"Can you stand any more Free French tanks?" Topic

Hoping you are not all sick to death of Free French Armour of 2eme DB. Most recent addition is Simoun of the RBFM, an M10 by Unimodel, (with quite a degree of work on it though, including opening the hatches). The sailors' heads are a little large for 1/76 Milicast US tank crew bodies, but give a good effect I think.

I don't think I have shown Bourg la Reine 12e Cuirassiers. An M4A3 from Trumpeter

Finally an M4 105 of 501 RCC from Dragon (that took some finding across Europe) which now carries green markings instead of blue. All markings are by Braillestrike from Brussels.

I am short of new Paris background photos now, as printing is almost impossible until things reopen

Beautiful work, quite impressive!

Could not resist trying one;

My eldest lad has just pointed out these two TDs are actually in the river Seine, to judge by the photo angle.

The French Navy had its own armor?

Keep it coming! Inspiring work!

The Marins (French for Sailors, not Marines formed the Regt Blindee (armoured) Fusiliers Marins and manned the TDs for the 2eme DB.

They were not strictly Free French and that made a big difference to those who had rallied to de Gaulle back in the early days when their cause seemed hopeless. Instead, these were French navy crews, indeed part of Vichy North Africa Colonial armed forces until Torch. They then rallied to the Allied cause, but were met with initial disdain by the likes of Leclerc CiC of 2eme DB. Some say that is why they wore the unit emblem only on the left side at first, at his insistence. Their gunnery skills and possibly their use of naval gunsights in the TDs made them into an elite.

Thanks all. Very encouraging!

Really nice, and so cool to see something a little different. Well done!

Gorgeous jobs on the RBFM vehicles!

And not knowing what an RBFM was, I went to our good friend Google and discovered their Wiki article: link . Nice to read that they destroyed an entire German panzer brigade at Dompaire in Lorraine, with the help from some American Thunderbolts.

Now when are you going to model their female ambulance platoon, the Marinettes, part of the 13th Medical Battalion?

Jim

Liam, just amazing work!

Your armor surfaces….look at the paint wear, and that missing mud guard on that M-10, etc., it all tells history. Great looking crew figures too!

As Jim says, yes, show us some French females, er, nurse figures in uniforms that is.

Love this thread!

Great work, keep them coming!

I did the Rochambelles instead, because they were the transfers I had. "Homely" girls at best, not the sort to set your pulse racing (blood loss will do that for you). Try finding another Academy Dodge Ambulance now! Nope, Marinettes missed out. The third unit, the British uniformed Quaker Conscientious objectors I have never seen illustrated.

Simoun is well documented and went for ages with a missing mudguard. It used chevron and plain rubber tracks at various times. Unlike many RBFM TDs it did at least have the tracks on the right way around (V down at the front)

I nearly started my reply in French, as I have been posting images onto a French language site. As the first "English" (never mind my Paddy passport) contributor, I have been really welcomed. As an obsessional modeller of 2eme DB over the last six months, they keep crying "encore, encore". Eh bien, puis encore.

If I may, encore! -wink-
You did your reseach well, I did not know the Bourrasque sported a Cullin device, mais voila :

Special congrats on your Rochambelles and their ride. Nice vignette too : this kind of fern-leaf cobblesones was fairly common in FRench towns in the middle of last century. We still have such a few streets in Bordeaux even now.

and its tracks, les chenilles, are upside down basically. Mine are not. I missed that and did not remove the mudguards, but that was the very first 2eme DB miniature in my collection!

How I wish I was in Bordeaux right now…..one day.

Beautiful work as always, deadhead. Any hope you'll some day depart from the 2me DB long enough to give us one of the 1940 tanks reclaimed by the FFI in 1944? You can read a lot of history into some of those.

"My eldest lad has just pointed out these two TDs are actually in the river Seine, to judge by the photo angle."

If they drive around the back of the cathedral, there's free Wi-Fi.

Always enjoy seeing you work.

Yes, keep it coming!

Excellent work! I am truly impressed.

Deadhead, your M-10s and Shermans look fabulous! I love seeing these.

Your Free French are top-notch and I always enjoy seeing new items.

Handsome work all round :)
L

Never sick of your offerings, they are an inspiration! I still find it mind boggling these are 1/72nd.

Very nice stuff

Just for fun then, let me show you how I drilled out the handles for the 50 calibre.

First was a small drill bit working vertically to separate the two. Then a tiny bit laterally to hollow them out

I do need to get out more…