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St Chamond French WW1 tank, Late build Takom 1:35 History The Char St Chamond was only the second heavy tank to be manufactured by the French during WW1, its predecessor being the much more diminutive Schneider. By order of the French Government 400 were made between April 1917 and July 1918 with the first seeing action on May 5th 1917. Weighing in at a mighty 23 tons the tank was the most heavily armed of the entire war with no less than four 8mm Hotchkiss machine guns as its secondary armament and the 75mm Schneider Canon as its main armament. With a length of 8.9m a width of 2.7m and a height of 2.4m the tank was able to accommodate a crew of which included the Commander/Driver, Gunner/Loader, Assistant Gunner, Mechanic and four Machine Gunners. The downfall of the tank was a combination of the grossly underpowered engine along with the massively short tracks and over extended body. When faced with crossing trenches and other such obstacles ground clearance became a major issue and the tank would simply sink nose first into the terrain. Even though the early variant went through a series of modifications, reports suggested that crew members hated it. The tank crew suffered from a combination of unbearable noise, extremely hot environment, toxic poisoning from the engine, and an incredibly rough ride leading to a feeling of sea sickness. Only one static example of the St Chamond remains today (a late version) that being on display at Musée des Blindés in Saumur France. The Model This is the second kit Takom have released of the St Chamond with the earlier version being reviewed here. Although at first sight there is very little difference between the early and late versions there is enough to warrant this late version. The late version differs in that it has a deeper looking hull due to the more angular roof line and the removal of the four distinctive roof mounted turret like sighting blocks and searchlight mounting with just one square block on the front left hand side. The exhaust and intakes are also different, as is the main gun. The well illustrated top opening box contains five sprues of sandy yellow styrene and two of a darker brown. All the parts are very nicely moulded with no sign of flash, moulding pips, or other imperfections that would be visible on the completed model. This is due to the fact that any ejection pin marks are all on the inside of parts so very little clean-up will be required. The main hull is moulded with roof and sides as one piece and is a lovely piece of moulding with all the rivets and other details nice and crisply done. The build is relatively simple and with the clear, easy to read instructions it should be an enjoyable build. Well, at least until you get to the painting stage. Construction starts with the fitting of three strengthening beams on the roof along with two plates, one on the centre roof section and one on the observation tower. The two part door on the right hand side of the hull is than attached, followed by the eight roof hatches. There is a separate roof section just forward of the roof midpoint. This is fitted with two hatches before being glued into position, while the front observation tower is assembled from five parts, four sides and the roof, and then fitted to the front right hand side of the tanks roof. This is followed by the two part exhaust manifold and the long exhaust pipe which travels across then to the rear almost to the end of the roof. The front glacis plate is next with the fitting of the 75mm gun, which is made up of four parts before being slid from the rear of the plate into position. The front of the plate is fitted with three strakes and a grab handle before being put aside to set. Each of the four machine guns is assembled from a single piece gun, two piece trunnion, trunnion mount and hull mounting plate. The completed glacis plate and machine gun mounts are then fitted in position in the hull section, with a machine gun on each side, one forward in the glacis plate and one aft on the rear bulkhead. Two pistol port covers are then fitted from the inside, one per side next to each beam machine gun position. Two support struts are also fitted internally, which will go toward supporting the tanks lower hull. Due to the problems with the short tracks, particularly in get out of trenches and the like, they were fitted with barrel like rollers, with two at the front and on larger one to the rear. In the kit the two front ones are made up of two halves, one of which includes the axels. When fitted to the lower hull they are covered by two box like parts, allowing the rollers to turn, should you wish them too. The rear roller also comes in two parts, which when glued together are fitted with two axle mounting frames. The five piece rear frame to which the roller is then fitted also mounts two drive shafts for the track sprocket gear wheels. Before the rails can be fitted to the underside of the lower hull they must be built up form two large and two small rails, which are then fitted out with the numerous suspension mounts, stops and support brackets. To the rear the main drive axle is attached and covered with the bearing/drive gear housings. The return rollers, five per side are then fitted along with their outer axle rails. The drive sprockets and gear wheels are then fitted to the rear axles along with the outer mounting beam. The two idlers are then fitted to their mounting yokes before being attached to the front of the complex suspension rails, which are fitted out with the suspension mounts, cross hull suspension arms, and inner road wheel axle mounts. Each of the six inner axle mounts are fitted with three road wheels, each of which is made up of an inner and outer wheel and capped off with the outer axle beams. The idler wheel yokes are then attached to the front outer axle beams with four U shaped clamps. The individual suspension springs are then attached to the top of the suspension beams and the whole assembly is fitted to the lower hull. With the lower hull now sitting on the wheels the large wheel arch hull plates are attached, followed by the lower and upper hulls being joined together. The rear hull plate is then attached and fitted with a towing eye and shackle, completing the hull section. The last section of the build involves the tracks, which are made up of five parts for each of the thirty six links required to complete a track run. The track pad is a single part with five sprue gates, but these are on the edges, so relatively easy to remove with a pair of nippers and a sanding stick. The "chain-link" parts make up the remaining four parts, one of which you glue to the track pad, the other you snap into position at one end, and then rotate to snap it into the other end. The instructions aren't especially clear, but once you’ve cut a couple of links from the sprues, it will all become clear. Build up a full set of B1/B3 parts, link them all together on the flat, and add the B2 parts one-by-one. There is a single ejector pin mark on the inner face of the track pad, but once you have the link assembled, it won't be seen so you can ignore it. The final link to create the loop involves adding the track pad last to complete the run. Once complete you may wish to go and have a drink and a lie down. Decals There are four markings supplied with the kit, all of which have a disruptive camouflage scheme of four or five colours. There are few decals other than the vehicle's artwork for its name, plus the unit on the sides and registration number on the rear, so the decal sheet is quite small. A number of the decals have an off-set white drop-shadow style background that is not to be confused with poor registration, but the alligator motif and Sa Bigorre name are nicely produced in a rugged, hand painted sort of way. All four schemes will require some careful painting over a base coat of pale grey, but there is only one scheme that is shown complete on all sides of the tank. The other three are shown only in profile of the left hand side, which isn't even rectified by the pictures on the box sides, so you will either have to try and find some all round plans/photographs or make it up as you go along, who's to know? From the box you can build one of the following: "Sa Bigorre" 3o Batterie de ce Groupe, Colonial Artillery Group, Early 1918 in pale grey, sand yellow, brown earth, pale green, and French blue. "A St Chamond of an unkown unit, Counter battery support, June 1918. In pale grey, sand yellow, brown earth, and forest green with black edging around the separate colours. "A St Camond unit spotted leaving the factory, early 1918. In, pale grey, sand yellow, French blue and pale green, also with matt black demarcation lines, but thinner than the tank above. "A St Camond captured by the Germans at Lataule on the 11th June 1918. In pale grey, sand yellow, French blue, brown earth and plae green in a very disruptive pattern and with a green alligator painted on the left hand front of the tank. With the previous release a French tanker complete with metal face curtain was included. In this one you get a much more relaxed tanker, complete with pipe and no protective head gear, just a beret and standard uniform. Still he is well moulded and would look great standing proudly next to his tres ‘orrible tank at wars end. Conclusion I’m a bit amazed that Takom have released a second version of this tank, but as stated above, there is enough of a difference to make it interesting. Certainly if you have both vehicles they would make a nice comparison to show the lessons learnt during the war, especially as they did persist in build these things. Construction doesn’t look like it will cause too many problems even for a beginner. The painting looks a little daunting, but you can now get paint masks for the camouflage to make life easier. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of