Let's clear this desert...

I thought I'd better paint at least 1 WW1 themed model this year, so what is better than T.E. Lawrence. The scheme is based upon the film, rather than real life. The few photos that I've found of the real T.E. Lawrence shows a darker jacket over the robes... but it's not quite so iconic

He'll also do well in pulp games if I ever get around to painting up some other desert-style models.

A7V Tank

The German attempt at armoured warfare during WW1 wasn't quite up to the same level of ingenuity as the British. Only one design made it to the battlefield, the A7V. Introduced in 1918, only 100 were ordered and of that 100, only 20 were actually armoured/armed. The rest were all transport vehicles...

Those that were armed carried one 57mm gun and 6 machine guns. Somehow I don't see this thing being all that good at crossing trenches...

There is only one surviving A7V and that resides in Australia. The one in Bovington is a wooden replica. Here you can see Dan carefully pondering the meaning of life and the effectiveness of German engineering

Mk V**

While the Mk V was a success, the Germans soon learned a lesson and simply made their trenches wider. This meant that the Mk V simply fell in and couldn't get across. The original attempt at this was to extend the tracks out backwards, giving it an odd fishtail like appearance. Major Philip Johnson saw these designs and worked out that it was much more efficient to simply extend the tank. This provided more crew space and some additional gun placements. This became the Mk V*.

Unfortunately by simply extending the chassis, they had also increased the turning radius and caused a lot of strain on the tracks, causing lots of thrown links. The curve of the tracks was improved and more powerful engine was fitted. This became the Mk V**

Mkv Tank

Bovington has two variants of the Mk V (Mk 5) on show, the original Mk V and the Mk V**.

The Mk V came into service in 1918 and saw action along side the White Russian forces during the Russian Civil War after a few successful actions on the Western Front, including the Battle of Hamel. It's main, significant, improvement was the introduction of a new engine system that featured an advanced gearing system that enabled one person to control the steering instead of the four required to drive the Mk IV, allowing the addition of two extra machineguns and a number of pistol ports around the chassis.

Looking at some of the detail shots, you can visibly see the influences for the archaic Leman Russ tank design from GW. 

These last two are of a spare sponson from the inside. I'm assuming these are for the Mk V, but they were half way between the Mk V and another, later model.

Next up will be the Mk V**

MK4 Tank

After the Mk1 there were two minor evolutions of the design, both primarily training vehicles though the Mk2 did see one battle. The Mk4 is the next evolution of this and was basically an up-armoured version of the Mk1 with some safety adjustments, such as an external fuel tank and a narrower chassis to allow for rail transportation.

This is one of 7 surviving Mk4s left in the world (our of 1220!) and only one of two Male variants left. I think it truly does deserve it's designation Excellent. Very Bill & Ted!

The Males were equipped with three machine guns and 2 6 pounder guns. The Females carried 5 machine guns.

MK1 Tank at Bovington

Well, as promised, here is the first of an ongoing series of Tank related posts from Bovington. Today is the MK1... the first tank to appear on a battlefield. In the first post we saw Little Wille, a prototype tank from the British Landships Committee in 1915. The Mk1 is an evolution of this design and the challenges of trench warfare. The design was low to the ground and mounted the armament on the sites rather than the top to lower its center of gravity when climbing trenches.

It carried a crew of 8 who had to be equipped with leather and chainmail body and face armour to provide protection against fragments of metal ricocheting around inside the large metal box. The crew shared the central compartment with the engine, so were subject to high temperatures and noxious fumes.

Weighing in at over 28 tonnes this was a beast. The Male version carried two 6 pounder cannons and 3 8mm machine guns. The wheels behind the tank were steering wheels and allowed some form of simple steering that didn't involve complicated co-ordination between the 4 crew dedicated to steering the lumbering beast.