Author Topic: New Tracks...  (Read 1050 times)

Pen-Pusher

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New Tracks...
« on: May 24, 2019, 08:15:55 PM »
This is the 'subject-kit' for a forthcoming Yorkshire Veterans Model Group workshop in Scarborough so I thought I better make sure I could make one? Not used to building many AFV's I found this little Airfix kit a real gem. It took less than an hour to get to the stage you see below and has some very nice 'working' detail with elevating guns and rotating turrets...

Pen-Pusher

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Re: New Tracks...
« Reply #1 on: May 24, 2019, 08:18:58 PM »
Peter Makey shared this intriguing summary of the Airfix WWI Mark. I tank. The author is a P Kempf and the article edited by P Radley...

This is the oldest WW1 AFV plastic kit by far: I guess it will soon be some 50 years old. I think most of us have seen it, at one time or another, but how good - or bad - is it? Well, despite its age, it is still a fine kit. The moulds are showing their age and there are some ugly sink-marks to be filled in, but the details are still sharp. For example, the rivets are wonderful although too plentiful: There are problems however; a number of small ones, and one great big one.

Let’s start with the big one. It is NOT a Mark I. Despite the box art and everything else, the kit does not portray a Mk I (with the exception of the tail-wheel assembly which is from a Mk I). The kit actually shows a Mark II. A 'very specific' Mark II.

Here’s how that happened. For quite some time, the Tank Museum in Bovington, England, did not have a Mark I tank but they did have a Mark II that had had an interesting life. They also had some spare tail-wheels from a Mark I. The Mark II was dressed up as a Mark I and, it seems, over time people forgot that it was really a Mark II and honestly thought she was a Mark I. At this point (the early 60s) Airfix visited the museum and measured everything up for the kit they were planning (they also measured some female sponsons that the museum had on display). And, 'Voilà!' the famous Airfix kit of the Tank Mark I was born (except it wasn’t a Mark I). One of the interesting phases of the old Mark II’s life was a period working as a Supply Tank, hence the hatch above the driver’s and commander’s positions. (Some years later the Tank Museum acquired a real Tank Mark I and the "dressed-up" Mark II reverted back to being a plain Mark II with a forward hatch.)

Because of this whopper of a mistake, the kit represents, with great accuracy, a Mark II that used to be a Supply Tank and has the tail-wheels from a Mark I attached. Aside from that, in general, this is still a fine kit, that has aged well. There are a couple of sink-marks here and there, but nothing disastrous. As you can maybe see in the photo, the level of detail is fine, and are quite sharp. (You can see a couple of the sink-marks on the big side part.) You can also see a couple of the problems, at least if you are building a Mk I: the hatch in the driver’s cab, the triangular raised hatch on the roof, and the lack of MG hatch and pistol port on the inside of the gun sponson.

So when you build the kit, you must first decide what it is going to be! If you are building the Mark II that was exhibited as a Mark I in the Tank Museum, then you don't have to do anything. If not, there are three things that must be done, regardless of whether you are doing a Mk I, a Mk II or a Mk III. First, the hatch in the driver’s cab roof must be filled in (unless you are building a Supply Tank), and the sides of the cab detailed: with rivets, pistol ports and a small sighting aperture. Second, the gun shields must be provided with an aperture, or 'slot', for the sighting apparatus and third, as mentioned, a small MG hatch must be added to the inside of the sponsons. Other small detail changes, common to all three variants, and all pretty optional, depending on how picky you want to be, include replacing the kit’s towing hawser on the front - it should be a sort of double construction - and perhaps adding two driving lights on the inside front of the horns.

If you are doing a Mk I, the changes concerning the driver’s cab and the new roof hatch are evident from the plan. The roof of the driver’s cab should be given two, really thin, slightly forward-pointing periscopes. Then you must give the wheeled tail a thorough going-over. Kit part no.37 is a good basis for the job, but it’s simply a bit too crude and inaccurate as is.

If you want to make a Mk II or III, the wheeled tail must be removed and the holes in the sides should be filled in. The holes in the rear end plate must be masked off, one with a small, square plate, the other with a box, positioned off-centre to the left.

There you have it! An old but still very enjoyable kit, with much potential. With this one kit you get the opportunity to build many variants: the Mk I, the Mk II and the Mk III, a Supply Tank with blanked off sponsons, or a Wireless Tank with a big aerial.

Since this review was written, way back when, Airfix have cleaned up the moulds for the male and repackaged the kit with new artwork on the card/box (taking the opportunity to change the stated scale from the incorrect HO/OO or 1/72 to the correct 1/76). Airfix has also released a kit of the Mark I female (good job we now know they measured the female sponsons in the Tank Museum all those years ago!). This 'new' kit contains parts to make either the female or the male, and will in time, be reviewed separately.

Matador Models make some useful little conversion kits to turn this Airfix kit into a Mark I female, a Mark II female, a Mark I Wireless Tank, or even a Mark IV (male, female, and tadpole). Matador Models also sell replacement tracks, either spudded or plain, for anyone who doesn't like the "rubber band" tracks the kit comes with. ModellTrans Modellbau also makes some replacement tracks, which they say are for the Mark IV but will probably fit the Airfix Mark I. Archer Fine Transfers make tiny little resin rivets that you can apply singly or in strips to fill in some of the blank areas in this kit, such as the top of the sponsons. If you want to make a specific Mark I, maybe you can find the right markings among the decals offered by Decalcomaniacs or those by Black Lion Decals?

Photo: the observant among you will realize I have now added a second tank to the current build. I want to demonstrate the basic kit build and the final painted version - as per instructions - to our Veterans model workshop next month...

Bigkev

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Re: New Tracks...
« Reply #2 on: May 26, 2019, 06:14:48 AM »
Thanks Pen-Pusher,

Always liked this kit, made one about 50 years ago!
But your article, has re-kindled a long forgotten interest. Perhaps I may seek one out at the Northern Model Show?
Cheers,
Bigkev
I hope my next is always better

Roger

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Re: New Tracks...
« Reply #3 on: May 26, 2019, 09:59:10 AM »
Interesting article thanks.

Roger

zak

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Re: New Tracks...
« Reply #4 on: May 28, 2019, 04:47:58 PM »
I believe that Bovington has rectified its many earlier errors.
I did build these and modified them.
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