This resin 1/76 kit is brought to you courtesy of the folks at OSTMODELS. I added a spotlight and rear-view mirror. Markings are mostly hand-painted.
Another vehicle based on the Vickers 6ton tank. The 7TP was used by the Polish army from 1934 to 1939, and 169 existed at the time of the German invasion.A twin-turreted version also saw action.
This OSTMODELS kit is painted in the sand-grey/olive green/chesnut brown scheme introduced into the Polish Army in 1936. I was very tempted to add some unit insignia, but most units actually had their insignia overpainted just prior to the outbreak of hostilities in 1939 for security purposes.
One more OSTMODELS kit, again in the service of the Belgian Army. This is a French-built Renault ACG-1 (aka AMC 35). The symbols on the turret are a Rhino head and the tricolor roundel in red, yellow, black. The tank is painted in a brown khaki tone.
The main gun is a 47mm, top speed is 25 mph. Only 100 were delivered, with 12 going to the Belgian forces.
Another vehicle in the Polish Army's arsenal was the TKS tankette, which was (together with its forerunner the TK) the most numerous AFV of Poland in 1939. It carries the1936 three-color scheme, applied in large horizontal swatches. On the hull sides are a blue Pomeranian griffon, which was probably used by the 81dp unit. The TK tankettes were armed with a single 7.92mm machine gun. This is another little gem made by OSTMODELS.
This Vickers E MK B 1/72 plastic kit comes from the Polish company MIRAGE, which is a newcomer to small scale armor. This is a nice kit of the Polish WWII tank with a lot of parts for a vehicle this size. This kit is part of a modular series that share sprues, so you will have a lot of spare parts. The instructions are well illustrated and thorough. Decals are included, but for combat displays you may want to omit them, as Polish tanks had their markings overpainted at the outbreak of the war.
Fit of parts was overall good, but not perfect. The main gun is apparently designed to move, but the rotating pins inside the turret were not properly positioned to allow the gun to elevate/depress. The tracks are single pieces of rubbery material whose ends must be joined together; I used thread sealed with superglue. The track material is odd; it expanded a bit after painting, making it loose on the suspension. The paint dried quickly but did not hold well (it flaked off easily). More experienced modelers will want to try PART's etched brass track replacements. Overall a very nice kit. Mirage is a welcome addition to the ever expanding ranks of small scale modelmakers, and we're looking forward to future offerings.
The Vickers tanks were purchased directly or built under license from Britain. The single turret versions (armed with a 47mm gun, operated by a three-man crew) took part in combat, and all were destroyed either by the Wehrmacht or their own crews...none were captured.
Questions? You can e-mail me at Contact the Curator.
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