Yes – more armored cars of French origin are coming your way right here and now!

This post will cover off on the last three vehicle types that I built and painted for Vichy French forces during Operation Torch. All three here are armored cars, but each is definitely different and not commonly seen in tabletop wargames. I thought that that aspect alone would make for some interesting historical interest as well as game aesthetics.

Like the other inter-war armored cars – including the White-Laffly AMD 80’s and the Schneider AMC P16’s that I posted about here – these three were all models of AFV that were “good enough for the colonies”. The French Army certainly considered them as not good enough for defending against a potential German attack. Some were in France during 1939-1940, but most were in North Africa and the Levant. All of these were at least armed with machine guns, with the Panhard having a 25mm cannon as well.

Certainly finding appropriate 15mm/1:100 scale models of these was not easy. Luckily I managed to enlist the help of my friend Greg Priebe who 3D-printed two of these types. I did get the third type (Laffly S15 TOE) from Butlers’ Printed Models. Let’s look at each vehicle and model in turn.

Panhard 175 TOE

The Panhard 165 and 175 TOE’s shared similar frames – with the 175 version being a modification/upgrade. The acronym “TOE” stood for théâtres d’opérations extérieurs – i.e. designed for foreign theaters of operations like the colonies. Greg printed for me two Panhard 175’s that I assembled and painted. In reality, it was, as you can see, very tall (9.1′). That’s just 1′ 2″ shorter than the M3 Lee!

Do not confuse the 175 with the more well-known Panhard AMD 178. The 165 TOE type was built in the early 1930’s with the 175 TOE upgrades happening around 1934. Maybe 60 or so were initially built and then so upgraded. It did have a 25mm antitank gun, so it possessed some light antiarmor capability. Armor-wise, it had just 6-9mm of riveted armor, so not much. These were really designed to work to keep France’s colonies in line.

Greg sent me a bag of the models that he printed in late April. I was able to cobble together two good vehicles from the pieces. After a good (but gentle) washing (I needed to be careful of the fiddly fenders), I drilled out and installed small magnets as you see below. This was to make the turrets movable – as well as to hold smoke markers if they got brewed up or knocked out in a game. For a painting scheme. I used a green primer base with yellow camouflage stripes, akin to my H35’s. All of my paints used are listed as references at this post’s end for those interested in such stuff.

Laffly S15 TOE

This was yet another Laffly-modified truck. These were common civilian truck chassis developed into a range of different military types, one of which was the Laffly S15 TOE. It was designed for colonial use in 1934, but was not delivered to the French Army until 1938 or 1939. It had a single machine gun – a Reibel 7.5 mm light machine gun located inside of a domed turret. I thought it had a unique look.

I really was impressed with my examples from Butlers’ Printed Models. Here is the link for the model.

Unfortunately, my original purchased models were lost in transit. Yet, the company quickly sent me another pair of models – great customer service! They were crisp and very nice resin models. As I was rushing to finish all these vehicles (yes I am repeating that issue!), I have no WIP shots! For a painting scheme, I went with a sandy look.

Berliet VUDB

The last type of Vichy French armored car that Greg printed up for me was a trio of Berliet VUDB’s. This type was made by – the Berliet company – which was in competition with Laffly and Panhard for French government contracts. It seems that all three companies got some business. One can only imagine what having so many armored car variants would do to logistics and the need for spare parts.

As you can see, it was a 4×4 armored car with a big spare tire. Some credit this vehicle with the accolade of being the first armored personnel carrier as it had space for a driver and seven soldiers. The vehicle even had ports on the sides from which soldiers could fire their rifles while riding inside. It was armed with two Fusil-mitrailleur Modèle 1924 Modifié 29 machine guns (the standard French light machine gun at the beginning of WWII). Armor was just 7mm thick.

” VUDB” is a French acronym for “voiture de prise de contact“, or “contact vehicle”. It was a scout car in US parlance and use. Sixty-two were produced between 1929 and 1932 – and originally were looked at to be used in the pacification of Morocco in the early 1930’s after the Rif War. There were a number of them in Morocco in November 1942.

As for the models, these were very solid resin prints. No assembly was required except for my usual drilling out holes for neodymium magnets.

That finishes off the 31 AFV’s that I assembled and painted for my Operation Torch What a Tanker game. All are in their glory…well their box…below.

I have now caught up on all my French vehicles! It’s time to move on to the Americans next!

I have 22 American tanks, tank destroyers, or armored cars to write about next. All were used in Operation Torch in November 1942. These vehicles will be the topics of my next posts.

Please, I’d love to hear any feedback – were you surprised at anything here? Learn anything? Get inspired?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments section!

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

MATERIALS USED

PAINTS, INKS, GLAZES, SHADES, WASHES, PIGMENTS AND FLOCKING USED ON THE TWO PANHARD 175 TOE MODELS 3D-PRINTED BY GREG PRIEBE:

1. Green Stuff
2. War Games Accessories Steel Bases Number 23 (1½” x 2″)
3. Neodymium magnets (⅛”)
4. Gorilla Glue
5. Vallejo Surface Primer “Black”
6. Wooden Blocks, steel bolts, steel washers, nails, magnets, steel screws
7. Vallejo Primers “Desert Tan”
8. Vallejo Model Color “Dark Yellow”
9. Vallejo “Thinner Medium”
10. Vallejo Surface Primer “German Green Brown”
11. Reaper MSP Core Colors “Blackened Brown”
12. Army Painter “Mid Brown” (shade/wash)
13. Citadel “Agrellan Badlands” (texture)
14. Vallejo Primers “NATO Green”
15. Vallejo Model Air “Tire Black”
16. Vallejo Model Color “Dark Sea Grey”
17. Poster tack
18. Reaper MSP Core Colors “Blackened Brown”
19. Army Painter “Mid Brown” (shade/wash)
20. FolkArt “Champagne”
21. Vallejo “Mecha Varnish Gloss”
22. Microscale Industries “Micro Set”
23. Microscale Industries “Micro Sol”
24. Microscale Industries “Liquid Decal Film”
25. Flames of War French Decal Set (FR940)
26. Peddinghaus-Decals 1/100 2181 “World of Flames French tanks early war”
27. Citadel “‘Ardcoat”
28. Vallejo “Gloss Acrylic Varnish”
29. Vallejo Mecha Weathering Effects “Dark Rust Wash”
30. Army Painter “Dark Tone” (wash)
31. Vallejo Flow Improver
32. 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 TWO LAFFLY S15 TOE MODELS FROM BUTLERS’ PRINTED MODELS:

1. No. 19 x ½” flat head nails
2. War Games Accessories Steel Bases Number 23 (1½” x 2″)
3. Gorilla Glue
4. Green Stuff
5. Neodymium magnets (⅛”)
6. Daisy BB’s
7. Vallejo Surface Primer “Black”
8. Wooden Blocks, steel bolts, steel washers, nails, magnets, steel screws
9. Vallejo Surface Primer “German Green Brown”
10. Army Painter “Mid Brown” (shade/wash)
11. Vallejo Primers “Desert Tan”
12. Vallejo Model Color “Black”
13. Vallejo Model Air “Tire Black”
14. Vallejo Model Color “Dark Sea Grey”
15. Battlefront “Oxide Red”
16. Reaper MSP “Carrot Top Red”
17. Vallejo “Thinner Medium”
18. Vallejo Mecha Color “Dark Steel”
19. Vallejo Mecha Color “Sand Yellow”
20. Army Painter “Dark Tone” (wash)
21. FolkArt “Champagne”
22. Citadel “Agrellan Earth” (texture)
23. Citadel “Agrellan Badlands” (texture)
24. Reaper MSP Core Colors “Blackened Brown”
25. Vallejo “Mecha Varnish Gloss”
26. Microscale Industries “Micro Set”
27. Microscale Industries “Micro Sol”
28. Microscale Industries “Liquid Decal Film”
29. Flames of War French Decal Set (FR940)
30. Peddinghaus-Decals 1/100 2181 “World of Flames French tanks early war”
31. Citadel “‘Ardcoat”
32. Vallejo “Gloss Acrylic Varnish”
33. Vallejo Mecha Weathering Effects “Dark Rust Wash”
34. Vallejo Flow Improver
35. Vallejo Thinner
36. Vallejo “Matte Polyurethane Varnish”
37. Printed labels on card stock
38. Gamers Grass “Tiny Beige 2mm Tufts” (flocking)
39. PVA Glue

PAINTS, INKS, GLAZES, SHADES, WASHES, PIGMENTS AND FLOCKING USED ON THE THREE BERLIET VUDB MODELS 3D-PRINTED BY GREG PRIEBE:

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