Whippet

Jose Valenciano (joeyval@pusit.admu.edu.ph)
Tue, 9 Jan 1996 13:13:22 +0800 (GMT+0800)

Hi all!

Just got the EMHAR Whippet this weekend and have started out on it.

Moulded in dark grey plastic:
* 21 superstructure parts
* 4 machine guns in ball mountings (movable but only barrels, no rear
ends), with retainer rings to keep them in place.
* 4 sponson parts (x2, for
each side)
* idlers, sprockets, return rollers (no road wheels, not seen anyway)
* 8 detail parts (4 track cover brackets, 4 exhaust parts)
* a pair of tracks (3pcs each, 2 long & 1 short) in black rubbery plastic.

Fit is for the most part ok. Superstructure sides are thick but have been
engineered to appear thin at the joins. Some gaps appear, which I will
cover with white glue or epoxy (no need to sand). Too bad that all
hatches are molded closed. All of the rivets as well as other surface
detail seem to be all there!

MG barrels seem a bit thick, I'll probably replace with syringe needles.

Sponsons are very easy to assemble but the optional part 42 (transmission
acess plates) must be mounted with the brackets in an "x" rather than a
"+" configuration. By the way I think I only saw this part off on
prototype vehicles, pictures of battle vehicles all had them.

Haven't attached the running gear yet but am worried about how to glue
the track ends to each other. No interlocking parts, just tabs that lay
into grooves. Will super glue do? The tracks are a bit stiff too on
acount of their thickness. They'll go around the sponsons though, will a
little glue here, and there (again, which glue?). One strange thing
concerning the inner, unseen portion of the tracks, Emhar chose to place
the horizontal grooves (the ones that aid in helping the tracks flex
longtitudinally) under the CENTER of the track shoes, and not at the ends
of the shoes. So, flexing the track to an extreme diameter would reveal a
rounded instead of segmented (the shoe being flat, the joint being bent).
Well this is probably not so noticeable when the tracks are on but it
would have been a nice touch to keep the track shoes flat since WWI tank
tracks have greater pitch than WWII or modern ones.

Needless to say, these aren't working tracks, so don't think of
motorizing the thing or rolling it across your bed/battlefield.

Decals are provided for 5 vehicles. Colors are given only by their FS#.
Line drawings showing color demarcation and marking placement are
provided. No info given on unit affiliation:

* German captured vehicle - Beute Panzerwagen A, they were called. Large
Iron crosses on each side of the vehicle. Two additional colors (FS
10118 & 10219) are used in a shadow shading or mimetic pattern.
Color contours provided for tank sides only. No instructions as
to whether the camo is hard or soft edged (anyone know?)

* Serial# A347, "Firefly" - all over basic color, bold vertical
red-wht-red stripes on sponson front sides and on lower front of
fuel tank. Name in yellow on upper part of front. Large "B6" on
superstructure sides & large red "IV" on rear sides of sponsons.

* Serial# A259, "Caesar II" - all over basic color, name in wht on rear
of superstructure, Large "9" on superstructure sides, r-w-r
stripes as above but on entire front of fuel tank.

* (all w/ corresponding serial#'s, "Gofasta", "Golikell", "Fanny Adams" -
all over basic color. All have, name in wht on upper front of
fuel tank, w/ r-w-r stripes on the front sides of sponsons, fuel
tank top, and entire engine hood!

Decal register is very good but I won't be a good judge of application
quality as I seldom use them. I opt to paint things on or use dry transfers.

Note: First letter of tank name tells you to w/c Battalion it belongs.
(Gofasta & Golikell - G or 7th Bn; Firefly - F or 6th, etc.)

Other improvements that could be added:

* There are included, angle bars that jut out the sides of the
superstructure (front and rear, above the tracks). These are too thick
and could be replaced with thinner material. These were arms that held
canvas bands that hung across the top run of the tracks (track
covers), you could model these as well.

* There is horizontal raised detail representative of flat bar material
on the right side, left side, and left side front of the
superstructure. This should be sanded off as these bars were
mounted at a slight distance away from the body (about 1mm in
this scale. Mount these bars to the superstructure at their ends
and where body panels meet. This was where equipment was hung on
the real thing, track grousers in particular.

* Many vehicles had two stowage bins held by a bracket on each side of
the rear of the vehicle. I think this was not a factory fitting
but added on later. I haven't figured out their dimensions yet
but will post them if anyone inquires.

* Exhaust mufflers were usually wrapped in rope (insulation?), the kit's
aren't. Of course drill out the end of each exhaust.

* Replace the 4 moulded in grab handles on the hood.

* You may care to carve away the plastic in the vision slots.
An easy way to do this is, from the outside surface of the slot,
first drill two small holes on either end of the slot. Flip the
panel over, using the two holes as a guide for where the vision
slot really is, grind away (those with a moto-tool, round cutter,
slow setting will find this a snap) the material until light
shows through the slot. Remove the remaining thin film of
plastic. You not only hav a clean opening, its the right scale
thickness as well.
The only protection the crew had over these were glass prisms on the
Mark I, the Mark IV, I think changed these to pinhole perforated metal
to avoid glass splinters. I don't know if these things were
fronted with glass as well.

* You may also opt to carve away the openings on the engine louvers.

* How about adding track grousers, on the tracks or hanging from
the vehicle sides? For those who don't know how these look, write
to me about them if you're interested. These were of a different
design than those used on the Mark IV.

A few questions for those in the know:

1) Does anyone know of the availability of replacement (resin?)
tracks for the MARK IV? If they're available, I'd like to know
from who and for how much. The tracks used on the Mark IV and
Whippet were identical. The Mark V's were 6 inches wider and
overhang the sponsons a bit. Any suggestions for gluing this
rubbery track parts together? (rubber cement?)

2) Most Brit Tanks had bold, vertical red-white-red markings on the
front & sponson fronts. What were these for?

3) I know that horizontal black lines were sometimes be painted on the
superstructure sides, aligned with the vision slots and as well as
otherwise, to conceal the slits' exact location. Does anyone have
an exact description ofdifferent this design?

4) What exactly are the colors, FS 16118, 10118, and 10219? Don't
have FS reference material. They were similar to what other colors?

5) Does anyone have color schemes/vehicle markings other than those
described above?

6) I'm planning to get the Emhar Mark IV and convert it to a Mark V*.
Anyone have any suggestions for this?

For any who reply, thanks in advance.

Joey

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Joey Valenciano WW1 modeller, teacher, jazz musician, sitarist
joeyval@pusit.admu.edu.ph Metro-Manila, Philippines

"The more you know, the more you don't know."

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