Sunday 2 August 2020

Rapid Fire! France 1940 in 20mm - French and Belgian counterattack!



At the crossroads of Just Fontaine a group of French Renault R35 with the longer 37mm gun are led by a sole AMC 35. Once again the " Corridor des Panzer" will be cut and the Germans sent back from were they should have never left!  But wait! Some Belgian aid is coming from the north in the form of all available AMC 35 of this army (well, they were only 10, so 2 in RF! terms). Whether French or Belgian they were all produced in Alentejo, Portugal, under MiniGeneral brand of 3D prints, with license from Renault, of course. 


These are my first R-39, one of the names of the R-35 with longer gun (the SA38). Some units of these infantry tanks were lucky and received one per platoon. As they were given to the Co of the platoon all models got a copy of the Skytrex tank commander. The model is very clean and the printing lines are almost invisible. Even so I use the PVA+Old Acrylic Paint to fill the areas were the lines can be more problematic.



The Belgian AMC-35 were the only decent tank of the Belgian arsenal. Even so the Belgian called it an Armoured car not to provoke Hitler, as if he needed to be provoked.  With a turret for two men, an a decent 47mm gun this tank was betrayed by mechnical problems and a thin 25mm armour plate at the front. 


Now for some plastic knowledge. Who recognize the converted Belgian tank commander, hem? 
- You sir, yes the one with the big belly and bottom bottle glasses ( in fact this remark fits most of us)...
- Hmmm, I think its a Matchbox German ...
- Wrong, sir! Now you sir. Yes, you with the salient teeth and bottom bottle glasses (obviously).
- Airfix German 1st edition?
-Wrong again. You, beautiful lady with the mini skirt and melon shaped boobies...
- I think its the Airfix Traffic policeman from the civilian set of 1961...
- Amazing, you won! And here is the proof, second from the left!Congratulations!!!



With the help of a bit of GreenStuff for the glasses and new shaped collar you get a nice Belgian tanker but you will loose a very rare policeman. 


And this is the AMC 35 of the brigadier-chef Poplimont of the Audigier squadron. This is  the last one I needed for this squadron as I already have two from Skytrex,  In spite of having its tank destroyed, Poplimont and its two other crewmen, Vernazza and Bouvier, managed to escape. They are some of the survivors of the massacre of the Audigier squadron on the 8th of june while valiantly attacking, without proper reconnaissance, the Germans at Mont-de-Soissons. 

Next: The Italian Trucks for the Normandy SS, finally. 

9 comments:

  1. A very fine collection there.

    Cheers,

    Pete.

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    1. French tanks are close to the end in my collection. Unfortunately not much more to have.

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  2. Great additions JP - shame about the Policeman - but at least he's still serving in uniform. LoL Cheers Greg

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  3. Thanks a lot for your Devastating comment!

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  4. "big belly and bottom bottle glasses", I laughed my socks off at that. Great work as usual JP, your table looks brilliant.
    Regards,
    Paul.

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    1. Thanks Paul. The remark is not obviously for you and me who are tall young handsome men.

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  5. Hi JP - That is the interesting thing about plastic figure conversions - you know when you've done a good job when it is hard to guess the original figures origins. Well done. Cheers. KEV. (Sydney-Australia).

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  6. Thanks. Never had thought about that but you are most probably right :)

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