FINAL PICTURES NOW POSTED FURTHER DOWN
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Hot on the heels of the culmination of my last 2C project, I offer a different take on the same subject. I can tell you right now, there's no historical evidence that this tank was ever painted like this. I can say that records of these vehicles from their first appearance in 1923 up to around 1935 are sorely lacking on the internet. I just chose four colors from the mid '20s French pallette (dark brown, reddish brown, yellow, and green) and went for it. Just classify this as a "could have been", instead of a "what if".

I skipped the general build log since there're already a few of them around, and start the story at the first layer of camo. Here's what it currently looks like:








Comments are welcome......
More to come....

Thanks Matt. She's still got a little ways to go, But I feel it's a good start.

As for the second part of your comment, that's not a bet I'd take. Like I said though, the early history data on these seems pretty sparse. I will make it easier, as I'm stuck using one of the three decal sets provided with the kit. I haven't decided to use the turret decal, and may stick with only the numbers.

Got a little progress to report here. I added the decals. After a bit more research I found that the tanks were originally just numbered "1" through "10". The use of "90" through "99", and the province names didn't come about until the mid-1930s. I also found out that early history details on these things is lacking mainly because they basically sat in sheds from 1923 to 1935, only being brought out on occasional propaganda events.

I finished straightening up the camo lines and added the black sectional outlines, though I still have a little touch up work before they're finished. The mufflers have been rusted and still need their top paint coats added. Here's how she sits now.





More to come in a few days. After I finish the black lines I'll need to clear coat it again to protect them before the weathering starts.

Fantastic work Bob! The paint scheme looks very nice indeed and quite striking, I can't wait to see this finished.

Glad you like it Rob. I was actually impressed by how much the black lines added to the scheme.

As for the finish, it won't be too long. I need it done for a show in less than 2 weeks. I hope to have a new update by Monday.

Time to call an end to this one. For the pictures I threw it on one of my old bases just for kicks. The weathering is a bit more extensive than on the previous effort. The tracks gave me some problems when I tried to mount them. For some reason, a number of links kept pulling apart. I ended up having to glue 4 or 5 of them.

Anyway, here she is. Let me know what you think, and if you have any suggestions for improvements. This will be going to the AMPS Nationals in Fredericksburg this coming weekend, so if you're going, you'll see it there.

That's certainly eye catching, nice work.

Kimmo

hello
Bob, great job
steph

Bob;

It's come out super cool and you have done a splendid job on the beast! And actually the base looks pretty nice around it! Being over-sized is quite OK, far as I can see.

I DO have a couple suggestions... the key one being that you really want to fix up those black lines around the main gun barrel and recup... they MUST be entire and around the barrel without visible gaps to get the best depiction of the reality (those French guys were probably pretty careful in detailing on this paint-scheme).

The other concerns the rain / back-pressure cap on the exhaust pipe. Soot this up! These things certainly NEVER ran "clean" and these caps would get sooted, as do the pipe-ends.

Looks very cool. Good Luck with it at AMPS!

Bob

Exceptional work!

Bob,

Whether they were painted like that or not, she looks fantastic and I would be proud to use your's as my reference if I built one. I love WW2 French armor. So under-represented for the largest tank army of 1940 west of Russia.

For scale, you ought to have it running over a Pz.Kpfw. 38 (t)! Something like this:

Kimmo - Ssssh, it's supposed to be camouflaged, not eye catching! Glad you like it.

Steph - Thanks for the compliment.

Bob - Appreciate the feedback. I knew the lines looked strange when I did them. The space between the barrel and compensator is kind of tight. I'll go back in and see if I can extend them a bit. It not, we'll just have to go with the story that ol' Pierre had too much wine for lunch and botched the job.

As for the exhaust caps, they are sooted up on the bottom sides, but I guess I should have carried it around the edges, too. Those won't be a problem doing.

Matt - Thanks for the kind words.

Frederick - Thanks for the compliment. While being pretty much a diehard German armor fan, I find myself in the curious position of having done 5 pieces of French armor out of the last 8 things that I've built. On top of that, I have an S-35 in the works and a Char B waiting in the wings.

I think that M4 guy has a serious misunderstanding of what's considered a war trophy! I don't think his company commander is going to sign off on that.

I love how she looks dusty and muddy all at the same time, with some very nice rusting on the exhausts, the tracks look awesome as well, which is important because they stand out so much.

Thanks for the comments, Matt. The dusty/muddy look comes from using dark and light pigments. I was going for a wet dirt/dry dirt look, so I guess it worked.