Vive la France!

All things in October should normally point to Germany but for some odd reason this year it's France! Meng has released their 1/35 FT-17, one of the most important early tanks and what many consider to be the ancestor of modern tanks. Here's the awesome box art!

It's one of the rare forays by the industry into WW I subjects, the previous FT-17 was by RPM many years ago. The tank was one of the first, if not the first, to utilise compartments that is still evident in tanks today, driver at the front, fighting compartment in the middle and engine at the back. At the time this was revolutionary, today we accept this as how most tanks are with the exception of the Israeli Merkava. It's a full interior kit and here are some pictures to get the pulse racing.

The FT-17 is a small two-man tank that was envisioned by the French to be used in swarms over the battlefield rather than a few massive tanks. At 1/35 scale it is again rather small so no excuses like not enough space to display it at home for this one. You can get yours today from the good guys in SG like Miniature Hobby, M Workshop. Links are the sidebar for any inquiries!

I always believed our subjects should not be confined to the pages of history and as such I will introduce a new link for a free Massively Multiplayer Online Game, World of Tanks. For those who model armour this is something that must be given a go. It has all the important things like various gun properties to individual armour thickness and plenty of other details, but it is very easy to get into as it doesn't bog you down in controls.

Most of the common modelling subjects are in the game with popular tanks ranging from 1920s (FT-17, T-26, Cruiser tanks, etc..) to 1950s (Centurion, M48 Patton, Leopard I, etc..), but there are some very interesting tanks that existed only in blueprints or at the prototype stage. These paper tanks include (German Entwicklung series, Soviet IS-7, American T110 series, British FV4202, etc...)

Of course being October as it is, it's about the French! The nation of the month for October is France, that means all French tanks get a 30% bonus for credit income! Here's the link for more information.

Some in-game screenshots too! Of course we keep it in subject, the FT-17!

The game is free, one only needs to register an account, download the client and have it automatically updated. Once that is done it's simply log in to your garage and pit your skills in the virtual battlefield. So you think you know your tanks? You can now prove it!

If you're lazy like me just scroll down for the links

World of Tanks
October Mission of the Month
Client