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The French have specialized in light tanks since ages. The most numerous tank of the Great War was the 7-ton Renault FT, and the only French tank used in WW2 in excess of 1,000 was the light (11-ton) Renault R-35. WW2 has shown that a cannon of at least 75mm is a prerequisite for the battlefield survival of a light tank. This principle was followed by the designers of all three new light tanks that entered service in 1951-52. But the gun calibre was the only thing they had in common. The US M41 was basically just a lightly armoured medium tank - with a crew of 4 and a 500hp engine it weighed 23t. So it was neither floating nor airborne. European designs had a crew of 3 people and with a 250hp engine they weighed 13-14t. But here their similarity ended - the Soviet PT-76 had a huge (larger than medium tanks) hull, which made it float. The French AMX was the other way around - it was tiny, so it could fit into the hold of the then transport planes. Although too heavy for the 1950s medium transports (Noratlas, C-119), the small AMX-13 could be transported by heavy transports of that time - the French Br 765 Sahara or the US C-97 (the USAF C-124 could carry even 2 such tanks a time). The introduction of turboprop medium transports (C-130, C-160) made even M24 tanks airborne, and heavy machines from the 1960s could carry any tank weighing up to 40 tons (Belfast, C-141) or even 50 tons (C-133), i.e. two M41s. Today there are no more tanks in the world too heavy for airlift. The US C-17 easily carries the heaviest of them - a 60-ton Leopard or Abrams, and the giant C-5 carries 2 Abrams at a time. Interestingly, this diminutive French tank became not only the most numerous post-1945 European tank (defeating the Centurion and both Leopards), but also the most popular light tank in the world, where it overshadowed not only the FV101 and M41, but also the Soviet PT-76. However, it was not the most popular tank of the free world - the two American MBT families (Patton and Abrams) overwhelmed all the opposition. The KwK 42 gun from the German Panther tank, with the barrel shortened by 64 cm, was mounted in an innovative oscillating turret - much smaller and lighter than the traditional ones. In order to keep the weight down, an aircraft boxer engine was used, only converted for liquid cooling. In 1958, the AMX-13B with a 105 mm cannon was introduced, and in 1967 the old 75 mm guns were re-bored to 90 mm, creating the AMX-13C. The AMX-DCA anti-aircraft (2x30 mm) variants, the 105 and 155 mm self-propelled howitzers and bridgelayers were also offered. By 1987, 7,615 AMX-13s (including 1,500+ SPH, AA, and minor variants) were manufactured, of which almost 3,400 were exported to 24 countries. The largest export users (+200 each) were the Netherlands, Switzerland and Israel. Thanks to second-hand purchases, Israel later hit 400, just slightly ahead of Indonesia and Singapore (+300 each). Extremely agile AMX-13s fought in Suez, Algeria, Israel, India, and Indonesia. The early variant, called AMX-13/75 (standing for the tank design weight and the gun calibre), was armed with a 75 mm cannon and a co-axial MAC 7.5 mm MG. Crewed by 3, it was powered by a liquid-cooled flat-8 SOFAM (nee Mathis) 250 hp engine. The Ukrainian-made ACE #72445 kit, introduced in 2019, is the best Braille-scale AMX-13 on the market. In the box you will find 125 styrene parts on 4 sprues, 2 rubber tracks, and a photo-etched fret containing 13 details - quite a lot for a package 70 mm long. I was going to build this model OOB, but at some point I became irritated by the lack of railings so specific to this vehicle. There was an Aber 0.5 mm brass rod on hand, so after 40 minutes the model got 7 railings around the turret. In the front part of the turret, I also made 3 crane eyelets, the lack of which strongly disturbed the silhouette known to us from the photos of the original vehicle. Of course, OOB should be treated with reserve - for the 1952 variant, a lot of parts (IR lamps, anti-dust skirt around the turret, trim vane) remain in the box, and the small reflectors are mounted on the front fenders (later variants have them on the rear ones). AMX-13s of the French Foreign Legion (2e Regiment de Cavalerie and 1er Regiment de Parachutistes) fighting in 1956 in Egypt for the Suez Canal (Operation Mousquetaire) were painted Jaune Sahara overall. The paint is – as always – a Humbrol enamel. This time it’s #103 painted with an Italeri brush. The front licence plate is a collage of several plates from the Bulgarian OKB Grigorov M24 Chaffee kit, the rear one was made in a similar way from IDF plates OOB. The black stripe around the turret is hand painted – as it originally was in 1956. Finally the Vallejo matt acrylic varnish was brush-applied overall. The pictures are taken with an LG smartphone. Comments are welcome Cheers Michael

I couldn't find a thread for this. An un-boxing video from an Ukrainian model store: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VgjPJ4nuYY&ab_channel=PM-Store-PlasticModelsStorefromUkraine

It was 1966 - I know, for some of you it was almost Mesozoic or at least the pharaohs’ era - but I was nine at the time. Our dad, returning from the selenodetic conference in Manchester, brought us two "super die-casts". Regular Matchbox, Husky, Corgi and Dinky had been brought by our mother several times before (she visited her dad in London every year), but here there were some serious dimensions: mine was called Allis Chalmers TS260 Motor Scraper (Matchbox KingSize K-6 ) and @JWM got the truest tank - Dinky Supertoys 651, the Centurion Mk.3. How I envied him then! When compared to the ubiquitous (at that time in Poland) T-34-85, the Centurion appeared as a visitor from another galaxy - a wide and flat tower, a huge hull and wheels behind the screens were impressive. Then, in 1971, my mother brought us another tank models (this time wargaming Airfix 1:76), but it was @JWM who got… the second Centurion (#1663) - for me it was the #1653 M48 Patton. But it’s a „third time lucky” case - today I finally have my Centurion. And it is a tank for many reasons unique: although the first six vehicles went to the 22nd Armoured Brigade in Germany in May 1945 (they have been in Belgium since April), it is hard to consider it a WW2 tank. It fought in Korea and Suez, Vietnam and the Middle East, India and Angola, and the upgraded Olifants continue to serve in the South African army into the 21st century. As envisaged in 1943, it combined the advantages of the heavy Churchill (gun and armour) and the fast Comet (agility, cross-country ability). The result was a tank similar to the German Panther - the first Main Battle Tank. However with one difference: the Centurion armour was resistant not only to the 75 mm Panther shells, but even to the 88 mm gun of the heavy Tiger. And the British 20-pdr shells penetrated the armour of both of these German tanks. Of the 4,400+ Centurions manufactured, the most numerous variant (2,830 built) was the Mk.3 from 1947, crewed by four and weighing 49 tons. Armed with an 84mm (20-pdr) gun and a coaxial 7.9mm Besa MG, it was powered by the 650hp RR Meteor (nee Merlin) liquid-cooled V12 engine, manufactured at Rover. The Ukrainian-made ACE #72425 kit, introduced in 2016, is the best Braille-scale Centurion on the market. In the box you will find 234 styrene elements on 6 sprues, rubber tracks (each of 2 halves), two tow ropes and a photo-etched fret containing 10 details. The model was built OOB - even the decals are from the box. The only addition are two 0.2mm Aber steel wire aerials (length data supplied by @Das Abteilung – thanks!). In the photos they seem thick, but note that on a 17” screen the tank is about 150% the size of the actual model, which replicates the „Arromanches” from the 1st Royal Tank Regiment from the 3rd Battle of the Hook in Korea in May 1953, painted overall with British SCC15 Olive Drab (greener hue than the American OD). The paint is (as always) Humbrol 108 enamel, painted with an Italeri brush. Then the Vallejo matt acrylic varnish was brush-applied overall. The pictures are taken with an LG smartphone. Comments are welcome Cheers Michael

During WW2, all troop carriers fully protected only the commander and the driver - the soldiers were only protected with side walls. The troop compartment roof was a tarpaulin, protecting only against poor weather. It was only after 1945 that the risk of contamination of the area by weapons of mass destruction prompted the designers to use a sealed troop compartment, covered with an armoured metal roof. The first tracked, fully enclosed Armoured Personnel Carriers entered the US Army service during the Korean War. They were the M75 (related to the M41 light tank) and the slightly larger (though lighter and cheaper), floating M59. The first mass-produced vehicle of this new class in Europe was the 1957 French AMX-13 VTT (Véhicule de Transport de Troupe = a Vehicle Transporting Troops). Based on the AMX-13 airborne light tank (the 13 in the designation stood for the tank weight in tons) it was smaller and lighter than the US designs. However, it still carried 10 soldiers, and an MG was fitted over the commander's hatch. When a new AFV category appeared in the mid-1960s, called Infantry Fighting Vehicle (differing from the Armoured Personnel Carrier mainly by the heavier cannon in the enclosed turret), the French began offering the AMX also with a cannon in a closed turret. Called AMX-VCI (Véhicule de Combat d'Infanterie = an Infantry Fighting Vehicle), overnight the venerable APC suddenly became an IFV - a „serious combat machine”. By 1973, almost 3,400 AMX carriers in both versions were manufactured, of which over 2,000 were exported. The largest export users were the Netherlands (600) and Belgium (555). The Dutch variant was called AMX-PRI (Pantser, Rups, Infanterie = Armoured, Tracked, Infantry). Armed with the 0.5” Browning M2, it carried a 3-man crew and a squad of 10 infantrymen. Powered by a liquid-cooled flat-8 SOFAM (nee Mathis) 250hp engine, it weighed 15 tons. The Ukrainian-made ACE #72448 kit, introduced in 2020, is the best Braille-scale VTT/VCI on the market. In the box you will find 130 styrene parts on 4 sprues, 2 rubber tracks, and a photo-etched fret containing 14 details – quite a lot for a package 70mm long. The model was built OOB - even the decals are from the box. However one modification was needed – the rear yellow „road” numer plate was supplied as single-row (like the front one), when in fact it was a two-row case. AFAIK all PRIs in Dutch service have been painted overall with RAL6014 Gelboliv. The paint is – as always – a Humbrol enamel. This time it’s #179 (do you still remember this French Artillery Green?), painted with an Italeri brush. Then the Vallejo matt acrylic varnish was brush-applied overall. The pictures are taken with an LG smartphone. You can get the impression that there are 2 completely different models in the photos. However, it is just a matter of different lighting - some photos come from the "morning session", assisted by sunlight, and some - from the „evening session”, made in completely artificial light. Comments are welcome Cheers Michael

The concept of a tankette with a rotating turret, and also a floating one, can be considered a Soviet spécialité de la maison of the WW2 period. The idea - like most AFVs until the mid 1930s - was born in Britain as a brainchild of Sir John Carden and Captain Vivian Loyd. However, bought by Vickers, it did not arouse recognition of the British army, but thanks to marketing efforts, it met the tastes of the Soviet RKKA (workers and peasants' Red Army). The Russians first produced 2,600 of the 3-ton T-37As, then 1,400 of the 4-ton T-38 with a slightly higher hull and 900+ of the (still higher) 5-ton T-40 - the latter after the WW2 outbreak. But the experience of the 1939 campaigns in Poland and Finland (where over a thousand T-37A and T-38 were used) showed moderate usefulness of this type of AFV. And the T-40 manufacturing cost has long exceeded the T-26 and dangerously approached the T-34 level. Therefore, it was decided that a simplified variant is needed - without the ability to float, which will allow for a smaller size and better armour. And this is how the T-60 was created - a two-man tankette, armed with a 20mm aviation cannon coupled with a 0.3" MG. Powered by a 6-cylinder inline 70hp GAZ engine (nee Dodge), it weighed a bit less than 6 tons. In 1941-42 some 5,700 were manufactured. In that most difficult for Russia period of the German superiority, even such a poorly armed and lightly armoured tank was worth its weight in gold. Despite the fact that in the opinion of Soviet commanders "to have a T-60" was only slightly better than "to have no AFV at all", and for the nickname "grave for two brothers" given by soldiers, it fully deserved. The 2014-tool ACE kit is the best T-60 kit in Braille scale. The #72540 boxing contains 126 styrene parts, two rubber tracks and a PE fret with 14 details. Quite a lot for a package 57mm long. The model was built OOB. Only the camouflage scheme for the September ‘42 Caucasus warrior was taken from tanks-encyclopedia.com. The tactical number 32 on the turret comes from the Mirage T-26 kit. The paints are (as always) Humbrol enamels: 226 for the 1941-43 period 4BO and 186 for the 6K cinnamon brown - painted with Italeri brushes. Finally the Vallejo acrylic matt varnish was brush-applied overall. The photos are taken with an LG smartphone. Comments are welcome Cheers Michael