AL.BY:s 1/72 Renault FT-17 TSF
About the Real Thing
The French FT-17 was by far the best Tank coming out of WW1, and it also spawned numerous variants. One of them was the Char Renault TSF, a radio cum command tank. The Char TSF (télégraphie sans fil – telegraph without a wire) was called for by General Estienne when the big order for 2500 Renaults was placed in the Autumn of 1917. It was intended as a command vehicle to provide contact between units and with their headquarters or supporting arms or as an observation vehicle. The number of signal tanks required was originally 200 but this was later increased in early 1918 to 470. The thought was to equip every FT-17 batallion with a section of 6 of these radio tanks.
All the mechanical details of the Char TSF were the same as those of the FT-17 combat tanks. In the signal vehicle the crew was increased from two to three men-driver, radio operator and observer/commander and the turret was replaced by a fixed armoured superstructure, equipped with a cupola on top, an observation window in front and a periscope, and housed the radio set. In the prototype vehicles the superstructure overhung the hull sides but in production tanks-as shown in the drawings-this was modified so that the hull itself did not have to be modified.
At the start of WW2 the TSF was long since obsolete, and the superstructure of many of these ended up as observations posts in the Maginot Line.
Char TSF Walk-Around
The Char TSF hull below is - to my
knowledge - the only one in existance. It is an empty hull, the superstructure
originally found in the remnants of the Maginot Line, and (?) now waiting for
reconstruction in the fabulous Tank Museum in Saumur in France. The photos have
been taken by Eric Gallaud.
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About the kit
This kit from AL.BY comes in that companys usual see-through plastic box, with the parts moulded in that companys usual soft yellow resin. The main parts are the hull and the superstructure and. There is also a large number of smaller parts, most relating to the drive assemblies. The tracks are a combinations of lengths of links and individual links. I'm not a big fan of this system, but I must say that this really works here. And the tracks themelves are SUPERB! Scale thickness, detailed both on the top, the back AND the sides! Amazing! But mind you, you will have to be careful when assembling the tracks, to get the right alignment.
The mouldings are of superb quality, typical of AL.BY, with all details very sharply defined indeed. This is really stunning work, containing detail that you can find missing in 1/35 scale FT-17. (The rivets are well aligned, and the right size.) The only problem that I can find in this department, is the lower part of the road wheels, that need some cleaning up.
The accuracy is very high, and I can find no faults in that department either. The kit comes with a simple but adequate set of plans.
AL.BY has done another superb job on this kit, again proving that they are quite simply the best in the World when it comes to 1/72 resin AFV kits. They market more FT-17 variants and they are all among the very,very WW1 Military kits that money can buy today. I can't recommend this kit highly enough.
AL.BY kits are notoriously hard to come by. The best bet is probably to contact them directly! If you don't get it, you could always try the RPM Char TSF!