This is my latest AFV build. It’s the 1/35 Heller kit of the Hotchkiss H.39 light tank and
is painted as a French tank during the 1939/40 period.
The model is “out of the box” apart from the colour scheme.
Like the other Heller AFV kits it is impressive for its age - finely-detailed
and well-moulded. There is absolutely no interior detail, however, though this is not
so much of a problem with French tanks as they have such small viewing hatches.
It’s a shame they never made kits for other French WW2 AFVs such as the Char B.1, Panhard
178, FCM-36, etc. Mirage (Polish company) do make a very nice kit of the Renault UE tankette
though (as well as various captured German modifications of it)
The kit has an interesting story behind it as it was boxed as “Panzer H35(f)”,
i.e a captured H.35 used by German forces. It had standard German cross decals
and an all-over Panzer Grey colour scheme recommended in the instruction sheet. Evidently
Heller were trying to cash in on the greater popularity of German AFVs by re-inventing their
H-35 kit as a German tank! It’s a shame that it had no French markings or colour schemes included with the kit.
However I had plenty of reference material and so decided to build the kit as a French vehicle.
When I started to build it I was surprised to find that, although boxed as a H-35, the kit had all the alternative
parts to build a H-39 - the later, upgunned version. Apart from the gun, the extra parts included the sprocket wheel,
driver’s hatch, turret vision blocks, engine cover, and exhaust pipe. So I built my model as H-39 instead (the colour
scheme I intended to use was for a H-39, not a H-35).
Anyway, this really seems like a missed opportunity for Heller, as the kit did not advertise the fact that it could be built as a H-35 or a H-39, nor did it have any alternative French schemes and decals. If it had the latter, it would
still appeal to German AFV fans, but would not put off people who wanted to build the French version!
Drawde,
i am getting the dreaded red X for the first 2 pics.
the 3rd is fine, tho & looks very good.
i am glad to hear of your review of the Heller kits, as i have been
eyeballing a Heller Somua (sp?) at the LHS.
it too has the box art in captured German colors.
can you tell me what type of tracks your kit came w/ ?
from the front they look like they might be one piece,
but looking down the side, the sag and edges look more like indys.
Nice job on working the French camo pattern! It’s odd that Heller didn’t advertise it as a H35/39 but then they probably were looking just at the “captured” aspect as you mention as the hook for potential builders. I wish more of these early vehicles, both Allied and Axis, were avaialble as they stand out against the field from an interest perspective, at least in my view.
hey drawde, I’d keep an I on ur Hotchkiss there. I’m building a Pz 389(t) B, from the invasion of France 1940. never know when one a them German 38’s 'ull role out a the woods for a little one on one, hehehe…
Thanks for the review on your Heller Hotchkiss H-39 Drawde. You did a fine job on an interesting and, not often seen tank. Your camo looks very sharp, and the overall finish and detail are great. thanks for sharing a rare site of a French tank. semper fi, mike
Edited to fix the links.
The tracks are not independent, just the standard out-of-the-box rubber band ones. They do look reasonably convincing though. I generally find rubber tracks are OK for 1/35 scale models, it’s small-scale ones that give me problems (they’re
either too tight and pull the wheels/sprockets off, or they are too loose and fall off)
The camo is brush-painted, with a very fine brush used for the black dividing lines (but they should be even finer, based
on the reference pictures… however it’s the best I can do)
I’ve already built the Heller Somua S-35, and also the Mirage Renault UE - I’ll take some photos of them some time and post them here. I believe there was a resin kit for the Char B1 bis available at one time, but I have never seen it for sale.
AFVs (and aircraft) from the less well-known nations of WW2 have always been an interest of mine, since I started modelling. I also have a number of Polish vehicles - a 7TP, scratchbuilt Wz.34, and (in progress) a TKS tankette.
I’ve got a Char B1 bis in 1/35 from MB models. I bought it a long time ago and haven’t built yet. It’s resin and white metal. I think Airfix made a B1 bis in 1/76, it came with an FT 17 as well I think. I’ve got Heller’s R 35, H 39 and Souma, they’re pretty typical for Heller products, but can be built up pretty well.
Looks like a clean build and nice camo job. Great job on the exhaust, too. If you would allow me, I suggest that the metal color of the tools be toned down a bit by maybe a dark wash or rusty effects like the exhaust.
I think Heller originally released this as a French version, with instructions for H-39 and H-35. FSM had an article on it way back when. I will see if i can find out what issue.
