Landships II

Nice work; you know, one of these days I'm going to have to stop admiring these card models and actually build some. Shocking!

The beta-build of the white model is done.  I have some tweaks to make, then start coloring. The tailwheel assembly is so fiddly and delicate, I might add a simplified version. 

With a few fairly minor changes I can make the MkII and MkIII from this MkI.

I am still battling with the female sponsons, and hoping Helen gets around to them soon.

Hi Wayne,

Just wanted to say how nice it is to see a MK1 in card model form. I really like what you've done.

Oh but do remember to look at my plans section for updates, I am still learning about my favourite tank, even all these years later. Yesterday I noticed 'another' flaw in my plans... I've missed out the pistol port in the lower part of the hull at the front of the tank. 

Helen x

The female sponson I'm afraid is on hold until such time as I can get to Bovi to take measurements. Unfortunately I can't see this happening any time soon. Sorry.

Helen,

The bow pistol port doesnt seem to show on many photos.  It appears to be only a few inches blow the prow and a few inches port of the centerline.  In the photos I found quickly on LII I dont see a rotating cover plate such as are seen on the other pistol ports around the cupola and sponsons, etc.  It wouldnt make a lot of sense to leave that one uncovered.

Wayne

Hi Wayne the secound rather grainy pic is almost certainly Airfix I think from the last but one issue of this kit....

Color pic A13  "We're all in it" female though...

Great models by the way

Cheers

Helen,

The bow pistol port info was a great help.  Thanks.

Your photo and the one from Ironsides show muted colors of tan, brown and medium green.  Do you believe these photos were originally in color, or were they snapped as B/W and "colorized" later?  The colors are also similar to what we see on the museum vehicle photo you sent with the bow pistol port message.  I can understand the colors fading with time and exposure to the elements, so they might have been darker and a bit brighter when fresh.  I do not see garish any blues or yellows.  The full multi-views imply that someone has evidence of patterns and colors on all major surfaces - maybe a partial view or two supplemented by lots of imagination?

Do you know whether the Osprey MkI book has color plates that might be of use in this?

Regards,

Wayne

Wayne, in my opinion the colour plate in the Osprey MkI book which depicts camouflage painted tanks is not particularly accurate, but primary sources about the colours employed are very limited. The best written description I have found was written by a newpaper reporter in 1917. He recalled observing the tanks near dusk on the evening of Sept. 14, 1916, and wrote "The brutes were all painted in blotched reptilian colours, hues of rattlesnake and iguana, yellow and dull grey and black and mottled brown, and in the fading light, against the brown-green earth they were strangely invisible". Part of the confusion about colour stems from the fact that the camouflage paint applied to the tanks in Britain (possibly red and yellow ochre with shades of green) was overpainted in more muted tones immediately after the tanks arrived in France.

I suspect that the colour photos in the previous posts are hand tinted reproductions of monochrome originals.

There are only a few photos which show these tanks from above, but none that I have seen show camouflage paint on the roof of the hull, cab or sponsons.

Each of the three tank companys which saw action on the Somme appears to have painted a slightly different camo scheme on their tanks. Regarding the Airfix painting guides seen above, the one on the right shows the "C" Company style, and the one on the left shows the "A" Company style. 

Hi Wayne,

Looks good, I think though that the red/brown needs to be more red, the Linen wants to be paled right down... but I like the green. Colours are such a personal thing, but normally the rule of thumb is start with as near the right colours as you can (They were often mixed from pigment and what ever oil was to hand when painted in the feild)... then pale it down for a scale effect.

This is the post Rhomboid is talking about... Camo it looks really interesting.

Can't wait to see the final model.

Helen x

Wayne, check out the "Solomon's Camouflage" thread on page 2 of the Camouflage and Markings sub-forum for info on the Humbrol equivalents for Royal Engineers paint colours from WW1.

Helen,

One of the replies in the referenced thread included mixes for humbrol paints.  I will "sample" the color swatches from the Humbrol website and weight the the RGB values to arrive at an approximation.  I'll report what I come up with.

In the meantime, I have started assembling the MkI Female in a lighter shade of gray than I used on the male.  It is going slowly due to other demands on my time, plus a cat and a pair of Scottish terriers each of whom seems to think it has first priority on my attention. 

- Wayne -

Helen,

Dragonfly.2 has colors matching the Fredriksson's burnt umber and yellow ochre.  The brown is redder than the dark earth and the yellow ochre is more toned-down compared to the linen.  Dragonfly.3 is like 2, but with a partially transparent dark gray overspray to tone down and darken the colors a bit.

- Wayne -

Romboid,

Thanks.  It is really good info.

- Wayne -

Hi Wayne, 

I like the light grey.

Glad the info was helpfull, just wish I had the measurements to make an accurate plan of the female sponsons.

Don't hate me... but I think the cut in between the two machine gun sheilds might be to deep. Push the rear gun against the foward one, and there should be only a little gap between the gun and the back of the cut in. It's such a hard part of the tank to work out by eye... really must get some measurements somewhen this year.

Hope that make sense. 

Helen x

Helen,

Changing the cut-in proved to a minor job.  I made the shields a tad larger and added the cut-in filler plate.  Took maybe half an hour.  The photos show a new sponson next to the gray model.

Regards,

- Wayne - 

Helen,

Here are some pix of the MkI female, C4 Chablis.  This time, I am coloring the edges, so it will take me a bit longer than usual to finish it.  It looks like I have a few tweaks to make in the camouflage.  I picked C5 Creme de Menthe for the male.

I haven't yet decided apply a mid-range gray to both basic models.  As for Mother, hmmm, I hear the rivet pitch is smaller than on the production MkI, so I would have to re-do a lot of rivets.  No promises on that.

Regards,

Wayne

TCT,

Yup.  Wasn't paying close enough attention to that.  I'll reverse the "toblerones" when I adjust the camouflage mismatches. 

More pix of C4 in progress.

Regards,

Wayne

Hi Wayne,

That's a really nice looking model. Make your tweaks and sit back and be proud of what you've achieved. Can't wait to see the final model.

Helen x

TCT

Three more pics taken in natural light.  Artificial light, like that in most of my pics, sometimes makes the colors brighter than natural light.  That said, "ochre" should have a bit of yellow in it anyway.  Otherwise, the color used would have been described as "sand", or "khaki". 

Rhomboid's paper indicates that all were repainted in more muted colors upon arrival in France, but the eye-witness descriptions of the repainted MkI's are still of odd colors.  The brutes were all painted in blotched reptilian colours, hues of rattlesnake and iguana, yellow and dull grey and black and mottled brown, and in the failing light, against the brown-green earth, they were strangely invisible.

"A" company camo has larger patches and smoother edges, and thin black lines within the larger patches instead of dividing them.  I might use a more sand-like color when I do one of those. 

I turned the "toblerones" around with minimal effort and will re-print that sheet before I make the male MkI.

Regards, Wayne