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Little & Large: FT 75 BS & Geschützwagen B-2


Mig Eater

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I was reminded by @stevej60 that I had a old Matchbox/Revell Char B.1 Bis & FT.17 kit in my stash. I picked it up many years ago out of a bargain bucket & it has been hidden away at the back of my stash ever since. Well now seems like the best time to build it before it gets forgotten again! So as not too overlap with Steve's build of the same kit & because it's impossible for me to build anything OOB 😅 I'm going to convert both of them into self propelled gun versions.

The FT 75 BS was a modified version of the FT 17 replacing the turret with a fixed superstructure fitted with a short barreled 75mm fortress gun. Production begun in late 1918 with only 11 finished before the war ended, a further 29 were built in 1919 & they went on to serve in North Africa. There last use was against American forces during Operation Torch in 1942.

Renault_75_BS_8.jpg    


The 10.5 cm leFH18/3 (Sf) auf Geschützwagen B-2(f) was a German modification of captured Char B1 tanks, the 75mm gun in the hull was removed & the turret was replaced with an new open topped superstructure fitted with as the name suggests a 10.5cm leFH18 field howitzer. 16 were modified between 1941-1942, they were at first used in France & then later transferred to Italy were their fate is unknown. 

105_leFH18B2-d.jpg  


Here is the obligatory box art photo, complete with the bargain price I payed for it 😋
ft17_b1_01.jpg


It comes with a total of three sprues, two of them are for the tanks, the third is for a basic diorama (which I wont be using) & lastly there are two sets of rubber/vinyl tracks.
ft17_b1_02.jpg

The parts needed for the conversions will be 3D printed, they are just small boxes with barrels sticking out, so I dont expect it will be much work to design & print 😛

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These subjects fall into Rule 1 of the GB rules:

 

1.  Anything made in France no matter where its used is good

 

Nice subject choices, great to see a variation on a theme.

 

Good luck and welcome.

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I made a start with little FT 17 which only took a few hours to built up, I sanded down the turret ring in anticipation of the new 3D printed part & replaced the end of the exhaust with some wire, which was damaged when I cut it off the sprue. My 3D printer is currently whirring away & should be done with the new superstructure part in a few hours. I also contemplated 3D printing a new set of tracks, but for the sake of time & my sanity I decided to just use the rubber tracks that came in the kit.  

ft75_01.jpg

ft75_02.jpg

Edited by Mig Eater
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Update, the new 3D printed casemate for the FT75 is done & fitted on a base/mounting brackets made from aluminum (drinks can). I also made a new more detailed trench crossing skid for the rear & also a storage box which is missing from the kit. The first attempt at printing them failed though, I'll probably need to re-level the build plate & mix the resin some more, which is all part of the process of 3D printing. 

ft75_03.jpg

 

 

I also made a start on the B1 hull, it will have a new open topped fighting compartment so I need to scratch build a basic interior for the front of the hull before I put the top on.

ft75_04.jpg

 

I'm going to be away a for few weeks now so it might be awhile before the next update.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 3 months later...

Unfortunately life happened & I had to stop working on this (along with everything else). Finally returning to it a week ago I found one the tracks on the FT-17 had snapped in half just from the tension of being fitted onto the kit, so I'll have to design & 3D print a new set. I've lost interest in this build now though so they are both going back in the box & returning to the stash, to wait probably another 10 years to be finished XD  

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