Landships II

compound eye · Colonel

Turning the Takom Mk.I Male into a supply tank. Rear bin question.

Pierantonio · Lieutenant-Colonel

We discuss about the rear bin in this thread but we didn't reach any definitive conclusion. The most intersting explanation comes from Helen.

landships.activeboard.com/t61032415/mark-i-supply-tank/

compound eye · Colonel

Thanks.

I don't really understand what is being suggested though. An angled roof with reinforcing straps? I knew the roof was angled, but why would it be 3 plates, unless one was required to be moveable - likea hatch? Clearly, full width plates were possible, as the rear of the box - photo quality allowing - appears unbroken and Dodo's rear marking has no telltale panel breaks in it.

Since you appear [from the thread you linked] to be planning the same project as me, what is your opinion about the plated over sponsons? On photos the plate looks plain, with no rivets & internal angle iron joining them together at the front corner. Presumably, the rivet holes in the sponson body were used to mount the plates, but it surprises me that the plates don't look as if the are joined along the corner that they form.

I wonder if we might have to make allowances for 'pragmatic license' and accept builder choices that are not fully demonstrable in photographs.

I know the Mk.I was a huge learning curve, but I am still deeply troubled by the idea of a huge storage bin that could not be unloaded from the rear. It doesn't make any kind of practical sense to me.

compound eye · Colonel

Boom! Here, is a thought... Just had another look at the rear of Dodo.

I reckon those two straps are riveted on 'barn hinges' [for want of a better term], and the whole top section swings up like the lid on a roadside 'rock-salt' bin, or an old metal dumpster.

Now I have seen that. I cant see anything else. It would make sense that the bin lid can be propped up - like a car bonnet - with a stay, and soldiers reach over the low back panel to unload it.

I also think I now see a double row of staggered rivets on the corners of the sponson blanking plates, where they form a corner.

-- Edited by compound eye on Wednesday 18th of November 2015 09:14:13 PM

Pierantonio · Lieutenant-Colonel

You asked what is my opinion and I answer we had the some idea: a cover can be propped up just like a car bonnet with hinges on the upper hull plate.
In my opinion this the most logical and practical thing.
Another option may be a central door can be flipped on one side.
As a first option I thought to some movable sheet but this is not the best idea because you had to move covers, load or unload the bin and then again put covers in place. Just a nice way to broke or lose some part and very slow to operate.

-- Edited by Pierantonio on Wednesday 18th of November 2015 11:23:16 PM

compound eye · Colonel

Exactly what I was think of!

I would suggest maybe a bent & rolled 'lip' on the front edge of the lid, rather than a handle. The form of a handle is not visible in any of the photos and, although they are bad quality, they are clear enough to show the hinge straps. A lip would also overlap the bin slightly and help keep muck out of it. Whether there was any latch, or even a basic locking handle, who knows... Same with the hull door - did the bin have a rear wall, was the hull door fitted / left off / blanked? Who knows... Much less of an issue though, unless you insist on modelling an open bin.

Pierantonio · Lieutenant-Colonel

Usually, when I have poor or no pictures, I try to thing as a soldier on the field.
Well, I have some MkI we had to convert to supply and little or no time to do these since the motorpool is crowed of out-of-service tank waiting for repair.
Is there a door in the backside just behind the wall of the bin? No problem at all! Keep it closed and all work fine.
Blanking or welding it is only a waste of precious time and leave it off useless if you don't want to have a hole just in backside of your tank.