Landship sailors!!
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a historic occasion: today's theme will be about the "First of Many", the Pathfinder of a new concept in terms of War... the prototype of the first tank built, and that has survived to this day. Today we'll talk about the great "Little Willie"!!
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The prototype "Little Willie" resting in his habitat, after many trials: the muddy testing ground at Cricklewood, north-west London, 1919. font: Imperial War Museum |
History:
The "Little Willie" was a prototype in the development of the British Mark I tank. Constructed in the autumn of 1915 at the behest of the Landship Committee, it was the first completed tank prototype in history.
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| British Mark I "male" tank (early) named C-15 near Thiepval, Battle of Somme, France - 25 September 1916 |
Little Willie is the oldest surviving individual tank, and is preserved as one of the most famous pieces in the collection of The Tank Museum in Bovington.
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| "Little Willie" at the Tank Museum, Bovington - England on a revolving pedestal - 3/4 front right view |
Development of a new weapon:
The works that would culminate in the "Little Willie's" was started in the beginning of 1915 by the Landship Committee to meet UK requirements in World War I for an armoured fighting vehicle that could fire a high explosive shell, capable of crossing a standard German trench of 2,40m x 1,20m. Various designs were tried ranging from vehicles that "walked", tractors with triple tracks to gigantic powered wheels. The trials with the Killen-Strait tractor were the most promising of all the designs tested. This farm tractor was produced in America since 1910. A unique feature was the presence of three sets of tracks. The front track was for steering, and the two rear ones for propulsion. The track links were also unusual: they were composed of hardwood and held together with chains. In order to reduce the amount of wear and increase resistance, the working surface of the tracks was covered in metal sheets.
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| Killen-Strait Tractor during trials... The vehicle seemed to be very agile... Wormwood Scrubbs, London - 30 June 1915 font: Imperial War Museum |
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| Another view of the Killen-Strait Tractor during trials... We can say that the tractor looks like a wild horse... Wormwood Scrubbs, London - 30 June 1915 font: Imperial War Museum |
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| ...but the Lads from 20th Squadron of R. N. A. S. are having a true good time! Killen-Strait Tractor in avaliation in Wormwood Scrubbs London, England - 30 June 1915 font: Imperial War Museum |
After successful first trials and a public demonstration on 30 June 1915, a contract was placed the following month for an armoured version, with a Delaunay-Belleville armoured body.
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| Killen-Strait Armoured Tractor roaring in trials, with R. N. A. S. in control. The first tracked, armoured vehicle that was actually built and tested London, England - July 1915 |
But as the testing program intensified, it became evident that the tractor was not the best option to be used as a development base for a viable prototype of a combat vehicle. It was too light and fragile to pass through the barbed wire alone, without infantry assistance, and that was practically a prerequisite for the battle conditions of the time. Aside from that, the armoured body of the Delaunay-Belleville on its chassis made the profile of the vehicle too tall, and an easy target for enemy gunners. Despite the fact that the vehicle was not approved for military produced, it remains in history as the world’s first tracked, armoured vehicle that was actually built and tested.
By 23 June 1915 the Landships Committee was in possession of a Killen-Strait tractor, two Diplock experimental 1-ton wagons and two Bullock "Creeper Grip" tractors purchased from the Bullock Tractor Company in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
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| Prototype Diplock Pedrail troop transport developed as an offshoot of the Landship Committee |
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| Image from a sales brochure for Bullock Tractor Co. of Chicago, USA. "Creeping Grip" tractor United States - 1914. |
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| Bullock Tractor Company sales Brochure - 1914 "Creeping Grip" agricultural tractor Chicago, Illinois - United States. |
The tests between the machines were prepared, with the trials and evaluations taking place at Burton-upon-Trent and Ministry of Munitions Experimental Ground at Wembley. The 20th R. N. A. S. was invited to help with the assessments because, at that time, the army was unable (or unwilling...) to provide support.
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| Two "Creeping Grip" Tractors, coupled together to form an articulated machine. Trials at Burton on Trent, June 1915 font: Imperial War Museum |
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| Bullock "Creeper Grip" tractor maneuvering with difficulty over rough terrain... Trials at Burton on Trent, June 1915 font: Imperial War Museum |
Two "Landships" were under construction, one based on the Diplock Pedrail concept and the other using the "Creepin-grip" tracks and suspension (modified) from the Bullock Tractor Company.
Lincoln Number 1 Machine
On 22 July 1915, William Ashbee Tritton, director of the agricultural machinery company William Foster & Company of Lincoln, who had a lot of experience in the manufacture of wheeled tractors for artillery, was given the contract to develop the "Tritton Machine", a machine that had the ability to climb a 1,5m bank, cross a 1,5m gap, be proof of armor-piercing bullets, carry a rapid-fire weapon and machine guns, and have a speed of about of 6,5 km/h.
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| Sir William Ashbee Tritton born: 19 June 1875 died: 24 September 1946 |
This vehicle would have two tracks, using elongated tracks (2,75m) and suspension elements (8 wheels instead of 4) from the Bullock Creeping Grip Tractor (see pics below).
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The Bullock "Creeper Grip" tractor tracked suspension in close up vision (left) Notice the idler wheel (left), 4 suspension wheels and drive sprocket (right). Trials at Burton on Trent, June 1915 font: Imperial War Museum |
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Tritton Machine suspension (elongated Bullock type) close up photo (right) Notice the idler wheel (right), 8 suspension wheels and drive sprocket (left). font: Imperial War Museum |
The Chairman of the Landship Committee, Sir Eustace Tennyson d’Eyncourt, gave the order for the experimental vehicle on 29 July 1915.
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| Sir Eustace Henry William Tennyson d'Eyncourt born: 1 April 1868 died: 1 February 1951 |
On 11 August 1915,construction of a real test vehicle began at the William Foster & Company. This first vehicle had a circular turret on top of the upper deck, as specified by the Landship Committee.
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| Tritton Machine under construction at William Foster & Company factory. Notice the large cylindrical tower and the absence of driver and co-driver front hatches, which would be cut later. Also note the large pivot axis of the suspension, on the lower side of the chassis |
On 16 August Sir William Ashbee Tritton decided to fit a wheeled tail to assist in steering. On 9 September the Lincoln Number 1 Machine, as the prototype Tritton Machine was then known, made its first test run in the yard of the William Foster & Company - Wellington Foundry, in New Boultham, London.
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| Lincoln Number 1 Machine with rear steering wheel |
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| Lincoln Number 1 Machine with elongated Bullock type tracks and suspension The vehicle was covered in canvas (with the Foster Lincoln logo) to disguise the profile. But the presence of the turret is fully perceptible... Wellington Foundry - New Boultham, London - 19 September 1915. font: Imperial War Museum |
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| Lincoln Number 1 Machine with elongated Bullock type tracks and suspension panting to climb a slight slope Wellington Foundry - New Boultham, London - 19 September 1915. font: Imperial War Museum |
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| Detail of the rear steering wheel on Lincoln Number 1 Machine trials at New Boultham, London - 19 September 1915. font: Imperial War Museum |
It soon became clear that the track profiles were so flat that ground resistance during a turn was excessive. To solve this, the suspension was changed so that the bottom profile was more curved. Then the next problem showed up: when crossing a trench the track sagged and then would not fit the wheels again and jammed. The tracks were also not up to carrying the weight of the vehicle (about 16 tons). Tritton and Lieutenant Walter Gordon Wilson tried several types of alternative tracks design.
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| Lieutenant Walter Gordon Wilson born: 21 April 1874 died: 1 July 1957 |
Tritton, on 22 September, devised a heavier, robust but outwardly crude system using pressed steel plates riveted to cast links and incorporated guides to engage on the inside of the track frame. The track frames as a whole were connected to the main body by large spindles. This system was unsprung, as the tracks were held firmly in place, able to move in only one plane. This was a successful design and was used on all First World War British tanks up to the Mark VIII, although it limited speed.
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| British Mark VIII tank - 1918 font: Imperial War Museum |
The vehicle's 13 litre 105 bhp (78 kW) Daimler-Knight engine, gravity fed by two petrol tanks, was at the back, leaving just enough room beneath the turret. The prototype was fitted with a non-rotatable dummy turret mounting a machine gun; a Vickers Maxim 2-pounder (40 mm) gun ("Pom-pom") was to have been fitted, with as many as six Madsen machine guns to supplement it.
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| Vickers Maxim 2pdr. 40mm Mk II automatic gun guarding a train against air attack - Mesopotamia, 1918 |
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| Madsen machine gun |
The main gun would have had a large ammunition store with 800 rounds, but in the event the turret idea was abandoned and the aperture in the hull plated over. In the front of the vehicle two men sat on a narrow bench; one controlling the steering wheel, the clutch, the primary gear box and the throttle; the other holding the brakes. Overall length of the final version with the lengthened tracks and rear steering wheels in place was 8.08m. The length of the main unit without the rear steering wheels installed is 5.87m.
Most mechanical components, including the radiator, had been adapted from those of the Foster-Daimler heavy artillery tractor.
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| Foster-Daimler hauling a wagon during the Battle of the Somme Amiens-Albert road, France - September 1916 |
As at least four men would have been required to operate the armament, the crew could not have been smaller than six. The maximum speed was indicated by Tritton as being no more than 3,2 kilometers per hour. The vehicle used no real armour steel, just boiler plate; it was intended to use 10mm plating for production.
Little Willie
As we saw earlier, the big problem detected in the field tests with Lincoln Number 1 Machine, was the low reliability of the "american" tracks, although it demonstrated the ability to cross a small trenches. The prototype vehicle was rebuilt with an extended new designed tracks and new suspension.
About the new suspension, the detail is: the tank had no spring and all the tracks run around the frames on rollers but there was absolutely no springing or damping. So, whatever kind of ground that tank went over was going to be rough and bumpy and this was felt right through the vehicle.
We can see in this type of arrangement the beginning of the concept of rhomboidal tracks, characteristic of the first British tanks.
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| Comparison of profiles between Tritton machines, with American tracks and suspension (above) and the modified English ones (below). |
With this configuration, the reconstructed prototype was named "Little Willie", presented a much better maneuverable and reliability in rough terrain than the Lincoln Number 1 Machine.
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| The Lincoln Number 1 Machine modified with new suspensions and tracks: Little Willie. Notice the absence of the turret in the upper deck. font: Imperial War Museum |
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Right side view of Little Willie, still with the rear steering wheel and without the turret, for testing purposes. font: Imperial War Museum |
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| 3/4 rear right side view of Little Willie font: Imperial War Museum |
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Little Willie testing the new tracks and suspensions, huffing and puffing on hard ground at Burton Park, near Lincoln. Notice the ballast weights, installed in the void spaces of the suspension, to simulate the full combat weight - December, 1915. font: Imperial War Museum |
The origin of the name Little Willie seems to be a touch of the typical British humor. The military adopted the name that was used by the British yellow press to mock the German Imperial Crown Prince Wilhelm; The Little Willie's successor vehicle was for a time known as Big Willie, in reference to Wilhelm's father, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany. In those times, cartoonist William Kerridge Haselden had made a popular anti-German propaganda cartoons with these characters.
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Reproduction of cover and content of cartoons with Big and Little Willie by William Kerridge Haselden font: Daily Mirror |
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| William Kerridge Haselden born: 3 December 1872 dead: 25 December 1953 |
The trials with Little Willie continued until December, 1915, but Lieutenant Walter Gordon Wilson was unhappy with the basic concept of the Tritton Machine, even with the great improvement in performance resulting from the replacement of the suspension by the new model and the heavy type tracks.
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Little Willie testing its maneuverability, passing through a flooded trench, in the trials at Burton Park, near Lincoln. Notice the ballast weights, installed in the void spaces of the suspension, to simulate the full combat weight - December, 03- 1915. font: Imperial War Museum |
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| Same sequence of photos from the tests on December 3, 1915. Little Willie going up a steep slope, in the hills of Burton Park, near Lincoln - Great Britain. font: Imperial War Museum |
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| Little Willie climbing a ravine, with maximum power... Test field of Burton Park, near Lincoln - Great Britain. December, 03 - 1915. font: Imperial War Museum |
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| Little Willie in a more comfortable situation, down a hill at Burton Park, near Lincoln - Great Britain. December, 03 - 1915. font: Imperial War Museum |
On 17 August, Lieutenant Walter Gordon Wilson suggested to Tritton the idea of using the new heavy tracks that ran all around the vehicle, in what would be known conceptually as the Rhomboidal Tank. With d'Eyncourt's approval, the construction of a prototype (Big Willie) began on 17 September.
For this prototype (also known as "Wilson Machine", "HMLS [His Majesty's Land Ship] Centipede", "Big Willie" and, later still, "Mother"), a rhomboid track frame was fitted, taking the tracks up and over the top of the vehicle. The rear steering wheels were retained in an improved form, but the idea of a turret was abandoned and the main armament placed in side sponsons. But that's another story...
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| A simplified cutaway drawing of the prototype of the british rhomboidal tank |
As the concept of the larger Big Willie proved more promising than its smaller brother, the tests with Little Willie were not so extensive and when they ended, it was moved to Cricklewood, at north-west London, where it was stored.
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The prototype "Little Willie" resting in his habitat, after many trials: the muddy testing ground at Cricklewood, north-west London, 1919. Notice the rear hull of the experimental amphibious converted Mark IX Tank with your floats, in the background. The Mk IX's air intake pipes and exhaust are visible in the background, over the Little Willie's profile. font: Imperial War Museum |
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| Just to illustrate the pictures above and below: The experimental amphibious Mark IX Tank "The Duck" heads into Brent (Welsh Harp) Reservoir, for buoyancy and displacement trials in the water. Albeit slow, it did have some success. 11 November 1918 font: Imperial War Museum |
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Left view of "Little Willie" in the misty Cricklewood, north-west London, 1919. The Mk IX's air intake pipes and exhaust are visible in the background, over the Little Willie's silhouette. font: Imperial War Museum |
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Right view of "Little Willie" at Cricklewood, north-west London, 1919. The Mk IX's right rear portion of tracks are visible in foreground, on the left side of the photo. font: Imperial War Museum |
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| 3/4 front right view of "Little Willie" Cricklewood, north-west London, 1919. font: Imperial War Museum |
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| Front view of "Little Willie" Cricklewood, north-west London, 1919. font: Imperial War Museum |
The term "Tank" was used for the vehicles at this time as part of secrecy measures. The requirement for a suitable name had been recognised as the term "Landship" was thought to be too descriptive. Mr d’Eyncourt suggested the term "Water Carrier" as the cover name, but as government departments tended to be referred to by their initials this idea was (obviously...) rejected and the name "Tank" adopted; hence the Landships Committee became the Tank Supply, or TS Committee.
In 1922 the Royal Tank Regiment adopted a folk song called "My Boy Willie" as its regimental march.
Little Willie was preserved for posterity after the Great War, having been saved from being scrapped in 1940. That rumor would be that, Little Willie was spared the scrapping because it would be transported to Gloucestershire and placed on an airfield to act as a local defense in case of attack by German paratroopers.
But this is highly unlikely, because as already mentioned, the vehicle was not armored: any projectile or bullet would pass right through it. And since it never carried weapons, his contribution to combat would be practically nil. And, most importantly, after all these years of storage, from the end of WWI to the beginning of WWII, the vehicle had practically all its automotive components removed, being, at the time, without engine or transmission.
But unfortunately, many other important prototypes were not so lucky. In this roster, we can include the "Mother", who possibly were discarded during the invasion scare.
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| "Big Willie" or "Mother" on field trials at Burton Park, Lincoln - England - January 1916. right view font: Imperial War Museum |
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| "Big Willie" or "Mother" on field trials at Burton Park, Lincoln - England - January 1916. 3/4 front right view font: Imperial War Museum |
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| "Big Willie" or "Mother" going down a hill on field tests at Burton Park, Lincoln - England - January 1916. font: Imperial War Museum |
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| "Big Willie" or "Mother" crossing a ditch. The heavy-duty tracks are working great!! at Burton Park, Lincoln - England - January 1916. font: Imperial War Museum |
Today, "Little Willie" is proudly displayed at The Tank Museum in Bovington, England, with the deserved prominence of being one of the most important prototypes in the Tank History lineage. It is essentially an empty hull, with no engine or transmission, but still with some internal fittings.
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| "Little Willie" at the Tank Museum, Bovington - England on a revolving pedestal - 3/4 front left view |
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| "Little Willie" at the Tank Museum, Bovington - England on a revolving pedestal - 3/4 rear right view |
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| Drawing with mechanical parts of "Little Willie" |
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| Digital reconstruction of the mechanical parts of the "Little Willie" |
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| Interior of the "Little Willie" - rear to front view Notice the right hand sterring wheel. |
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| "Little Willie"´s driver and co-driver stations in close-up |
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| Interior of the "Little Willie" - front to rear view |
The rear steering wheels are not fitted and there is a damage to the hull plating around the right-hand vision slit, possibly caused by an attempt to tow the vehicle by passing a steel cable through this hatch. This would have ripped the tank's comparatively thin steel casing. When this was done is not known for certain, but thankfully the damage was not greater.
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| The front hull of "Little Willie" showing off your scars... Tank Museum, Bovington - England |
Specs:
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| Blueprint of Little Willie with ballast weights, installed in the void spaces of the suspension, in the right view |
| "Little Willie" prototype | |
|---|---|
| Type | Prototype tank |
| Place of origin | United Kingdom |
| Service history | |
| In service | N/A |
| Production history | |
| Designed | July 1915 |
| Manufacturer | Fosters of Lincoln |
| Produced | August–September 1915 |
| No. built | 1 |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 16.2 tons (full operational) |
| Length | 5.87m 8.08m with steering wheels |
| Width | 2.87 m |
| Height | 2.51 m to top of hull 3.10 m to top of turret |
| Crew | (Projected) 6 |
Main armament | Projected: Vickers 2-pdr. 40mm gun |
Sec. armament | Projected: Maxim, Hotchkiss, Lewis or Madsen mg. |
| Engine | Foster Daimler Knight sleeve valve petrol 105 hp (78 kW) |
| Power/weight Armour | 6 hp/tonne (4.5 kW/tonne) from 10 to 15 mm |
| Transmission | 2-speed forwards, 1 reverse final drive by Renolds chains |
| Suspension | Unsprung |
| Max. speed | 3.2 km/h |
The kit:
For this commission project, I will use the excellent resin kit from Accurate Armour "Little Willie"(#K016).
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| Accurate Armour "Little Willie" kit box art |
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Accurate Armour "Little Willie" kit |
As usual, we started our work with a visual inspection, observing details of the kit... Hmm... a lot of parts, which makes Kojak itchy hands... even more so when the kit is made of resin... The thing promises! !!
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| Accurate kit...always, a good choice in resin kits... |
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| But, like every resin kit, some shit happens!!! I love link-by-lenghttracks, but hate fractures... Kojak will need surgery around here... |
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| Here, too... |
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| Man... looks like the packer was drunk on this kit.... |
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| Again...and again... |
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| And again. Here, was easy...Kojak found the fragment in the plastic bag... |
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| Starting by the sponsons, accessories wheels and the sprockets... The sponsons are in dry-run, to test the fittings... |
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| Although Accurate says in the instructions that the steps will be hidden by the tracks, I decided to level the surface of the tracks of the tracks, to avoid positioning accidents... I love my dental tools in my Dremel... |
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| After everything is lined up, let's glue the two halves of the sponsons... |
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| A very sickening deformity!!! |
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| Notice in the yellow arrows the discrepancy in dimensions: misaligned anterior portion and correct sponson (whew) as it is perfectly aligned, as we can see in the perpendicular yellow arrow. The "treatment" consists of a vertical cut, on the inner face of the sponson, to shorten this portion (green arrow) |
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| Surgery performed: vertical cut and posterior bonding with super-glue of the anterior portion. The thickness of the cut (0.4mm) performed by the cutting disk was enough for the piece to realign itself again... |
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| Sponson and sprocked lined up... The inner portion retreated 0.4mm (red arrow)... Really, the guys can celebrate!! Hurrah!! |
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| And this rough line will be hidden, because it is the inner face of the sponson!! Kojak is a true plastic surgeon!! |
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| The two sponsons, side by side... |
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| Willie's main body came with a waist, maybe resin contraction (red arrows)... Although I'm a Marilyn fan, at this point a waist is not something to be desired... Let's make some supports with Plastruct and resin pieces. .. Green forces against red forces.... |
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| The front portion also features a waistband, but this will easily be corrected when the front armor plate is installed... The rear has the same detail... |
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| Little Willie's Body fully corrected. Notice that the rear armor corrected the contraction... |
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| And speaking about corrections, let's fix the broken links: plasticard with a thickness of 0.5mm will be enough... First, we cut the plastic, glued it with super glue and then cut the excess... |
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| Something like this... |
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| The same surgery developing... |
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| Plastruct 6.4mm in diameter as a template... no chance of error!!! Right side... |
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| The same template for the left side!! Piece of cake!! |
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| Adding some photo-etched parts (red) and a little detail in plastic (yellow arrow) |
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| Metal in the left sponson... |
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| ...and in the right sponson, too! |
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| Soooo cute this Little Willie!!! |
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| This boy will go far...when he grows up, he will become a Battle Tank!! |
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| Starting the remnants of steering wheels device, in the rear. The vertical "blades" are extremely thin and fragile... |
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| Hydraulic and mechanical parts of the apparatus... |
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| Everything installed and well aligned... |
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| I decided to make the tail light of the tank... I thought it looked really cool and, unfortunately, the kit doesn't reproduce it. A little scratch is always good.... |
I was attacked by the Carpet Monster! One of the damn headlights just disappeared from my tweezers and the adjacencies... I could build the girl without the headlights, as it's in many pictures, but we'll spend two headlights from Elf Production of Model Accessories
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| The disease... and the cure!!! Damn carpet-monster... |
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| Phew!! I liked the end result... left side |
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| Right side |
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| The little tank is getting really cool... |
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| Practically ready for painting... |
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| Yes...very cute!!! |
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| The splash-bullet blades in the top... Next step: PAINT!!! |
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| Two old gals, side by side: Little Willie and renault FT17 75BS prototype SPG |
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| Little Willie, after primer and color base (greenish gray) left side |
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| Greenish gray with tones... |
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| A little added volume, with the tonal variations... |
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| Rear view |
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| Starting the wash...left view |
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| Crude wash - right view |
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| Wash in the beginning... rear view |
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| Wash in the blending phase... |
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| Things are getting better... |
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| Rear view |
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| Weathering "old-school" |
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| As they say in Brazil: "Old pot is what makes good food!!" |
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| Almost there.... |
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| Applying dust and wet earth effects with the airbrush... left side |
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| Right side |
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| Rear view |
And Little Willie was ready. My option was to characterize the vehicle as fresh from the proving ground of Burton Park, in December, 1915 but without the rear-wheel-steering apparatus. Our tank also does not have the Fulton factory plate, which is seen in the factory yard photos and in the Bovington Tank Museum, as well as the markings painted (decals) on the sides.
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| The option is for the absence of the Fulton's plate (red arrows) trying to represent the "operational" version (green arrow) Our Little Willie also doesn't show the horseshoe of good luck (blue arrow), from the beginning of the works... |
In the photos of the "operational" vehicle (in tests...), this plate is not visible... And that's how I decided to portray our girl!!
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| Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified" Test field of Burton Park, near Lincoln - Great Britain. December - 1915. |
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| Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified" front top view |
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| Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified" left side view |
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| Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified" left side view |
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| Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified" left rear view - The rear light was a nice touch.... |
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| Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified" right rear view The rear light was a nice touch.... |
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| Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified" top right rear view |
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| Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified" right side view |
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| Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified" 3/4 right front view |
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| Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified" right front view |
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| Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified" with Kojak and Rover, the dog. |
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| Two early AFV girls: Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified" with Renault FT 17 75BS prototype tank |
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| Separated by time: Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified" with Sherman II direct vision |
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| Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified" Test field of Burton Park, near Lincoln - Great Britain. December - 1915. |
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"Little Willie" - Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany Painted plywood caricature figure (flatback). Lord Roberts Memorial Workshops for Disabled Soldiers and Sailors (Fulham, London) Post-WWI era font:Imperial War Museum |
