--Flyhawk

Renault

FT-17

Kit #'s: FH 3000 & FH 3001

These two kits are the first armour subjects Flyhawk brought on the market. Since they have about 95% commonality, I'll discuss them together here.
• FH3000 gives you the tank with the later cast turret, produced by Girod
• FH3001 provides the earlier polygonal turret of riveted plate or Berliet turret.

They could be equipped with either a Hotchkiss 8mm machine gun or the Puteaux 37mm with its telescopic sight, both weapon systems being included in the kits.
Until now, RPM was the main supplier of the FT-17 in injection plastic, with 12 different version available, while Al.By had 3 resin versions on the market.

Each Flyhawk box contains two models of the same tank, comprising two identical large sprues and four smaller bags (containing for instance loose parts like the turret). It also packs a "Dragon" style goodies card carrying one large decal sheet and two identical PE sheets.

The instruction sheet is printed on good quality gloss paper containing clear line drawings and full colour painting schemes (with paint references for Tamiya and Mr. Hobby).

Using state of the art slide moulding technology, Flyhawk provides us with an one piece turret and fuselage with extremely sharp detail all around. Although the holes for the hatches are open, the hatches themselves are designed for the closed position. However, it should be easy to adapt them or make new ones should you prefer to open them up. Except for the armament, there is no interior detail however. The surface textures are superb, raised or recessed as appropriate.

Even the underside of the fuselage is nicely reproduced.

I'm quite impressed by the injection moulded tracks provided by Flyhawk, which are superb. Just compare these with the vinyl ones provided by RPM.

In fact, using an original and clever breakdown, the whole suspension consist of only 6 parts, but still has enough details to satisfy the most demanding of modellers.

Both versions have a common chassis and their kits contain two kinds of idlers: the so-called wooden version on the main sprue and the steel ones on a separate sprue (B), which, according to the instruction sheet, aren't used for the build of the riveted turret FT.
However, the cast version can be equipped with two kinds of sprocket wheels (closed and open) where the riveted version has only the closed one in the kit. However, this picture of a Polish tank on the left shows the riveted turret version using the open style sprockets, so you could mix these.

At first view, I thought Sprue A (the big one) was identical for both versions. However on closer inspection, I discover part 24 (the rear turret hatches) has a different shape according to the version (see below). However, I'd like to note that this part it is not used for the build of the riveted turret, only for the cast one.

Not sure why it's present on the riveted version sprue. It looks like it may have been intended for the cast turret release of the kit, but then they realized that it was incorrect and provided a new part for the cast turret kit.

A small PE sheet is provided of which about half the parts are needed for building the kit, the other half can be used to substitute thicker injection moulded pieces. The cast turret one has more parts on it; besides the frame for the gun, you also get the oval Renault brand insignia (see PE-8).

This was only present on the tanks manufactured by Renault itself, the tanks assembled at the subcontractors or the copies made in other countries, obviously lacking this feature. However, I found a picture (see below) of a riveted tank carrying this oval insignia too, so I have no clue why it was left out by Flyhawk on this version.

Decals and painting schemes

The same decal sheet is present in both kits. It gives enough decals for a total of 8 tanks, of which 2 are the riveted version and 6 the cast one.

The decals are in register. However, the print quality seems inferior compared with those provided by Revell or Dragon. On looking closely one can see the print dots, certainly in the darker colours like dark blue or black. See below.

I'm not a FT-17 specialist, so I tried to find out something more about the origins of some of the 6 versions included in the cast turret kit. When surfing the net I discovered this black-white picture (left) of cast turret tank Nr. IV at this site http://home.comcast.net/~dapena/tanks/cipri.htm.

Apparently this tank was used by the Spanish forces in Morocco in 1922. However, this version is presented by Flyhawk as being in a brown/white camouflage pattern, but when looking at the original tank and keeping the terrain on which it was used in mind, I have a strong suspicion that the white should be more of a sand colour.

Conclusion
The quality of the model itself is exceptional. It's a pity however that the decals are not up to the same quality. Highly recommended

References
AFV Plans 1914-1938 Armored Fighting Vehicles, by George Bradford Stackpole Books
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_FT
http://www.landships.info/landships/tank_articles.html?load=tank_articles/Renault_FT.html
http://po2260.perso.sfr.fr/FT17/FT17.htm#MENU (In French, but very useful pictures and drawings)
http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww1/fr/renault_ft.php : beautiful colour schemes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Renault_FT#Wooden_Idler_Wheels : Wikipedia discussion forum on the FT-17

Review samples provided by Flyhawk

Addendum (10 December 2020 - Al Magnus):

While researching the marking options for my build of the cast Girod turret kit (FH3000), I can shed some light regarding where information on a few of the camouflage choices can be found.

Marking option I, "Le Tigre") Reference [1] has a colour profile, numbered A1, painting of this tank. There is no supporting photograph though.

Marking option III, 3259) Page 57 in reference [2] has a photograph of this FT identifying it as a Polish tank. The blue heart motif is obscured by a person standing in front of the rear body. There is a corresponding colour profile painting on page 99 as well.

Marking option IV, Infanteria N^o3) In reference [2] there is a photograph of this tank in a very dirty state on page 80 and a colour profile on page 99. I too agree with Mark regarding the veracity of the colours chosen. A visit to [4] & [5] will show that the tanks used by the Spanish in Moracco during the Rif War were three tone tan/brown/green usually with black squiggles and delineating lines. Also, most, if not all tanks, have some sort of animal mascot painted on their turret plus a geometric symbol on the body. Reference [4] has a picture of Infanteria N^o3, where you can see the number 9 on the bogie unit support cross member plus a triangle with what looks to be a 1 inside it on the rear body panel. Those looking for more accurate markings may wish to investigate decal set number 72201 from FC Model Trend.

Marking option V, 73160)

There are identical photographs of the left side of this tank, on page 44 for [1] and page 92 for [2]. Reference [1] also has a colour profile painting, numbered G1, on page 31. I was able to find another photo [3] of this tank on Google showing the starboard side, which gives a good view of the camouflage pattern. We can also see that this tank used idler part A9 & drive sprocket A10. >>>> start of 27/April/2020 revision <<<< An inspection of the two period photographs shows that the vehicle name "La Champagne" is painted on the turret's right side only. The 2165 number is only on the left side of the body. They also reveal that the kit's sequencing of the decals containing the vehicle number are incorrectly printed (see at left). On the vehicle's left side the decal is sequenced correctly, but you do need to cut it between the 73160 and the flaming hand grenade so the two pieces can be positioned with the piece containing IIC and the vehicle number 73160 to the left, and the flaming grenade to the right of the large nut located on the side of the suspension beam. To correct the sequencing correct on the vehicle's right side the decal will need to be cut twice, with one cut between each image, and then all applied to the right of the the large nut on the suspension beam, in this order: 73160, followed by the flaming hand grenade, and finally the IIC. >>>> end of 27/April/2020 revision <<<< This tank was apparently captured by US forces at Port Lyautey near Casablanca, Morocco, November 1942. My guess is the roughly scrawled 2165 is an assigned number for recovery and evaluation purposes.

References

[1] The Renault FT Light Tank: Osprey Vanguard 46, Steve J. Zaloga, Osprey Publishing, London 1988 ISBN: 0-85045-852-8
[2] Wydawnictwo Militaria 223: Renault FT, Maksym Kołomyjec & Semen Fiedosiejew, Warsaw 2005 ISBN: 83-7219-223-5
[3]
[4] Renault FT Tanks in the Rif War
[5] Renault FT and Schneider M16 Tanks in the Rif War

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Article Last Updated:
30 November 2014
10 January 2020
27 April 2020