Having just ordered the mother-lode of supplies to go on top of 'Dodo', I now have a puzzling question -
'How was it tied down?'
This is puzzling me on several counts, as follows -
i/ I am not aware of any hooks or other tie-downs on top of Supply Tanks. ii/ Most of the stowage is very haphazardly / loosely piled against itself and not tied down at all - look at the flimsies in the middle of the roof & the crates / churn [oil can?] / tools just slung against the rear of the cab. iii/ The only way I can see anything being tied is by a rope going all the way around the rear bin on the roof and all around the bottom layer of flimsies - like a belt. iv/ The top layer of flimsies seem only to be kept in place by the weight of an enormous folded tarpaulin dumped on top. v/ What is that tarpaulin lashed to? - if the ropes over it are tied to the rope 'belt' around the bin & flimsies then the whole lot could be pulled off the roof if going over rough ground.
I would welcome any thoughts or theories as to what is tied onto where..!
Here is the original photo plus artists interpretation.
The Mk1 did have attachment points on the roof for the sponson derricks. The roof panel was bolted on, so loosening a bolt a few turns or swapping it for an eyebolt wouldn't have been difficult. I suspect the stiffening angle-iron bars across the roof were mild steel and therefore easily drilled. The Supply conversions were undertaken by Central Workshops, who had the facilities to do very significant engineering.
Stowage piled loose on the roof does seem to have been common on other tanks too. I recently used this photo as a muse for a model. Lots of cans and other stowage but no visible means of support.
BTW, the 2-gallon cans were NOT called "flimsies". That name was only applied to the WW2 4-gallon cans, which were indeed flimsy. The 2-gallon cars were surprisingly substantial and durable, intended for continued use.
Thanks for the input. Some interesting notions there...
From the angle of the rope over the front of the tarp - and allowing for the slight angle of the photo, I think it is safe to rule out the mounting bolts for the rearmost sponson jib.
Using the same criteria the forward rope seems to hit the roof at precisely the point of the 2nd roof spar from the back - ie the one just behind the rear of the sponson. In all likelihood this is also the approximate distance that the two rows - one orderly / one haphazard - of POW cans would extend infront of the stowage bin on the roof.
It might therefore be reasonable to suggest a drilled through roof spar [as you say], drilled out upright 'eye' plates riveted to that spar, or even 'eye' bolts / 'U' bolts affixed through the spar as lashing points.
Quite where the rope off the back of the tarp goes to is anyone's guess. The only rearview of DODO is too poor to show whether the stowage bin had corresponding tie-down provision on its back wall. The front of the stowage bin is hidden with POW cans.
One thing I am considering, from looking at photos of Supply Tank 746, is that roof stowage was only supposed to happen toward the rear of the tank - to keep the cab & engine free of hazards such as POW cans catching fire if shot, slumping / shifting stowage blocking the driver's cab roof hatch or interfering with vision ports/pistol loupes... and other such issues. Hence why 746 has no supplies on that part of the roof, only on the rear - away from the crew & engine. I'd suggest that is why there are no front 'tie downs' on DODO's roof - because she has been overloaded in a manner not normally deemed acceptable or safe.
Once all my stowage arrives, I'll do a dry-run placement, going by the photos, and see if that gives further clues about tying down.
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"You there on the port!". "S'gin actually, but thanks for noticing [hic]".
Don't forget the exhaust exits at the front of the roof on the Mk1. Lots of hot and smoky gasses. Need to keep stowage away from that. Easier on the later marks with "proper" exhausts including asbestos wrapping. The MkIV I posted has petrol cans right alongside the exhaust pipe, a distinct hazard whether full or empty.
Although they could be water cans in both your and my pictures. It took over 30 cans to fill a single MkIVs fuel tank, which is perhaps where the towed sleds and experimental supply roller trailer came in. The 2-gallon cans were also used for water and there are period comments about the water tasting of petrol. In theory, all petrol cans were supposed to be painted black and water cans in white. But this wasn't by any means standard. Many were painted khaki green and many were still in their commercial colours of reds, yellows, greens and blues.
You don't say whose stowage you're using. The Panzer Art "Commercial" cans RE35-147 are very nice and include Pratts, Shell and Esso brands. You can't use the Texaco ones (at least where the branding can be seen) as they didn't operate in the UK in those days: BP sold Texaco products at that time. Their military cans RE35-109 are equally nice but are marked "WD" instead of the WW1 "WO" and dated 1940. These markings can be filed and shaved off, more easily on the top, where they will be seen. Ultracast do some nice 1-gal oil cans, 135013.
On my recent rash of British WW1 tanks I used a mixture of stowage from Panzer Art (0.303 ammo boxes, ration boxes), MR Modellbau (WW1 stowage set, mostly crates), with soft items from Eureka XXL and Red Zebra.
Nice photos. The stowage really makes these beasts, doesn't it?
I'm going as close as possible to the photo of DODO, for stowage, with a combination of wooden boxes from Resicast, tarpaulins from Field Of Glory, 2gal POW cans from Bronco [with the WW2 embossed writing shaved off the top], and a big old oil can from Plusmodel. I am hoping to make my 30 x POW cans go further by just using scrap plastic oblongs where they are hidden from view, in order to have more to spread about on the roof. Might throw some spare track plates up there and some hand tools like shovels & sledge hammers.
I'd put some thought into placement of the POW, according to contents too - with petrol over the rear, and water to the front. DODO does have a proper exhaust rather than open pipes and there is quite a bit of cargo piled around it.
-- Edited by compound eye on Saturday 5th of January 2019 12:19:19 PM
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"You there on the port!". "S'gin actually, but thanks for noticing [hic]".
