1:35 '40 - French Tank Repair Crew No.1

French Tank Repair Crew No.1 in 1:35 scale from Dynamo-Models

A figure item from the French range of Dynamo-Models, whose name refers to the year 1940 and to a repair crew at a tank. The set carries the designation No.1 and a second number and a combined package follow on from it, so the scene around a broken-down vehicle can be put together step by step. The theme is work, not fighting - the subject belongs to the quiet part of a diorama, where something is going on around the vehicles.

The real subject

The French army went into 1940 with armored vehicles that matched or bettered the enemy in individual parameters: the Somua S35, the Char B1 bis and the light Renault R35 and Hotchkiss H35 had decent armor. The weakness lay in maintenance and resupply in the field. The Char B1 bis had a demanding powerplant and limited range, one-man turrets overloaded the commander, and the vehicles were scattered among infantry units, so the workshop support often stayed far to the rear. Repair parties therefore worked right at the vehicles, with the tools laid out on a tarpaulin and with improvised lifting of heavy parts.

Placing in a diorama

A repair scene lives off the small things around the figures: open engine deck hatches, a removed part laid on the ground, tools, rags and jerrycans. So do not settle the figure in the middle of an open area but at the particular place on the vehicle the work concerns. If you paint the figures yourself, keep the French uniform of 1940 in muted tones and set it apart from the green or multicolor finish of the vehicles; oil stains and dirty hands are a welcome detail with this subject.

Who it is for

• Builders of dioramas with French vehicles of 1940 in 1:35 scale
• Modelers looking for a quiet, non-combat subject for a scene
• Collectors of the figure work of Dynamo-Models
• Those who want to put a scene together step by step, number by number