Carro da Cavalleria Francese Somua S-35

Recensione del Modello Heller in Scala 1:72

Carro armato di cavalleria Somua S-35 changed hands several times in the period from 1940 to 1945. The intersting camouflage pattern bicolore e trecolore used by the armata francese were retained by the German captors for some time, until i veicoli were repainted panzergray o in another multi-colour Wehrmacht pattern. From 1944, carri armati Somua S-35 once again served in the armata francese, when veicoli catturati were used to reinstate the 13th reggimento di dragoni. The Heller kit is a small yet beautiful scale model of the Somua tank which may be converted to the Pz.Kpfw. 35S 739(f) della Wehrmacht tedesca. Some of these converted veicoli were eventually recaptured e served con the armata francese.

Valutazione

Excellent choice of subject, the Somua S-35 is unique in this scale. The vehicle served con the 1st, 2nd e 3rd Division Légère Mécanique francese, e con the 4th Division Cuirassée de Réserve, which was beeing raised as a reserve at the start of the war.
1:72 scale model: length, width, e height are correct.
Carri armati Somua were painted in attractive multi-colour camouflage patterns francesi, e the instructions explain very well how to recreate such a pattern in miniature. The painting sulla copertina della scatola shows a bicolore pattern con thin black lines separating the green e sandcoloured camouflage patches. The instructions do not show these dividing lines.
Only 40 parts, the Somua S-35 is easy to build.
The parts are practically free of flash, requiring minimal clean-up work.
Compatibile con ESCI, Hasegawa, e Revell.

Section 3 of the instructions does not indicate clearly how to place the headlight parts No. 7, 15 e 16. The drawings in section 6 are more helpful. Proper placement of the headlights is critical to ensure that the hull will fit onto the chassis correctly.
The instructions suggest that the tracks should be mounted in section 3 already, but this is a mistake. The running gear needs time to dry thoroughly, otherwise the tention of the tracks will pull the return rollers out of alignment. Accordingly, the tracks should be mounted last, well after the tank has been assembled completely.
Section 4 of the instructions incorrectly places the spare fuel tank (No. 9) at the left rear of the vehicle o even onto the engine deck. The part attaches to the right rear fender.
In section 4 it looks like the exhaust pipes (No. 13) should be glued into the recess between the due engine gratings. The drawings in section 6 show more clearly that this part attaches to the top of the curved exhaust outlet.
The shovel (No. 12) is to be attached below the torretta, con the blade of the shovel facing up. This seems to be a mistake, because the raised shovel blade impedes the torretta traverse. In this position, the raised shovel blade would collect a pool of rainwater, ed it would serve to trip ed injure crew members walking on the hull.
According to the instructions, the soft plastic tracks shall be soldered con a hot screwdriver. This is a difficult ed irreversable procedure which has often led to disappointment. Beginning modellers will find this part of the assembly process rather tricky, e there are no spare tracks included in the kit which might be used after a failed attempt. We glued the tracks of our Somua S-35 successfully using the new Pattex Blitz Plastic flüssig glue which is suitable for polyethylene e polypropylene plastics.
There is no tank commander included in the kit. The torretta hatch cannot be modelled in the open position, e the torretta armament does not elevate. The Matchbox Char B.1 tank offers better value for money, because it offers all these options.
The Somua torretta turns, but there is no kit part to secure the torretta inside the hull. The instructions recommed flattening the torretta pin con a hot screwdriver to create a rivethead.

Heller’s Somua S-35 is an interesting model for collezionisti, dioramisti e giocatori wargame. Several model kits will be required to explore the different camouflage patterns e the Panzerkampfwagen Somua S35 739(f) conversion della Wehrmacht tedesca.

Heller Modellismo

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– Pubblicato: 09.02.2005 – Aggiornato: 21.08.2008
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