I have been reflecting and looking at some of the models on my workbench and making progress on them.
I have the Bolt Action Citroen Civilian 4,500kg Truck with Canopy. Citroen made many of these trucks in the 1930s and 1940s.
The pack contains a resin and metal kit, this is a nice clean casting.
Having constructed the model kit, I then gave the model an undercoat. I undercoated the underside with black paint and then gave the model an overall white undercoat.
I like how the white undercoat brings out the detail in the model. I also gave the canopy a white undercoat.
I then noticed something…
There was a huge piece of resin sticking out the side, where the mould was filled with resin. I will need to clean that off before I start painting.
Citroen made many of these trucks in the 1930s and 1940s.
The pack contains a resin and metal kit, this is a nice clean casting.
The rear wheels were quite easy to secure to the rear of the truck. There is an axel and two sets of wheels.
The front axel, I really had no idea how this was secured and the photographs on the Warlord Games site didn’t help that much. So I first stuck the front wheels to the front axel and then checked how the wheels would fit on the underside.
I was then able to secure the front axel to the underside of the truck, getting it to sit flat was challenging. I also stuck the front bumper on as well.
So it was probably a no brainer to get one of these for my French partisan band.
The Char B1 was a specialised break-through vehicle, originally conceived as a self-propelled gun with a 75 mm howitzer in the hull; later a 47 mm gun in a turret was added, to allow it to function also as a Char de Bataille, a “battle tank” fighting enemy armour, equipping the armoured divisions of the Infantry Arm.
Among the most powerfully armed and armoured tanks of its day, the type was very effective in direct confrontations with German armour in 1940 during the Battle of France, but slow speed and high fuel consumption made it ill-adapted to the war of movement then being fought. After the defeat of France, captured Char B1 (bis) would be used by Germany, with some rebuilt as flamethrowers, Munitionspanzer, or mechanised artillery.
What I had discovered in my research about the FFI (Forces Françaises de l’Intérieur) was that they had re-captured many of the German Char B1s and used them against the Germans.
The model is a plastic kit and comes in a nice box complete with decals and instructions.
There are two sprues in the box.
The kit does go together relatively easily.
I had a few issues when putting the frontal weapon into place and where the top hull joins the bottom hull.
There are quite a few options when it comes to putting it together, if you want an original vanilla French Char B1, a captured German version or, as I am doing a liberated version for use in 1944 and 1945.
After thinking about Bolt Action for a while and reflecting on the rules I finally decided on which force I was going to build. My regular opponent Simon was going Italian, so I actually had quite a wide choice of potential foes, from Early War French, British Desert Rats, Anzio which would mean regular British Infantry and US forces, Russians and even Germans towards the end of the war. I did initially think about Greek, they used regular British equipment so would be quite easy to model. I did consider Late War Germans, so I could get a JagdTiger in 28mm…. but in the end I decided that I would go totally irregular and go with Partisans, so just infantry, or maybe a car or truck or two.
I have a few civilian vehicles, a Citroen Civilian 1000kg Dropside Truck.
I have been slowly painting the models, and was quite clear to myself that I wouldn’t buy any more models for this force until I had most of the existing models painted.
However…
On a recent visit to the Warlord Games Store in Nottingham I was tempted by the boxed model of the French Char B1.
The French Char B1 is one of my favourite tanks, probably as a result of making that Matchbox plastic kit of the Char B1 and the Renault FT17 when I was young.
So it was probably a no brainer to get one of these for my French partisan band.
The Char B1 was a specialised break-through vehicle, originally conceived as a self-propelled gun with a 75 mm howitzer in the hull; later a 47 mm gun in a turret was added, to allow it to function also as a Char de Bataille, a “battle tank” fighting enemy armour, equipping the armoured divisions of the Infantry Arm.
Among the most powerfully armed and armoured tanks of its day, the type was very effective in direct confrontations with German armour in 1940 during the Battle of France, but slow speed and high fuel consumption made it ill-adapted to the war of movement then being fought. After the defeat of France, captured Char B1 (bis) would be used by Germany, with some rebuilt as flamethrowers, Munitionspanzer, or mechanised artillery.
What I had discovered in my research about the FFI (Forces Françaises de l’Intérieur) was that they had re-captured many of the German Char B1s and used them against the Germans.
Captured Char B1 bis FFI (Forces Françaises de l’Intérieur) Panzerkampfwagen B-1 740(f) recaptured by Free France forces in 1944 and used in the liberation of Paris.
This B1-bis FFI Vercors of 13rd Dragons was used in La Rochelle in May 1945.
So once the model is made I have two choices about which paint scheme to use.
B1-bis captured by FFI (Forces Françaises de l’Intérieur), battle of Paris, August 1944.
B1-bis FFI Vercors of 13rd Dragons – La Rochelle, May 1945
Of course there is a slight reality issue in that by 1944 the Italians had already surrendered and changed sides.
The model is a plastic kit and comes in a nice box.
I decided that my partisan band for Bolt Action might need some transport, so did I think about getting an armoured car, well I did think about getting a Char B1, but in the end I got the Warlord Games Bolt Action Citroen Civilian 1000kg Dropside Truck.
The model comes in a blister pack and comprises a clean resin casting and some metal components.
As with many models I like to see what the original vehicle looked like and also what others have done with their models. The original Citroen truck was derived from a car.
I have always found painting civiliian vehicles slightly troublesome, military vehicles are usually very drab, matt and weathered. Civillian trucks however are “colourful”.
So hoping some people have some useful ideas or methods they would like to share in the comments.
For Bolt Action I am in the process of painting some partisans to fight Simon’s Italians. I have been looking for some vehicles, my first choice was the Tamiya 1/48th scale Citroen. Though relatively easy to find online, it is a plastic kit, slightly larger scale-wise for Bolt Action scale models.
What I didn’t realise until recently was that Warlord Games actually make a fair few civilian models for Bolt Action.
Looking through the Bolt Action website I quite liked the look of the Civilian 1000Kg Dropside Truck.
The other civilian vehicles in the French range also look quite useful. In the main I will use them as scenery or as objectives.
The other day I mentioned that Warlord Games had released a PDF for the Italians, what I said then was
Now he will have the rules, not sure about rules for my models though.
Well what I had missed was the announcement that the Bolt Action Armies of France and the Allies was aavailable to pre-order.
World War II was truly a ‘world’ war, and many nations joined the fight against Germany and the Axis. This latest supplement for Bolt Action covers the armies of France, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Denmark, Norway, Holland and Belgium that stood against the German Blitzkrieg, as well as the resistance forces that sprung up in the aftermath of occupation.
I think I will use those rules for my partisan band.
The Renault FT or Automitrailleuse à chenilles Renault FT modèle 1917, inexactly known as the FT-17 or FT17, was a French light tank; it is among the most revolutionary and influential tank designs in history. France still had several thousand First World War Renault FT tanks in 1940. Over 500 of them were still in service in independent bataillons de chars de combat (BCC) tank battalions in the front lines. Although adequate for infantry support, they were totally outclassed by German tanks in a mobile battle.
Despite having been designed from 1933 as a rather slow but well-armoured light infantry support tank, the type was initially rejected by the French Infantry because it proved difficult to steer while driving cross-country, instead being adopted in 1936 by the French Cavalry. From 1938 an improved version was produced with a stronger engine, the Char léger modèle 1935 H modifié 39, that from 1940 was also fitted with a longer, more powerful 37 mm gun.
Having made up the models, and having given the models a white undercoat, the next stage was to basecoat the models. In order to add shadow I gave the underneath of all three models a spray of Warpaint German Armour.
See the workbench feature on the Flames of War French Hotchkiss H-39.
