FoW: Slovak Armour (LT vz.35 tanks)

Finally we have reached that part of our Slovakian odyssey that was such a draw for me in the first place; the funky armour with its funky colours! The Skoda CKD LT vz.35 light tank.

Now there are those out there that will claim that this tank was no less than the best tank in the world when it rolled off of the production lines, and whilst I may categorically disagree with this claim it is a matter of historical record that this tank was good enough early in the war to comprise almost the entire armour park of the Slovakian army, took centre stage in the Romanian and Bulgarian armoured services, provided the base model for the Hungarian Turan II and III and formed almost 10% of the total German tank strength being seen as a good proxy for the Panzer III until such times as German manufacturing could meet the Heers needs.

A total of 434 of these tanks were built by Skoda by the time the Reich had occupied Czechoslovakia and production ceased. The Germans immediately appropriated 244 of them in March 1939. 

When Slovakia were pushed into declaring their independence they were able to retain the 52 LT vz.35's that were a part of the incomplete 3rd Fast Division.

It was constructed with a framework of steel 'angle iron' beams onto which armoured plates were riveted. A 4mm firewall separated the engine block from the crew compartment and the engine block also allowed access via a number of mesh coverings which also served to assist in keeping the engine cool. The engine also assisted the general cooling of the vehicle by drawing air through the commanders cupola.

This was an advantageous feature insofar as dispersing gunfire combustion fumes but also proved to be problematic in that the draft generated by the engine would only serve to exacerbate the freezing weather conditions and there was an increased risk of engine fires reaching the crew compartment. The noise of the engine and the heat that it gave off also appreciably affected the crews fatigue levels.

The driver sat on the right hand side of the crew compartment using a 15.4 in by 3.5 in vision port protected by 2.0 in of bulletproof glass. 

Communication with the driver was via a three coloured light system. The radio operator sat to the left of the driver using a vision port with a 5.9 in by 3.0 in slit using the same protection as the drivers. The radios were mounted on the left hand wall of the crew compartment whilst the hull machine gun was mounted in a ball mount with 30 deg traverse, 25 deg elevation and 10 deg depression. Most of the barrel protruded from the ball mount although the ball and body were protected by an armoured trough. The ball mount had an integrated spotting scope although if a hull plug was removed it could be fired over open sites as well. If it became necessary the driver himself could lock the machine gun in position and fire it himself by using a 'Bowden Cable'. 

One weak spot however was the drivers access hatch which stood proud of the hull and could be damaged by incoming fire.

The turret ring had a relatively tight diameter of only 49.9 inches. The turret itself had a flat frontal face in the centre of which was mounted the 37mm main armament to the right of which was another 7.92mm machine gun in another ball mount.

The commander had four episcopes in his cupola and a monocular mirror with a periscope which the commander could extend once he had removed its armoured cover in the vehicles hatch, to give vision whilst 'buttoned up'.

The tanks 8.62 litre Skoda T-11/0 four cylinder, water cooled engine produced 120 horsepower at 1,800 rpm. Two fuel tanks were fitted, the main tank with a capacity of 124 litres on the left hand side of the engine and the auxiliary tank, carrying a further 29 litres on the other side. The engine was capable of running on gasoline, an alcohol-gasoline mixture and 'Dynalkohol'; an alcohol benzine mixture.

The engine was mounted in the rear alongside the six speed transmission which drove the rear mounted drive sprockets. The tanks suspension originated with the Vickers 6-Ton tank, eight small pairs of road wheels on four bogie assemblies per side with each pair of bogies sprung with a single leaf spring, a front idler wheel and four track return wheels. An unsprung road wheel was located directly underneath the idler wheel to improve obstacle crossing.

The transmission, brakes and steering were all mechanically assisted using compressed air, reducing driver fatigue. This feature proved problematic in the extreme environmental conditions of the Eastern Front.

The main armament was a Skoda UV vz.34 gun with a pepperpot muzzle brake and a prominent armoured recoil cylinder above the barrel designated A3 by Skoda. It fired a 0.815 kg armour piercing shell at 690 m/s. At a 30 deg inclination the AP round could penetrate 37mm at 100m, 31mm at 500m, 26mm at 1000m and 22mm at 1500m. Kliment and Francev recorded a penetrative ability of 45mm of vertical plate at 500mm.

The machine guns ball mount could be either coupled to the main gun or operated independently. Both weapons could elevate 25 deg and depress by 10 deg. Initially the tanks were supplied with the Zbrojovka Brno ZB vz.35 machine guns although in 1938 they were all exchanged for the more modern ZB vz.37's (commonly known in British armoured circles as the Besa HMG).

The tank was equipped with 78 rounds of ammunition (24 AP and 54 HE) along with 2700 rounds of HMG ammunition.

The gun mantle had an armour thickness of 25mm which was concurrent with the thickness of all other frontal armour across the vehicle. The sides and rear areas were almost all 16mm thick although the Hull rear had 19mm of armour and the turret side had only 15mm.

When the Germans forced the Slovaks to declare their independence the nascent, and vastly understrength 3rd Fast Division was stationed within Slovakian borders although its strength was much depleted due to the exodus of the Czechs serving in the 3rd and its assets were garrisoned around Slovakia and not concentrated at any one point.

The Division had started to receive its new LT vz.35's as early as September 1937 just after establishment and by March 1939 had received 52 of them although when Germany annexed the Czech rump nine of the tanks were in Pilsen for repairs. The Germans immediately confiscated these and transferred them to Paderborn to become a part of Panzer Regiment 11. However, very soon after the loss of these nine vehicles a further nine were secured by transfer from the 2nd Armoured Regiment.

These nine vehicles had fought against the Hungarians in Transcarpathian Ruthenia and after the latter was occupied these vehicles had retreated into Slovakia where the authorities confiscated them and subsequently handed them to the 3rd Armoured Regiment as replacements.

Following the return home of the Czech manpower from the 3rd Fast Division, the Slovaks were left with all of the equipment but hardly any qualified staff to man and repair it. The senior remaining officer was Staff Captain Cani who was instructed by the Defence Ministry to reform what was left into an armoured battalion. On 28 April 1939 he submitted his organisational proposal to the ministry for the battalion which was to include two tank companies of LT vz.35's. Due to the manpower shortages however he was forced to request a further 288 men who had some mechanical experience.

The Ministry gave the green light! Army headquarters instructed Infantry Regiments 1-5 to provide the requisite manpower that Cani needed.

By 6 July 1939 Cani had received most of his personnel draft but was forced to complain bitterly that only 28% of the provided manpower had any mechanical experience at all. Some units had even attempted to pass him illiterate soldiers, and even gypsies which he unceremoniously refused.

The battalion was renamed 'Martin', after the home base it was stationed in and started to repair, reorganise and train its staff and equipment. With regards to the repair and maintenance of the tanks Cani was forced to request that Skoda assigned some qualified mechanics to help the new mechanical staff to master the complicated systems of the LT vz.35's.

Skoda dispatched four mechanics who had the entire vehicle park up and running in no time!

In the autumn of 1939 after the limited exposure during the Polish campaign, the battalion was reorganised again, this time having its armoured complement expanded from two to three companies of LT vz.35's with the third company serving as a 'reserves' company. Additional reinforcements meant that the battalion now, once again, became an armoured regiment.

At this time however there were some organisational complications as the battalions had been farmed out in support of the infantry divisions whilst the armoured cars had been attached to the cavalry. This situation ended in May 1940 when all mechanical assets were once again collected together under the regimental umbrella.

At this time the low level organisational structure of the regiment was changed from the old Czech structure to fall in line with German tactical doctrine with the numbers of platoons in a company changing from three to five, although the strength within the platoons went down from five tanks to three. The overall strength therefore did not change but the tactical flexibility did. The strength of the company remained the same at 16 tanks. Five platoons of three and one command vehicle.

This changed in 1941 to 19 vehicles with the addition of a commanders group of three tanks.

As early as September 1939 the Defence Ministry inquired of Skoda about the purchase of a further ten tanks but Germany sat on the permission until April 1940 by which time production of the LT vz.35's had ceased and the Ministry had to look elsewhere.

Through 1940 the regiment was training under peacetime conditions and the tank drivers were first taught in tankettes, then progressing to the obsolete LT vz.34's before finally graduating to the LT vz.35's. The regimental testing track was in nearby Bukovina, live firing was carried out on the ranges at Oremov Laz. The regiment was also providing details for parades in areas such as Bratislava, Michalovce, Banska Bystrica and Martin.

On one occasion they even had to provide a detail of four LT vz.35's to assist in suppressing a miners strike in Handlova in late 1940. Thankfully this was quelled peacefully before the armoured assets even arrived on site.

From January 1941 there was another new organisation with all three armoured companies being collected into their own battalion.

When Germany invaded the Soviet Union the Slovaks sent a combined group of 47 tanks over the border as a part of Brigade Pilfousek a.k.a The Mobile Brigade. Of these 47 tanks 30 were LT vz.35's. At this time the tanks really proved their worth and despite the mountain of technical obstacles that needed to be overcome it seems that by July 1941 these issues had all been resolved and the tanks were running true.

Within the ranks of the Slovak field army at this time however were many officers with very strong anti fascist sympathies who from the beginning had strong connections back home with the nationalist  underground. They were strongly of the opinion that the tanks would be better served at home in preparation for an uprising against the regime rather than being frittered away on the Eastern Front serving Nazi Germany. For these reasons members of the 1st Tank Company were able to sabotage the engines of three of their tanks and have them shipped home.

In the meantime the Mobile Group was steaming ahead, having lost a single LT vz.35 which plunged off of a bridge at Wojtovka. The crew did manage to survive however. A further ten LT vz.35's had to be left behind due to mechanical failures or sabotage. All of these ended up being shipped back to Slovakia for extensive repairs.

The Mobile Brigade was reorganised on 8 July 1941 with its tank battalion now being named 'Diamant' and containing twenty LT vz.35's out of a total of thirty six tanks. A further seven  LT vz.35's were assigned to Diamant from the Field Army's former Tank Company 11 for a total of  forty three tanks.

During the battle for Lipovec, the Mobile Brigades first real contact with the enemy they lost their first LT vz.35 to a mine, abandoning it to the Red Army who destroyed it during their night retreat. Another LT vz.35 got bogged down and had to be abandoned by its crew. This was also destroyed by the Soviets during the night and they lost a third LT vz.35 during their retrograde movement from Lipovec.

The fighting within Lipovec proper was a stiff fought affair however and a further five LT vz.35's suffered heavy damage in the close quarter fighting.

The tank repair shop under Lieutenant Herha was a part of the conspiracy to preserve the nations armoured vehicles. Though perfectly capable of repairing the vehicles in the field, Lieutenant Herha, in collusion with the regiments commander Major Dobrotka, managed to persuade the Mobile Brigades headquarters, and even a German commission that all of the vehicles had to be returned to Slovakia to have repairs conducted there.

After the return of the vehicles to Turciansky sv.Martin the Armoured Regiment started to conduct its repairs which due to the reasons already mentioned progressed exceptionally slowly...

On 23 July 1941 General Catlos decided to reorganise all Slovak field forces into a Mobile Division and a Security Division. The Security Division never had any LT vz.35's assigned to it and by the time of the establishment of the Mobile Division all of the armoured assets had been shipped back to Slovakia.

By January 1942 the regiment still had a great many of its armoured vehicles out of commission. Out of forty nine LT vz.35's only seven were serviceable and capable of being in the field. Obviously the accuracy of the term 'out of commission' where these vehicles were concerned was extremely liberal with the majority within the abilities of the mechanical engineering teams to repair in the field, let alone at a home servicing depot.

By the time of the Soviet offensive of January 1943 the Mobile Division still had no LT vz.35's assigned to it only having been assigned two platoons of LT vz.38's and LT vz.40's. Only one of these vehicles survived the retreat to the Crimea and eventually found its way back to Slovakia.

The Slovakian LT vz.35's did see some limited action within the National Uprising but apart from that their story has pretty much run its course so lets now turn our attention to how we go about painting these little beauties.

The first thing that I do on any of my vehicles is always the green base colour.

The main paint scheme for these tanks is done by airbrush using my MIG Aircobra for the Priming and Basecoating and my Harder & Steenbeck for all of the shading and highlighting as my H&S has a 0.15 needle and provides a hell of a lot more control... but the MIG is SOOOOO easy to clean it just makes sense to use it where I can...

The Airbrushing steps are as follows:

i) The model is primed with a Matt Black Etch Primer

ii) The basecoat is Tamiya's XF-58's Olive Green

iii) The first highlight is LifeColors UA221 Khaki Olive Drab applied in a panel highlight fashion

iv) The second highlight is LifeColors UA224 Olive Drab Faded Type 2 applied as above but a bit lighter and gathered in along the edges and prominent areas

v) The third highlight is a 50/50 mix of LifeColors UA224 Olive Drab Faded Type 2 with LifeColor 01 White. This is applied sparingly just along the edges and prominent areas.

So that's the airbrushing complete and don't be overly concerned if your third highlight was too heavy as the next two steps will, if done correctly, tone the whole contrasted effect down.

vi) The next step is to apply the colour swatches over the body of the vehicle that will provide the camouflage pattern. With the green camouflage base now finished off I add swatches of Vallejo's 914 Green Ochre and Vallejo's 826 German Camo Med. Brown to leave an equal balance of all three colours in an intentionally smoothed edge blotted pattern.

vii) Now we apply the Filter over the whole thing to unify the colour aesthetic and clip the contrast a little. I apply MIG's Filter 1506 Brown for Dark Green.

viii) Once dry wipe of any serious excess from where it may have pooled but otherwise leave it untouched.

ix) At this point I apply the first layer of Varnish. It doesn't matter which varnish you choose so long as it fixes the Filter layer to the miniature as its an oil based layer.

Once the varnish is dry its time for the next layer which is where the real depth starts to come out.

x) Over every detail laden part of the model apply a Wash. I use AK Interactives Wash 075 Wash for NATO Camouflage Vehicles. Don't be shy with this step. Slap it on aplenty! Then leave to dry for a while.

xi) Once its dry (or dry-ish) use cotton buds (cue tips for you Yankees out there...) and use a gentle white spirit to wipe away the excess leaving great detail and shadowing around all of your detail areas and a general lowering of the overall luminosity. Personally I use Winsor & Newtons Artists White Spirit as I had a bad experience with normal white spirit stripping away four layers of paint and primer and have no wish to repeat the disaster!

xii) Once the whole piece is dry to the touch apply another layer of varnish to fix everything in place.

xiii) The last thing to do with paint (if you want to; I chose to omit this step with these tanks as I like the camo scheme too much to just cover it all up with mud!) is to lightly airbrush a layer of Vallejo's 826 German Camo Medium Brown across the wheels and the lower third of the vehicle. This layer has a highlight of Vallejo's 914 Green Ochre mixed in whatever ratio you want with the German Camo Medium Brown already in the airbrush and is then applied in splotches to provide some variance in the muddy weathering.

xiv) A final varnishing is applied to the vehicle which are then finally fixed to their bases.

xv) ...and so we come to the very last thing that I needed to do for these Slovak additions... the decals.

Now, I am capable of making my own decals BUT the experience that I have had so far has led to decals that are uncomfortably thick and ones that cannot include white unless as an overall substrate to the total image and so one of my Polish friends suggested I approach a gentleman in Poland that both he and his father had used to produce specialist decals.

I thus contracted one Bogdan Zolnierowicz through Facebook to produce for me a decal sheet with enough Slovak aircraft and tank markings to polish off everything that I thought I would need. Along with a couple of sheets of numbers and letters I had enough to produce the exact representation that I wanted and Bogdan's decals were exactly what the doctor ordered.

Incidentally if you want to approach Bogdan for help with decals he says you are all welcome to do so. He may not respond quickly but he will eventually and he is the only one on Facebook with the name.

He knocked out a sheet with a stack of tiny Slovak crosses for me which duly made it to the turrets of these armoured vehicles.

So there we have it ladies and gents. Another mini project finished and one (read twelve) more items to place onto the table alongside the rest of my Slovak Mobile forces

Onwards and Upwards!

Fix bayonets!