Grant British Command Tank - case report

Lads !!!

     The problem of the command in a battlefield between tanks is very complex. The speed of the vehicles in movement and fluidity of the front conditions require that the Commander have to be very close to the action, to avoid errors and mistakes.

Monty thinking about...

     But somehow , he must be protected, because if the enemy identify the Commander, he becomes a priority target.

Battle between tanks ... a very complicated thing!!

       A Command Vehicle must be robust, reliable, spacious (maps and extra radios) and not call attention to themselves. The specialized command vehicles normally are very characteristic and therefore, a true magnet for the enemy fire. As examples among the British, we can mention the AEC Dorchester and Guy Lizard.

AEC Dorchester command vehicle

Guy Lizard command vehicle

      But these vehicles, although excellent, comfortable and spacious, were easily identifiable. One option was to disguise the appearance of the vehicle, to confuse him with another "anonymous" vehicle...

AEC Dorchester disguised as a cargo truck

...but nonetheless, because they are not armored, the Commander was exposed to enemy fire. A tank would be the ideal option, but the problem was the lack of the internal space.

      But the British had a very spacious tank: the Grant Cruiser Tank Mk I: The "Iron Cathedral":

Grant Mk I Cruiser tank

      The Grant was one of the most roomy tanks, but it was still tight for a command vehicle.

Monty thinking about...

      Its 75mm gun (plus ammo shells) in the hull and its turret cramped with gun and machine guns turned the large on the tight.

M3 Lee cutaway - The Grant was almost the same...

      The solution: Remove the armament of a Grant. The resulting tank would be extremely spacious: Grant Command Tank:

Two views of the same Grant Command Tank in Sicily.
Notice the absence of 75mm gun in the hull and the
dummy gun (75mm fake)  in the turret.

      Wow !!! That´s great !!! But I found another Gran Command Tank, with field adaptations in its hull to confuse the profile of the Grant with a Sherman (British worshiped disguises and tricks ...). This is the beast:

Brand new Grant Command tank without markings...
Notice the steel plates in the front hull, as a Shermie (in long distance...)
The tank above is not the same as the photo below...

Grant Command Tank in field...Notice the details, like
front glacis, the ventilator bulge (fake) ...
everything to be similar to a Shermie

      The British disguised many tanks as trucks and also building "false" tanks to attract enemy fire ... The Jerrys were extremely inventive!!

Matilda II with "sunshield" like a truck.

Crusader dressing a truck sunshield...

A "Crusader" in a 15 CWT light truck

Other examples of disguises...

     Ok !!!  But what was written on the side of the Grant, in this photo?? The British love put names of famous hotels on their Command Cars (Dorchester, the English name of AEC Command Vehicle is the name a famous hotel in London, famous for space and comfort ...).
       There is a famous hotel with a name beginning with CLARI... and ending with ES ...
       Googling and bingo: CLARIDGES HOTEL!!!!

Grant Command Tank "CLARIDGES" in field

      Solved the historical problem, go to the specifications of the best:

Specs:

Grant Command Tank "CLARIDGES"
Type	Armoured Command Vehicle
Place of origin	United States
Service history
Wars	World War II
Specifications
Weight	26 t
Length	5.64 m
Width	2.72 m
Height	2,98 m
Crew	2 + 1 Senior Office
Armor	up to 51mm
Main armament	none
Secondary armament	.303 Bren MG
Engine	Wright (Continental) R975 EC2  400 hp - 340 hp
Transmission	Synchromesh, 5 speeds forward, 1 reverse
Suspension	vertical volute spring
Ground clearance	0.46 m
Fuel capacity	662 liters
Operational range	193 km
Speed	42 km/h (road) 26 km/h (off-road)
Steering system	controlled differential

The kit:
      To do this project (in 2010),  I used many parts of my box of scraps: hull from Tamiya, turret and fenders from Academy.

Tamiya and Academy Grants

      The tracks are "double I" or "waffles" pattern (WE 210) type exchanged for Dragon M4 Sherman II, wheels from my scrap box (Dragon too) . Tamiya´s wheels are wrong and the Academy are early type..

Suspension's recipe...What a mess!!!

The bogies were Tamiya. A real Frankenstein !!!

      The drive sprockets were Tamiya, but narrow for Dragon´s tracks: time for a little surgery:

increasing the width of the Tamiya's drive sprockets

Voiláá´...

      Building the steel plates for disguise:

Starting the plastic surgery...

      Improving the Grant´s rear because the Tamiya´s kit was all wrong: Parts of the scraps box ...

The new front glacis was done..

Building a ladder for easier access;

Some metal work...

Primmed...

Desert-yellow

      I redrew the blueprint with colors now, as guide for the markings of the tank:

Using a clear sheet of decal+ laser print:

   And the decals from Bison Decals (#35086)

CLARIDGES was born....

Making the crew's stuff on the rear deck ...
Tracing paper + PVA glue diluted in water...

     Alan McNeilly, a very good friend, warned me that I had forgotten to do the driver's periscope. Thanks, Alan.

Driver's periscope...It's easy to build one...

      And the CLARIDGES was done, ready for battle:

    Grant Command Tank "CLARIDGES". 3rd Royal Tank Regiment - 7th Armoured Division - Senior regiment - head-quarters - North Africa, 1942.

Grant Command Tank "CLARIDGES". 3rd Royal Tank Regiment
7th Armoured Division - Senior Regiment - Head-Quarters
 North Africa, 1942.

Grant Command Tank CLARIDGES- left side

Grant Command Tank CLARIDGES - rear view

Grant Command Tank CLARIDGES - right side

Grant Command Tank CLARIDGES with Kojak
and Rover, the dog...

Two desert girls:
Sherman II DV (2nd New Zealand Division)  with
 Grant Command Tank CLARIDGES (7th Armoured Division)
size comparison

Sherman II DV (2nd New Zealand Division)  with
 Grant Command Tank CLARIDGES (7th Armoured Division)
size comparison - front view

Sherman II DV (2nd New Zealand Division)  with
 Grant Command Tank CLARIDGES (7th Armoured Division)
size comparison

      See you soon, Lads !!!