Somua S35 Query

On the Somua S35, would the interior of the crew access door be
painted in the vehicle’s interior colour, or the exterior camouflage colour?

Thanks,

Paul

I’d go with the hull camo color

H.P.

1 Like

Frenchy,

That’s what I thought.
It’s interesting to note that the door swings downwards when opened …
an important feature to include on a scale model. I’m currently wrestling
with a rather old Heller 1/72-scale kit, which certainly shows its age in terms
of moulding, and attention to detail (or lack of). I’ve also found that the type of
plastic doesn’t respond at all to modelling cement (not even Tamiya’s Extra Thin),
so I’ve had to resort to CA super glue throughout the construction.

Paul

You’ll find some details pics here :

http://www.chars-francais.net/2015/index.php/liste-chronologique/de-1930-a-1940?task=view&id=16

and period pics here :

http://www.chars-francais.net/2015/index.php/classement-individuel/renault-r35

H.P.

More interestingly, from watching the Inside the Chieftain’s Hatch video on the Somua S35, not only is the rear hatch openable only from the inside, it opens on a crank-and-lever system that pushes the bottom of the hatch outward as the top of the hatch moves down, so that it winds up horizontal where it can be used as a seat, but with the outside of the hatch upward, leaving the inside of the hatch facing down, where the inside color, even if it were bright white, would not be visible. However, from the two videos on the tank (the one linked above is part 2), the inside of all the hatches are painted the external base color. The tank is, however, one of the tanks captured by the Germans with a replaced cupola, so this may not have been the original coloration for the hatch interiors.