Somua S35
Hozzászólások
James CI'm currently on a French tank building buzz at the moment, so thought it only fitting to make a start on the S-35 next 😉
Lode SchildermansApparently, due to my settings, I saw almost no new posts from my buddies. Corrections made, so I can follow your work again. Nice to see progress on this tank, James.
Murad ÖZERWOHOO by far my most fav French subject from that era,following with great interest.
James CWelcome aboard guys 🙂
@ Lode - No worries, I hope your keeping well mate 😉👍
A simple "weekend" build. The kit has a really nice cast surface texture molded all over the upper surfaces, but I lost a little of it when cleaning up the joins on the bottom of the turret and commanders cupola. I was able to easily restore it with the application of some Mr Surfacer 1000 applied with a stippling brush, then given a very light sand to remove the rough peaks.
It was perfect airbrushing weather yesterday and so was able to get 3 of the 4 colours done of the camouflage scheme.
Just the sky blue on top of the cupola and then a couple minor touch ups left to do later today ahead of a clear gloss coat. Pics to follow...
Lode SchildermansJames, I'm keeping well 🙂, only a bit less time for the hobby
James CCheers Robin & Rui 🙂
I got the decals done yesterday which settled down really well over the cast surface texture.
Just need to seal them today and then think about weathering it up. Pics to follow...
James CBackground:
The Somua S35 was a French "Cavalry" tank of the Second World War.
Design work began in 1935, with the first prototype being completed in 1936.
It was quickly accepted into service, and an initial order for 600 units was placed, of which approx. 440 examples were completed before the fall of France to German occupying forces in June of 1940.
Acknowledged for its relatively high speed and maneuverability for the time, and combined with good armor protection and main offensive armament (rivaling that of their own Panzer III) the Germans (and later Italians) quickly pressed it into service with their own forces, and it would go on to see action in Yugoslavia, the Eastern front as well as North Africa.
The Somua had a 3 man crew consisting of a commander/gunner, a driver and a radio operator whom also doubled as a loader.
It measured 5.38m long, 2.12m wide, with a height of 2.62m and weighed in at 19.5 tonnes.
It was powered by a 12.6 cc petrol engine V-8 which could obtain a maximum road speed of 40.7 km/h (25.3 mph) or 32.2 km/h (20.0 mph) off-road, with a range of 230 km (140 miles)
Its main armament was a 47mm SA35 L/32 gun mounted in the turret (which was also installed on the Char B1 Bis) with a coaxially mounted 7.5mm machinegun.
As with other French pre WW2 tank designs, the Somua was well ahead of it's time, but was hindered by being difficult to maintain due to accessibility issues to the engine compartment for servicing.
The other main disadvantage was that there just wasn't enough time to effectively train crews on it and develop effective tactics to counter the "Blitzkrieg" tactics employed by the German offensive forces during the battle of France, and was a fate that would be shared by the British expeditionary armored forces as well.
Despite being a pre-war design, the Somua would remain in service throughout the war, with some units even falling back into allied hands after D-Day once re-captured by Free-French forces, and would remain in service until 1946.
The Kit:
Released by Tamiya back in 2015, this fairly recent kit features superb engineering (as you would expect) with very nice detailing. In particular the textured "cast" surfaces of the main hull and turret.
Tamiya include a metal tow chain to hang on the rear and also supply individual links for the tracks which just click together, and are packaged loosely, ready to assemble straight out of the bag.
Tamiya also include clear parts for the headlight lens and tail lights, and to assist with painting, the paint guide includes left, right, front, back and plan views for all three of the marking options, and which also doubles as the decal placement guide in addition to the assembly instruction booklet.
Build notes:
This is a straight forward kit to assemble, with no major issues to be on the lookout for.
The drivers visor is displayed open with no option to install it closed without modifying it, and taking the risk of damaging it in the process. The interior on the actual vehicles was painted off-white, but without having any interior detailing, I'd recommend spraying it black inside prior to securing the upper hull to the bottom to hide this fact.
The instructions indicate each track run should consist of 102 links, but I found this to be too short and so I used 104 links instead. Assemble them in batches of 5 and you shouldn't have any issues with them falling apart as you complete each run. I ended up with 8 spares.
Despite the rear and sides of the upper hull sitting flush with the lower hull, I had a very noticeable 0.5mm gap on the front that needed plugging off with some vallejo filler. Not a big issue and only took a couple minutes to deal with.
When mounting the 2x track skids on either side, make sure that they are seated straight and level and that there is enough room for the tracks to pass over top, and not foul with the sponsons above.
There is a clear "plug" that is inserted into the lower hull tub.
This one had me scratching my arse for a while trying to figure out just what the hell it was for? In the end, I reasoned that it was unlikely to be a window for the crew, and Tamiya had just put it on the clear sprue as there wasn't anywhere else for it to go. I'm at a loss as why it was needed in the first place but it is what it is.
To accentuate the molded on leather straps on the stowage bins (and hide the join along the top) I painted (Tamiya XF-9 "Hull Red") some 1mm strips of Tamiya tape and just laid them over the top of the raised molded detail.
Summary:
This is a really nice kit by Tamiya of another subject that you don't see to often compared to the typical Panzers, Shermans and T-34's of WW2 etc which is a shame. I've really enjoyed these last three French subjects and has been really interesting learning a bit about them in the process.
For all three builds, I used the following paint set by MiG:
migjimenez.com/en/ac..mouflage-colors.html
With the addition of Tamiya XF-21 "Sky" for the pale green on the Somua.
In hindsight, the sand yellow included in the set is probably a little too pale and would be better used for hi-lights, so I would recommend using Tamiya XF-59 "Desert Yellow" instead.
For a brief 10 minute overview of the exterior:
Youtube Video
And part 2 covering the interior:
Youtube Video
All up, definitely recommended.
Cheers for following 🙂
James CAnd finally a more thorough review of the Somua S35 covering the background and operational history:
Youtube Video
Lode SchildermansYou've done all credit to this tank, James. Great result you've achieved with this build. I'm looking forward to your next project
NeulingVery beautiful model and interesting infos: thanks for showing/telling!
James CMany thanks Lode, Neuling and Robin 🙂
I had to laugh that despite being less than half its size, the Somua had nearly twice as many links per track run of the Char 2C!
James CThanks guys 🙂
I hadn't realized until after I took the pics and uploaded them that I had snapped the rail somehow in pic 23.
I have since repaired this, and should probably re-do the finished pics as well as the current pics are not the best.
@ Nathan - I cheated on the camo scheme a little as the instructions indicated to apply a thin black demarcation line between the brown, green and sky colours on the turret. But with my hand/eye coordination being what it is I decided not to tempt fate in trying to apply it.
Album info
Background:
The Somua S35 was a French "Cavalry" tank of the Second World War.
Design work began in 1935, with the first prototype being completed in 1936.
It was quickly accepted into service, and an initial order for 600 units was placed, of which approx. 440 examples were completed before the fall of France to German occupying forces in June of 1940.
Acknowledged for its relatively high speed and maneuverability for the time, and combined with good armor protection and main offensive armament (rivaling that of their own Panzer III) the Germans (and later Italians) quickly pressed it into service with their own forces, and it would go on to see action in Yugoslavia, the Eastern front as well as North Africa.
The Somua had a 3 man crew consisting of a commander/gunner, a driver and a radio operator whom also doubled as a loader.
It measured 5.38m long, 2.12m wide, with a height of 2.62m and weighed in at 19.5 tonnes.
It was powered by a 12.6 cc petrol engine V-8 which could obtain a maximum road speed of 40.7 km/h (25.3 mph) or 32.2 km/h (20.0 mph) off-road, with a range of 230 km (140 miles) Its main armament was a 47mm SA35 L/32 gun mounted in the turret (which was also installed on the Char B1 Bis) with a coaxially mounted 7.5mm machinegun.
As with other French pre WW2 tank designs, the Somua was well ahead of it's time, but was hindered by being difficult to maintain due to accessibility issues to the engine compartment for servicing.
The other main disadvantage was that there just wasn't enough time to effectively train crews on it and develop effective tactics to counter the "Blitzkrieg" tactics employed by the German offensive forces during the battle of France, and was a fate that would be shared by the British expeditionary armored forces as well.
Despite being a pre-war design, the Somua would remain in (Axis) service throughout the war, with some units even falling back into allied hands after D-Day once re-captured by Free-French forces, and would remain in service until 1946.
The Kit:
Released by Tamiya back in 2015, this fairly recent kit features superb engineering (as you would expect) with very nice detailing. In particular the textured "cast" surfaces of the main hull and turret.
Tamiya include a metal tow chain to hang on the rear and also supply individual links for the tracks which just click together, and are packaged loosely, ready to assemble straight out of the bag.
Tamiya also include clear parts for the headlight lens and tail lights, and to assist with painting, the paint guide includes left, right, front, back and plan views for all three of the marking options, and which also doubles as the decal placement guide in addition to the assembly instruction booklet.
Build notes:
This is a straight forward kit to assemble, with no major issues to be on the lookout for.
The drivers visor is displayed open with no option to install it closed without modifying it, and taking the risk of damaging it in the process. The interior on the actual vehicles was painted off-white, but without having any interior detailing, I'd recommend spraying it black inside prior to securing the upper hull to the bottom to hide this fact.
The instructions indicate each track run should consist of 102 links, but I found this to be much too short and so I used 104 links instead.
Assemble them in batches of 5 and you shouldn't have any issues with them falling apart as you complete each run. I ended up with 8 spares.
Despite the rear and sides of the upper hull sitting flush with the lower hull, I had a very noticeable 0.5mm gap on the front that needed plugging off with some vallejo filler. Not a big issue and only took a couple minutes to deal with.
When mounting the 2x track skids on either side, make sure that they are seated straight and level and that there is enough room for the tracks to pass over top, and not foul with the sponsons above.
There is a clear "plug" that is inserted into the lower hull tub.
This one had me scratching my arse for a while trying to figure out just what the hell it was for? In the end, I reasoned that it was unlikely to be a window for the crew, and Tamiya had just put it on the clear sprue as there wasn't anywhere else for it to go. I'm at a loss as why it was needed in the first place but it is what it is.
To accentuate the molded on leather straps on the stowage bins (and hide the join along the top) I painted some 1mm strips of Tamiya tape ((Tamiya XF-9 "Hull Red") and just laid them over the top of the raised molded detail.
Summary:
This is a really nice kit by Tamiya of another subject that you don't see to often compared to the typical Panzers, Shermans and T-34's of WW2 etc which is a shame. I've really enjoyed these last three French subjects and has been really interesting learning a bit about them in the process.
For all three builds, I used the following paint set by MiG (with the addition of Tamiya XF-21 "Sky" for the pale green on the Somua):
migjimenez.com/en/ac..mouflage-colors.html
In hindsight, the sand yellow included in this set is probably a little too pale and would be better used for hi-lights, so I would recommend using Tamiya XF-59 "Desert Yellow" instead.
For a brief 10 minute overview of the exterior:
Youtube Video
And part 2 covering the interior:
Youtube Video
And finally a more thorough review of the Somua S35 covering the background and operational history:
Youtube Video
Completed 27th February 2023
