Retrokit

1/72 25mm anti-char SA-L Mle.37 WWII French A.T. gun

Kit Number: 72033

Reviewed by  Howie Belkin, IPMS# 16

MSRP: $30 About 33 resin parts includes AntiTank gun, Limber, Trolley, Horse, four Ammo Cans, Firing Stand and Artilleryman. France produced a series of small anti-tank guns during the 1930s, including this 25mm anti-char SA-L Mle.37 improvement over its 1934 predecessor. The Mle. 37 served during the Battle of France, in North Africa, with the Germans and with Finland against the Russians. Little is known about it here, but various websites like Lovett Artillery (www.lovettartillery.com) can help you build and paint your model. Retrokit provides one b/w boxtop photo and a simple line drawing instruction sheet that isn't perfectly clear. With the extra photos I found an interesting camo scheme on the sample in the French Samur museum. You'll also find proper positioning of the canon so that the built-on gunsight lines up with the opening in the gun shield. The shield, BTW, is paper-thin, and well detailed. The kit is delicately molded and makes up into an excellent little piece with amazingly fine detail. Retrokit chose a tough subject too, as the spoke-like wheels are difficult to mold in injection plastic much less resin as is the Hydro-Spring Recoil Mechanism. There is very little flash to clean up, and what little there is, is thin and cleans up easily. Directions and the photos show the shield needs to be bent but I chickened out. There are no decals or markings.

Thanks to Retrokit who sent this and a vehicle to Patrick Keenan who runs our Armored Cars S.I.G. Patrick passed this gun to me, just as the Retrokit partnership split up. This kit isn't available from Retrokit any more though a retailer might still have it as such. Otherwise it now is available from Marc Urwicz (marc.urwicz@laposte.net) who should have a website up soon. The $30 price is from Troops N Tracks (tracks-n-troops.com/) in the Czech Republic. It's a little jewel but a bit expensive unless you're an esoteric artillery modeler. Makes a great addition to a diorama alongside a RPM Panhard 178, or Allied troops landing in Tunisia. Keep an eye on Retrokit and Marc Urwicz for some great choices you'll only find in resin!

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