Somua S.35 (1.72 Heller)

[B4en]

A nice looking kit out of the box but with a few problems. I found fitting the lower hull to the upper body required some guesswork, and some of the detail (e.g. side engine access hatches) is much simplified for ease of removal from the moulds. The latter was corrected with some careful carving and scratch additions. The suspension is beautifully moulded but largely hidden. Tracks are terrible and I used the old trick of adapting some spare Sherman tracks to get something closer to the real thing. A shortage of radios meant they were rarely fitted in French service but I thought 'what the hell' and gave this one an aerial. Camo is one of the kit options.

[Clashcityrocker]

Very nice. I like the camo painting.

Nigel

[B4en]

Thanks Nigel, it took a while to get it looking about right. I wish I'd worked a bit harder on repainting the decals now as well, as some of the white looks a bit wobbly now seeing it on a larger scale on screen. Oh well, we live and learn, occasionally.

[Spaceowl]

Love it! There were a lot of difficult camo schemes around on early war vehicles and the French had the bulk of them. Special praise for attempting one of the especially hard ones.

[ShaunW]

That is a great Somua, Ben and certainly those French camo schemes can be a challenge but I find them very appealing, in the same way that I find French Air Force schemes from the same period.

[B4en]

My thanks guys, it's nice to have some fellow modellers appreciate my builds.

those French camo schemes can be a challenge but I find them very appealing, in the same way that I find French Air Force schemes from the same period.

The French certainly loved their arty camo. I keep meaning to try some early war French aircraft but haven't plucked up the courage yet. Anything you could recommend for a French aircraft novice Shaun?

[JamesPerrin]

Camo work is superb.

[B4en]

Camo work is superb.

Marci bien James!

[Softscience]

Great build, and great to see you back in the game again. I remember you as the fellow archaeo (and master of braille scale ) on the BM forum.

[B4en]

Great build, and great to see you back in the game again. I remember you as the fellow archaeo (and master of braille scale ) on the BM forum.

Hi again Ralph (?). good to hear from you again and thanks for the high praise. Sadly I'm a longtime ex-archaeo by now. Not sure I ever posted on BM, it was probably ATF?

[ShaunW]

My thanks guys, it's nice to have some fellow modellers appreciate my builds.

those French camo schemes can be a challenge but I find them very appealing, in the same way that I find French Air Force schemes from the same period.

The French certainly loved their arty camo. I keep meaning to try some early war French aircraft but haven't plucked up the courage yet. Anything you could recommend for a French aircraft novice Shaun?

Not really, Ben, as despite liking the look of the camo I haven't as yet got round to building any French AF models! That said it depends on your preferred scale and for single-engine fighters mine is 1/48th, so I would probably look at Tamiya.

[B4en]

Not really, Ben, as despite liking the look of the camo I haven't as yet got round to building any French AF models! That said it depends on your preferred scale and for single-engine fighters mine is 1/48th, so I would probably look at Tamiya.

No problem Shaun, and thanks. I realized I have done French WW1 aircraft (in fact working on one currently). At some point I'll meander into some early WW2 types and see what happens.