In the Great War the British Army artillery corps and air defence units used 29 of these French guns. In June 1940 the British bought another 895 of the guns, as well as a million rounds of ammunition, from the USA which had used 2000 of them in the Great War and still had a huge stockpile. Called the "Ordnance, QF, 75mm Mk 1" by Britain, the army would also use this field gun as an anti-aircraft weapon.
The model is a 1/24 scale kit (#9692) from Life-Like Hobby Kits of the USA. I bought this early-1970s kit, still sealed in shrink wrap, at a military antiques show in Ottawa in late May for $10., and was delighted to find it a far larger item than expected at 23cm overall. The kit is rather good with some nice detail and little flash and almost no sink marks. The only drawback is the large raised circles for fitting the front seating and brake tubes.
The whole kit went together in two weeks. I used Tamiya and Model Master spray paint rattle cans (MM 2937 Gray Primer for the body; and TS-3 dark yellow for the wheels), and a gold ink pen for brass details. It was weathered using water-based black paint and grey powders. I added ropes and netting and poles, in addition to wooden seats and a rope pull cord for the firing mechanism. I also added metal pull rings at the end of each wheel axle.
 |
| Matériel de 75mm Mle 1897 |
 |
| Matériel de 75mm Mle 1897 |
 |
| Matériel de 75mm Mle 1897 |
 |
| Matériel de 75mm Mle 1897 |
 |
| Matériel de 75mm Mle 1897 |
 |
| Matériel de 75mm Mle 1897 |
 |
| Matériel de 75mm Mle 1897 |
 |
| A heavily modified Canadian artillery corps French 75 at the Canadian War Museum |
