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Char B1 (bis)
Char B1 (bis)

Char B1 (bis)

Manufacturer: C-in-C
Genre: 1/285 WW2 Wargaming

Comments: This was France's main heavy tank at the beginning of WW2. It's an obvious development of WW1 designs, and though heavily armed and armoured (for the time) it suffered several liabilities:

Nevertheless, it was technically as good or better than most of the German panzers it confronted, whose success came about more due to enlightened usage doctrine than through technological superiority.


Char B1 (bis)
Char B1 (bis)

I've painted these two in a black-outlined 3-colour disruptive pattern common among French AFVs of the era.

On the right-hand vehicle I experimented with a lighter shade of olive green; it looked far too bright initially, but after dry-brushing and ink-washing it toned down nicely. Nevertheless, I still prefer the other version, which is Vallejo Russian Green. The red-brown is Maimeri goache acrylic Burnt Sienna, the tan is Vallejo Dark Flesh.

The right-hand one is varnished with Humbrol's new matte-coat, which comes in a glass jar and doesn't seem to create as matte a finish as the old stuff in the tin.


Dice
Char B1 (bis)

Another camo scheme. This one is designed around the concept of countershading in which edges are painted dark and central areas light. This breaks up the natural shade and highlights to eliminate the form of the vehicle.

The roundel on the hull top-rear is for aerial recognition, the blue hearts are unit insignia.

Char B1 (bis)

Dice