That is interesting. A former, shall we say, senior employee at QM told me that AWM were desperate to have Mephisto for themselves, and feared that if they ever got their hands on her/him QM would never see her/him again.
As regards the machine guns, I have thought many a time that it was odd that the 08 was water-cooled yet there was no sign of the tubes in any photos of the A7V. I assumed that they had found some way round it. (Come to think of it, what were the arrangements for the Vickers in the Mk I & II?) Or have the restorers made an assumption and maybe got it wrong? Some investigation required.
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"Sometimes things that are not true are included in Wikipedia. While at first glance that may appear like a very great problem for Wikipedia, in reality is it not. In fact, it's a good thing." - Wikipedia.
Not to stray off the topic, but why is there such a as you put it "desperate" desire to have it at the AWM instead of QM ? is it for the tourist attraction value ? or ??? just curious.
I have seen pictures of some people's models where they put a "tube" on their A7V MG's for the water line.
This was the 'vapour tube', not for supplying the gun with water, but to take away the vapour of water gone too hot. The gun mantles had a 'vapour valve' and thus could be
operated without said tubes, but it was thought the vapour cloud might betray the gun's position. On the A7Vs, vapour tubes were sometimes used and sometimes not. It is indeed
hard to imagine that a tiny vapour cloud should betray an A7V in combat. Perhaps, it was feared that the gunner's vision might be impaired by the vapour.
Fantastic. Thank you. As for QM's fears about AWM's desire to snaffle Mephisto, I can only repeat what I was told. I should have thought, though, that the reasons were obvious.
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"Sometimes things that are not true are included in Wikipedia. While at first glance that may appear like a very great problem for Wikipedia, in reality is it not. In fact, it's a good thing." - Wikipedia.
What surprises me is that no one has stepped up to "restore" Mephisto. If you look at all the various tanks out there being restored. You would think some one would try to do it. From what I have read. the insides are in bad shape, and it's only the outside that has been cared for. And yes I know it's all about the money, but still, some one !! I wonder if a fund raiser would be feasible.
-- Edited by Ned on Tuesday 13th of June 2017 03:49:10 PM
This is the only one left in the world and is too precious to risk driving over the countryside. There are a number of replicas that can do that. This has to last for the next 300+ years
