Having decided to run an Operation Torch game of What a Tanker at HISTORICON 2025, I had to get working back in March and early April. It was time to gather enough vehicles and paint them up. As you will see in these entries, it was not always easy, especially for some of the esoteric/rare Vichy vehicles.

This blog will, as I promised, catch you up on the myriad of US and Vichy French vehicles that I assembled and painted for that recent convention. If I had stopped to blog about them at the time, I don’t think I would have gotten everything done. I had not built any tanks in many years, so I was excited!

After the Fall of France, there were still French Army units defending the colonies. So let’s start with some of these Vichy French vehicles for November 1942.

I will start with two types of Old Glory models. Both are metal and 1:100 in scale (15mm).

The first one is SKU CD607, “White-Laffly AMD 80“. This vehicle was a twice-modified holdover from WWI, and it looks it. Around 28 were reworked in 1934. It was rearmed with three machine guns. One heavy machine gun replaced the Puteaux SA18 37mm cannon in the turret that its predecessor, the AMD 50, had. AMD stands for “automitrailleuse de decouverte” – basically “armored scout car” in English. By the time war broke out in Europe, all of these were in North Africa in the colonies. This was a common fate for all older French armaments.

The second one is SKU CD610, “Schneider AMC P16“. Like the White-Laffly AMD 80, this was a cavalry vehicle. Unlike it, its designation was AMC, or “automitrailleuse de combat” (combat armored car). 100 were produced. It had an innovative Kegresse suspension system that made it into a half-track. It also kept its turret-mounted Puteaux SA18 37mm cannon. This was the most common cannon on French tanks, so this gave it some anti-armor punch. Some P16’s did met the Wehrmacht in Germany, but many were similarly dispersed to the colonies before 1939.

I got the models in April, and started work on them on the 26th. I did the usual drilling and washing in preparation for assembling and painting. I also used small magnets to affix the turrets. These magnets also serve to help to hold the brewed-up markers (also on magnets) that I use to indicate knocked-out tanks.

Metal miniatures don’t always cast perfectly. In the case of the AMD 80’s, the headlights were not great, but fixable.

I used a little green stuff and they started looking old again!

I also used green stuff and to fill the cavities under the vehicles. I waited until the green stuff had hardened just slightly, then inserted screws as you can see. Once that had fully set, I had a nice way of setting up the models on wooden blocks for painting, as the screws would come out easily later.

I ended up with a typical French camouflage pattern on the AMD 80’s as opposed to the pattern in the reference.

The P16’s got a brown and green camouflage pattern.

To be efficient and productive, I worked on these (and others you will see shortly in future posts) at the same time. I ended up deciding to base these on steel bases so as to allow each type a label. Let’s face it, I can’t expect most gamers at a convention to recognize these old and rare types. Labels help. I just needed to explain to the players that the bases are irrelevant to targeting the vehicles.

I managed to finish these on May the 8th.

Eye Candy

White-Laffly AMD 80

Here is my Instagram White-Laffly AMD 80 video link: https://www.instagram.com/p/DMtJSygOJqJ/

Schneider AMC P16

Here is my Instagram Schneider AMC P16 video link: https://www.instagram.com/p/DMtJ_a1OSg4/

Thanks for looking!

For all of my posts on WWII games and projects – there is a consolidated list of posts and their links located here.

I hope you enjoyed the post – there are several more entries coming soon! I’d love to hear any feedback – feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comments section.

MATERIALS USED

PAINTS, INKS, GLAZES, SHADES, WASHES, PIGMENTS AND FLOCKING USED ON THE WHITE-LAFFLY AMD 80 MODELS:

1. Vallejo “Flow Improver”
2. Green Stuff
3. War Games Accessories Steel Bases Number 23 (1½” x 2″)
4. Neodymium magnets (⅛” and ¼”)
5. Gorilla Glue Vallejo Surface Primer “Black”
6. Wooden Blocks, steel bolts, steel washers, magnets, steel screws
7. Vallejo Primers “NATO Green”
8. Vallejo Model Air “Duck Egg Green”
9. Vallejo Model Air “Dark Brown”
10. Vallejo Mecha Weathering Effects “Dark Rust Wash”
11. Vallejo Mecha Color “Deep Green”
12. Vallejo Model Color “Dark Yellow”
13. Vallejo Model Color “Black”
14. Battlefront “Gunship Green”
15. Vallejo Mecha Color “Sky Blue”
16. Vallejo Model Air “Gun Metal”
17. Vallejo Model Air “Tire Black”
18. Vallejo Model Color “Dark Sea Grey”
19. Army Painter “Dark Tone” (wash)
20. Vallejo “Mecha Varnish Gloss”
21. Microscale Industries “Micro Set”
22. Microscale Industries “Micro Sol”
23. Microscale Industries “Liquid Decal Film”
24. Flames of War French Decal Set (FR940)
25. Peddinghaus-Decals 1/100 2181 “World of Flames French tanks early war”
26. Citadel “‘Ardcoat”
27. Vallejo Surface Primer “German Green Brown”
28. Vallejo “Gloss Acrylic Varnish”
29. Citadel “Agrellan Earth” (texture)
30. Army Painter “Mid Brown” (shade/wash)
31. Reaper MSP Core Colors “Blackened Brown”
32. Vallejo Flow Improver Vallejo Thinner
33. Vallejo “Matte Polyurethane Varnish”
34. Printed labels on card stock
35. Gamers Grass “Tiny Beige 2mm Tufts” (flocking)
36. PVA Glue

PAINTS, INKS, GLAZES, SHADES, WASHES, PIGMENTS AND FLOCKING USED ON THE SCHNEIDER AMC P16 MODELS:

1. Green Stuff
2. War Games Accessories Steel Bases Number 23 (1½” x 2″)
3. Neodymium magnets (⅛” and ¼”)
4. Gorilla Glue
5. Vallejo Surface Primer “Black”
6. Wooden Blocks, steel bolts, steel washers, magnets, steel screws
7. Steel ball bearings
8. Vallejo Primers “NATO Green”
9. Vallejo Model Air “Dark Brown”
10. Vallejo Mecha Weathering Effects “Dark Rust Wash”
11. Vallejo Model Air “Tire Black”
12. Vallejo Model Color “Dark Sea Grey”
13. Army Painter “Dark Tone” (wash)
14. Vallejo “Mecha Varnish Gloss”
15. Microscale Industries “Micro Set”
16. Microscale Industries “Micro Sol”
17. Microscale Industries “Liquid Decal Film”
18. Flames of War French Decal Set (FR940)
19. Peddinghaus-Decals 1/100 2181 “World of Flames French tanks early war”
20. Citadel “‘Ardcoat”
21. Vallejo “Gloss Acrylic Varnish”
22. Vallejo Surface Primer “German Green Brown”
23. Citadel “Agrellan Earth” (texture)
24. Army Painter “Mid Brown” (shade/wash)
25. Reaper MSP Core Colors “Blackened Brown”
26. Vallejo Flow Improver
27. Vallejo Thinner
28. Vallejo “Matte Polyurethane Varnish”
29. Printed labels on card stock
30. Gamers Grass “Tiny Beige 2mm Tufts” (flocking)
31. PVA Glue