WW1 German Tank.

[ct ertz]

I finished this one a while back and was real pleased with it. The kit allowed for a lot of details such as hatches and other openings, but the openings are also printed on to the model as well, so if a real small add on is two hard for a newbie, like me, it can be left off with out any blank spaces being left on the models surface. The same maker offers a number of other free tanks as well. However, I can not remember where I got this one! Maybe some one has a link saved. Hard to believe 18 people rode inside this big box!

[CharlieC]

If it's around 1/72 scale it may be one of Wayne McCullough's WW1 armour models. PaperPanzers (http://www.mylinuxisp.com/~wmccullough/PaperPanzers.html). Hi-res versions and other WW1 models can be purchased at Digital Paper Models, Card Models, Paper Models - HobbyFactory.com (http://www.hobbyfactory.com)

Regards,

Charlie

[ct ertz]

Yep, thats the place! Thanks. I really liked how easy or complicated these models can be, builders choice! The relatively simple box like construction of the 505 I built was a breeze, and adding the small parts was a bit more challenging. A great model.

[Tim Crowe]

Some period shots of the tank show the crew riding on top!

Presumably the airconditioning wasn't working.

Tim

[ct ertz]

A much nicer picture with a better cam!

[Alcides]

Very nice model. It's in my to do list.

Your last picture it's a bit blurred I think because a very low shutter speed. You need more light for better pictures or you can put your camera on a tripod. If you don't have a tripod you just can put the camera over anything and trigger the shutter using the timer. This tips can improve a lot your pictures.

Regards
Alcides

[cdavenport]

I can never get over the garish camoflage scheme. What was on their minds? If you have ever been to the battlefields of WWI, there's not much in the way of insane designer colors around there...mostly browns and greens.

Perhaps the psychedelic scheme was intended to scare the Allies out of their sensibilities. Of course, there was a suggestion by at least one historical pundit that the Kaiser may have been bit more in touch with his feminine side than one might expect of a tyrannical monarch.

Whatever, nice build! You should Photoshop yourself into the tank. It's a fun thing to do. I put myself into the cab of this 1/50th scale diecast truck and then pasted the whole thing into a real scene at a local truck stop. Not at all professional, but fun for me.

[CharlieC]

I think the colours on the A7V are a bit too saturated - here's another take on #505 - AMMS Brisbane (http://www.ammsbrisbane.com/gallery/bl_a7v505.html). It's a 1/72 pl****c but the colour scheme is more muted. It's recorded that when Mephisto got to Brisbane it was the "colour of a field of dry grass".

Regards,

Charlie

[ct ertz]

I like the idea of photoshopping myself into the model.

I like this modl because it was basically easy, but you can complicate as far as skills alow by cutting and layering all of the exterior details. this is my first track vehicle, although with so little of the track showing it hardly counts.

[ct ertz]

Ok, I think I have it, a good pic.

[Alcides]

Hey !! This is a lot better! Now your are a good modelephothographer !!!

[ct ertz]

Thanks! You learn a lot here. My first stop every morning before my day starts. Gets my day off to a good start, every one is so friendly and helpful. Paper modeling is a form of self help on so many levels. For me it is a great stress reliever and it keeps me from feeling isolated from the world! Even with a house full of five kids I need to communicate with grown ups! Thanks to all...and I am going to try some more tanks soon.

[Alcides]

I agree totally with you. I'm have a family with 3 kids, a job and I'm trying to get an University degree, so seem I don't have time for paper modeling but It's good to me do something without the computer, with my hands, without hurry only for pleasure and the forums are a very nice place to talk with other people.

[rockpaperscissor]

Looks good CT. I have this little guy printed out and partially built myself. What weight paper did you use? Did you find it necessary to laminate heavier card to the inside surfaces of the larger skin area?

[ct ertz]

I used straight 110 card stock with out any reinforcing at all. the gun ports have a backing but other then that, it is just folded edges that give it stiffness. Also, the top is layerd and the doors are layed for a better effect. Any larger scale or if you use thinner card you would probably need an inner support.

I would love to see a larger scale, maybe 1:48 scale or larger, of his tank but as a cut away display,to show the inside.

[Arethusa]

I can never get over the garish camoflage scheme. What was on their minds? If you have ever been to the battlefields of WWI, there's not much in the way of insane designer colors around there...mostly browns and greens.

Perhaps the psychedelic scheme was intended to scare the Allies out of their sensibilities. Of course, there was a suggestion by at least one historical pundit that the Kaiser may have been bit more in touch with his feminine side than one might expect of a tyrannical monarch.


Hi, new here and starting at the back and working my way to the front, I came across this question.

A few answers come to mind.

First, there was so much mud in some places, that any dull colour scheme would quickly become so obscured as to be worthless, so it may have been an attempt to have at least something show through. Not so sure I buy that one though.

Secondly, the whole idea of camouflage was fairly recent. It wasn't that long before that the Brits all wore bright red uniforms, the French bright blue, etc. Seems only the Germans/Prussians had been into feldgrey for many decades, and that was possibly camouflage more by accident than by design. They used to wear white crossbelts and shiny badges too.

Thirdly, keep in mind that many of the aircraft of the day were also very bright colours. Not only the bright red of Richtofen, but also Goering had a powder blue Fokker, others had stripes of various colours, yellow, red, blue, white noses and tails, etc. Much of this was so that fellow squadron members could recognize who was who, and follow the leader's orders. This was necessary before radio. Some of it too was that a well known ace could win half the battle by frightening the enemy into being rash. So it's possible that tanks were so rare that the same sort of thinking applied.

Finally, take a look at any of the ships of that time period. They had all sorts of colourful stripes, and swirls and lines on them called "dazzle camouflage". It was still used in WWII on such ships as KMS Tirpitz, E-boats, and even some allied PT-boats out in the Pacific.

The idea of such dazzling was not to hide the ship (or in this case tank) but to 'dazzle' the primitive range finders of the day so that gunners or torpedo aimers couldn't figure out how far away they were, thus throwing off their aim.

[CharlieC]

I think you're conflating a number of historic threads together so the development of camouflage looks like a mess and illogical.

The British switched to khaki uniforms during the Boer war when it became obvious that casualties would be lower if you didn't provide the enemy a perfect target for long range rifle fire. Most of the combatants in the early part of WW1 wore monochrome uniforms of fairly dull colours (except for the French but they changed fairly quickly). Similarly most equipment (artillery, etc) was painted in khaki, green or grey.

The bright and seemingly strange camouflage of patches of fairly bright colours seems to have come from the modernist painters before WW1. The object of the art of the time was to show how landscapes could be suggested by blocks of colour and also paradoxically to show that the edges of objects in a landscape could be broken up by the colours within the representation of an object. Picasso is recorded as saying when he saw a column of French camouflaged artillery during WW1 that "we did that".

All the combatants were interested in hiding their main assets (artillery) from aerial observation. The Germans conducted experiments on which colours gave the best results to reduce the visibility of artillery pieces - they came up with a palette of green, red-brown, grey (feldgrau) and ochre although some pieces are recorded as having patches of cream and pink.

The first British tanks were painted in a complex pattern devised by the artist Solomon using rather similar colours to the ones the Germans chose. After the initial deployment at Flers in 1916 it was realised that the tanks were usually smothered in mud so subsequent tanks were painted a dull brown colour. Both the French and German tanks retained their camouflage patterns until the end of the war. It should be noted that the French held the zones of the front line which were south of the flat muddy areas of Belgium where the British were. The Germans did not commit their few tanks unless the ground conditions were good - i.e dry and not to churned up by shell fire.

The question I guess is, does it work. Oddly enough - yes. There's a Krupp 10cm K04 gun at Nundah (suburb of Brisbane) which is painted in an emulation of WW1 camouflage colours. Although the camouflage pattern doesn't seem to work when photographed when viewed directly it really does work - the outline is really hard to define by eye.

I don't know enough about winged things to comment on the German flying circuses.

Regards,

Charlie