Panzerserra Bunker- Military Scale Models in 1/35 scale: Mgebrov-White Russian Armoured Car - 1915

Tovarish !!!

Comrades...Leveraging the "WW I Wave", today, I'll show to you Guys, an old project (I built this Girl in 2008). The Mgebrov-White Soviet Armoured Car.

Ivan (the guy with mustache) having very strange thoughts ...

History:

Mgebrov-White was a cannon and machine-gun armored car of Russian Empire . Created in 1915 during the First World War, was projected by captain Vladimir Avelevich Mgebrov on the basis of a two-axle rear-wheel drive truck "White." Like other Mgebrov projects, Mgebrov-White was characterized by extensive use of angled armor plates, which increased its ability to be bulletproof.

The Mgebrov-White armored car was built in 1915 by Vladimir Avelevich Mgebrov as a one-off vehicle. Mgebrov was a Staff-Captain in the Russian Army at that time. The vehicle carried one Hotchkiss 37mm gun in the rear turret (with a rotation of 260°) and two 7,62mm Maxim machine guns. The later Mgebrov designs were a bit smaller and had a steeply sloped front end. They also eliminated the rearmost turret. There is evidence that the one – and only – Mgebrov-White was used up until 1918.

Firing range of the rear turret of Mgebrov-White

In the last months of 1917, the Russians withdrew of the battles of WWI to to engage in a civil war.. During their involvement in the Great War, from 1914 to 1917, the armored cars were very popular and lots of different kinds were designed and built. Cars had an easier time dealing with the extremes of Russian weather conditions. These cars soldiered on during the Polish – Soviet “War of Independence” (1919-1920), many were captured by the Poles and continued to be used until the late 20’s. The Poles won that war and became the only nation to have ever outright defeated the Soviet Army (...and this would not be forgotten years later in WWII).
Vladimir Mgebrov (sometimes written as "Mgebroff") was born in 1886, in Moscow, and was mortally wounded and died in 1915.

Staff-Captain Vladimir Avelevich Mgebrov (yellow arrow)
in the Izhorsk Plant, 1915

In his brief life he became a Captain in the Russian Army, invented a rifle grenade and bulletproof glass, and designed armoured cars. He was posthumously awarded the Order of Saint George, 4th Degree (one of Russia's highest honours). By most accounts, he was a hero. At the start of The Great War he was serving in the automobile company that became the driver training school for the military. In 1915 he designed armoured cars, and used the Izhorsk Plant, in Saint Petersburg, to turn those designs into reality. In total, there were 16 armoured cars of Mgebrov's design made at the Izhorsk Plant,: 12 on Renault chassis, and 1 each on White, Russo-Baltique, Benz, Pierce-Arrow, and Isotta-Fraschini chassis (the Izhorsk Plant made more than 16 armoured cars, but the others were not designed by Mgebrov).

Mgebrov-Renault armoured car

Mgebrov-White (left) under construction

Mgebrov Russo-Baltique

Mgebrov-Benz

Mgebrov- Pierce-Arrow

Mgebrov-Isotta-Fraschini

Like other Mgebrov projects, Mgebrov-White was characterized by extensive use of angled armor plates, which increased its ability to be bulletproof. The armoured car was built on the chassis of a 1.5-ton truck made by The White Motor Company of Cleveland, USA.

White 4x2 standard B truck

It was heavily armed, with two Maxim M1910 7.62mm machine-guns in barbettes, and a 37 mm Hotchkiss cannon in a turret at the rear. Armour thickness varied, but in most of the places likely to be hit, it was 7mm. It was a rear wheel drive vehicle, with twinned wheels on the rear axle. Maximum speed is estimated to have been around 42 kph, with a cross-country speed of 18 km/h.
By the autumn of 1915 "Mgebrov-White" with "Benz" and "Pierce-Arrow" were ready to be sent to the front. On September 15, their basis was formed 29th Car machine-gun Platoon, which was soon sent to Tbilisi , where he enrolled at the disposal of the Caucasian Army, fighting against the Turks . Summer of 1916, the material part of the platoon, including "Mgebrov-White" was returned to the factory Izhorsk for repair, after which the "White" with "Pierce-Arrow" again departed for the front.
After the October Revolution, the armored car apparently went to "red" and was used by them in battle. In particular, there is evidence of a cannon armored "White" in parts of the Red Army, defending on Kakhovsky bridgehead in 1920. The fate of this vehicle as of this date is unknown.

Specs:

Mgebrov-White armoured car
Place of origin Type	Russia armoured car
Service history
In service	1915-1920s
Production history
Designer	Vladimir Avelevich Mgebrov
Manufacturer	Izhorsk Plant
Produced	1915
Number built	1
Specifications
Weight	6 t
Length	4,87 m
Width	2,23 m
Height	2.39 m
Crew	4

Armour	7 mm
Main armament	37 mm gun Hotchkiss - 20 caliber
Secondary armament	2 × 7,62mm Maxim machine guns
Engine Fuel capacity	"White," gasoline, 4-cylinder carburetor, in-line, liquid cooling system, 3672 cc, 35 HP 100 lts.
Transmission	4x2 - 4 forward speeds and 1 reverse
Suspension	semi-eliptic leaf springs
Speed	18 km/h (off-road) 42 km/h (road)

The kit:

I bought this kit in an old eBay auction and I confess I was surprised by the look of it. The kit manufactured by Major Models (Russia) arrives in a very sturdy cardpaper box, with a box art in black and white profile of the Mgebrov-White. The parts are packaged inside with a lot of crumbled up styrofoam chips.

The kit box, from Ukraine

Their "resin" seemed plaster ... extremely fragile and brittle ...Parts in white metal (very soft) complete the package...

The instructions are spartan, but the kit comes with a metal stencil in very thin metal...

Photoetched stencil for markings...Very good !!

The instructions sheet

The front (metal) and rear (resin) axles

As the inferior portion of the hull was full of holes, I decided "open" the kit,
to have access to interior .Through the holes of turrets,
I could reinforce and to correct the "floor" of the kit:

I set up the wheels, checking the alignment. Mgebrov used solid tires.
I reinforced the rear pins with metal (cooper wire)

The kit's build was super-fast. The big challenge was to turn the rear turret in movable. First of all, I glued stripes of 2mm thickness plasticard in the inerior of the bottom of the turret and the interior basement of the turre, in the hull of the car. See the image below: I change the pic to show the scratch thing. Notice the hole just in the center of the turret basement...

Starting the Panzerserra's moveable turret device

See the diagram below: I opened a big hole in the hull's floor to allow the passage of a self tapping screw and a screwdriver. The hole in the plastic strip of the hull has a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the screw, so that he can spin freely. Likewise, the turret plasticard hole must be smaller than the diameter of the screw, so that it can lock in the turret bottom, firmly. The turret rotates, but not the screw. Later, the hole of the hull was capped with a thin plate plasticard, like as an access panel.