If the French had held the Germans (if also the British, the Belgians and the Dutch did the same) maybe, just maybe, a future French tank column might have looked like this one. In fact this group is made of disparate vehicles with no relation to any French 1941 unit, just a group of vehicle projects that never saw its integration in the French army (that excludes the Lafflys W15T).
This is one of the possible futuristic organisations of the French army 1941 (eventually late 1940), in this case an armored division as thought by the Commander Ayme. The picture is taken from the GBM magazine ('what else?' as George Clooney would say).
The FCM F1 would have been one of the biggest tanks of the conflict with 120 tons but only a wooden mockup was built. It was designed to pierce the Siegfried line while replacing the aging Char 2C. The model is a MiniGeneral PLA 3d print, like all others in this group, which had to take two coats of varnish before the primer to see most of its printing lines relatively disguised. The camouflage of the lot is based on the latest scheme applied to French vehicles around may 1940.
Another possible painting scheme is to copy the Char 2C layout as can be seen in this TNT magazine proposal.
Another camouflage also from TNT, which is the same I used in my two Char 2C.
The Laffly W15T was already serving in the French army as the tow for the 25mm and 47mm AT guns and the 25mm AA gun.
A famous picture of the Laffly W15T with LMG mount and making its usual business of towing the 25mm CA39 AA gun.
The additions to the models were the metal and soft plastic drivers and the LMG from Caesar on a support as seen on the B/W picture.
No, this is not the famous Panhard EBR of post-war fame but its predecessor, the AM40P that already had an oscillating turret and bullet proof tyres.
The ARL V9 was the SPG for the DCR as it had parts of the Char B1bis. Only two were made but ended its short career hidden in a tunnel in Morocco.
The AMX 38 was meant to replacing the D2. Also only two different prototypes were built but not put into production. The figures are (left) Irregular Miniatures and (right) CP models. All models in the group have antennas which would have been a priority for sure for French tank warfare in late 1940/1941. I chose a buff color for the numbers on this group but this has no historical base.
Next: the Saxon Lithsman at Hastings 1066.
What brilliant and mad tanks and armoured vehicles there JP! Got to love them though and would be fun to field:).
ReplyDeleteIf only the French had hold a few more months :)
ReplyDelete