"best FT-17 or FT35 tank mini in 15mm?" Topic

It seems there's at least three:
Peter Pig – 4.50 UK Pds, or about $6.25 USD US$
Old Glory / Blue Moon – $10 USD
Battlefront / Flames of War – $10.50 USD
Which of these is the best model in terms of accuracy and detail?

Also, is there a model I've missed?
Thanks!

Mine are Forged in Battle

link

Minifigs has one in 15mm also.

The forged in battle are the same price as the Peter Pig – about 5 pds. Are they resin, metal, plastic or something else? And are you pleased with them?

Also, do any of these tanks have an open hatch that you can put command figures in? Doesn't look like it.

Thanks for info!

Dye – no pics at their site – any review? do you own one?
Thanks!

I used to make them here in the USA. There are two turret variations. GFI included them both, but I cannot speak for what Caliver does. (I suspect they also include the two) I found the FT 17 a very nice kit. It is sturdy and we sold quite a few.

Battlefront do both and they are both excellent models but are expensive and have that chunky BF look.

Forged In battle do the FT17 while is well detailed but with a cast on base. They are cheaper than BF, PP and QRF.

QRF do the FT17 and the R35. Both are a bit crude but you do get 4 turret varients for the FT17.

Peter Pig does both and they are a bit better than the QRF but not as good as FIB or BF.

Quality Castings do an R35 but it is tiny compared to other manufacturers models but are otherwise similar to the PP. They are not that expensive due to coming 2 to a pack.

Old Glory does the R35 which is about the same quality as QRF and Gaming Models and are very cheap via Warweb.

Gaming Models does the R35 which seems to be similar quality to the Old Glory and QRF models and is very cheap.

Minifigs does an FT17 in their WW1 range and as I recall from when they had pics up was of middling quality.

The Blue Moon FT17 looks weirdly "hunchbacked" but otherwise seems similar to PP in price and quality

So, for resin R35 models I'd go BF for Quality and Gaming Models for the price.
For resin FT17 I'd go BF for the Quality and FIB for the price.

For metal R35 I'd go PP for Quality and Old Glory for Price. For metal FT17 PP all the way.

Excellent market reveiw by Leadgend
FiB do not come with commanders
Not sure the BF ones do either?
@£13.50 for 2 Vs £19.50 GBP for 4 its not that much of a price difference.
The most expensive one is the Blue Moon one
Best Quality BF and FiB

This is the BF R35. The hatch can be opened but this one was closed.

The fluff on the cupola has been removed!

I don't have any of the FiB FT17 but they do look nice in the packet. The cast on bases may be an issue for you. The BF ones are also good. I haven't seen any of the others in any detail.

My BF R35's had commanders but it's a few years since I bought them.

I had some of the old SDD/Stronghold ones. They were OK, but not wonderful. I replaced them with PP ones – MUCH nicer!

Go exotic. QRF do a nice FCM 36 which should have the same specifications as the R35. So if you are doing WW2 French 1940 you might consider them.

link

FCM 36, a tank with style

Axis & Allies do a nice FCM 36, plastic, cheap and pre painted.

FCM-36-decades ago, when I first saw one, I thought it was a grav tank.

yeah, the BF listing doesn't say that there are any crew that come with it, nor is there a "hatch open" pic as normal.

Still, I have trouble believing that this is the only tank without crew and an open hatch – anyone own a BF FT-17/35 kit who can comment?

If the hatches don't open, the raised cupola looks like it'd be easy to cut open and have a commander looking around. Haven't caught an FT17 pic of the hatch open yet, however.

I think that you will find that the commander comes out of the back of the turret and that the cupola at the top is for vision and ventilation. The rear turret door on these a french baby tanks folds down and the commander can sit on it.
Peter pig make French tank commanders on a sort of spigot that can be glued on the turret rear. They sit on an opened hatch cover. You just need to stick them on the back of the turret.

So it sounds like I'd have to filed down the hatches, paint them black to represent the interior, and then get a tank crewman to sit on a hatch of some sort.

Only need it on two tanks, so doesn't seem too daunting a task in resin.

It'd be nice if BF already had them in the box, however.

Blue Moon's is about 20% larger than Peter Pig's.
I had more PP, so I sold the BM. Both are good, but the BM would have looked odd next to its little brothers.

John – that's odd since my experience with PP infantry is that they run on the large side, same general size as Battlefront.

Do either have open hatch options?

Funny last week I posted a Peter Pig FT17 on my blog. I have another but have not had the time to paint it. I think the Peter Pig version is very nice.

myblog-lekw.blogspot.com

Battlefront do not show commanders in their made up pack of R35s.
The Peter Pig commanders are number 47 in the French section of their WW2range, Abteilung.

Basically, the Peter Pig one is just over half has much.

Still looking for the answer – does the Peter Pig one have an open hatch feature?

Let's get this straight. The Peter Pig commander comes on a little spigot and sits on a dropped flap.
The turrets of the tanks have the door modelled on. To affix the commander paint the door on the turret lack and glue on the commander figure so his body is against the turret. It will look as though he is sitting on the dropped down rear door with his legs inside the turret.

OK, thanks lewisgunner – leaning towards the PP.

Peter Pig FT-17 Rounded Turret – the pic has been off the edge of my screen this whole time! A lovely model:

and with the Brookhurst catalogue in front of me, the PP tank is almost $8. USD So not a lot cheaper.

Interestingly the FT has two vertical doors in the back of the turret and it would be neat to model those. R35 commanders definitely sit out the back, but try finding a pic of an FT17 commander doing that! I can find a picture of a commander emerging from the rear doors, but I do wonder if they sat there in battle. Of course, as a commander he is also the gunner in both the FT 17 and the R35. So if he sits out ofthe turret he cannot be shooting. On the other hand he will look like the command tank and kind of cool.
You are also going to have to choose cast or plate turrets for the FT 17 and whether you have the the 37mm cannon or the machine gun variety.

link
It's a model, but shows the R35 commander nicely

Picture of the hatch in question

and looking at these pictures I do not think sitting there would be that easy

@ Lewisgunner,
As I'm looking for FT17 and FT35 (not R35 as some mistakenly think, but R35 is interesting so I didn't bother to say anything) it sounds like I'd have to work on modeling the FT commander in any event. And to make it more complicated, I'm actually going to use them as Italians, anyway!

So What I'd have to do is shave off the hatch then mnodel it open one door to each side?

Question – does the FT cupola open at all? Or is it just a vision / air provider.

What do you mean by "FT35"? Everyone assumed you meant the R35 as "FT35" isn't a designation any of french tanks seem to have used.

No-one makes specific FIAT3000 (L.5) tanks. Starting from an FT17 model with the octagonal turret you just need to add the twin MG (mounted low on the L.5/21, high on the L.5/30) or 37mm gun (same as used on the M11/39 tank). If you feel keen you could build up the front top of the turret to match the Italian design more closely.

The QRF FCM36 is very nice except for the 37mm gun which sometimes needs a bit of work to look good.

IF the FT17 follows standard BF practice then the rear hatch will be a separate casting fitting into a pre-existing hole in the rear of the turret. Nothing needed to shave off, just cut the hatch appropriately. Some of their hatches eg for the panzers come prescored but that doesn't look to be the case for the FT17. I haven't got any so can't be more definite.
link

The cupola didn't open, although the Germans may have modified some to do so, they certainly did with other French tanks.

Here's a link to photos of the real thing link

The PP commander is in the French leather coat and helmet. They are very similar to Italian tanker kit.

TT – looks like I cross-posted. Nice pics! The GIs look sort of amused. Frankly, I think they look like coffins with treads.

The cupola doesn't appear to have vision slots – it looks like it just provides air. Maybe it had a fan in it?

And what IS that strange skid on the back, anyway? I thought they werein the front to help get over trenches.

The skid extends its trench crossing ability by preventing the back of the tank dropping into the trench.

I've never heard of an FT35 either?

The PPig R35s are a really nice model – better than the BF one IMHO

Ken

Sorry, it's an FT17 or FT31, not 35. The 31 had the gun, I believe.

Yes, I'd expect the BF ones to have the turret hatch separate, but they don't say so, which is odd.

The FT31 is an FT17M with the 8mm Hotchkiss MG replaced with a more modern 7.5mm Reibel MG, the same MG as used on all the other french tanks. No-one makes a FT31 although it would be straightfroward to do so by putting the co-ax MG from a CharD1 model in place of the Hotchkiss.

The 37mm cannon version was referred to as the FT17C

There was also the FT75BS fitted with the short 75mm gun from WWI St Chamond tanks and used as an extra tank in certain Ft tank platoons.

See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_FT for info on the FT series.

atf40.fr/ATF40 for info on french organisation and equipment.