Nice isn't it?

Looking good. This will look nice (and small) beside a Char B1 bis

Hopefully Tamiya will also make one in 1/48 scale as well. The Germans used many captured ones as tugs and auxiliary equipment on airfirelds.

Mike T.

What a neat little vehicle! I can't wait to get my hands on one!

Almost looks like a little dragster with the crew sitting snug like that!

Better get the Mirage one finished to compare....

On ML I was a bit rude about the figures not wearing capotes, a better look at the art suggests they're wearing the jacket worn by dragons portes and cavalry tank crews. Instead, I'll moan about them wearing 1916 pattern ammuntion pouches instead of the 1935 ones

BTW while looking at Chars Francais for the original of Odette (without much luck) I found this UE which seems to have a British crew.



David

It'd be nice, but considering the lackluster suspension parts on their Bren Carrier, the prospect is somewhat troublesome.

So much possibilities... Look at post #13

WW2 Batmobile

Will Colleurs-de-plastique start a UE section to go with the B1bis one I've already bookmarked? That would be good.

And the UEs in the first shot have Arabic number plates - what's that about?

David

The pic file name says "syrie" at the end which means Syria.

I never knew these were in Syrian service!!

I wondered about the flags in the background, though I can't quite see any stars on them. I suppose it makes sense for Syria to have ex-French gear, as they also had Renault R-35s.

Thanks for the ID Hisham.

David

Syria was under Vichy French occupation early in World War Two, and was liberated by Free French Legionaires in 1942 (and many of the vanquished Vichy troops then switched sides). Quite a bit of French gear was left behind in the postwar era.

Box art looks promising, i'd certainly be interested in this kit, shame the french troops are in such casual positions, I know the tractor wouldn't have been used in action too much but still, standing with a slung rifle and a pointing guy aren't the most imaginative poses. Lets just be greatful there are some french troops around at last, they look useful for a diorama and some conversion could see them 'livened-up' a bit.

Those pics on the link posted by Richard show that there are a variety of interesting thing to do with this kit besides the usual French or German variants.

David, I've seen a pic of some Tommies posing in a captured german Renault carrier in Italy, seems they found its strange design interesting, perhaps a similar thing is going on here, although from the French markings it'd probably be during the battle of France, perhaps they found ona abandoned in a retreat or asked the crew if they could 'have a go'?

Anyway, enough random thoughts!

James

Someone in the thread was also better than me at spotting Odette on Chars Francais...



With a Hotchkiss tripod precariously balanced on the front.

David

Dear All

David - I could be mistaken but I'm fairly sure that the BEF used this tractor/ carrier, albeit on a very limited and unofficial basis. This may explain your photograph. However, I could have dreamed that experience!

In terms of the box art, it is completely feasible for French troops to be issued and using old kit during the Phoney War period. The level of mobilization during this period made it impossible to equipe all reservists and conscripts with the latest bits of kit. Hence troops still issued with the Lebel and Berther rifes instead of the MAS 36. The same with the accoutrements. The Polish Army in the west (1940) are a good example of this. To my knowledge the notable expection was the Allied expeditionary force sent to Norway (Narvik), where French and Polish units did widely use the latest kit.

Finally, did I dream that Heller made a mighty fine kit of this machine back in the 1970s? Oh well.

Cheers

Karol

At least it's something different then the usual Tamiya offerings -

Hi all!

In 1/48 the Renault UE is available from WSW. There is a review at Aeroscale: Renault UE review

Indeed the UE can be used for airfield dioramas...



Jean-Luc

This cute little contraption will find a home in NJ.
I hope it comes with indy track links, not rubber bands.
To capote or not to capote, that is the question!

Hopefully link and length I think my nerves wouldn't be able to handle indy links that small

I just finished the Mirage Hobby offering, and it's a pretty pleasurable build OOB.
I'm curious how the Tamiya version will turn out. (It's a weird little vehicle, and since you can paint it panzergrau and put a cross on it, it'll probably sell...)

I have another one, and I'm collecting some information about a particular modification: I saw one model with a PaK38 attached to it. I can't find any actual info about this version. Since I have a 38mm gun, I'd like to build it -does anyone have any info about it?

I for one am looking forward to this kit, anything that is different is welcome. I am sure Tamiya is about to release a few more French kits, hopefully softskins and figures in the near future.

Ola Andras

There are several variations on that conversion with the 37 mm PAK on top.
You have the one with the 37mm Mounted on top without the legs Which is a pretty easy scratchbuilt:

And you have the one which is pretty much like they just tied the gun on top of the Chenilette

Should also be not too hard to scratchbuilt.

Yeah the Germans were quite creative with mounting the 37 mm PAK36 on ... everything.

With friendly greetz

Robert Blokker

Hey, thanks for the quick answer. Do you happen to have some photo or drawing about the legs used to attach the gun? (It's a leftover from the DML 251 kit.)

Thank you again.