Retromodels 1/72 Schneider CA.1 Late

The development of trench warfare on the Western Front in 1914-15 prompted the invention in France, as in England, of devices to overcome machine­guns and barbed wire. In January 1915 the armaments firm of Schneider et Cie of Le Creusot obtained two versions of the successful American track­laying Holt tractor, and the firm were encouraged to prepare designs for an armed and armoured version of that vehicle.

An official order for ten machines was given to Schneider on 15 December 1915. Two prototype Schneider machines were demonstrated at Vincennes on 21 February 1916. Both did well in crossing trenches and barbed wire, and 400 of similar type were ordered on 25 February.

The first batch of vehicles were delivered in September 1916. The Schneider tank consisted, essentially, of an armoured box with a pointed nose placed on a lengthened Holt Caterpillar chassis. The maximum speed attainable was 5 m.p.h. One short 75-mm. gun was fitted in a sponson on the right­hand side of the hull with one Hotchkiss machinegun further back on the same side and one Hotchkiss machinegun in the middle of the hull on the other side. Six men made up the crew, the officer in command being also the driver.

It was first used in combat in an attack outside Barry au Bac, on the Aisne River, on the 16th of April 1917 . The approach to the jumping-off positions was done in broad day-light, in full view of the German Artillery, who greeted the slow moving column with showers of shells, inflicting heavy casualties on the AFV:s.

Faults which became apparent in the Schneider tanks included poor ventilation and vision arrangements and inadequate armour, danger in action of fire in the internal petrol tanks and lack of egress on the left-hand side. A number of changes were ordered. Despite these changes the tank still proved both unsuccessful and quite unpopular with the crews. Production was slowed down to a trickle, and many surviving CA 1:s were converted to unarmed Supply Tanks.
 

Contents of the kit:

Click on the picture for an enlarged version! 

The kit comes packed in that small bubble-top box typical of Retromodels. The plans are fine, and comes with excellent historical notes, illustrated with photos - but not rather  well reproduced, I'm afraid.

The kit consists of some 20+ parts,all in a hard, grey resin. The moulding is good, with almost no flash or air bubbles.

Construction is pretty straight-forward, with most parts being details that you attach to the one-piece hull. The accuracy of the kit is very good: you can clearly see that this is the late variant, with aft-mounted petrol tanks, spaced armour and all. The detailing is quite adequate (and you get all you need, including a big lantern light.) It is not absolutely first rate, though. The rivets are better than they use to be on Retromodels kits: small, but yet a bit vague, and not always arranged symmetrically. There are some small gaps where the different faces of the armour meet, no doubt a feature of the master, but not too attractive.   

Retromodels aren't around anymore, but some of these kit are still around. You can, for instance, buy it from the German supplier Smallscale.de.

Update: Retromodels and Exokit have merged into Retrokits, and they how now issued a completely new kit of this tank.
 

Although a bit vague here and there in the details, you will get a model that sure looks like a Schneider CA.1 Late, no doubt about it. Had the rivets been a bit better, I would surely have given it a four star rating. Recommended!