The Little World

There must have been as many designs of tank suspension as there were designers – so few seemed to quite agree with each other. Even when one tank was the norm – like the Sherman – there were a number of suspensions and wheel arrangements

This Renault R-35 seems to make use of the squeeze-a-rubber bladder principle though there may be springs in there somewhere. The parts slotted in precisely once the spray paint was scoured out of the holes – sign of a precise fit.

The underside and track parts of the hull could be painted one olive green – a bit of a relief as the tracks have to be assembled in situ if they are going to match from the start end to the finish. Again you need to take Tamiya at their precise Japanese word if you are to get the right number of single links around the drive sprockets to meet the top return run. You count and re-count.

At least the tracks are in large enough size that you can see them without having to do track pins and teeth. I do not fancy that one day, and will avoid it for as long as possible.