1:35 French Saint-Chamond Heavy Tank - Medium

The second French heavy tank

The Saint-Chamond came out of a commercial contest between two arms makers. While Schneider supplied the army with the CA1 type, the rival works offered its own machine on a lengthened Holt tractor chassis. Four hundred were built from April 1917 to July 1918. The design had a serious flaw: the tracks were too short for the long twenty-three-ton hull, so the vehicle bellied out in trenches and in muddy ground. The output of the gasoline engine was transmitted to the drive sprockets electrically.

How the middle batch differs

Later machines were given wider and stronger track links, thicker frontal armor and a more effective 75 mm Model 1897 field gun instead of the original improvised weapon. It is precisely these changes that divide production into stages, which three separate kits correspond to; this one stands in the middle. The type held out in combat until the end of the summer of 1918, and it paradoxically became useful only once the war had moved out of the trenches into open country.

What to watch out for during the build

The hull is made up of large flat surfaces and long sides on which every seam shows. It is therefore worth filling and sanding the edges down before the superstructures and the hatches go onto them. The riveted detail and the castings will take being brought out with a wash, because the surface of the subject offers few broken-up places for shading to rest on.

What is not in the box

Paints, glue and accessory sets are not included; the model has to be glued and painted.