This build is a what-if BeutePanzer (Trophy Tank) of the French Char 2C. The tank was initially developed in 1917 with production delivery anticipated for 1919. With the end of WWI, the program was put on hold and not resumed until 1920. Initial plans called for 300 Char 2C, only ten were ever delivered by 1921. The tanks were obsolete almost as soon as they were built and were mainly used in parades and French propaganda films showing them crushing through old French forts. During the invasion of France, the tanks were moved by rail to avoid falling into German hands but when the rail system failed, the tanks were destroyed by their crews. One of the tanks fell into German hands more or less intact and was shipped back to Germany as a war trophy.
I’ve wanted to build this monstrosity for a while as it’s such a unique looking tank. The Meng kit is a basic build, so I added the Voyager PE set for some extra detail. I corrected a few minor items where possible but it’s mostly an out of the box build except for a couple things.
The kit air intake screens are molded solid, so I opened the side air intakes for the Voyager PE details. But this left an empty void visible behind the screens. I found a couple of images of a damaged Char 2C showing the features behind the screens and created something close enough from styrene sheet. I utilized my Cricut cutter to make sure all the little wedges were identical.
The other more obvious change was adding the split hatch for the commander in the main turret. German tank commanders liked to operate with open hatches for better situational awareness. I crafted the hatch and hinges from styrene sheet.
The tank commander is from Verlinden.
