Renault UE (f) 3.7cm Gun Carriers set 1

With sets LWP027 and this LWP028, Lonewulf gives us an extra reason to buy more S-Model Chenillette UEs. The French version was previewed by Will Alcott, while the Beute-version, with Pak 36, was previewed by myself.

Set LWP028 gives us the possibility to build two different field conversions of the Chenillette using the Pak 36. (S-Model kit 720142 represents a factory conversion.)

Apart from the necessary parts for the conversions, two exhausts with better detail than the kit part are also given.

Casting is first rate, with no flaws found apart from a lonely air bubble.

Note that the best start for this conversion is S-Model kit 720142, as you will need the Pak 36. If you can get the Pak from elsewhere (for instance from one of the S-Model Kettenkrad kits), kit 720140 will do.

As the instructions only go so far in telling you where to put everything, the following pictures taken from the Lonewulf website, might be useful.

Many different field conversions existed. The ones that can be built from this set are probably this and this one. In the case of the latter it seems that the left toolbox was replaced by another type (or possibly a piece of wood).

Many other designs can be found using your favorite search engine or dedicated fora.

Picture from "Matériels Terrestres 39/45".

Construction

As I already mentioned, I preferred starting from S-Model kit 720142. Very little work is actually required to prepare the Chenillette. For my first build these were as follows:

• Fill in the seam between the lower and upper half of the hull;
• Replace some missing teeth on the drive sprocket;
• Leave off the headlight (A3);
• Fill in the recesses between radiator and bin on top of the hull, that, in kit 720142, are covered by part B14; in regular Chenillette kits these recesses are covered by parts A15 and A17;
• Replace the exhaust (A10) by the Lonewulf part;
• Assemble the Pak with its undercarriage but without the wheels, removing the lower half of the bottom armored shield (as requested by the Lonewulf instructions);
• Add the new resin wheels with their wooden blocks to the front fenders. It's perhaps best to remove all the details from these fenders to ensure a better fit.

I have to mention that I replaced the detail on these wooden blocks with bolts from Grandt Line, while hexagonal nuts were made with a punch-and-die set. A strip of plastic was also added.

For my second kit, I again started from S-Model kit 720142. Again, I filled in the seam between the lower and upper half of the hull, replaced some missing teeth on the drive sprocket and replaced the exhaust (A10) by the Lonewulf part.

This time I installed a Notek from the spares box instead of the headlight. In hindsight, I believe the French headlight was more likely fitted to the real vehicle. The box on the left side of the hull was replaced by a differently shaped item, built from scratch.

While in my first kit, I managed to fill in the recesses on the top hull (between radiator and bin) reasonably well, I messed up with this kit. The solution was to put a crew figure on top and go for a diorama setting. More about that later.

Having found out with the first kit that aligning the Pak body, wheels and spades with the Chenillette's geometry was somewhat of a challenge, I opted for the S-Model Pak wheels this time. This allowed me to fit the wheels to the Pak first and make minor adjustments when putting the wheels on top of the wooden blocks that were added to the fenders. (The Lonewulf parts have these blocks and wheels cast as one part making adjustment much more difficult.) Even then, I ended up adding some small pieces of scrap plastic below the blocks to level out the gun and make it look more like the real vehicle.
At the rear, I struggled to make the spades fit the U-beam that Lonewulf provides. I ended up damaging the beam and making a new one from Evergreen profiles. The spades were enhanced with handles made from copper wire and were tied to the beam with even thinner copper wire. The wheels also received a piece of copper wire to tie them to the fenders.

While the first kit didn't receive any markings, this one was adorned with a non-standard Balkenkreuz and a licence plate, custom made by Aleran, to match the real vehicle.

The diorama was created by using two Preiser figures, a sign from Esci (set 8060, long out of production) and shells of a shape and size that are a mystery to the crew, hence their non-verbal communication.
In fact, they are even a mystery to me. It's been a year between building the diorama and writing this review. This might explain why I can't remember where they came from, but it seems I have one round left in the spares box with all my ammo, and it's not labelled, whereas all the others are. I haven't managed to match them to any of my reviews either. All I can say is that they are resin, well detailed and scale out to 88mm, even though they look too short for an actual 88mm round. The only thing that is for sure, is that they are far too large for the 37mm gun on the Chenillette.
(If one of our readers can identify them, drop me a line.)

Review samples purchased by the author.

Article Last Updated:
31 December 2015
23 November 2019
22 September 2025