This is the Renault tank used in the 1931 Mukden Incident.
I love powerful tanks as a subject of realism, but I never thought I’d be drawing the French-made IJA Renault tank.
This was the first time I’ve drawn a Renault tank, and I got a lot of help from the book provided by “Kunimoto Private School of Tank Technology” as a reference. While drawing this tank, I learned a lot of new things myself. You need to know well about the suspension and undercarriage to draw a vehicle properly.

I’ve always been interested in the design and mechanics of tanks, and with the help of Mr. Nakanishi, I debuted illustrating black and white comics, tank and tanker illustration as well as cutaway drawings of German tanks while coauthoring in Souretsu!! Doitsu-Kikougundan (The Brave German Panzer Corps!!).
That was the first time I’ve drawn a cross-section of a tank, but the internals of a tank never fails to interest me. As paradoxical as it may seem, the shape of a tank, I believe, is decided by its internal function. The Israeli Merkava is a chief example.
Around 8 or 9 years ago, I had a chance to operate vehicles such as the T-54, BMP-1, BTR60, BRDM-2 and fire the famous “Ratsch Bumm” ZiS-3 gun in Mongolia. (The real objective was to check out what the Soviet anti-tank gun reticle looked like.)