What the US Marines took to China in 1927 *Some groundwork*

[Agent G]

The first ever use of what could be called a tank by the Marine Corps. The armored cars previously used in Central and South America were no longer serviceable so the Marines got these to try instead. Two man crew, small cannon weighing in at 6 tons basic engine and drive line. What more could you ask for?

 

This is the Meng 1/35th scale kit and a sweet little kit it is. Paint is mostly Tamiya with a smattering of oil and enamel.

G 

 

Edited April 26, 2016 by Agent G

[cobraman]

Nice work ! Cool little tank.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Very clean. Definitely a cool little tank.

[Jim B]

Nice job on that tank.  That's a M1917, right?

Edited April 20, 2016 by Jim B

[Belugawrx]

Great paint work on that G !

Cheers

[GTJUNIOR]

Very nice.

[sjordan2]

Superb. Building kits like this is so rewarding when it takes you back into history.

[Agent G]

Thank you all !

Jim that's an FT-17, very similar to the M1917. In fact it's so close, I didn't even modify the base kit. 

G

[slusher]

Never seen one in a model or picture, very nice and cool G

[Agent G]

Thanks Carl!

Google it, you'd be amazed at what turns up. Renault built it for the French army in WW I. Examples are still being discovered all over the globe to this day. The most recent I recall is in the early 2000's. in Iraq.

G

[Jim B]

French Renault FT17 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_FT

US M1917 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1917_light_tank

[62rebel]

when all you have is MAYBE some horses and light machine guns, even the smallest tank looks formidable! 

[Jim B]

It would be interesting to see this parked next to a M-1 or M-60 & some figures for a size comparison.

[afx]

Excellent!

[Agent G]

It would be interesting to see this parked next to a M-1 or M-60 & some figures for a size comparison.

I will get right on that later tomorrow. 1105 pm here right now and I'm at work screwing off.

G

[Jim B]

Working hard at hardly working?

[Agent G]

Working hard at hardly working?

You darn tootin' !

G

[Agent G]

Ok, camera batteries lasted long enough to obtain this sequence of photos.

Ft-17 with subsequent developments in USMC armor.

M3A1 Stuart. The M3 was a successor built based on developments between the wars.

M4A2 Sherman from Tarawa.

M26 Pershing from Korea.

M60 A1, ODS.

M1 A1 Iraq.

G

[Agent G]

Now some adversaries.

Panzer III M, Tunisia.

Panzer IV E, Libya.

Japanese Type 95 Chi Ha.

G

[Agent G]

Modern IFV's

M1 Bradley 

LVTP7 A1

G

[Jim B]

It's so little!  Probably a close match for the Type 95 Chi Ha, though.  I don't think the M1 or M60 would bother with the main gun against the FT17/M1917.  I think they'd use the 50cal, or just push it out of the way.

[Harry P.]

Beautifully done, G.

But of course, that's to be expected of your work.

[Agent G]

Thank you Harry!

Jim, curiously enough I believe the Type 95 shares more with the FT 17 than any of the others. The FT 17 was the seminal design upon which all others were based. 

A .50 would just leave her looking religious. 

Holy.............................

 

[Agent G]

Well, this little monkey just got lost on the shelf amidst all the big gorillas. I decided she needed some groundwork. I saw a photo of these in China lined up on what looked to me to be an ancient cobbled roadway. 

So, I took some of this.

Cut it up into smaller pieces.

I then glued them to a piece of thin sheet styrene and got this out.

Mixed with water and some of this.

 

I got the starting point for this.

More acrylic paint applied thinly in layers and drybrushed over all got me to what I wanted. I added some vegetation and here you go.

G

 

[Jim B]

Nice base!