Hi guys, after taking a short break from blogging to just build a couple i got the Italeri MK IV H finished and a Dragon Jagdtiger built awaiting paint, so i decided i was ready to get back on the blog trail. I was looking for something interesting but was wanting something not overly complicated, after looking over my shelf my eyes fell upon the Tamiya Char B1 i built earlier this year and decided it needed company, i have always loved these early french tanks and have built the heller offering of the Somua s35 and the H35 (german version) i was always very curious about the bronco release but had'nt heard much about it so never got around to picking it up but after recieving this kit from a friend a short while back i decided this was the perfect time break it out.

lonely Char B1



A look at the kit.

boxart and the markings i will probably go with.



The sprues.











Decals and extra's.



My first impressions are im really liking what i see, the detail is nice i dont see any flash and indi link tracks which was a nice suprise, also metal springs for the wheel assemblies a brass tube barrel and a chain also a full interior which was another unexpected suprise (pic of the instructions shows the extent of the interior plus the wheel assemblies).



Lastly the kit supplies decals for 7 vehicles.



Let the games begin,,,

Ron.

I was just looking at one of these at the LHS a couple days ago in a box with no wrapper. I was amazed they put an interior in that little bugger. Perfect timing Ron, I will definitely be watching this one

Great looking Char too! You get full builds done in the time it takes me to glue up a set of indy tracks...

Looks a nice little kit Ron, may just have to pick one up...will follow this one for tips..

Thanks guys i appreciate the interest, Hi Mark i've been folowing your KT and ferdie builds but havent seen an update in awhile im looking forward to seeimg them done

Well we have a small update, i made a start i decided i would be buttoning up the hatches but i still went ahead and built the interior and did a little painting on it just to give everyone an idea of what can be expected.

the only real point to note here is when doing step one if you glue the front differential in the nose of the tank make sure to push it all way way to the front otherwise when attaching the nose the transmission will not allow for a snug fit best bet is dont glue this yet and wait until everything else is in and dry fit it, its a small issue but like i said there was nothing else to note the rest goes together nicely with just a little clean up of mold lines and such.













Next i gave the interior a coat of white and dry fit the upper hull to see what would actually be seen.





i painted the interior using craft paints black, brown and green in different cominations then did a little weathering with oils (washes) and a little powders i will post a pic of two when its dry and finished but for now here is a pic of it before the weathering is properly dry with the lid on next to my last PZ IV H for a size comparison



this thing is small.



Thanks for looking and feel to comment.

heres a couple of shots of the interior finished i didnt get too involved just enough to show what its capable of but i must say i do kinda like it they did a nice job for the size of this thing but there is also room for improvement from the more ambitious folk.














Ron.

Hey Ron, the KT and Ferdi were put on hold for a while so I could get the first railcar done for my heavy recon train, now thats built I can get back to them, been amassing a few figure sets so I can crew the up too.

I have to say the engine looks excellent, I really love how you finish your builds, any chance you can give a quick how to for how you did that?
And your right, that thing is tiny, it looks more like a 1/48 tank next to the panzer IV.

Hi Mark, yes i 'de happy to do a run down on the paint steps for the interior i will try get it up tommorrow, i need to check out your railcar

Here's the last update for the weekend.

Next up was the running gear i began with the bogies?!? these went together fairly well but they are a bit fiddly especially when attaching them to the tank i had to keep adjusting them and keeping them straight until the glue dried enough to hold them, the drive sprocket and idler wheel gave me no problems one thing to note is the plastic is quite soft and sometime a little difficult to work with but nothing to terrible though.









Next will be the indi links but i will give the wheels until tommorrow to harden up.

Hi guys, well lol there as been very little response to this build but almost 500 views so i assume there is some interest in it so onward i will go.

i have made some good progress.

work began on the indi link tracks and while i liked them they are small and very difficult to assemble mainly because of their shape, they dont sit flat like most tracks so they are hard to press together and keep straight but once they are on i liked the result those who dont like indies will be better trying to trade for some trumpeters rubber band style tracks,

built



and i went ahead and painted these now because of the way the fenders sit so close on top of them.



next the fenders were attached i had to thin out the lip at the rear because of the close proximity the the tracks.



After adding the grill to the upper hull it was then fitted.



Then work began on the turret, the gun assembles easilly but there is some cleanup required nothing major, once the gun was together i added it to the turret and joined the two halves here there is some filling to be done its fairly straight forward but seems like by todays standards more than one should expect, i dont mind this kind of thing being used to building the likes of maquettes and alan's kits but i suspect some folk will find this a little off putting.



and with the turret on this is where i sit right now.

I can't get over how tiny the tank is, when I think a PIV is a dinky thing Looks good Ron!

Making good progress on this one Ron. I too have noticed lately that we've been getting a lot more viewers vs. responders...not sure if that's a sign of the increased traffic of non-logged-in visitors or what exactly. Keep up the posts though, am enjoying this one.

Thanks Kevin and Bill i really am enjoying this one,

Well the build is now complete and awaiting some paint which im still not 100% decided on so we will just wait and see what happens in the paint shop heh,

The last main sub assembly to be built was the trench crossing skid on the rear i cant for the life in me remember the name of it without going looking so for now its that, this is a nice little rig and is really going to add some interest to the tank and weathering.



All that remained was the small details and tools etc,, the exhaust was completely wrong for this tank so i scrapped a new one together with a toothpick some heavy sprue and a piece of a diet coke can, following that i used some scrap PE and added a little detail to the tool clasps nothing fancy but it should give the impression of something other than square blobs a couple more little bits and bobs rounded it out and this is how it looks and i think it will be quite good once it gets some paint and weathering on it.

Some really nice work! For something that won't be seen at all, your sure put in some fine work building the interior! super job.

cheers

I think it does more good posting the progress of a build and I wouldn't let non-responses be a negative. Actually, it's kinda like taking a car out for a test drive. You can look at sprues and write ups all day and none will give you the insight of what to expect like this will.

Thanks for taking the time biffa!

And BTW, what a tiny tank!


Jeff

I hve been watching this with great interest.
good to see your up to paint stage allready.
(its the best part)
Cant wait to see what you do with it.

Looks like I will have to give in and buy one, as the Trumpeter one I've been wrestling with is becoming a pain. Pity both Bronco and Trumpeter missed out the great big ammunition rack that takes up most of one side of the hull though....

David

Ron if you want more interest I'll quite happily sit and write 100 posts because I think this little tank is stunning!

I can't believe it's so tiny when compared to a PzIV but when I look at the engine/gearbox/other stuff crammed in it looks more "right".

GOOD WORK!!!!! KUDOS!!!

Ron,

interesting build ......you will have to carry on..

i was looking for something different and i think that this and the tamiya Char 1 Bis maybe just the ticket.

Do you know of any good reference sources for French armour?

regards,

Alastair

Here

http://www.chars-francais.net/new/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

Here for the B1 bis

http://www.military-kits.com/sections.php?op=printpage&artid=92

There's also an excellent blog on building the B1bis on Armorama (of course)

Books

http://www.minitracks.fr/trackstory.htm

Among others

David

Thanks guys i do appreciate the feedback im glad this was of some interest

Drader this and the trumpeter are quite comparable as far as ease of build goes they both are fiddly but this one looks better when its finished in my opinion.

Alastair the refs i used were what i found on the web this one link below is one of the ones Drader posted (thanks David) of the books was one of my main ones
http://www.minitracks.fr/Hotchkiss_H35.htm

once again i appreciate the comments guys i have got some paint on the little cutie i decided on a single colour instead of one of the more elaborate camo schemes the french devised but i like the plain look and think with some weathering will look nice, its glossy right now from the future i applied for the application of the decals.









Also i changed out the kit supplied chain for a smaller one it just looked too big.
Weathering up next .

Looking nice Ron, though I wonder if the original would have have had brown painted camouflage over the green. It's a low-contrast scheme that's not easy to see in B/W photos.

BTW anyone visiting the Chars Francais page on the H39 - beware the interior photos as some are of the Renault R-35 as they're clearly of a lefthand drive tank.

David

One detail for anyone building either the Heller or Trumpeter H39s is the button for unlocking the engine deck. Both kits omit it (and the Bronco one is a little undersized) - hard to imagine how they could have missed it though. It's on the RHS, just forward and lower than the bolt head on the back end of the hull side.



David

Why would you take the time to build and paint the interior if in the end the tank is buttoned up?

BTW nice work and thanks for the building log, this one is in my stash and it just moved a couple of boxes up. ;-)

Thanks for the comments guys, David i wasnt certain about the single colour either but i decided i like the boxart and just went with it i appreciate the info on the tank and the links they will prove useful to anyone interested in this thread for sure, Hi t34-85 i knew from the beggining i was goin to button her up but did the interior just to show anyone interested in the kit i apreciate the comments.

I finally got her done and i went a little further on the weathering than i said i would but the pics actually make it look heavier than it is, the vehicle is roughly the same size as a pz I so most of what you see here isnt visable by eye, anyway on with the show,

here were the weathering steps i had no batteries for my camera so i didnt log it but its basically my same routine,

step 1, i added some streaking using "white" oil paint and the dot method

step 2, several all over washes using "vandyke brown"

step 3, using some sponge and "vandyke brown" oil paint i added some wear and tear mostly around the fenders and lower hull

step 4, more washes using variations of "vandyke brown" "burnt sienna" and "white" oils

step 5, painting of the tools

step 6, dry brushing here and there using "shadowed steel"

step 7, light application of pigments with light touchup washes here and there,

thats my basic routine and if there are any questions feel free to ask.














over all im happy with the result if and when i build another im sure i can do better knowing what i learned on this one and i actually think i will do the captured one next with the rockets, the kit itself isnt perfect and does take some basic modeling skills but the out come is better than the previous releases in my opinion and worth the time and effort. thanks for checking it out and feel free to comment in anyway.

Ron.

Yip thats very cool.
I cant beleive that your same ways of doing wethering works so weell on everything you do.
Those tracks are pretty knarly on that tank.
Very cool.