MB MK1 ''Male'' British Tank

[Jan01]

My entry into this SiG

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[Jan01]

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[Jan01]

Some information about the MKI

British heavy tanks were a series of related vehicles developed by the British Army during the First World War. The Mark I was the world's first tank to enter combat. Born of the need to break the domination of trenches, barbed wire and machine guns over the battlefields of the Western Front, it was the first vehicle to be named "tank", a name chosen as an expedient to maintain secrecy and to disguise its true purpose. It was developed to be able to cross trenches, resist small-arms fire, travel over difficult terrain, carry supplies, and to capture fortified enemy positions. It is regarded as successful in many respects, but suffered from many problems owing to its primitive nature. Armament was naval 6-pounder guns and machine guns.

The Mark I entered service in August 1916, and was first used in action on the morning of 15 September 1916 during the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, part of the Somme Offensive. With the exception of the few interim Mark II and Mark III tanks, it was followed by the largely similar Mark IV, which first saw combat in June 1917. The Mark IV was used en masse (about 460 tanks) at the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917. The Mark V, with its much improved transmission, entered service in mid-1918.

The unusual rhomboidal shape was to give as long a track run as possible to allow for crossing the wide trenches prevalent on the Western Front battlefields. Due to the height necessary for this shape, a turreted armament would have made the vehicle too high and top heavy. Instead, the main armament was arranged in sponsons at the side of the vehicle.

Development
Main article: History of the tank
The Mark I was a development of Little Willie, the experimental tank built for the Landships Committee by Lieutenant Walter Wilson and William Tritton between July and September 1915. It was designed by Wilson in response to problems with tracks and trench-crossing ability discovered during the development of Little Willie. A gun turret above the hull would have made the centre of gravity too high when climbing a German trench parapet (which were typically four feet high), so the tracks were arranged in a rhomboidal form around the hull and the guns were put in sponsons on the sides of the tank. The reworked design was also able to meet the Army requirement to be able to cross an 8 ft (2.4 m) wide trench.

A mockup of Wilson's idea was shown to the Landships Committee when they viewed the demonstration of Little Willie. At about this time, the Army's General Staff was persuaded to become involved and supplied representatives to the Committee. Through these contacts Army requirements for armour and armament made their way into the design. The prototype Mark I, ready in December 1915, was called "Mother" (previous names having been "The Wilson Machine", "Big Willie", and "His Majesty's Land Ship Centipede"). Mother was successfully demonstrated to the Landships Committee in early 1916; it was run around a course simulating the front including trenches, parapets, craters and barbed wire obstacles. The demonstration was repeated on 2 February before the cabinet ministers and senior members of the Army. Kitchener, the Secretary of State for War, was sceptical but the rest were impressed. Lloyd George, at the time Minister of Munitions, arranged for his Ministry to be responsible for tank production.

The Landships Committee was re-constituted as the "Tank Supply Committee" under the chairmanship of Albert Stern; Ernest Swinton, who had promoted the idea of the tank from the Army angle was also a member. General Haig sent a staff officer Hugh Elles to act as his liaison to the Supply Committee. Swinton would become the head of the new arm, and Elles the commander of the tanks in France.[6]

The first order for tanks was placed on 12 February 1916, and a second on April 21. Fosters built 37 (all "male"), and Metropolitan Carriage, Wagon, and Finance Company, of Birmingham, 113 (38 "male" and 75 "female"), a total of 150.

When the news of the first use of the tanks emerged, Lloyd George commented, "Well, we must not expect too much from them but so far they have done very well, and don't you think that they reflect some credit on those responsible for them? It is really to Mr Winston Churchill that the credit is due more than to anyone else. He took up with enthusiasm the idea of making them a long time ago, and he met with many difficulties. He converted me, and at the Ministry of Munitions he went ahead and made them. The admiralty experts were invaluable, and gave the greatest possible assistance. They are, of course, experts in the matter of armour plating. Major Stern, a business man at the Ministry of Munitions had charge of the work of getting them built, and he did the task very well. Col Swinton and others also did valuable work."

Description
The Mark I was a rhomboid vehicle with a low centre of gravity and long track length, able to negotiate broken ground and cross trenches. Main armament was carried in sponsons on the hull sides.

The hull was undivided internally; the crew shared the same space as the engine. The environment inside was extremely unpleasant; since ventilation was inadequate, the atmosphere was contaminated with poisonous carbon monoxide, fuel and oil vapours from the engine, and cordite fumes from the weapons. Temperatures inside could reach 50 °C (122 °F). Entire crews lost consciousness inside the tank or, sometimes, collapsed when again exposed to fresh air.

To counter the danger of bullet splash or fragments knocked off the inside of the hull, crews were issued with leather-and-chainmail masks. A leather helmet was also issued, to protect the head against projections inside the tank. Gas masks were standard issue as well, as they were to all soldiers at this point in the war (see Chemical warfare). The side armour of 8 mm initially made them largely immune to small arms fire, but could be penetrated by the recently developed armour-piercing K bullets. There was also the danger of being overrun by infantry and attacked with grenades. The next generation had thicker armour, making them nearly immune to the K bullets. In response, the Germans developed the 13.2 mm Mauser anti-tank rifle, and also a Geballte Ladung ("Bunched Charge") – several stick grenades bundled together for a much bigger explosion.

A direct hit by an artillery or mortar shell could cause the fuel tanks (which were placed high in the front horns of the track frames either side of the drivers' area, to allow gravity feed) to burst open. Incinerated crews were removed by special Salvage Companies, who also salvaged damaged tanks.

Steering was difficult, controlled by varying the speed of the two tracks. Four of the crew, two drivers (one of whom also acted as commander; he operated the brakes, the other the primary gearbox) and two "gearsmen" (one for the secondary gears of each track) were needed to control direction and speed, the latter never more than a walking pace. As the noise inside was deafening, the driver, after setting the primary gear box, communicated with the gearsmen with hand signals, first getting their attention by hitting the engine block with a heavy spanner. For slight turns, the driver could use the steering tail: an enormous contraption dragged behind the tank consisting of two large wheels, each of which could be blocked by pulling a steel cable causing the whole vehicle to slide in the same direction. If the engine stalled, the gearsmen would use the starting handle – a large crank between the engine and the gearbox. Many of these vehicles broke down in the heat of battle making them an easy target for German gunners. There was no wireless (radio); communication with command posts was by means of two pigeons, which had their own small exit hatch in the sponsons, or by runners. Because of the noise and vibration, early experiments had shown that radios were impractical, therefore lamps, flags, semaphore, coloured discs, and the carrier pigeons were part of the standard equipment of the various marks.

During the First World War, British propaganda made frequent use of tanks, portraying them as a wonder weapon that would quickly win the war. They were featured in films and popular songs.

Markings

The Mark IV tank Lodestar III at the Belgian Royal Museum of the Army, Brussels. This tank retains its original paint
When first deployed, British tanks were painted with a four-colour camouflage scheme devised by the artist Solomon Joseph Solomon. It was found that they quickly got covered with mud, rendering elaborate, camouflage paint schemes superfluous. In late 1916, the Solomon scheme was abandoned and tanks were painted with a single shade of dark brown.

At the rear of the tank, a three, four or five digit serial number was painted in white or yellow at the factory. At the front there was a large tactical marking, a prefix letter indicating the company or battalion, and a number (training tanks had no letter, but three numbers). Some tanks had their tactical number painted on the roof for air recognition. Later, vertical red and white stripes were painted on the front to aid recognition after the Germans began deploying captured British tanks.

Tanks were often given individual names and sometimes sported them. A small handful were known to carry artwork or nose-art.

Variants
The first tanks were known as the Mark I after the subsequent designs were introduced. Mark Is armed with two 6 pounder guns and three 8 mm Hotchkiss machine guns were called "Male" tanks, and those with four Vickers machine guns and one Hotchkiss, were called "Female". Swinton is credited with inventing the terms.

To aid steering, a pair of large wheels were added behind the tank. These were not as effective as hoped and were subsequently dropped.

The subsequent Mark II, III, IV, and V, and later tanks, all bear a strong resemblance to their "Mother".

Mark I
British Mark I tank with the Solomon camouflage scheme
Crew: 8
Combat Weight
Male: 28 tons (28.4 tonnes)
Female: 27 tons (27.4 tonnes)
Armour: 0.23–0.47 in (6–12 mm)
Armament
Male: two 6-pounder QF, three 8 mm Hotchkiss Machine Guns
Female: four 0.303 in Vickers Machine Guns, one 8 mm Hotchkiss Machine Gun
The Gun Carrier Mark I was a separate design, intended to carry a field gun or howitzer that could be fired from the vehicle. In service it was mostly used for carrying supplies and ammunition. Forty-eight were built.

Initial production of the Mark I was to be by Fosters and Metropolitan: 25 from Fosters and 75 from Metropolitan, who had greater capacity. Metropolitan set up production under their Oldbury Wagon and Carriage Company and then received an order for a further 50 so that the Army would be able to raise 6 tank companies of 25 tanks each. As there were not enough 6-pounder guns available for all 150 tanks, it was decided to equip half of them with only machine guns. A new sponson design with two Vickers machine guns in rotating shields was produced.

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[chief5437]

Nice choice. Another make of kit that I've never built! I wonder if anyone will be doing the new Tamiya version? Be interesting to see the differences. I've got Airfix's 1/76 version in the stash, might throw that in, if there's time!

Good luck with the build mate!

[Jamesday1998]

looks like a nice little kit! i am interested t see how this goes together as i have never seen this company before!

[Jan01]

looks like a nice little kit! i am interested t see how this goes together as i have never seen this company before!

Will be doing an update later.

Masterbox (MB) are better known for doing a large range of figures.
http://www.mbltd.info

[UKguyInUSA]

That looks like roof joists on the top. Did they throw a tarpaulin over it during the winter and bad weather and shelter beneath it?

[Jan01]

Ok, first update of this kit, forgot to mention that the scale is 1/72

The kit itself looke easy to put together however the sprues are not numbered, so you have to revert back to the instruction sheet to find which part is where. There are some flashes but not too much

I started with the hull as the instruction says, here I came across a problem, the hull section is warped a little.

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so I had to jump a couple steps ahead to rectify this, thankfully I brought these clamps from my local hardware store a month ago.

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While waiting for this to dry I set to work on the steering carriage

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[Jan01]

The detail on this kit is really good, plenty of bolts to paint

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Must point out this kit is a bit brittle in places, so care had to be taken when cutting the parts off from the spru.

[generalgrog]

Nice start!!

Love those Mk1's

GG

[Jan01]

That looks like roof joists on the top. Did they throw a tarpaulin over it during the winter and bad weather and shelter beneath it?

After looking through the Internet, the screen on top was used to stop hand grenades.

[martin57]

great start , shame about the warped hull , nice one with the clamps

[Jan01]

great start , shame about the warped hull , nice one with the clamps

Yeh was a shame, but after attaching the 2 sides on and clamping it, it turned out well.

[Jamesday1998]

sorry to hear about the hull being warped but you've still had a great start!!
kutgw

[Jan01]

it was time to do the mesh cage that goes on top, there is PE part for this, the instruction says to remove the crossed beams

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What it looks like after removing the cross beams

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and the completed assembly

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[Jamesday1998]

wow, awesome work with the P.E!
kutgw

[Jan01]

Then I got on with the rest of the tank, well all that was left was the side sponsons with the gun turrets. I added the gunners ports as these were not shown. Just carved them out with the modelling knife being careful not to over do it.

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Once everything was put together (except the mesh cage) I then undercoated it with vallejo light grey primer

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There were not many parts to this kit so was quickly put together. As mentioned before the only issue was the warped hull, but once it was glued together it turned out quite well.

Now on to the painting and weathering.

[generalgrog]

Nice looking PE!!

GG

[Jan01]

Thanks, it was quite easy to put together.

[T3hGuppy]

I love these old British tanks.

[Jan01]

After letting the primer dry properly I then added the base coat of Vallejo Khaki Grey with Green Ochre (880 and 914)

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[Jan01]

Once I have finished the tank, I may try to do a couple of figures in 1/35 scale (only if time allows me as i'm also doing the dangerous cat SiG)

This came today

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while searching the internet I came across photo

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[UKguyInUSA]

She's coming together nicely now she's getting her clothes on!

[martin57]

nice like it. i like the cage on the top, it will look great all muded up

[AchtungPanzer]

Lovely tank Keep it up mate . I look forward to more

[chief5437]

Looking good! I like the colour. And that pic you found is brilliant!

[Jan01]

Thanks guys, hoping to do some more this weekend

[rodrant]

Very nice build so far , the kit seems very nice and your build is going just great !

[Deacon]

Great work.

[Prop72]

That's looking great! The photo etch is really nice.

[Jan01]

Ok finally got round to doing some more,

Here I just gave the whole model a wash and let that dry. Then just just added wash were all the rivets are, did this several times.
Next stage is give the whole model a varnish ready for a black wash to hopefully give some depth. Then it will be onto adding pigments for dirt.

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[HamilkarBarkas]

I like what i see well done!

[Jan01]

I like what i see well done!

Thank you

[Jan01]

Decided to start on the base. Using a photo frame as the base, I then added DAS modelling clay and using my fingers to make the ground eneven. While the clay was still wet I pressed the tank into it to make the tank tracks. Also built up along the tracks where the tank is driving as to show the mud being pushed out. As DAS modelling clay is an air drying clay, I left this to dry for a couple of days, once dried I primed it with Vallejo grey primer.

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[Jan01]

Once the primer was dry I then painted the base using a mix of Vallejo Leather Brown and Burnt Umber. After this I then started to add Vallejo Natural Umber Pigment. (Need to add some more)

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Need some advice or help. I need to make the mud a little wet, how could I make this type of effect. Also I am thinking of making some pools of water (but don't have the water making effect products) how can I do this?

[peppie]

Wow, looking good.

For the wetlook I would try gloss varnish, and maybe for the puddles some woodglue.
Please try first before putting it on your dio.

[Jan01]

Thanks peppie, will try it out.

[UKguyInUSA]

Looking great so far mate

[martin57]

thats a nice looking model and dio good luck with the rest

[Jan01]

Thanks guys.