Tamiya 1/35 Char B1 Bis complete

GreySnake

Member since
February 2011

Tamiya 1/35 Char B1 Bis complete

Posted by GreySnake on Sunday, October 25, 2020 8:33 AM

Here’s another project that’s been in the works for about a mouth now. Originally this Tamiya kit was built and completed last year and the result was unsatisfactory. I didn’t like how the model turned out as it looked boring and reluctantly put it on the completed model shelf. Finally became tired of looking at the model a couple months ago and decided to strip the paint off the model. Unfortunately or fortunately there aren’t any pictures of the embarrassing model prior to paint removal.

Simple Green all purpose cleaner was used to submerge the model in for twenty four hours. I was amazed that it stripped everything off more or less down to the plastic. I am quite amazed that it even removed Tamiya lacquer primer and flat clear. Here are three pictures of the model after being stripped that I originally took for my reference.

After stripping the paint cast texture that is missing from the Tamiya kit was added to the turret and the 75mm mantlet. This was done first by lightly sanding out the areas that are cast and then using Tamiya basic putty dilated with an old bottle of Tamiya Extra Thin cement. It was just a matter of stippling the putty in the areas I wanted with an old brush. The effect is subtle which works perfectly as the casting wasn’t rough.

There are other areas on the Tamiya kit that could use extra attention such as drilling out the mud shoots and a few other minor things if the model wasn’t already built. Since a new Tamiya kit isn’t very cheap I decided to err on the side of caution and not risk damaging the kit trying to get it apart.

Primer was the next step (I won’t bore you with pictures) and then the black and white basing.

Here is the tank that I will be making. Tank Number 257 “Bourrasque” (which can be translated into gust of wind or squall) 2^nd Section, 1^st Company, 15^th Combat Tank Battalion, 2^nd Armored Division, France 1940.

Here is a photo of the actual tank after being captured by the Germans. The tank is very dirty looking on the sides.

Next it was time to paint the main color of the tank two parts Tamiya XF-59 Desert Yellow and one part Tamiya XF-60 Dark Yellow. The color variation from the black and white underneath came out a little more subtle then I would have liked. When taking this quick photos a couple of cat hairs were spotted so those had to be removed and the effected area’s fixed.

The next step is to mask out the areas and spray Tamiya XF-58 Olive Green to finish the camouflage. A figure by Alpine standing next to the tank and he’s already ready for painting.

I wished to resume painting today however I started feeling ill yesterday evening and woke up this morning with a cold. Not that keen on trying to mask and paint today and rest and watching Das Boot seems to be in order.

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warshipguy

Member since
September 2005
From: Groton, CT

Posted by warshipguy on Sunday, October 25, 2020 8:56 AM

I hope that you feel better soon. There is something about this tank that makes me keep looking. It is so ugly and primitive looking that it has a certain strange appeal. I will keep watching.

Bill

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Dodgy

Member since
August 2020
From: Lakes Entrance, Victoria, Australia.

Posted by Dodgy on Monday, October 26, 2020 3:57 AM

I also have this kit and was very interested in your comments on improvements. At the moment I am building the old Matchbox kit, along with a few others in similar scale to help rediscover lost/forgotten skills. And I agree with Bill, there is something about this beast.

I long to live in a world where chickens can cross the road without having their motives questioned

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GreySnake

Member since
February 2011

Posted by GreySnake on Monday, October 26, 2020 12:13 PM

Glad to have you on board Bill.

Dodgy, Here is a build article I found http://www.ipmsusa.org/reviews/Kits/Armor/tamiya_35_char_b1/part_02/tamiya_35_char_b1_02.htm that lists improvements that can be done to the kit. I didn’t do my normal research that has become normal for my projects now since this was an already built model.

The article posted above also led me to a very interesting French site on French armored vehicles http://www.chars-francais.net/2015/with a treasure trove of information and photos of Char B1’s http://www.chars-francais.net/2015/index.php/classement-individuel/chars-b1-et-b1-bis

Here is the page on the tank I am building Bourrasque http://www.chars-francais.net/2015/index.php/14-classement-individuel/char-b/166-257-bourrasque

Here is what the page says about the tank.

Delivered to the 508th RCC in Lunéville at the beginning of 1939.

Paid to the 15th BCC 1st company in September 1939.

2nd DCr May 17, 1940

During the May 16 engagements around Montcornet, several tanks of the 15th BCC were damaged or broken down. Four damaged tanks, the TEMPÊTE, the MARTINIQUE, the AQUITAINE, the TOULON gathered around the BOURRASQUE in good condition. Night falls, the tanks are almost empty. After consultation, two machines were scuttled: the MARTINIQUE and the AQUITAINE. The BOURRASQUE tows the TOULON and the STORM.

On the morning of May 17, around 6 a.m., the tanks were joined by a German truck filled with infantry. A shot of 47 destroys the truck and the German soldiers are dispersed by the machine guns of the tanks.

But the BOURRASQUE has run out of gas. The crews transfer the remaining fuel from the other vehicles into its tanks, then the BOURRASQUE, unhitched, heads south, towards Pargny, in search of refueling.

Pargny passed safely, the BOURRASQUE fell on the German tank brigade Nedwig advancing towards the Oise. While rolling along the columns of the motorcyclist battalion n ° 1 marching towards Mortiers, the French tank fires, sowing disorder by the destruction it causes. After Mortars, the Pz.Rgt.1 battalion reacted, attacking the BOURRASQUE with cannon, which ended up running out of fuel, injected with 37mm shots and a few 75mm shots.

At 11:15 am, all ammunition exhausted, the crew surrendered and were extracted one by one from the tank by the Germans.

Crew:

Tank commander: Lieutenant Sauret

Pilot: Sergeant Seguin

Pilot helper: Corporal Gentner injured

Radio: Mogredian Hunter

In addition to its crew, the tank carried Lieutenant Vaucheret, Sergeants Seguin and Courberand.

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Gamera

Member since
November 2009
From: SW Virginia

Posted by Gamera on Thursday, October 29, 2020 8:39 AM

Cool! The Char B was a neat looking tank and the French had some great camo patterns.

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

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GreySnake

Member since
February 2011

Posted by GreySnake on Saturday, November 7, 2020 6:52 AM

A few quick pictures I’ve snapped this morning. Progress has been slow as I’ve been getting over bronchitis and I’ve only started feeling back to normal recently. There are a few more area’s that need some touch up work then it will be time to glosscote.

Silly Putty was used to mask out the camouflage for those curious.

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Real G

Member since
May 2011
From: Honolulu, Hawaii

Posted by Real G on Saturday, November 7, 2020 12:41 PM

Nice one Greysnake! I love the Char B1 bis, my favorite between the wars tank.

I have that kit as well, waiting for paint. I like the scheme you chose and might do it as well.

I think the kit‘s commander figure needs replacement, as his uniform looks like, well, plastic. I guess the kit came out at a time when Tamiya put priority on the kit, and the figures second. Their 1/32 P-51‘s pilot was similar. A far cry from today, as their recent kits have fabulous figures.

“Ya ya ya, unicorn papoi!”

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GreySnake

Member since
February 2011

Posted by GreySnake on Monday, November 16, 2020 11:23 AM

Thank you RG.

The kit commander does need replaced. Tamiya does some very nice models however they seem to struggle with figures even today. The figures that come with the Elephant are horrible (at least to me) and make the figure that comes with this tank look like an Alpine figure.

It’s been awhile since my last update. I haven’t had much free time and when I do have some time to sit down I’m exhausted. Finally managed to give the model a glosscote and now it’s ready for decals. Here’s some better pictures of where the model is at right now. The back part of the exhaust came unglued which is a welcome surprise as it will make weathering easier.

Maybe this will get decaled before the end of the month.

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Gamera

Member since
November 2009
From: SW Virginia

Posted by Gamera on Monday, November 16, 2020 3:26 PM

Ohhhhhhhhh, love the camo!!! Yes

Magnifique!!!

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

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GreySnake

Member since
February 2011

Posted by GreySnake on Saturday, November 21, 2020 8:25 AM

Thanks Gamera!

The decals have finally been applied. The Tamiya decals aren’t bad still need to use some Micro Sol on a couple of hearts on the turret so they snuggle down around the vision ports.

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GreySnake

Member since
February 2011

Posted by GreySnake on Monday, December 7, 2020 11:58 AM

Think it’s time for an update. I’ve been stuck on how I wanted to do the weathering and think I might have figured it out.

So far I’ve applied a brown wash over most of the model that added some streaking and picked out the details. After that a darker wash was applied to the panel lines various details around the tank.

The model is turning out exactly how I want it to. Think weathering is becoming my favorite part of model building now. Part of the reason working with enamels is pretty low stress since I can remove anything I don’t like easily.

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stikpusher

Member since
July 2004
From: Sonora Desert

Posted by stikpusher on Monday, December 7, 2020 4:55 PM

This is progressing beautifully! I’m looking forward to your next update!

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

- Plankton

LSM

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GreySnake

Member since
February 2011

Posted by GreySnake on Tuesday, December 8, 2020 10:49 AM

Thank you stik! Next update should be sometime tomorrow morning.

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plasticjunkie

Member since
November 2008
From: Central Florida

Posted by plasticjunkie on Thursday, December 10, 2020 4:44 AM

Hey GS I hope you are feeling better. The wife and I recently got over a cold that she thought it was possibly Covid and got tested. Thank God her results came back negative but all is good Now.

That looks like mighty fine work going on the tank and the extra effort is paying off. Thanks for sharing the Simple Green tip, great to know for future use.

Too many models to build, not enough time in a lifetime!!

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Gamera

Member since
November 2009
From: SW Virginia

Posted by Gamera on Thursday, December 10, 2020 8:31 AM

Love how she's coming Greysnake!

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

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GreySnake

Member since
February 2011

Posted by GreySnake on Sunday, December 13, 2020 8:30 AM

pj, thank you for the very kind comments. Me and the wife are doing pretty good right now.

Thank you for the comments on the tank as well.

Gamera thank you.

Here is where the Char is at now. I’ve added a lot more washes and airbrushed some very thin Tamiya XF-52 Flat Earth at a low PSI. Thought I’d ruined the model at one point once everything dried I was pleased with the result. Still need to go back and do some touch up work around the road wheels. Tracks were just loosely fitted to see what they look like.

I need to start weathering the exhaust and the covers to simulate rust and heat staining next.

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Gamera

Member since
November 2009
From: SW Virginia

Posted by Gamera on Sunday, December 13, 2020 5:30 PM

Looks fantastic!!! Heart

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

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Keyserj

Member since
May 2020

Posted by Keyserj on Monday, December 14, 2020 1:44 PM

The weathering is coming along very nicely. Yes

"Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves?"- Oddball

John

On the bench:

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GreySnake

Member since
February 2011

Posted by GreySnake on Wednesday, December 16, 2020 6:46 AM

Thank you, Gamera and Keyserj.

I’m going to make an effort to finish this by Christmas. I have a tradition of cleaning the entire house top to bottom every year before Christmas so that’s been occupying my spare time.

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stikpusher

Member since
July 2004
From: Sonora Desert

Posted by stikpusher on Wednesday, December 16, 2020 1:08 PM

That is looking excellent! All the weathering is really bringing out the detail wonderfully!

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

- Plankton

LSM

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TigerII

Member since
June 2004
From: East Stroudsburg, PA

Posted by TigerII on Wednesday, December 16, 2020 4:31 PM

This is coming along great. The weathering really brings out features of this tank, the decals look excellent and your tracks look good too. I guess a little tweaking that you want to do and its going to be a fantastic tank.

Achtung Panzer! Colonel General Heinz Guderian

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GreySnake

Member since
February 2011

Posted by GreySnake on Saturday, January 2, 2021 12:27 PM

Thanks stik and Tiger.

Think it time to call the model done. It took me longer then I’d like to finally it as last month was very busy, finally called it done on New Year’s Eve. Added chipping, some more mud and washes in some spots and worked on making the exhaust and covers rusty and damaged from heat. Not thrilled with how the exhaust and covers came out however it is my first attempt at it. The exhaust looks a lot better in person in the photos it looks messy at least to me.