Panzerserra Bunker- Military Scale Models in 1/35 scale: ARL Tracteur C

ARL Tracteur C - 1940

Aux armes, citoyens!!!

Today we're going to explore one of the most ambitious projects of the French at the beginning of WWII: an era of enormous and massive tanks, which would behave like giant leviathans on the battlefields. Today we'll talk about the idealized, but never built, prototype of the ARL Tracteur C, from 1940.

A fictional vision of an ARL Tracteur C
on the French battlefield -1940.

History:

The ARL Tracteur C, or ARL Char C was a French super-heavy tank prototype developed in 1940. This type of super-heavy vehicle design is a clear example of how anachronistic the French army's vision was at the beginning of World War II.

Color profile of what would be the ARL Tracteur C

Shortly after WWI, several attempts were made in France to replace the 20 Char FCM 2C super-heavy tanks built between 1919 and 1921.

Char FCM 2C super-heavy tank Poitou

Until 1925, the FCM 2Cs were supplemented by 77 Mk.V* tanks, received from Great Britain in exchange for a similar number of Renault FT-17s shortly after the end of the Great War.

Mark V Star tanks (Mark V*) on railway trucks - IWM (Q 14627)

Renault FT-17 ilght tanks - IWM Q 71015

By the early 1930s, the obsolescence of these enormous and cumbersome vehicles was more than evident. The major problem was not the capabilities of French engineers and industry at the time, but rather the inconsistency and lack of directives in tactical and technical requirements, which the Army General Staff had long been unable to determine.

It was only in the second half of 1939 that some light began to appear at the end of the tunnel, when ARL, AMX, and FCM received technical specifications for the development of new projects, but these were still desperately vague, as they did not provide precise requirements regarding the caliber of the armament, crew composition, weight, or other key parameters. The companies consulted followed the inertia of the prevailing doctrine in France, designing enormous monsters.

The French army commissioned a huge super-heavy tank capable of withstanding any enemy anti-tank gun and crossing large trenches and rivers. The ARL - Atelier de Construction de Rueil (ARL), AMX - Atelier de Construction d'Issy-les-Moulineaux, and FCM - Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée companies began developing their own versions in the early 1940s. Due to their similarity, the ARL and AMX designs were merged, resulting in the ARL Tracteur C, while FCM developed the FCM F1.

Profile drawing of what would be the ARL Tracteur C

Both projects began the construction of full-scale wooden mock-ups, with FCM completing its mock-up in 100%. The ARL project evolved more slowly, with period photos showing the wooden model approximately 40% complete.

ARL Tracteur char super lourd

The vehicle was meant to be extremely heavy and for that time period, very heavily armored. The ARL Tracteur C was intended to be very long to meet the requirement to cross trenches up to 7 meters wide.

Profile drawing of what would be the ARL Tracteur char super lourd

The tank was multi-turreted like the FCM F1; however, unlike the FCM F1, the ARL C had the main turret in front of the very long hull right behind the secondary turret, not at the back of vehicle.

Profile drawing of what would be the FCM F1 super heavy tank

The development path of the ARL C was extremely complex, due to the existence of a number of parallel super-heavy tank projects with overlapping design goals, the specifications of which were regularly changed. For each project in turn, several companies submitted one or more competing proposals.

In September 1938, the ARL company was granted a development contract for the Char Maximum, the first proposal for which was presented by ARL in May 1939. It had a proposed weight of 120 tons, consisted of two detachable modules, armor up to 120 mm thick and could be armed with either a gun or a flamethrower. The commission decided that only the gun-tank would be considered, however.

In 1940, the specifications of ARL's tank, now named as "Tracteur C" to keep the project secret from outsiders, were changed: the tank was designed to have two turrets, with a 47 mm gun in the front and a new larger turret with a 90 mm gun in the back.

Drawings of the AMX Tracteur C programme

ARL on 17 January 1940 ordered four turrets from the Schneider company, but it agreed only to build two 105 mm gun turrets and refused the two 90 mm gun turrets, as there was simply no capacity to manufacture them. In April 1940, after AMX's AMX Tracteur C programme was terminated, the subcommission advised to go ahead with both the FCM F1 and the ARL prototypes, and immediately place an order for ten or fifteen of the former.

That advice was given to a new General Tank Studies Commission, to which the ARL presented a partially constructed wooden mock-up on April 11, 1940; the FCM presented its fully constructed mock-up the following day. It was found that the FCM project was much more advanced and could show the new tank in all its details. Because of this, the ARL project was terminated. Only the partially completed full-scale wooden mock-up was produced.

The partially complete full-scale wooden mock-up
of ARL Tracteur C at the premises of ARL (Atelier de Construction de Rueil)
Commune de Rueil-Malmaison - west of Paris, France, 1940.
front view

The partially complete full-scale wooden mock-up
of ARL Tracteur C at the premises of ARL (Atelier de Construction de Rueil)
Commune de Rueil-Malmaison - west of Paris, France, 1940.
rear view

The partially complete full-scale wooden mock-up
of ARL Tracteur C at the premises of ARL (Atelier de Construction de Rueil)
Commune de Rueil-Malmaison - west of Paris, France, 1940.
front right view

The complete wooden mockup of the FCM F1 in 1/1 scale
France, April 6, 1940

After the Fall of France, in June 1940, the semi-finished wooden prototype of the ARL Tracteur C was captured by the Germans, who took a series of photographs - and it is only thanks to these photographs that we can now imagine how this tank might have been built.

The Wehrmacht had absolutely no need for the French "mastodons" due to the obsolescence of their design, so the unfinished model of the ARL Tracteur C was quickly dismantled and the project documentation apparently destroyed.

Specs:

Drawing based on the V&K Production scale model.

ARL "tracteur"C
Type	Super-heavy tank
Place of origin	French Third Republic
Specifications
Mass	145 metric tons
Length	12 m
Width	3.20 m
Height	3.60 m
Crew	8

Armour	120 mm
Main armament	1 x Canon de 90 mm Modèle 1926
Sec. armament	1 x 47 mm SA 35 mle 1935 gun 2 x Mitrailleuse modèle 1931 7.5 mm (?)
Engine	two 550 hp engines 1,100 hp total
Power/weight	7.58 hp/t
Maximum speed	25 km/h

The kit:

This project was commissioned by a dear friend who is a collector and, like me, enjoys rare and unusual things. He provided me with the "initial" version of the V&K Production kit, ARL Tracteur C (1940) (#35003), a very basic (and enormous...) 3D printed kit in a strange white color.

Box art from the first version of the kit from ARL Tracteur C (1940)
released by V&K Production, in 1/35 scale. Source: Facebook

I say initial because, some time later, V&K Production itself released a more detailed and slightly different version of the same model.

Box art from the final version of the kit from ARL Tracteur C (1940)
released by V&K Production, in 1/35 scale. Source: V&K Production website

Note that both versions are interpretations of the photos of the wooden mock-up which, as you remember, was only 40% complete when captured and photographed by the Germans in 1940. Therefore, the final details were left to the discretion of the designers at V&K Production.

Since I "can't" discard any model (because of my religion...), we'll build the initial version of the kit, to represent the vehicle. That one, only the Gods of Military Engineering know in its entirety.

But after this esoteric introduction, let's get to building the model, always counting on the help of our fearless and ever-enthusiastic Kojak!!!

Kojak faces his new challenge... A huge challenge!!!

The turret itself is really big...

Suspension wheels and armor plates

The hull is made of one piece, but hollow...
Note the mantlet with the 90 mm cannon, the coaxial machine gun
and the 47 mm cannon on the auxiliary bow turret.

Gluing the wheel rims to the vertical armor plates was challenging.
A lot of superglue...

Doing the same job from the other side...

Closing the sponsons...Note the drive sprockets and
idler wheels installed in position.

...and gluing the sponsons to the chassis. Be very careful with the alignment at this stage. Ideally, use a minimal amount of glue to check the alignment and avoid any twisting during the process. Only after this crucial detail has been checked should we "stitch" the sponsons to the chassis, using more glue to fill in the gaps and keep everything very well reinforced.

The sponsons glued in place.
Note the drive sprockets (rear) and idler wheels (front) installed in position.

Alignment is important for the next step: pasting the track links...

Installing the tracks (link-by-length) with superglue, starting by
the drive sprocket at the rear and filling in the gaps up to the front section.
The upper portion is not provided, as it is completely hidden by the fenders.

Right side done, with armoured fender glued in position.

The two parts closed!!
right view

Left view

The turret's rotation base required minor grinding using sandpaper, but nothing that would compromise its rotation.

Turret's rotation base

Using my Dremel and abrasive disc, I made a groove
in the turret's rotation cylinder, so I could expand the cylinder
in that area, to give it a little more retention...

The turret fit more snugly, but still rotates freely.

Eyes right!!!

This older version of the kit comes with all
the hatches closed and fixed, which is a shame...
The new version comes with these parts with the option of
being positioned open or closed.

I adapted an acupuncture needle as an antenna on the back of the vehicle.

The girl is really huge. Compare her size to an M24 Chaffe,
which is the same scale.

And with that, the basic construction phase is complete. The primary version of the V&K Production kit is really very simple, but well printed. Some lines are evident, but nothing too aggressive. And, with the completion of the construction phase, we'll move on to painting and marking the model. As we saw in the History of this vehicle, this tank wasn't even built; only its wooden mock-up was partially finished. Therefore, I have some freedom when imagining a paint job and marking for this enormous vehicle.

I decided to paint our big mademoiselle in the striking French tricolor camouflage, which I find very beautiful. I chose the name MAGNIFIQUE for this incredible vehicle, which I think perfectly matches and translates everything about this enormous and magnificent girl. I printed the name and the French flag on my laser printer, on a fragment of colorless decal. The French cockades came from my box of extra decals. I drew the plan in 3 views based on the kit model, using it as a guide for painting and markings.

Starting by the primer: Vallejo black.

The girl is simply enormous...

I started painting with the lightest color, dabbing the desired areas with this yellowish shade. I achieved this yellowish tone by mixing Vallejo Model Color Tan-earth (70-874) with Flat Yellow (70-953).

Painting with the lightest color. Right view.

Left view

After the yellowish tone dried, I cut masking tape into a wavy pattern and applied it over the yellowed areas. Then, I painted with the light greenish color that I obtained mixing Vallejo Model Color German Light Green Camouflage (70-833) with Pastel Green (70-885).

I forgot to photograph this step, but the color is visible under the second masking layer, which I applied in the same way as the first, after the green had completely dried.

Then I applied the final layer of camouflage colors, the earthy brown tone, which I obtained by mixing Vallejo Model Air 71.246, Yellow Brown RAL8031 with Vallejo Model Air 71.290, US Earth Brown FS 30099.

The masking for the darkest color tone. Notice the parts
in green...

After all the colors were dry, I reinforced the tonal variations on all of them, mainly with lighter shades, and sealed the entire painting with two very thin coats of gloss varnish. When these coats dried, I applied the decals; the French roundels came from my scrap decal box, and the name MAGNIFIQUE with the French flag was printed on my color laser printer. Since my printer doesn't print white, I used a fragment of white decal as a background on these handcrafted decals. The work turned out like this:

The tricolor camouflage and the French roundel on the front portion of the tank's side.
Notice the name of vehicle, in the turret

Elle est tout simplement MAGNIFIQUE !!

Front view

Right side

Rear view

One thing that bothered me immensely about this kit, even more so after it was all painted, was the lack of detail. The newer version is much more detailed, but seeing this "early model" girl all painted and without any detail, no accessories, broke my heart.

That smooth rear end, without any eye-catching features, dans une Char Française, is not normal at all... I immediately remembered the complicated "braid" of chains on the Char B1 and thought: why not?? So I went digging through the Tamiya Char B1 construction manuals and voiláá...there was the inspiration!!

Char B1 bis rear chains

I searched in my scrap box for costume jewelry chains of the appropriate size and gauge for our girl's size and cut them to the desired length. Since these decorative pieces were boldly shiny, the first thing to do was literally burn off the finish.

I made a small hook with wire and hung the chains over a lamp to "age" and darken the metal. Here's the result of Kojak's madness.

Burning off the gold finish on the chains. I heated the links
until they were red-hot and then plunged them into cold water.
BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO BURN YOURSELF!!

While the chain cooled, I made the hooks on the back of the tank using bent copper wire. I drilled small holes of the correct diameter to insert the wires and glued the hooks in place with minimal amounts of superglue.

Then, using a brush and appropriate colors, I painted the hooks. With the hooks securely in place, I hung the chain on the back of the tank to test the whole thing.

Testing the chain in place. Notice the color touch-ups on the hooks.
Hmmm...the chain is still very golden...

Another session of fire tanning!!
Compare with the "standard" chain on the workbench...

Much better!!!

With that resolved, I began the weathering in the model...

And since we're detailing the model further, let's take some inspiration from the "late" model by V&K Production itself.. let's make the side steps of the hull and try to put a headlight on the bow of our ship, as well as a nice exhaust system.

V&K Production late version of the model.
Notice the side steps (red), the headlight (yellow)
and the exhaust system (blue)

Since period photos don't show these details (because the mockup was incomplete), all these details and their proportions are mere speculation. I created the spacing of the steps using the Kojak figure as a model and extrapolating the scale. The steps were made with thin copper wires, bent and inserted into holes made with my Dremel on the sides of the tank.

The turret of the "late" V&K version has a rear opening, but my first version of the kit turret doesn't. After being inspired by the Tamiya Char B1, it was time to remember the KV2, with its immense turret and its fixed ladder on the side. Hmmm... What if I reproduced all this in ARL? Kojak strikes again...

Kojak´s inspiration

The turret steps, just after its installation...
The metal will be painted with a brush, then...

My exhaust system differs from the late V&K Production model... Kojak drew inspiration from the Matilda II for this setup, which was executed using L-profiles and Plastruct tubing.

A compact and efficient exhaust system.
Why not??!!

We're not going to deafen the poor soldiers, are we?

Left steps, after painting...

Right steps.

The headlight was made with an accessory from Elf Productions.

The exhaust system, after painting work...

Right view

And after a light weathering treatment on the entire vehicle, our model was finally ready. Here's what a "MAGNIFIQUE" ARL Tracteur C char super lourd (super heavy tank) could have looked like, in the colors of the French campaign in 1940.