His Majesty’s Land Ship
More popularly known as the tank, the name that stuck rather than HMLS, this is the 1/76 Airfix World War One Tank Mk.1; and a suitable subject methinks for a post this Armistice day (11th November 2017) .
Yet another old kit from a bygone era that can still be made into something that doesn't look too shabby.
The kit was acquired as an unfinished project from a deceased estate which I used as a spray mule to begin with.
It was an ignominious though useful start for this particular build, as various coats of primer, pre-shading, khaki/green paint, post shading, washes, and dry brushing etc..were tried out.
At some point I decided that this Airfix kit actually doesn't look too bad...so, on went the rest of the bits, the tracks were weathered up and some very generic identification bands painted on, which I'm now reliably informed weren't applied for the 1916 iteration of the Land Ship.
Never mind, no cigar for me!
The kit decals were long lost, so this really is a generic representation of a Mark 1, along with some spurious red & white bands, which at least add a splash of colour to all that khaki/olive green.
Completed earlier this year around March of 2017, it now sits in my cabinet amongst the 1/72 aircraft and really cries out for a suitable diorama or base as it is rather a lone subject...I much prefer 1/35 if I'm doing armour.
The build's not quite over then, as a diorama type base of some sort is in the offing..perhaps next year, but I've yet to try my hand at this.
In the meantime thanks for looking.
Nice lookin' presentation, sir...well done! 🙂
Thanks Craig ?
Good work to bring this old kit up to scratch.
Appreciated!
It's actually a nice kit and the tooling isn't worn out so the fit is still pretty good.
I love it. It wasn't immediately obvious what scale it was in, which is always a good sign.
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Cool. 🙂 Very cool.
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Great build Marek,I love this kit and have built three up to now including a rather basic diorama that might give you some inspiration ,they are all on Pg 6 of my gallery here.From what I have read these tanks left the factory in battleship grey and were painted up in the field which is why they all look different so your tank is quite likely correct.
Great work Marek,N.
Thanks for the tip, like your work by the way!
Excellent build Marek, the weathering looks really nice.
I made one of these for my sister. It was for a school history project in the late 60s. That one came in a plastic bag.
As I'm sure you know, the tanks used a naval 6lb gun. The Navy trained the Army to use these weapons burning The Great War. This was done at the Royal Navy's Gunnery School, HMS Excellent.
At the end of hostilities, the Army presented the Navy with a Mk. IV tank, which they christened Excellent.
HMS Excellent is an island made from the spoil after the dry docks were excavated at Portsmouth Dockyard. The main link to the Naval Establishment, is a bridge. But for heavier loads, the island can be reached by a causeway during low tide. During WWII, the Home Guard used the causeway to take the Mk. IV on manoeuvres along Southsea Front. They managed to damage a few cars, and was never taken ashore again.
When I was a 13 year old Naval Cadet at Excellent, I can remember the tank in question, looking down on us when we were on the parade ground.
The Navy presented it back to the Army. It's now on show at The Tank Museum, Bovington.
Click on the link below, scroll down the thumbnails on the right, you will see photos when the Home Gaurd gave her a run ashore.
http://www.tankmuseum.org/museum-online/vehicles/object-e1972-63
Thanks for the info & the link Julian. Very interesting and helps fill some of the gaps in my very meagre knowledge on the subject matter.
PS. I remember those poly bag Airfix series 1 kits very well.
The Mark 1 didn't seem to have that many outings, compared to some other subjects on that well trodden Airfix re-release circuit until quite recently.
Your welcome, I know very little about the subject myself really.
I don't know if you've heard of the site scalemates?
It gives details about when kits were released and updated.
Try the link below for an example.
https://www.scalemates.com/products/product.php?id=100266&p=timeline
Nice job Marek, especially in that scale. And I agree it begs for a dio. Tanks just look better in the field than say on a wash rack or in the motor pool.
I'm taking advice from my fellow modeller mates who are more expert in dio building, so I guess watch this space as I'll try my hand at one sometime in the new year (2018).
Marek, its a nice model but sorry to be a nitpicker but the red/white identification stripes weren't used until 1918 on the Mark Iv and Mark V tanks. No Mark One ever had them.
Logged & noted.
Very nice - such an icon of the Great War. Nice touch on the finish.
Thanks Greg ?