US Army FT-17 Light Tank (Riveted Turret) 344th Tank Battalion ‘Five of Hearts’

Award winner built and painted Renault FT with realistic heavy weathering finish. 2nd Platoon 1st Company; 344th Tank Battalion;304th Tank Brigade; US Army; Verdun; October 1918 under Great George S.Patton. A full interior is with beautiful Five of Hearts Camouflage color scheme with accurate unit markings. Add full interior details. Surface detail is state-of-the-art. Add on 10 brass PE brass photo-etched parts. Individual track links with road wheel details. Top building quality beautifully detailed overall. 37mm cannon are beautifully detailed. Rotating turret and gun elevation. Adding on vehicle tools and more add-on details.

* Top building quality with great details over all.
* A full interior is provided – fighting compartment; turret and engine.
* Add on metal chain for great looking.
* Add on brass photo-etched fret; cast metal parts; springs; steel rods; tool straps.
* Add on brass PE part on commander’s strap (seat) and some smaller details.
* Add on PE grill on top`s housing for great details.
* Open-able hatches; door and engine hood.
* Detail is moulded on to both sides of many parts.
* Raised and recessed surface features are really well done.
* Hull side; front and rear armor plate turret with great rivets details.
* Really nice looking turret is very well done with cast texture details.
* The machine guns are beautifully detailed
* Super detailed crew seat; control stick; pedal; central and side panel and more interior details.
* Instrument panel even with gauges and switches.
* The hull bottom plate has some nice pattern details.
* Separate hatches and doors with great detail in and out.
* The engine deck detailed with muffler and tool box both side.
* Well-engineered engine and transmission with small pipes and tubes around the engine and many more great details.
* The radiator is also very nice looking even has fan blades and a belt drive.
* Small intake and exhaust vents on top of the cylinders cast with tiny springs for super details.
* The running is partly supported by two workable metal Vertical Spring Suspension units – quite nifty.
* The drive sprockets are great looking with some tiny casting numbers molded on the sides for great details.
* The suspension units and wheels are well detailed.
* The workable track links are supplied as one part each providing good detail including the lightning holes.
* Adding shovel; pick ax; hammer and many tools with accessories.

Buffing and polishing to remove mold seam. Base color with primer and putty for better surface detail. Airbrushed and painted with multicolor. Add clear paint for good finishing on decal applying. Washing to enhance the surface detail increase the appearance of depth including panels; doors; hatches; rivets; bolt head and more. Dry brushing to emphasize and highlighting texture with edge for good wear; tear and fading. Multi-color filters for blend color effects. Adding nonglossy paint for better finishing. Great detail paint job on rust and paint chips off with scratches; worn and bare metal realistic simulating; flow rust and rain streaks effects; grease with staining appearing. Also smear and dirt with dust and real mud and more on real-life weathering. Final protective layer for long-term collection.

The Renault FT (frequently referred to in post-World War I literature as the FT-17; FT17; or similar) was a French light tank that was among the most revolutionary and influential tank designs in history.[citation needed] The FT was the first production tank to have its armament within a fully rotating turret.[note 1] The Renault FT`s configuration (crew compartment at the front; engine compartment at the back; and main armament in a revolving turret) became and remains the standard tank layout. Consequently; some historians of armoured warfare have called the Renault FT the world`s first modern tank.

Over 3;000 Renault FT tanks were manufactured by French industry; most of them in 1918. After World War I; FT tanks were exported in large numbers. Copies and derivative designs were manufactured in the United States (M1917 light tank); in Italy (Fiat 3000) and in the Soviet Union (T-18 tank). The Renault FT saw combat during the interwar conflicts around the world; but was considered obsolete at the outbreak of World War II.