Ground vehicles
by Mike Cooper

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Mark IV Supply

This is the 1:76 scale Mark IV Supply

My adoration of the Mark IV is widely known, and a Supply Tank or Tender seemed a good bet.

Its based on the Airfix .WW1 Tank. with the necessary changes to make what is actually a Mark II into a Mark IV. In this case it was: corrected cab, cupola moved inboard to correct location. Fuel tank, fan and added armour at rear. De-ditching gear from Plastruct. I realised that as the sponsons were a nice simple box I could probably take a chance and show them both open. The load is a mix of Mills bombs (grey boxes) and small arms ammunition (light brown boxes). I made these from plasticard, following notes taken during an extremely interesting display by the Great War Society . the markings are all taken from their examples. The crewman is modified from AB figures WW2 tankies. Tracks are Matador.s resin bits

I don't have a unit for this tank, but the markings are all sources from photos "Baggage" on her sponson appears, from unit War Diaries, to denote a machine from a Battalion.s own pool of tenders, rather than one of the Brigade level Tank Supply Companies. I.m still checking this, and there is more to tell.


Tank Mk IV Female

She's works/WD number 2556, Banshee - B8 of No.2 Section, No.4 Company B Battalion, Tank Corps at Cambrai.

We were working on a Cambrai display for Colours, the big wargames fair held in Reading (now out at Newbury), and, all we lacked was a IV Female. I.d got all the bits - Matador do a set of sponsons, a fascine and track with grousers - and after hitting a copy of the original instruction sheet on how to fit a fascine in a War Diary at the PRO, the whole lot made sense. The Matador sponsons needed a little settling in, and I wanted to take the chance to show a set of sponson doors open. Details are all taken from either photographs or War Diaries. The red and yellow flag is to mark the position of her fascine, black cans carry water, red cans petrol. The Lewis guns are from Aeroclub.


Tank Mark V Male

Needless to say, another Airfix conversion. This is Male 9020, J17 of B Company 10 Bn Tank Corps. She served at Amiens, was hit and put out of action on August 25th, and then refitted and shipped out to serve with the White forces in the Russian Civil War.

Next to things like a V* and VII there is probably as much work in a V conversion as anything, as most things need work. J17 appears in a photo of her section taken at the time, which seems to show her with the unpopular 26.5inch tracks. This added to the scratchbuilding, and I was pleased to be able to cover some at least of the work with grassy-mud. I think the sponsons are a scratchbuild, as I didn't have the Matador set at the time. However, if I did her again, I'd use theirs. I've found no evidence that 10 Bn carried any forms of names at this date, although their Mk IVs caught up in the March Offensive did - using the Battalion colours. Her ID stripes are painted as per the official drawings, issued in April/May 1918.


Whippet

Its always the way - you scrtachbuild a thing and then a kit comes out! Anyway, this is my 1/76th Whippet. She's 6th (Light) Tank Battlion, summer 1918, but I've neither named nor numbered her following photos and pending more info. Figures are converted AB WW2 tank crew. Photos are by Alan Boughey.


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