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Author Topic: Tank review (1914 - 1919) What is available on the market.  (Read 2914 times)

Offline Armstrong

  • Student
  • Posts: 18
Re: Tank review (1914 - 1919) What is available on the market.
« Reply #15 on: February 16, 2023, 02:46:51 PM »
Below are the camouflage schemes for the Mark 1 (from Black Lion Decals website)

Die Waffenkamer do a great male and female model of it. See pictures below.

Black Lion decals do 1/72 and 1/35 transfers for WW1 tanks but will scale up or down if you ask them, for very reasonable cost.

They also have painting guides on their website.

Oh. I have done this model already in a Salomon paint sheme that refers to the Mark I in Bovington.
I will soon upload it here.

Offline Armstrong

  • Student
  • Posts: 18
Re: Tank review (1914 - 1919) What is available on the market.
« Reply #16 on: February 21, 2023, 03:59:20 PM »
LK II from Brigade Games Miniatures



Brief history:
The LK II (leichter Kampfwagen II = light fighting vehicle II) was a further development of the German army of the 1st World War. Impressed by the success of the French Renault tank (later named FT-17) and disappointed by the performance of the A7V, it was decided to produce a small and light armored vehicle, which should be characterized by its speed.
After the first design (LK I) was rejected because of the too thin armor and other deficiencies, the LK II was developed. There was to be a male version (with a gun in a casemate) and a female version (with a machine gun in a rotating turret). The first tanks had already been built and were about to enter service when the war ended.
Since, according to the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was not allowed to own any tanks in the future, the ones already built were renamed "Großtraktoren" = "great tractors") and sold to Sweden and Hungary.

While the Hungarians shipped their tanks in pieces for a long time around the country (to hide them from the Allied Control Commission), the Swedes were able to use them openly for several years. After the Hungarians were finally able to assemble their tanks as well, they ended up missing so many individual parts due to the constant shipping that they were only able to reassemble a portion of the tanks.

By the way, the model from Empress shows the LK II in the original version. The Swedish tanks later had circular flaps in the front plate behind which headlights were hidden.




The model (from Brigade Games Miniatures)

Content
1 x mainhull (resin)
2 x track drive sections (resin)
1 x machine gun - original version (pewter)
1 x machine gun - Swedish update from 1928 (pewter)
1 x trailer hitch (pewter)
No decals!
No instructions!

Dimensions (scale):
At the moment I do not have any drawings of the LK II.
Apparently the dimensions seem to be correct for the 28mm scale (1/56).
As soon as I have more material available, I will submit the evaluation.

Detailing:
The model features fairly good detailing with raised rivets and flaps. The actual features of the original have been well represented. However, there is a rectangular cutout on the right side of the engine cover. I could not find this in the pictures of the original vehicles. It looks like the designer forgot or left out the cover slats towards the engine compartment here.



The machine guns themselves are kept very simple. However, they are sufficient for a tabletop model.
The surfaces of the tracks are also kept somewhat simple, but serve their purpose.
The turret sits only loosely in a flat turntable. It is best to drill a hole in the hull and turret and insert small magnets there to provide a secure hold so as not to lose the turret during transport if necessary.

Casting quality:
The casting quality is good. The surface details are cleanly cast and there were no warps or casting edges. However, the model had slight bubbling on some rivets (i.e., during the casting process, a bubble forms directly behind a rivet and when the mold is removed, the rivet breaks off and exposes the cavity underneath).



Accuracy of fit:
There are mounts on the fuselage for the two track segments onto which the undercarriage segments are glued. There are ledges on the inside of the running gear that correspond directly to the length of the mounts on the fuselage. The metal parts (machine gun and trailer hitch) can also be easily attached to the fuselage.



Material (quality):
The resin is a relatively light material and quite sturdy.  The pewter parts are solid and thick and also forgive the one or other "rough" handling.

Decals:
There are no decals included with this kit. However, to build a generic vehicle you do not need them. The original Imperial Army vehicle was probably a gray or "field gray" monotone paint job without any nationality insignia or lettering (the type was still being tested, after all). In the service of the Swedes, the vehicles were monochrome or had a more color paint scheme. Markings or sovereignty insignia were apparently not used here either. (There are numerous pictures of still existing vehicles on the internet).



Assembly instructions:
The "kit" consists of very few components and doesn't really need instructions. The only problem for me were the two machine guns. Only after longer research it became clear that one is for the original vehicle version and the second for the modified Stridsvagn of the Swedes.

Price:
I paid £16.00 for my model. This is an acceptable price for such a small resin model. Problem is that as a EU customer you still have to pay transport and possibly customs. So of course these factors increase the actual price.



Further notes:
Two-component glue or better superglue is needed for assembly.
To correct bent/warped resin parts, it is recommended to immerse the affected parts in a bowl of hot water for a few seconds and then carefully bend them back into the correct shape. This can be repeated as needed.
You should also have a tinker's knife for deburring and some sandpaper for sanding off any unevenness.
CAUTION: Please sand only outdoors or over an exhaust system! Resin dust is highly harmful to health and is most likely carcinogenic!

Dimensions:
Height: 4.5 cm
Width: 3.5 cm
Length: 9.5 cm



Summary Rating:
Dimensions (scale):   - will be added later -
Detailing: satisfying plus
Casting quality: good
Accuracy of fit: good
Material (quality): good
Decals: - not available-
instructions: - not available
Price: good

Conclusion:
All in all the LK II is a nice model which shows the characteristics of this vehicle perfect. On top it is a very exotic topic of a tank that was never taking action in the German imperial army and only saw service in the Swedish and Hungarian army. The kit is perfect for “what if” battles and is a nice addition to every Great War collection. The only disadvantage is the missing detail of the engine cover on the right side of the vehicle.

Offline Metternich

  • Scatterbrained Genius
  • Posts: 2559
Re: Tank review (1914 - 1919) What is available on the market.
« Reply #17 on: February 27, 2023, 05:08:21 PM »
The LKII should be very useful for those wanting to game "what if" scenarios, i.e. if the War had continued on into 1919/20 (by which time the Americans would have been well-armed with BARs, and SMGs would have been more widely available).

Offline Armstrong

  • Student
  • Posts: 18
Re: Tank review (1914 - 1919) What is available on the market.
« Reply #18 on: March 19, 2023, 12:00:30 AM »
Garford-Putilov from Empress Miniatures



Brief history:
The Garford-Putilov was an armored car developed and mass-produced by Russia during World War I, based on the chassis of a truck imported from the United States.

The result was a vehicle that was armored and equipped with a 76mm cannon and three Maxim MGs. The engine was hopelessly underpowered with this extra weight and only managed to accelerate the vehicle to a top speed of 18 - 19 km/h (11 - 12 mph). In addition, the superstructure had a high center of gravity, which resulted in the Garford-Putilov having no off-road capability.
Although the mounted gun had a swivel angle of 270 degrees, it could not act in the forward direction of the lorry, and the two MG casemates mounted on the sides were also unable to cover the area directly in front of the vehicle.
Advantages of the vehicle were its sturdiness, relatively strong armament for an armored car of that time and technical reliability.
To use the gun effectively against enemy forces, it was essential that the vehicle could travel at a high speed in reverse. For this reason, the gears could be "shifted", turning all four forward gears into reverse gears, allowing the vehicle to travel at the same speed in both directions.
The crew consisted of 8-9 men, with only the positions of commander and driver being specified.
A total of 48 vehicles were built, 5 of which were probably captured by German troops during the war and thus used to put down the January uprisings in Berlin in 1919.

Small anecdote at the end:
During the fighting in the east in 1919 against the Lithuanian army, a Garford- Putilov was captured by a German officer of the Iron Division (a Freikorps division serving Russia). The soldier stormed the slowly retreating vehicle (max. 19 km/h) and shot the commander and driver through the viewing hatches. The truck then drove driverless into a ditch and the rest of the crew surrendered.


This example shows the weaknesses of the armored car (low top speed, no all-around protection with MGs).

The kit (from Empress)

Parts:
1 x main hull (resin)
1 x turret (resin)
1 x Gun aperture (resin)
1 x front axle (white metal)
2 x front tires (white metal)
1 x rear axle (white metal)
2 x rear tires - double (white metal)
3 x Maxim MG (white metal)
2 x headlights (white metal)
2 x brake system (white metal)
1 x bumper (white metal)
No Decals!
No instructions!





Dimensions (scale):
Apparently, the basic dimensions of the vehicle fit. The platform for the turret has a diameter that is minimally too large. The overall length is consistent (not taking into account the overhanging gun barrel). Only the height is missing about 2mm. This also becomes clear if you place a figure in the appropriate scale next to the vehicle and make a size comparison with historical photos. Here, the model figure appears somewhat taller than the persons in the photos ( minus the bases, if any). However, it can still be argued here that there are small and large people (which is impressively confirmed by a special photograph of a Garford-Putilov in Freikorps service in Berlin with soldiers of different sizesin front of it).



Detailing:
The model has raised details and a strongly elaborated rivet structure. This is of course clearly too large for the scale, but not unusual for resin tabletop models. Of course, the number of rivets here do not match the original, but they are basically correctly positioned.
The vehicle is kept quite simple and one or the other detail is missing, but all characteristic features are included. A problem however is the missing gun barrel. Because you only get the cover, which was built around the gun. Inside this resin part is hollow. It is questionable whether a gun barrel really has to be represented here, since the gun cover actually hides the gun barrel to a large extent.


On my model, I represented the gun barrel by a drilled-out plastic rod.
However, the length of the barrel was unclear. In some historical shots the barrel reaches almost to the end of the aperture, in other shots the barrel is much deeper inside the tube.





The top of the gun platform also seems to be incorrectly reproduced. Instead of being recessed slightly inward, it should be flat and also have rivets. 

But the biggest drawback of the model is something completely different: .
The main hull is warped. That is, the rear gun emplacement is slanted and, on the one hand, leans to the left in the direction of travel and, on the other hand, rises at an angle towards the rear. Even a bath in hot water and the attempt to compensate the sloping position by bending were unsuccessful. If you build the armored car without taking this into account, you end up with a clear slant of the platform and the tower sitting on it. The only option here is to mount the rear axle at a slight angle to conceal the slant of the platform. However, if you look directly at the vehicle from the front, you will still notice the slanted position of the tower. If the tower is displayed in a rotated state, this circumstance is even more pronounced.

Here once in "normal" built condition:

And here in " hidden " condition:

Probably only cutting the hull apart and reattaching the platform would fix this flaw. However, this would involve an immense amount of work, which would be equivalent to a complete rebuild of the vehicle.

Casting quality:
The casting quality is satisfactory. On my models I have seen cleanly cast rivets and details, no chipping of the resin or broken off areas. However, several rivets on the roof of the driver's cab were not properly cast. (Unfortunately I noticed this only after painting the model).



This is an isolated case, however, as I received a second kit where the casting is clean. Slight bubbling is otherwise only found on the underside of the vehicle (in areas that cannot be seen). The deformation of the hull has already been addressed above. So overall it is a cleanly cast model with decent reproduction of the details.
 
Accuracy of fit:
The accuracy of the fit is satisfactory. Especially the axles and tires could impress with clean fits and notches, which make the assembly (with superglue) very easy. For the MGs, it is recommended to drill holes and then fit them there (so that they do not break off accidentally even during a tabletop game - The are long enough for that). You can of course magnetize the turret, but you should keep in mind that due to the sloping shape of the platform, the superstructure will tilt significantly to the side at some angles, thus showing this flaw even more clearly.

For the two headlights it is recommended to drill small holes in the fenders to fix them there permanently.

The most delicate part of the model are the two brakes. They are mounted in front of the rear tires and glued directly to the underside of the fuselage. The problem is that you can't drill a hole for them, otherwise they would sit too high. Thus, the two parts are attached to the fuselage in a very exposed place only with superglue, which makes breaking off by too rough handling possible.

Material (Quality):
The resin selected for the model is relatively robust and heavy. It does not seem to bend as usual when heated in a water bath. The vehicle also has a fair amount of weight due to the numerous white metal parts. The metal parts are all sturdy and will forgive some bending. The resin parts are also all solidly cast.

Decals:
There are no decals included with this kit. You may want to contact "Black Lions Decals", a company that has some decal sets for WWI vehicles in their program. Here, for example, a set is offered for a Garford-Putilov in Freikorps service around 1919. Also available are decals for Russian variants of the vehicle. However, the decals have to be scaled up to 1/56 as they are not offered in this size as standard. However, this will be done on request without much extra charge.



Instructions:
The "kit" has no instructions. To build the model, it is recommended to look for pictures of original vehicles on the Internet and orient yourself by them. Be careful when using built models as reference! Often the turret was put on incorrectly. When magnetizing (or gluing) the turret, make sure that it is not centered on the platform! Instead, you should place the rear of the turret directly on the outer edge of the platform dish and then fix the turret in place.
In addition, it must be taken into account that the gun cover sits so low on the turret that it almost rests on the outer edge of the platform.



Price:
The model currently costs 22.00 British pounds. This is an acceptable price for such a resin model. Unfortunately, the armored car is only available from Empress Miniatures in the UK. Which is why transport costs and customs duties are still added to the price of the model for any European buyer.
 
Further notes:
Two-component glue or better superglue is needed for assembly.
To correct bent/warped resin parts, it is recommended to soak the affected parts in a bowl of hot water for a few seconds and then carefully bend them back into the correct shape. This can be repeated as needed.
You should also have a tinker's knife for deburring and some sandpaper for sanding off any unevenness.
CAUTION: Please sand only outdoors or over an exhaust system! Resin dust is highly harmful to health and is most likely carcinogenic!

Dimensions:
Height: 4,7 cm
Width: 4,8 cm (mit MGs)
Lenght: 10,8 cm (mit Geschützrohr)

Summary Rating:

Dimensions (scale): good
Detailing: good
Casting quality: sufficient (due to warped hull)
Accuracy of fit: good
Material (quality): good (But: reworking by heating is not possible for bigger parts)
Decals: - not available-
Instructions: - not available-



Conclusion:
The Garford-Putilov from Empress Miniatures is the only serious model of its kind in 1/56 scale (28mm) on the market. There are still one or two resin models and emerging 3D prints, but they are not convincing in any way, neither in quality nor in design.
It is all the more unfortunate that the Empress model has a warped hull that cannot be easily corrected. Even with masking, the slanted platform remains clearly visible from one angle or another. If this flaw were not present, this model would be unreservedly recommended to any table-top player.




« Last Edit: March 19, 2023, 01:06:50 AM by Armstrong »

Offline carlos marighela

  • Elder God
  • Posts: 10763
  • Flamenguista até morrer.
Re: Tank review (1914 - 1919) What is available on the market.
« Reply #19 on: March 19, 2023, 08:13:31 AM »
Nice review. If memory serves these were from the old Copplestone Castings range and were nominally 1/55 (?)  I remember them being some slightly odd scale. Close enough anyway.

Company B also do a range of suitable decals for 1/56 Russian armoured cars, including skull ad crossbones designs.

https://company-b-models-and-miniatures.myshopify.com/collections/decals-for-1-56-vehicles?page=4
Em dezembro de '81
Botou os ingleses na roda
3 a 0 no Liverpool
Ficou marcado na história
E no Rio não tem outro igual
Só o Flamengo é campeão mundial
E agora seu povo
Pede o mundo de novo

Offline Armstrong

  • Student
  • Posts: 18
Re: Tank review (1914 - 1919) What is available on the market.
« Reply #20 on: March 19, 2023, 11:51:44 PM »
Nice review. If memory serves these were from the old Copplestone Castings range and were nominally 1/55 (?)  I remember them being some slightly odd scale. Close enough anyway.

Company B also do a range of suitable decals for 1/56 Russian armoured cars, including skull ad crossbones designs.

https://company-b-models-and-miniatures.myshopify.com/collections/decals-for-1-56-vehicles?page=4

Yes, I think it is a former Copplestone Casting model. If it really is in 1/55 then the measurements are even "worse"... since it is already a bit too low in high.
But between 1/56 and 1/55 is not such a great difference anyway.

And yes, if you want to Create some Russian armoured cars, the skull and bones of Company B are very fitting. For Freikorps units the form of the sculls is sadly wrong,
since they had a certain basic design where the scull had more the form of an upside down pear. But I am too choosy when it comes to correct markings. ^^°

 

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