snake_eye Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Here after 4 pictures of the R 35 on exhibit in the Saumur French tanks museum. That one was armed with the 37mm SA18 gun. The crew of 2, was made of a driver and of a commander acting has a loader as well as a gunner. There are only two hatches. The driver’s one in front and the turret’s one, in the back of it. The commander usually, was seated on the open panel when travelling in a safe area. A mount was available for a MG anti aircraft use, of the 7.5 mm MAC31, right above the turret opening. The R-35 was mainly designed as an infantry support tank and not as a battle tank. More details in the Wikipedia link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_R35 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyD Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 For people with access to back issues, there's an excellent article by Steve Zaloga in an old issue of "Miliary Modelling" magazine. Volume 29, number 10, 1999. It covers the use of the R-35 tank during the battle for Gela. This includes stories of desperate Rangers dropping demolition charges on the tanks from rooftops! A not too shabby kit conversion in the article too. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Crowley Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Captured R-35's had the turret cupola removed and an opening hatch fitted (together with a radio). The movie and screenshots show the R-35's still equipped with the cupola but it is in a different colour to the rest of the vehicle so, hopefully, this means that they will be removed in beta and onwards. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mord Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Well, considering CMBN's vehicles have multiple pieces of equipment added or removed (see the skirts on some of the German stuff) they might have both, one with cupola and one without. Mord. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 What's with the playing card symbols? I noticed a Heart and a Spade. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Staying alive was a huge gamble, so being poker players was a crew requirement. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buq-Buq Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 James: I cannot find any appropriate Italian armor references at the moment (what’s with that?), but I believe that the hatch & radio change that you mention was a German modification; I think that Italian versions of the vehicle were unchanged from their original form. I’m pretty certain that you are seeing an Italian R-35 in that screen shot, rather than a German R-35. The white cupola is most likely a vehicle marking; I seem to recall a common type of Italian AFV marking was a white circle on the turret (or superstructure) roof. Childress: The playing card symbols were common tactical markings for French vehicles. Someone else will need to explain their exact function, but it probably had something to do with platoons of a company or companies of a battalion (e.g., all first platoon vehicles were marked with spades, all second platoons AFVs were marked with hearts, etc.) or something like that. Actually, Erwin probably has it right, come to think of it. Mark 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyD Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 An Italian R-35, specifically in markings of the unit that fought at Gela. I have superior confirming reference than this boxtop 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GerryCMBB Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 It looks like something from "Sleeper". Gerry 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 It looks like something from "Sleeper". Gerry Ha, good one! "You know, back when he made funny movies." 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyD Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 There's another Italian light tank in the game someone said reminded them of a Dalek. "Exterminate! Exterminate!" 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnergoz Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Found some photos of Italian R-35's here http://www.comandosupremo.com/forums/topic/6574-french-tanks-in-italian-use/ The photos are at the bottom of the page and the lower pair show an R-35 captured in Gela, Sicily. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Crowley Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Having rumaged through a few more tomes, I see that these are indeed Italian R-35's, as correctly identified by previous posters. The white cupola was in lieu of any other aerial identification markings being added. I wonder, did the Italians fit radios to them? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyD Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 In the game command vehicles get radios. To maintain chain of command you probably need to be unbuttoned and within visual sight of the command tank. Very much like trying to manhandle those those deaf-dumb-and-blind Russian BT fast tanks back in CMBB. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyD Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I happened to stumble on another Sicilian R35 tank picture. This one's a bit worse for wear, missing the exhaust sstyem and left side idler. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wicky Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Is that a wine dispensing tap on the rear?? This one's a bit worse for wear, missing the exhaust sstyem and left side idler damaged by canteen mugs in the rush... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyD Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Hey, you know what, I do believe that R35 might actually have the original French tank camou scheme on it! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnergoz Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 According to the Italian site, the R-35's that were turned over to them were painted overall green. It is possible that some local camo was applied, or also that the green faded irregularly, perhaps exposing some of the original French camo beneath it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snake_eye Posted June 29, 2012 Author Share Posted June 29, 2012 The R-35 was small and its interior cramped for its 2 crew members. They did not have any wire communication between them, so the commander being seated behind the driver was using his legs to signal him to halt, back up, turn and so on. As for the cupola on the turret I might be wrong but there was no modification made by the Germans on it, since it was only possible for the commander/gunner head to fit in it. The top of the turret was anyway too small to accommodate a modified cupola. However modifications with German style hatches were made on Somua S-35 and B1 bis. The tactical unit symbols on the tanks were represented by a combination of playing cards symbols and of colors. The color indicates the company. Blue: 1st company White and or Black: 2nd company Red: 3rd company The symbol specifies the platoon Ace of spade: 1st platoon Ace of heart: 2nd platoon Ace of tile: 3rd platoon Ace of clover: platoon of echelon The R39 is a variant of the Renault R35, but armed with the heavier 37mm SA38 L/33 gun, allowing it to operate in an anti-tank capacity. That one is on exhibit at the Saumur French tank museum 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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