[rockpaperscissor]

THE MODEL

I present my recolor/resize of CT Ertz's 1/72 scale kit that can be found at Landships II. Like CT's Burstyn tank that I completed last month, the fit of every part was spot on, and assembly was trouble free and straightforward. CT's original model doesn't have a lot of detail and glue tabs are not provided, so I wouldn't recommend his kit for inexperienced builders.

I added panel lines and rivets as well as some extra parts for layering. I also drew in glue tabs where I thought they belonged to make building the kit easier. The machine gun port on the rear of the turret was merely suggested in CT's kit, so I designed a new part to go there. CT's kit's wheels are all the same, but period photos of the armored car have concave rear wheels, so I designed more accurate multi piece wheels for the back.

I know my armor models aren't weathered enough, so I got the brilliant idea of presenting my Laffly armored car as if it was an exhibit at an outdoor military vehicle museum. I think it's pretty effective and explains why it's so clean.

As with the Burstyn tank, I'll submit my version of the Laffly armored car to Charlie Clelland in case he would like to host it at the Landships II site.

HISTORY/DATA

First produced in 1935, and considered obsolete when delivered into service, this armored car carried a crew of 4. Its main armament was a 13.2mm turret mounted heavy machine gun. It also carried two 7.5mm machine guns, one mounted in the rear of the turret, and another that could be fired through a port in the front of the car. It was powered by an 80HP 4-cylinder gasoline engine, which could move the 8-ton vehicle along at a maximum speed of 50 MPH. A total of 28 examples were manufactured with a few survivors still in military service as late as the 1950s.

Now, on to the pics!