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Rank: Super-Elite Groups: Registered
Joined: 30/01/2013 Posts: 4,604 Points: 13,607 Location: Monmouthshire UK
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Here my effort for the WW1 centenary this coming August. I have a personal interest as my grandfather was a gunner in one these tanks. He was born in 1899 and joined the army in 1916 and went straight into the Tank Corp and was eventually based at Bovington (4th RTC). His army papers show his age as 18 but he was in fact 17 in 1916 as many were. He went to France with the Tank Corp 12th battalion in Jan 1918 and was wounded 9 months later and returned to hospital in England in October, he spent 30 days in hospital in Halifax and 10 days family leave in Bristol, by which point the war was over. I know he was a gunner in a MKIV but I don't know if this is the tank he was in when in France as the battalion had MKV's and Whippets by around March 1918. From info I currently have though the 12th Battalion never handed back any MKIV's so possibly had them for the duration of the war. So, unless I discover more I'm going to go with my best knowledge - The tank would have had an "L" prefix followed by the number 1-60 - again I have no idea but will maybe know more at a later date. The supplied decals show an "F" prefix, and also a training version, plus 2 german versions. I intend to build this "as is" with a few enhancements as required, possibly gun barrels replaced. The Emhar kit has Hotchkiss machine guns instead of the Lewis ones, this is ok for what I need as this will be a late MKIV (the Hotchkiss became the standard in 1917). Colour - Unbelievably, there is no exact colour for these tanks but most references say a neutral brown - not green as many think. Many museum pieces are green but this is not thought to be correct. I will also be adding the white/red/white stripes which again were used on later tanks to distinguish the British tanks from the captured German ones. There will also be a simple diorama, possibly with another small kit as a point of interest Just some pics of the kit first, BTW - this is a pig of a kit to build, I have had one before (female) and it was a horrendous fit. I'm hoping my patience and skill have improved since then though. Main problems are that the hull is all butt jointed with no fixing lugs or holes and the instructions don't say which face butts to which. The tracks are also a big problem and difficult to fit, anyway, more on this later The rivet detailing is very nice though, big and chunky, just what you need on a WW1 kit. It may be a little while before any movement on this one as I have to do a bit more research first. Cheers Steve stevie_o attached the following image(s):
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Hi Steve,
Nice to see another WW1 build kick off So I am looking forward to this, especialy as you have some history with the build.
Jase“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” -Mark Twain
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Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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An interesting contribution Steve
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Welcome to the 'Tommy Club' Stevie! I've been looking hard at your photos of the kit parts to compare them with my 1/72 version. There's a lot more detail re: cogs and sprockets etc on yours and my hull sides are single pieces rather than split in half. (Plus I've got the Lewis guns instead of the Hotchkiss but overall there's quite a lot of similarity between the two). In actual fact the decal sheet is exactly the same, just a bigger version! I've been amassing a large quantity of info on the MkIV so if there's anything you need just let me know and I'll email it to you. One thing you will need to do (just like me!) is to modify the tracks; by the time of Messines and after, the tracks were fitted with extra 'grippy bits' called 'spuds', they protrude out over the edge of the track and were (supposed) to be fitted to each fifth track plate. Best of luck with him (not a her!) and I'll be watching with great interest! Robin First wooden ship: The Grimsby 12 Gun 'Frigate' by Constructo Second: Bounty DelPrado Part Works Third: HMS Victory DelPrado Part Works 1/100 scale Diorama of the Battle of the Brandywine from the American Revolutionary War Diorama of the Battle of New Falkland (unfinished sci-fi), Great War Centenary Diorama of the Messines Ridge Assault Index for the Victory diary is on page 1
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Nice to see another WW1 build will follow with interest Current builds:-C57,Zero, Lamborghini Countach, Caldercraft HMS Agamemnon,Robi,R2-D2, MFH Cobra .
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Another challenge for you Stevie but am sure it will turn out to be a cracker.... will be following your progress as usual.... Good luck with it.... Regards Alan
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Rank: Super-Elite Groups: Registered
Joined: 30/01/2013 Posts: 4,604 Points: 13,607 Location: Monmouthshire UK
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Thank for looking in, nice to have some interest in this, Robin - I will certainly let you know if I need anything specific. Well I said it would be while before updating this but I had to have a play Firstly, although the box lid at the top of this post clearly shows the Hotchkiss Machine gun on the right, the ones in the kit were not, I think they are a bad version of the Lewis gun with water cooling jacket - either way they wont be used! This is the real Hotchkiss as fitted to later MKIV's (the pic is a MKV though) - and another - This is what comes in the kit - So, I have tried to create a version that although not perfect will give the appearance of being a Hotchkiss. I used 1.2mm wire for the barrel and 1mm for the gas piston, a wire wrap on the barrel and a piece of PE. Need a little tidy up but with paint will look way better than the supplied ones - The silver ball in the above pic is a bead from my wifes craft box as I drilled the hole too big in the original part Steve
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Lovely work Stevie The guns look bril Rgd Martyn Building ? Completed. Soliei Royal . Sovereign of the Seas . Virginia . Scotland . San Felipe . Corel vasa , Santisima Trinadad X section , Vasa Next Build ? When sailors have good wine, They think themselves in heaven for the time. John Baltharpe
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Rank: Super-Elite Groups: Registered
Joined: 30/01/2013 Posts: 4,604 Points: 13,607 Location: Monmouthshire UK
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Thanks Martyn, they werent meant to be exact due to them being so small it wont be noticed but the kit ones were just horrible Steve
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A great improvement already Stevie! The designers of the tank actually specified the Hotchkiss but the Top Brass insisted on having a 'British' MG over their heads. The result was the Lewis couldn't swivel around as much due to the cooling jacket and when the tank interior heated up to over 100F the Lewis was pulling through hot air which caused the gun to jam! Still, there's some lovely 'rivety' work on those mouldings! Robin First wooden ship: The Grimsby 12 Gun 'Frigate' by Constructo Second: Bounty DelPrado Part Works Third: HMS Victory DelPrado Part Works 1/100 scale Diorama of the Battle of the Brandywine from the American Revolutionary War Diorama of the Battle of New Falkland (unfinished sci-fi), Great War Centenary Diorama of the Messines Ridge Assault Index for the Victory diary is on page 1
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Rank: Super-Elite Groups: Registered
Joined: 30/01/2013 Posts: 4,604 Points: 13,607 Location: Monmouthshire UK
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Thankyou Robin, and thankyou for the PM I will be pestering you a fair bit during this build although I am learning more each day due to the fact that I am helping my mum find as much info as I can on her father in the war years. I have ordered some 4mm and 3mm brass tube to replace the 6pdr barrels - the plastic ones are pretty bad, so bad that they were more of an oval, anyway the brass 3mm will fit into the 4mm exactly so I can insert some 3mm in the end to give the barrel thickness....in theory more pics soon.
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Pester away! I must check the barrels on my versions, I was just going to drill out the ends but if they are out of shape as well I might go down the tube route too! Thankfully they do have a rudimentary breech which will provide a basis to super detail on the two half tanks later on. Talking about the 6pdrs, just in case you want to add it in, they do have a thin curved vertical gun shield just inside of the larger cylindrical one to prevent the Huns from simply sticking a gun through the slot and blasting everyone inside! Let me know if you'd like the drawings for it, I'm really going to enjoy watching my tiddlers 'big brother' come along! Robin First wooden ship: The Grimsby 12 Gun 'Frigate' by Constructo Second: Bounty DelPrado Part Works Third: HMS Victory DelPrado Part Works 1/100 scale Diorama of the Battle of the Brandywine from the American Revolutionary War Diorama of the Battle of New Falkland (unfinished sci-fi), Great War Centenary Diorama of the Messines Ridge Assault Index for the Victory diary is on page 1
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Hi Stevie. Disregard that bit about the vertical gun shields! I've just noticed on one of your sprue photos you've already got them included in the kit! There's none in mine though! Robin First wooden ship: The Grimsby 12 Gun 'Frigate' by Constructo Second: Bounty DelPrado Part Works Third: HMS Victory DelPrado Part Works 1/100 scale Diorama of the Battle of the Brandywine from the American Revolutionary War Diorama of the Battle of New Falkland (unfinished sci-fi), Great War Centenary Diorama of the Messines Ridge Assault Index for the Victory diary is on page 1
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Rank: Super-Elite Groups: Registered
Joined: 30/01/2013 Posts: 4,604 Points: 13,607 Location: Monmouthshire UK
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Well Robin, just about the same time as I worked out which curved parts you meant and then checked my kit, then saw I had them, then came on here to let you know.....i see you already knew It dosent show in the pic but one of them is broken clean in half too so that will need repairing first. I'm hoping my brass will be here tomorrow for the barrels. Mine also have a basic breech but not sure why they bothered as there is no other internal detail. So, hopefully get moving again with this at the weekend. Steve
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Some real nice work there Stevie..... Regards Alan
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Rank: Super-Elite Groups: Registered
Joined: 30/01/2013 Posts: 4,604 Points: 13,607 Location: Monmouthshire UK
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Thankyou Alan, nice of you to say so Not going to go on until by brass tube arrives but a couple of pics here to show the main guns, the barrel measures as an oval - I know it dosent look much but it is noticable, I saw it looked wrong before I measured it. The barrel thickness is also uneven so new barrels definately needed stevie_o attached the following image(s):
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Rank: Super-Elite Groups: Registered
Joined: 30/01/2013 Posts: 4,604 Points: 13,607 Location: Monmouthshire UK
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Managed to get a couple of hours on this again today, I have replaced the "oval" 6pdr barrels with brass ones. The pics below show how this was done - I firstly cut off the plastic barrel about 6mm from the base, this was to give the brass something to glue on to and ensure the barrel stayed straight. The 4mm tube was cut to length and glued on, then a piece of 3mm tube was fitted into the end, this was to give the barrel the correct thickness. The ends of both tubes were then filed down smooth. There is lots of filling to do later as the fit isn't that good although not as bad as I remember the female version being (unless I'm getting more patient) More soon Steve stevie_o attached the following image(s):
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Hey! that's beautiful Stevie! That's the same sort of thing I was going to do to my Lewis gun barrels with aluminium tube, but after seeing your Hotchkiss upgrades I'm thinking of getting some tiny round beads, fixing the tubing into them and drilling out the location points on the hull so they can go in more realistic directions than just 'straight out'! Glad you liked the Spuds! They're in pretty good condition considering they are both battlefield relics only dug up a little while ago! Best of Luck Robin First wooden ship: The Grimsby 12 Gun 'Frigate' by Constructo Second: Bounty DelPrado Part Works Third: HMS Victory DelPrado Part Works 1/100 scale Diorama of the Battle of the Brandywine from the American Revolutionary War Diorama of the Battle of New Falkland (unfinished sci-fi), Great War Centenary Diorama of the Messines Ridge Assault Index for the Victory diary is on page 1
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Rank: Super-Elite Groups: Registered
Joined: 30/01/2013 Posts: 4,604 Points: 13,607 Location: Monmouthshire UK
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Thankyou Robin, I hope to have the main lump together fairly soon, so I can get some primer on to see what needs filling. Yes, you should be able to do the same with yours although everything is just a tiny bit smaller Steve
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Nice little modification, makes all the difference and relatively easy to do.
Nice one
Jase“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” -Mark Twain
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