It is not called the FT-17. Renault called it the FT; the number was added by other people after the war, and the company's own records make no distinction between 1917 and 1918 production. What it actually was is the first production tank to carry its gun in a fully rotating turret, with the crew at the front and the engine at the back. That arrangement is still what a tank looks like, a century on — every turreted tank since is, in layout, a Renault FT. It first went into action on 31 May 1918 near the Forest of Retz: thirty of them broke up a German advance, then withdrew, because no infantry had come with them.

Which is why this set is the point. Tradition sells the tank with six Frenchmen walking beside it — Adrian helmets, horizon blue greatcoats, Lebel rifles, the standard up — which is the correction to 31 May in one box. The turret is the rounded cast type with the 37mm gun. In a diorama, set it against the Mark V and the two answers sit side by side: a rhomboid box the size of a room, and a small thing with a turret. The French infantry of the line are who it was built to walk with, and the Minerva is what came before them both.

Tradition of London model 822. 54mm, white metal, hand-painted in gloss enamel. Renault FT with 37mm gun and six infantry, 1918. Tank 15.5cm long, 7.5cm high, all metal. Supplied in the Tradition Classic Red Box. Allow 2–3 weeks delivery.