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Shirows 'Bonaparte' = FT-17?


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I was reading through the back of Shirow Masamune's 'Dominion Tank Police' manga, reading through that big essay thing of his, and it hit me.

Shirow is well versed in the tank history of WW1.

The widely used, ever popular, little French FT-17 from WW1 looks similar to 'Bonaparte'.

'Bonaparte' is in itself, a french name.

It seems to all add up. It seems logical to me that Masamune Shirow designed our beloved Bonaparte mini tank off of the original Mini Tank, the FT-17!!

I know the similarities are only very slight, and general, but still.

What do you think?

http://www.landships.freeservers.com/ren4.jpg

http://www.landships.freeservers.com/ren6.jpg

-BEN-MAN-

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I'm not seeing it. For one thing, Bonaparte had 4 individual tracks, where the FT-17 has the traditional two. The FT-17 is very typical of the "tankette" concept that was very popular between the wars, so perhaps in that sense it could be considered a spiritual ancestor of Bonaparte.

Has there ever been a garage kit of Bonaparte? That'd be awesome to build!

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by the by....has there ever been a Seburo C-25 (or was that 27) airsoft model?

I think there's been conversion kits to make all of Shirow's firearms, at one point or another. Finding one for sale, however, is the tricky part.

Dang!

I was hoping Airsoft made one. I'll be getting my Christmas bonus in two weeks, and I wanted to buy another bullpup. A partner for my MP5 SMG :(

I guess the P-90 is the closest looking gun to a Seburo huh?

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Masamune's gun designs are GORGEOUS! :o

I wish i owned a replica of one of those. Would happen

if i got one and tried taking it back to Canada or the US?

Hmmmmm....

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A friend managed to sneak in some airsoft guns by hiding the disassembled parts with his chunky photography equipment in several big cases!!! :-P

And, for the folks unfamiliar with our country's gun laws, this is a VERY big thing.

Our gun control laws are very strict. Ironically we can get toy guns like Megatron here perhaps because real guns are so rare most civilians would think those were toys..

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The problem is that those guns are illegal in the US. Ironically, while real guns are legal here, realistic toys are not. If you have one sent to you, better hope customs doesn't find out.

I'm in the Philippines so no worries about gun laws and that other legal stuff.

Hey, thanks for the links and pics Drif...that's got me drooling :D

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A friend managed to sneak in some airsoft guns by hiding the disassembled parts with his chunky photography equipment in several big cases!!! :-P

And, for the folks unfamiliar with our country's gun laws, this is a VERY big thing.

Our gun control laws are very strict. Ironically we can get toy guns like Megatron here perhaps because real guns are so rare most civilians would think those were toys..

Our gun laws are strict, but enforcement and interdiction is still very weak

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The problem is that those guns are illegal in the US. Ironically, while real guns are legal here, realistic toys are not. If you have one sent to you, better hope customs doesn't find out.

Of course, toy guns are illegal because a few kids kept pointing them at police officers and got shot

The law also varies from state to state, as I understand it.

I know my copy of Time Crisis had a "not for sale in california" tag on it, apparently because the light gun was gray with an orange tip. Later releases had an all-orange gun, and no "not for sale in california" tag.

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I know the similarities between Bonaparte and an FT-17 are only very very slight, but still.

*Both are very small vehicles. Around the same size actually.

*Both have the driver in front, with the gunner/commander behind him in the turret.

*And in fact, the FT-17 was the only tank that looked very similar to it. It was /copied/ tons. But all of the other Tankettes that came out after WWI had a side by side seating arrangement. Never one in front of the other like the FT-17 and Bonaparte.

(Im sure there were others that had the Tandem setup, but I cant think of any off hand)

Im sure its only my imagination. I guess we'd have to ask Shirow himself to figure it out completely. LOL.

-BEN-MAN-

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Megatron made it through customs. Makes you wonder what else has......

I live in Arizona where the border is "secure". LOL Yeah right! People walk in and out of the States like it is nothing.

Those guns are slick! Thanks for sharing your knowledge as to where to see pics.

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Megatron came out less then a year ago. Many ETailers were concerned about it maybe not getting through but they did. I have not heard of anyone in the States having probs getting them through.

Maybe the lack of any real suspicious mechanisms helps.

Edited by Myriad
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I've always been fond of the M3 Stuart and it's upgraded versions.

http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/lsm/dhmg/ima...mages/10123.jpg

http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/lsm/dhmg/ima...mages/10124.jpg

For more pics, check out the whole page. It's got some good ones:

http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/lsm/dhmg/stuart.html

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I know the similarities between Bonaparte and an FT-17 are only very very slight, but still.

*Both are very small vehicles. Around the same size actually.

*Both have the driver in front, with the gunner/commander behind him in the turret.

*And in fact, the FT-17 was the only tank that looked very similar to it. It was /copied/ tons. But all of the other Tankettes that came out after WWI had a side by side seating arrangement. Never one in front of the other like the FT-17 and Bonaparte.

(Im sure there were others that had the Tandem setup, but I cant think of any off hand)

Im sure its only my imagination. I guess we'd have to ask Shirow himself to figure it out completely. LOL.

-BEN-MAN-

I see what you are saying DR. Still I think the reason behind the naming was more because Bonaparte the tank was small but mighty as was its namesake, Napoleon. Though it could also be a homage to Napoleon and the little FT-17 at the same time. :)

Edited by GobotFool
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Megatron came out less then a year ago. Many ETailers were concerned about it maybe not getting through but they did. I have not heard of anyone in the States having probs getting them through.

Maybe the lack of any real suspicious mechanisms helps.

Ah. I thought we were talking about the one that came out in the 80's. Not being a fan of Transformers, I wasn't aware that it got re-released.

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I know the similarities between Bonaparte and an FT-17 are only very very slight, but still.

*Both are very small vehicles. Around the same size actually.

*Both have the driver in front, with the gunner/commander behind him in the turret.

*And in fact, the FT-17 was the only tank that looked very similar to it. It was /copied/ tons. But all of the other Tankettes that came out after WWI had a side by side seating arrangement. Never one in front of the other like the FT-17 and Bonaparte.

(Im sure there were others that had the Tandem setup, but I cant think of any off hand)

Im sure its only my imagination. I guess we'd have to ask Shirow himself to figure it out completely. LOL.

-BEN-MAN-

How about the Japanese type 95 Ha-Go?

post-26-1069474162.jpg

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Most of Japans early tank force consisted of FT-17s. Called "Ko-Gata Sensha"s. They also aquired a number of Renault NCI tanks, which were basically just superior FT-17s. And in fact, most of Japans early tanks were inspired by the FT-17. And the Ha-Go was a great tank in WW2. It looks nothing like the FT-17, or Bonaparte, and is itself, a further design in a long line of tanks that look very similar to it. Mainly, the Tankette Type 94, the Tankette type 97, the Combat Car Type-92, and a few others. Im still saying its the FT-17.

-BEN-MAN-

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