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Rhomboid ramblings


06/24

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As is often the case, the more one learns, the less enamoured one becomes of kit designers’ choices. The Meng interior only includes one side rack for 37 mm shells, when it seems from most references I can find, the tank should have two, one either side, as well as the smaller rack for ready rounds within the turret itself. I can scratch build a second, but it’s mildly annoying that I need to. The kit also includes ammo boxes in multiple for the dismounted Hotchkiss, but I can’t find any evidence these were used in the tank itself.

Edited by 06/24
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While I puzzle over the ammunition stowage, I’ve carried on with the exterior:

 

50806746938_cbf2a7d9f0_c.jpgBlast Models replacement tail skid with stowage by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr


50806746728_173430415c_c.jpgBlast Models replacement tail skid with stowage by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

 

Tail skid is, as the captions suggest, a resin replacement from Blast Models in France.

 

I've also started messing about with some potential crew figures:

 

50806800633_b049c9e929_c.jpgCrew by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

 

Using parts from a couple of the figures in this ICM set:

 

50807546061_44bf5752f8_c.jpgCrew by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

 

 

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Weald Foundation have recently fully restored an omnibus-turret MG-armed FT but, annoyingly, you have to join their site to see their gallery.  I had a look inside it at Tankfest 2018 and I don't recall any MG ammo box racks.  But that may just be my wonky memory.  I didn't take any interior photos as I was intending to do exterior-only.

 

The roof stowage box on the MkIV was officially for grousers, but was often used for other things.  But I don't think that stowing petrol cans next to the hot exhaust shield would be a wise idea.  Nor water: no-one wants hot drinking water when they've been inside a 40+ degree tank........  Cans on the main roof seem to have been more common.

 

Whose fuel cans?  I used the very nice Panzer Art resin ones, which have period branding (except the Texaco - too late).  MinArt plastic ones are OK and come with decals, which is useful.  Also other shapes and sizes of oil cans etc.  Flimsies were the WW2 4-gallon disposable cans.  The 2-gallon cans were very substantial and have stood the test of time.  I nearly bought a Shell one the other day in my local antique centre: surface rusty but sound.  Fuel can colours are a bit of a maze.  Officially, MT petrol cans were light grey with a 3" black P on each side and aviation petrol were red with a black A.  Some were certainly repainted "service colour" greeny-brown and unpainted ones have been noted (or could they have been the light grey?).  Cans for drinking water and oil were, confusingly, both supposed to be black but with a 3" white W or O on each side to indicate contents.  However, commercial fuel cans in brand colours were commonplace and were not required to be repainted - although they were still supposed to be marked with a P.  The P marking seems to have been uncommonly used: I suppose if you differentiate O and W then everthing else is P by default.

 

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Thank you. I had much the same thought about stowing the 2 Gallon cans, and that they are not flimsies is one of the things I’ve learned during this build. I have a set of the Panzer Art variety on order, these are the Miniart plastic ones.  
 

Regarding the Weald FT, there are posts on their website regarding ammo stowage, but so far I’ve felt the membership cost was too expensive to satisfy my curiosity - I have seen a post war Renault blueprint which may be one of the sources they used, and there are some references online in French archives, so I think I can cobble something together. 

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Figure arrived from Modelu, sold I think as WDLR loco crew, but basically a bloke in Uniform leaning. Sadly, unlike any prints I’ve had from them in the past, there is some flash and the helmet was distorted. The flash will need to be trimmed with a sharp knife, but the facial features are not very well defined so I will probably replace the head with a Hornet example. 

 

Following @Das Abteilung’s sensible intervention, the cans have been moved, and a pack of track grousers have been obtained. They’ve been dunked in Birchwood Casey gun blue to minimise the shiny white metal look, but it needs to be polished back as it’s gone a little too rusty. There are 65 in the pack, but I reckon I’ll need far fewer to look like a reasonable load, so there will be more than enough for two models.

 

50831420363_65fb3b022b_c.jpgUntitled by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

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19 hours ago, 06/24 said:

There are 65 in the pack, but I reckon I’ll need far fewer to look like a reasonable load, so there will be more than enough for two models.

They were generally fitted about every 5 or 6 links and were not actually particularly effective.

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44 minutes ago, Das Abteilung said:

They were generally fitted about every 5 or 6 links and were not actually particularly effective.

Yes, so by my reckoning that equates to around 30 per tank, although how 30 were stored in the roof box is beyond me. I’m assuming (in the absence of finding any photos to prove either way) that the bolted sections that clip them onto the track were reattached to the grousers for stowage, so as not to be lost and the grousers rendered useless. At least prior to ops, if not during, when I suspect the grousers were left in place even if they were liable to damage on hard surfaces.

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In other news, the proprietor of Modelu has seen the photo above, and tells me the arm is a misprint, and he’s sending me a replacement figure. Excellent customer service, and evidence of why Alan is such a pleasure to do business with. No connection other than as a very satisfied customer.

 

I may still replace the head, I suspect the very naturalistic appearance the 3D scanning gives may not give sufficient relief for me to paint reasonably (I’m lousy at painting figures anyway!).

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Yes the grousers are often seen still fitted in places where they might not be appropriate.  But that might have been easier than constant removal and re-attachment.  The track plates actually gave quite limited traction in many conditions.

 

I believe the grouser pieces were riveted together, not bolted, and thus did not come apart. They did bend and break.

 

I tried to fit a full set like that in the box on my MkIV with the fascine.  It did not fit.  But the parts are somewhat thicker than scale thickness.

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Made one of those all or nothing, in for a penny, in for a pound decisions today.

 

Inspired by this photo:

 

26632928780_b991b371f7_c.jpg12883938334 by DURIEZ Frederic, on Flickr

 

Original at https://catalog.archives.gov/id/55208677

 

I decided to turn the Mark IV into a supply tank. I believe Mark IV supply tanks were factory built as such, the sponsons being apparently unarmoured, which seems a bit unfair on the crewmen in the back.

 

This is the clearest photo I have so far seen of the supply sponsons, so gave me a enough of an idea to make a start

 

50841583427_480b6ddd8e_o.jpgUntitled by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr
 

Note the pistol port on the front face, and the lack of either a pistol port or shell ejection hole on the sponson door, which is conveniently hanging open. The two American photographers make an interesting cameo, so might yet make an appearance.

 

I was in two minds whether or not to build new sponsons from scratch, but in the end decided to use the Tamiya one and modify them accordingly. Work still very much in progress:

 

50841491286_468427e74e_c.jpgSupply sponsons by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

 

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For anyone unfamiliar with the supply tanks, in 1917, they were mainly obsolescent earlier marks, converted by field workshops, so you could still see the outlines of the gun fittings etc, but by the following year purpose built Mark IV supply tanks were fielded. Britain’s last tank action of the war was allegedly a Mark IV supply which used its single forward firing gun to take a German position.

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The challenge will be filling the Tamiya sponsons so they look like sheet steel. Worst comes to the worst, I could scratch build new ones, but I’m hopeful these will pass muster. Once I’m happy they’ll get a witness coat which will be rubbed down and then the rivets reinstated.

 

50844108583_6c26ba6b89_c.jpgSupply sponsons- work in progress by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

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In between bouts of sanding and filling on the Mark IV, slow progress continues on the Meng FTs:

 

50844927397_782183fbac_c.jpgAmmo lockers by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

 

My best guess on the machine gun belt stowage was lockers, these should have twin cut outs to enable the belts to be lifted, but there comes a point were you have to make a commitment, and since so little will be visible, these vague representations will have to suffice.

 

50844268848_ac5ffd10a6_c.jpgMeng FT progress by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

 

I’m almost at the point I need to stop and get some paint on the inside 
 

 

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If anyone has a reference photo or drawing for the roof hatch fitted to the drivers cab of the supply tanks, I’d be grateful for any 

thing you can share. I believe they were similar, if not identical, to the hatches on the Mark V, so that might be an alternative route to copy.

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This is the best image I have found of the possible shape of the ammo storage on the Hotchkiss variant, shown for discussion only and will be removed on request (image culled from a French forum I think)

 

50805167562_1f3f20265d_c.jpgUntitled by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

Clearly mine are a massive simplification but I don’t believe they will be very visible once the crew is installed.

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Re the MkIV supply tanks, I hadn't realised that any were new build.  But thinking about it, there would not have been enough tired tanks to act as supply carriers for the 370+ tanks deployed at Cambrai. even allowing for towing sledges.  The Bovington MkII was one such.

 

Which make me think with some certainty that your new-build supply tank most probably had the sledge towing attachment at the back of the roof.  It was up high so as not to foul the tracks when turning.  Pictures of this are hard to find: this one doesn't show you much.  The supply roller caisson idea came to nought, although it was prototyped and tested.

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Here's a better one of a sledge, but I can't find anything clearer of the towing attachment, which seems to be forward of and taller than the grouser box.  I'm sure I read somewhere that it was mounted on a couple of layers of railway sleepers bolted to the hull top.  But that doesn't sound strong enough.

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I know that at least 1 photo of the supply roller exists because I've held one.  But none seem to be published on the web.

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That’s interesting, the references I’ve read suggest that the “top tow” tanks were all Females, and that the Mark IV supply tenders were built to replace/supplement the top towers after Cambrai. I haven’t seen a photograph yet which shows the top of a supply tank clearly enough, but, thinking about it, I don’t think I’ve seen a photo of a Supply hauling sledges either. 

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Obviously I am no expert, but if I’m correct, the unditching beam rails on this example are the normal layout, not the kinked type found on top tow equipped vehicles, so I think I’m safe enough ignoring the tow fittings, and hopefully enough stowage will make their absence ambiguous anyway!

 

50848225942_e46fedcfd2_c.jpgMark IV supply for discussion by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

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A (very) brief break in the weather meant I was able to give the sponsons quick blast of primer as a witness coat. As expected, it showed work still to do, but that was the point, and overall I’m happy with progress.

 

50849048072_89fdd40e34_c.jpgWitness coat on sponsons by Jon Gwinnett, on Flickr

 

The FT interiors got a blast of white while I was at it.

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