Wings of The Great War WW10205
Renault FT 17 Display Model
US Army 344th Tank Btn, Five of Hearts, Western Front, July 1918

1:72 Scale		Length		Width
Renault FT 17		2.75"		1"

World War I, a time when battle tank manufacturing was in its absolute infancy, offers us but a glimpse of the powerful, versatile, and lethal armored vehicle technology that would rapidly progress before the outbreak of World War II. These early-era tanks, to our modern sensibility, are fascinating in their simplicity though they offered soldiers of the time an opportunity to travel at higher speeds, traverse difficult landscape, and be equipped with dynamic and mobile weaponry. Among the most ground-breaking tank designs in military history, the French-built FT-17 was the first production tank to have a fully rotating turret. It debuted on the battlefield on May 31, 1918, during the Second Battle of the Marne. In addition to its late introduction during World War I, it also saw service during World War II with many regional conflicts along the way. The "Five of Hearts" belonged to the 344th Tank Battalion in the Tank Brigade under Col. George S. Patton, Jr. The full track steel tank with a turret mounted 37-mm gun had a two-man crew and a road speed of approximately 4.5 mph. The Five of Hearts supported the 16th Infantry of the 1st Division in the Fleville Sector of the Meuse-Argonne Battle in October 1918. The tank is located at the Fort George G. Meade Museum at Fort Meade, Maryland.

This 1:72 scale, molded resin replica FT-17 includes numerous high quality features such as textured surfaces, accurately reproduced weaponry, realistic tracking, authentic markings and a removable display base. Measures approximately 2.75" long.

Renault FT 17

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Wings of The Great War

The Wings of The Great War range presents affordable, ready-made resin models of WWI aircraft. Each model is crafted and painted by hand and features a unique pivoting stand that allows the model to be displayed at a variety of different attitudes.

Wings of The Great War display airplanes feature:

• Molded resin construction with no assembly required.
• Fixed, non-rotating propellers and wheels.
• Poseable presention stand to display the aircraft "in flight".

Why Resin?
It's very expensive to produce die-casting molds, and manufacturers must sell a large number of models from each mold in order to recoup development costs. Some subjects are so obscure that it's difficult to sell large quantities of them. Resin-casting is a much simpler and less expensive process, and manufacturers can use it to make limited runs of models that can't be cost effectively manufactured in diecast metal. With resin-cast models, collectors can add fascinating and unusual subjects to their collections without the time and difficulty of assembling and painting a model kit.