Artitec 387.20 Highlights:
Model: Artitec's 387.20 1/87 scale SOMUA S35 is fully assembled and painted standard French wartime mottled camouflage. All the new Artitec finished models are highly detailed works of art. They are all hand painted and finished using the highest quality resin, plastic and metal parts. Add a few to your collection today before they are sold out. Models are made in small production runs so don't delay in ordering.
Prototype: The SOMUA S35 was the best tank fielded by the Allies on the Western Front in 1939-1940. It was developed beginning in in 1934 as a fast-moving Automitrailleuse de Combat or AMC (armored combat vehicle) for the French Army’s cavalry. Cavalry tanks were intended for breakthrough missions, designed to pursue an enemy’s armored forces after the frontlines had been breached by infantry and slower moving infantry support tanks. As the SOMUA S35 was designed to tank on other tanks, it was well protected with 40-47 mm of sloping armor on the hull and turret and it had a reasonably fast top speed of 25 mph. It was armed with a 47 mm SA 35 cannon, which could penetrate the armor of a German Panzer III and IV at a range of 1,000 m, and a 7.5 mm Mitrailleuse mle 1931 machine gun. A unique feature of the S35 was that its hull was made of four solid castings, bolting together, and the turret was a single casting; the size and weight of these castings made maintenance and damage repair very difficult and time consuming. The slow casting process and the high cost of the S35 resulted in not many being produced, only around 440. During the Battle of France S35s proved to be better than their German counterparts, tank for tank, but poor tactical planning on the part of the French high command negated this qualitative advantage.
PLEASE NOTE: These models are all handmade and painted which makes every one unique. This means the paint patterns may vary a little and the detail parts like sandbags, turret tracks, antennas, etc. may also be arranged differently. This was also the case in real life. These models are very prototypical.
