Number 670 Completed by the Duke

[Mark Deliduka]

Well, I finally made it to 670 armor models finished, 30 more to go until that magic number of 700 is reached!

Here it is, the RPM 1/72 scale Renault FT-17 tank in US Army markings. The weathering isn't as visible as I'd like in these pics, but I think it looks pretty good in person:





This little beastie was built OOB and that was tough enough with 28 pieces per running gear assembly!

Here it is sitting in the Mack Tank Transporter that I'd built earlier to hold this:





That's all for now. Thanks all for looking in, comments are always welcome.

[802chrisg]

Cool and Cooler. Love them both. Really like seeing the Ft-17 in U.S. markings, you do not see that done that way much.

 

Chris G.

[Mark Deliduka]

Thanks Chris! I really like this little beastie sitting in the truck!

[Mark Aldrich]

Me Likey!!!! Keep up that production line! Us slower than turtle dungers will watch in awe.

[Mark Deliduka]

Thanks Mark! I'm still working on my bench whenever Life gives me time. Stay tuned for more.

[ewahl]

Hi, Mark,

 

Normally I do not build armor because I do not know much about the subject, so these are questions and comments for information.

 

How does "beastie" the Renault FT-17 get up into the bed of that Mack truck? The truck must have a very sturdy single rear axle to take the weight of the entire tank. Is it really that strong? Also, the drive train consisting of dual sprocket and chain drive for the rear wheels to move the combined load would require very strong chain links and hardened steel sprockets, or both would wear out or fail in no time, especially on a muddy road somewhere on the battlefield.

 

All this aside, I like the idea, and the completed display looks great. Way to go!

 

Ed

[Mark Deliduka]

Thanks Ed! Those are all excellent questions too.

 

Macks were built tough; they had a large beam as the rear axle which could take a lot of weight. The chain was also very big and heavy duty. FT-17's were fairly lightly armored and with the most of the fuel and all the ammo removed probably brought this to the upper weight limit of one of these truck's carrying capacity. As for loading, they would have put up a ramp that the truck backed up to; they would have craned it into the truck if one was available, or they would have backed the truck up against a steep bank and driven the tank onto the bed. I'm fairly certain that this was mostly used to transport damaged or broken down tanks most of the time and it probably did cause many trucks to suffer damage from the effort. Unfortunately, I haven't found too many references that mention the use of these trucks in this capacity.

[KevinWasson]

Very nice pair of models.

[Mark Deliduka]

Thanks Kevin. I like how these go together so well.

[bobmig]

Great looking combo! Now... here's your next challenge (extracted from IPMS Canada's e-newsletter - www.ipmscanada.com)

 

[Mark Deliduka]

Interesting idea Bob! I would try it but there's no 1/72 scale model of a Mk. VIII "International". I doubt my skills are even remotely capable of scratchbuilding one of those either. Cool pic; thanks for posting.