Clearwater Models: RENAULT R-39 TANK (Heller Humbrol)

Tuesday 15 December 2020

RENAULT R-39 TANK (Heller Humbrol)

This is the 1:35 scale Heller Humbrol kit (#81133) of the Renault R-35 light infantry support tank, but with the SA 38 turret gun making it into the R-39 tank used immediately after WWII. In this model I have imagined the tank in service with the French expeditionary army trying to re-occupy and pacify Indochina (Viet Nam) after WWII until their tank force was upgraded by the USA but they were then totally defeated and humiliated at Dien Bien Phu in 1954. This was France's main tank in WWII, with a production run, until the Nazi scum invasion, of about 1600 units.

I bought the kit from Bill at Hobby Centre in Ottawa as a quick Covid-19 project, and it turned out okay for a three day build. Paint is a mix of Vallejo and Tamiya acrylics. The chain comes with the kit and is most appreciated. The tracks are the rubber-band type and of acceptable quality. The drive wheel has teeth which are far too large and close together to really fit into the slots in the track links. As the tank is very small this 1:35 scale model looks like a very large 1:72 scale kit. The tank is photographed in front of a reproduction of a 1954 battle poster extolling the PAVN fight to win over the French enemy at Dien Bien Phu, Tonkin, Viet Nam.

French expeditionary army R-39 tank used in Indochina/Viet Nam 1946-1950