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Armor/AFV: Allied - WWII
Armor and ground forces of the Allied forces during World War II.
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Tamiya Somua S35 Clear Piece G2
IPLawyer
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Virginia, United States
Joined: March 18, 2015
KitMaker: 71 posts
Armorama: 63 posts
Posted: Tuesday, March 29, 2016 - 05:26 PM UTC
I'm preparing to paint my 1/35 Tamiya Somua S35 and I have a small question:

Should clear piece G2 on the bottom of the Somua be left clear? I know that the piece is not normally visible, but I'm wondering if I need to mask it.
TimTam27
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Victoria, Australia
Joined: June 11, 2006
KitMaker: 222 posts
Armorama: 209 posts
Posted: Wednesday, March 30, 2016 - 08:06 PM UTC
Hi IPlawyer.

I was hoping some knowledgeable person was going to be able to tell you why that particular part was transparent as it was a puzzle to me too but it looks like nobody knows the answer.

As Tamiya based their model on real vehicles it sees pretty likely that there was indeed a small window on the bottom of the tank. A reasonable guess would be that there was an inaccessible gauge or part that needed to be examined on a regular basis and it was simpler to crawl under the tank and look through a little window than to remove large parts of the engine or radiator to get at things.

My advice would be to mask the window. Tamiya wouldn't have made a special clear part if it wasn't meant to be clear.

Cheers.

IPLawyer
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Virginia, United States
Joined: March 18, 2015
KitMaker: 71 posts
Armorama: 63 posts
Posted: Thursday, March 31, 2016 - 07:54 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Hi IPlawyer.

I was hoping some knowledgeable person was going to be able to tell you why that particular part was transparent as it was a puzzle to me too but it looks like nobody knows the answer.

As Tamiya based their model on real vehicles it sees pretty likely that there was indeed a small window on the bottom of the tank. A reasonable guess would be that there was an inaccessible gauge or part that needed to be examined on a regular basis and it was simpler to crawl under the tank and look through a little window than to remove large parts of the engine or radiator to get at things.

My advice would be to mask the window. Tamiya wouldn't have made a special clear part if it wasn't meant to be clear.

Cheers.




TimTam,

Thanks. Your guess is similar to mine.

I decided to take the path of least resistance and paint over the window(?) with masking fluid.

I have seen models where clear pieces are intended to be painted, such as the front hatch for the Somua S35 that was included on the clear sprue. But with respect to the "bottom window", if the piece did not need to be clear, there appears to be no reason to have included it all, i.e., Tamiya did not need to include an opening for it.

Mark
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