The surgical cut was performed with a serrated mono-steel dental disc, installed in my adorable and irreplaceable Dremel!! This step must be performed by people with great motor coordination and very, very carefully...or you lose your fingers or part of them!!!
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| The "contaminated" tube (red X) and the future "tissue" to be grafted... |
Gluing a plastic cylinder perpendicular to a resinous piece, end to end, perfectly aligned in every way with superglue is practically impossible. That's why, before, I drilled a hole in the center of each end and glued a pin made with thick copper wire, to allow a certain mobility, for a perfect alignment of the pieces with each other, before the final gluing with cyanoacrylate. See the pic below:
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| Preparing the cannon tube glue... |
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| The gluing of the muzzle brake to the cannon tube was smoother, without needing the metal pin. Chuck was pleased. |
While the 75mm gun surgery glue was drying, I glued the two suspension assemblies in the chassi and the driver station levers and pedals, as per the instructions...
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| The little girl with the shoes on... The gun is waiting... |
As I said, I followed the manufacturer's instructions for gluing the steering levers, by the book!! But after I had performed this step, I found a film of this vehicle in tests on the excellent Landships II site and the movie is a true gold mine of images and source of many details... And this image of the real vehicle shows much shorter levers than the ones on the kit.
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| Photogram of the old French Army film, showing the height of the steering levers: much shorter!!! |
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| Result: I removed the levers from their positions and redid the insertion holes. I'll shorten the levers!!! Smaller levers, please!! |
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| Our characters, tall and short, side by side |
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| The kit, with the shorts levers, like the real tank... |
The discovery of the film from the vehicle tests allowed us to obtain many images, with great details, which allow us to improve our kit. One of these details is that the 75mm cannon of the kit seems to be very "low", "buried" in the Renault's superstructure. See, in the pic below, the height of the top of the gun barrel (red line) in relation to the top of the two superstructures of the chassis of the vehicle (yellow arrow): they seem to be almost in line with each other...
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| Note the "depth" of the gun relative to the top of the vehicle's superstructure left side view |
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| Another view (right side) |
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| But when we look at the kit in profile, we can see that the gun is more "buried" (red line) in the superstructure... Maybe the cannon trunnions are positioned too low (red arrow)... This is causing a problem with the gun elevating wheels (blue arrow) |
A possible solution would be the elevation of the trunnions (blue arrow, from red to green, in the pic below), associated with the recoil of the elevating wheels (blue arrows), because in the position that they are in, they are touching the inner edge of the vehicle's superstructure (yellow arrow).
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| Let's try to correct the height of the gun... |
This is the proposal: to make a new base for the trunnions (green arrows and drawing in white), in plasticard, gluing them over the current ones, elevating the weapon as a whole (from red arrow to green one), allowing a correct angle of fire. The contact of the elevating wheels with the superstructure is unacceptable (yellow arrow)...
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| A solution to the weapon placement problem... |
And since Kojak decided to see details, an important detail that was noticed in this kit is the height of the crew seats: in the 3D printed kit and in the illustration of the Vargas box, the seats protrude above the upper portion of the superstructure, forming a step (red arrow). See the Vargas box art below:
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| The art and the same step in the kit... |
But in the original vehicle, this step does not exist. The seat and the top of the superstructure are in one plane. See the green arrow, below.
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| The true Renault FT-17 SPG. Notice the absence of step (green arrow) and the base of the seat very close to the metal circle, with rivets (yellow arrow) |
To correct this in the kit, I sanding out a small portion of the top of the seat backrest, sanding out the lower part of the base of the seat and cut the superstructure of the kit by 1mm (see detail in the pic below), so the seat touches the metal circle, as in the photo. As a result, the seats were on the same plane as the top of the Renault superstructure (red arrows).
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| Correction in the positioning of crew seats... A suggestion for Luis Vargas (Vargas Models owner) to upgrade the kit and the new box art!!
Well, after improve the positioning of the gunners' seats, let's return to the cannon. In the last chapter, we noticed that the two wheels of the weapon's elevating mechanism were a little misplaced... Let's move their position back... |
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| The idea is retreat those two wheels... |
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| Building two new wheels with my punch-and-die tool and plasticard |
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| Correction complete: new trunnion base (green arrow) new elevating wheels in a new retruded position (yellow arrows) and the 75mm cannon flush with the vehicle's superstructure.(red arrow) |
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| The 75mm cannon at maximum elevation. Note that the elevation adjustment wheels no longer touch the edge of the superstructure (green arrow) |
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| All corrections of this step: yellow: seats in the right level green: new elevated trunnions light blue: new elevation wheels |
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| And one more tiny but important thing: an engine starting system made with cut hypodermic needles... |
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| The driver's station, seen from another angle, showing some interesting details: red: new trunnions, reinforced with dental acrylic light blue and yellow: the wheels of cannon drift adjustment: very delicate and perfect green: the ammo compartment: an incredible delicacy. Well done, Vargas!!! Kojak is very pleased!! |
Now, let's install the rear tow hooks...very well printed, but with one flaw: both are on the same side. And since I'm planning to put a chain in the rear's vehicle, as in the photo detail below, we're going to have to do a little surgery...
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| Planing the micro-surgery... |
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| Cutting the rim (yellow) of the retaining clip, so that we can invert one of the hooks... Be very careful to not feed the Carpet Monster!!! |
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| The new left flipped tow hook, with the rim glued in place thanks to a minimal amount of cyanoacrylate.... |
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| The new left hook, like the pic... |
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| and the old right hook, in position... Now, Jean-Pierre is very pleased!!! |
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| And a fox-girl like that deserves a nice tail!!! left view |
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| Right view of the skid plate in position... |
Another detail that was forgotten were the toolbox racks, which are clearly present in the photos of the vehicles being tested and which are not part of this kit. See the pics below: the first one shows the "early" version of Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75mm Mle 1897, without the driver's station side guards and without the crew seats, but with the toolbox racks in place (green arrows)...
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles - 75mm Mle "early" version without driver's station side guards and without crew seats. Notice the toolbox rack |
The other two photos are of the same vehicle, but in the "late" version, with the armor on the driver's station installed, as well as the two crew seats, next to the cannon. The racks are also perfectly visible...
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles - 75mm Mle "late" version. Notice the driver's station with side guards and two crew seats. Notice the toolbox rack, also. |
The strangest thing is that Vargas Models has these parts in its arsenal (they are part of the Renault FT17 75BS tank parts...), and it would be the case to print one or better, two pairs of these parts for this model. And it was precisely because these parts are supplied in greater numbers in the Renault FT17 75BS kit, that I will be able to use one of the surviving parts (the other one fractured during the assembly of the 75BS) for this model. Let's go!!!
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| The model 75BS surviving rack. Nothing like a good spare parts box to save the day! As the Law of Conservation of Matter in Modeling says: "In scale models, nothing is lost, everything is transformed"! |
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| The problem is that I only have one rack and I need two: Nothing that extra thin Plasticard and Tibetan monk patience can't solve... Scratch time!!!! |
And now, just modify a Value Gear Details ammo crate, adding two hinges and a padlock clasp, to get a beautiful toolbox!!!
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| The new toolbox: Value Gear stuff... Another suggestion to you, Luis!!! |
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| The racks in position... waiting the Value Gear box... |
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| The racks with Value Gear box. (green arrow) Notice the metal adds in the rear of tool racks...spare parts, too... (red arrows) |
And with that, our sweet flapper girl is almost ready...and getting prettier and prettier!!! Let's get to the painting, now!!!
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles - 75mm Mle almost ready!! |
Once again, these vehicles didn't have markings, as they were prototypes... It's kind of boring to be like that, but let's stick to the reality of History. Military green primer, as it was used in those days...
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| ...something like this. Colorized photo of the Renault Ft Chenilles 75mm Mle 1897 |
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles - 75mm Mle in green primer, with the gun in maximum elevation left view |
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles - 75mm Mle in green primer, with the gun in minimum elevation |
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles - 75mm Mle rear view |
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles - 75mm Mle in green primer, with the gun in minimum elevation right view |
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| Tones of green...left front side |
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| Tones of green...left rear side |
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles - 75mm Mle in tones of green - rear right view |
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles - 75mm Mle with shoes and seats painted. Notice the toolbox and rollbags from Value Gear... |
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| Small details under painting... |
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| Small paint details... right side view |
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| The toolbox and rollbags waiting... |
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| ...and the toolbox and rollbags, glued in position Soooo coool!! |
It's amazing how I sometimes get annoyed with kits with millions of details and little pieces (like the fantastic kit Caterpillar D7 from MiniArt...) and how I have fun with its spartan ones like this, looking to ADD details... For me (and for the Kojak...), this is all so much fun!! And following that philosophy, let's make a padlock for the toolbox... See the diagram below:
With punch-and-die, Cut a small circle out of 0.8mm thick plasticard. Then, with a very fine drill, make two holes on the side of this circle: a through hole and a blind hole. Then, bent a very thin copper wire and cut one of the "legs" of this wire, to touch the bottom of the blind hole and delimit the height of the handle of the padlock. The other longer leg, which passes through the full hole, facilitates manipulation of the small part to allow you to slip the padlock handle through the toolbox handle, before plunging the "short leg" into the blind hole of the padlock. When you get that, just glue with a micro-drop of cyanoacrylate the padlock handle and cut the "long leg" close to the padlock, with your cutting pliers... Simple.
And the padlock in position:
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| Padlock in the toolbox!! Close up view |
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| A little big detail... |
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| The keyhole of padlock will be made with a drop of black paint... |
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| The girl is almost ready... |
The big "problem" with these simpler kits is that you get the taste of detailing... It's almost the opposite of over-engineering kits, with tons of annoying little pieces that end up boring you during the construction. These are simpler ones, no: they are almost an irresistible invitation for you to apply an extra detail, which enriches and characterizes the model. Let's see, for example, the possibility of building a set of safety belts for the crew's seats and making from scratch the optical sighting device that, unfortunately, Vargas did not provide us. Scratch time!!! First, the inspiration:
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| Crew seats, with seat belts clearly visible (red arrows) Notice the aiming device, too (blue arrow). |
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| A schematic (from that time...) drawing of the optical aiming apparatus. |
And the added details: the optical aiming device made with Plastruct, punch-and-die circles and steel wires and the seat belts made with thin lead (wine bottle sealant) foil and thin copper wires...
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| Don't lose sight of security!!! right side view |
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| Aiming device and seat belts... left side |
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| Hooks and chains... |
And finally I can call that this model is ready: With you, the prototype Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75 Mle 1897 (late version), as seen in the field tests in Bourges Military Establishment, France. September, 1918.
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75 Mle 1897 (late version) Bourges Military Establishment, France - September, 1918. |
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75 Mle 1897 - late version front left side view |
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75 Mle 1897 - late version front right side view |
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75 Mle 1897 - late version left side view - gun in maximum elevation |
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75 Mle 1897 - late version left side view - gun in neutral elevation |
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75 Mle 1897 - late version rear left side view |
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75 Mle 1897 - late version rear right side view |
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75 Mle 1897 - late version right side view |
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75 Mle 1897 - late version |
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75 Mle 1897 - late version with Kojak and Rover, the dog. |
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Two pioneers girls from Vargas Scale Models: Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75 Mle 1897 - late version with Char Frot-Turnel-Laffly (armoured steamroller) in background |
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| Renault FT-17 Chenilles 75 Mle 1897 (late version) Bourges Military Establishment, France - September, 1918. |
Well, another commission model, printed in 3D by Vargas Scale Models, built. This kit, as well as the Char Frot-Turnel-Laffly armored steamroller and the Renault FT 17 75BS tank prototype, were the first contacts I had with this manufacturer and manufacturing technology.
It is very pleasant to see new manufacturers on the market, even more offering to us rare and unique models, that are part of the history of the World Conflicts.
And in this small sequence of kits built (including the model that will appear in the next article...) by Vargas Scale Models I was able to perceive the evolution of these models, which made me very satisfied.
When my client introduced me to these kits for my construction for his collection, I confess that I was quite curious, but I tried to keep an open mind, because you guys have known me for a long time: I love build scale models of rare (and real...) vehicles and above all, I like to have fun...
For me, that's what modeling is: History in scale and with fun! And I had that with these 3D printed kits from Vargas Scale Models.
Congratulations to the manufacturer: it allows us to have, in our hands, these rare and strange vehicles, with surprisingly good detail and with reasonable prices, that without it, we would only imagine what they would be like!! I agree totally with the company's slogan: "Bringing HISTORY to life!"
À bientôt !!!
Como sempre, um belo documentário histórico acompanhado de uma montagem e detalhamento de um Mestre.
ResponderExcluirMuito obrigado, Marcos!!! Um grande abraço e a casa é sua!!!
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