Editions Du Barbotin

Focus # 5: Hotchkiss H 39

Traslated by  Lawrence Brown

Reviewed By  Marc Blackburn, IPMS# 42892

MSRP: 9.95 Euros (about $14 USD) Website: www.minitracks.fr In the last several years, Editions Du Barbotin has hit the market with a series of publications for armor buffs and modelers concentrating on French armor. The Focus series seems to be for modelers. Each volume, this is number five, concentrates on one vehicle which in this case is the Hotchkiss H 39. Illustrated with black and white photographs, the book begins with a brief technical summary and overview of its combat experience followed by a twenty-six page photo essay of close up, color photographs of a surviving vehicle located at the French armor museum in Saumur. The last few pages of the book are color profiles of production vehicles and a 1/35 and 1/72 color profile. As with previous editions, the text and photo captions are split between French and an accompanying English translation. Hotchkiss, known for the famous French machine gun of the same name, entered the tank business in 1933 with the first prototype of the H 35. After several prototypes, the infantry branch rejected the tank, but the cavalry adopted it because of its speed. Designated H 35, approximately 400 was manufactured with the short barreled 37 mm gun. In 1939, the army adopted an updated version with several modifications including a long barreled 37 mm gun. By the time the war began 700 examples were manufactured. The text briefly touches on the H39's combat record, focusing more on tables of organization than the effectiveness of the vehicle in the French campaign. The text also follows with French use of the tank in Africa, the Middle East and during the liberation. Some photographs and text also touches on the use of the H 39 by the Germans and the Israelis in their war for independence. As I mentioned in a previous review, while grateful for the English translation, it's clunky and a bit hard to follow at times. The color photographs of the H 39 at Saumar should be very helpful to anyone who is building the Trumpeter or Bronco H 39s. The photographs are small, but in color and filled with enough detail to suffice anyone with a penchant for advanced modeling syndrome. The color profiles do a good job in matching camouflage schemes applied at the factory and that can be verified with historical photographs. As with other examples from this series, it provides the details modelers need to produce historically accurate vehicles. If you are looking for an in-depth summary of technical and operational details, Track Story No. 6 is available through the Editions Du Barbotin website. Despite the small size of the volume, this is a great reference work on the H35/29 series and should be helpful to anyone who appreciates French armor in the early war period. My thanks go to Editions Du Barbotin for providing IPMS/USA with this issue for review. For more information, please visit their web site at http://www.minitracks.fr/