Mark VIII Liberty 1:50

[CharlieC]

I recently gave a talk to my local Grumpy Old Men's group on WW1 British Heavy Tanks and used appropriate cardmodels to demonstrate the evolution of the rhomboid tank. I realised that I didn't have a Mark VIII tank model - so - a quick build later...

The Mark VIII was a collaborative effort by the British and Americans to produce a single heavy tank design for the final offensive of WW1 planned for 1919. The Mark VIII was a rhomboid tank with most of the worst features of the British rhomboids fixed or at least addressed. The tank was very long to bridge wide trenches and weighed about 40 tons with a 300 hp engine. The crew compartment was isolated from the engine and transmission.

The Armistice intervened and the British produced about 7 Mark VIIIs. The US made the Mark VIII the standard heavy tank of the US Army and built about 100. They were in service until the early 1930s.

The model is Wayne's 1:72 Mark VIII rescaled to 1:50 with additional parts to give a more 3D effect especially on the track frames.

Regards,

Charlie

[Thumb Dog]

Hi All,

And hi, CharlieC. That’s a very nice build of your Mark VIII tank. It scaled up nicely, and the raised ribs on the treads and the subtle rivet head detail really help to give the model some authority. I’ve always liked the look of both the Mark VIII and the Tadpole Tail equipped Mark IV. The long tread runs and the sloping tails appeal to my eye. Too bad neither one of these tanks saw action in the Great War.

The Mark VIII carried a unique item at the very end of its rear deck. In Wayne McCullough’s Mark VIIIs, part 40 is the vertical brace, and part 41 is the isosceles trapezoid. These parts can be more easily seen in the attached photograph of the Mark VIII seen at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds. This device is a bullet deflector. You can see that it is in direct line of the aft facing machine gun, and if any enemy troops managed to find their way between the rear horns of the tank, woe betide them. I can’t think of a similar device on any other kind of fighting vehicle.

Thanks again CharlieC for your handsome Mark VIII. I was hesitant to build the model in 1/72, but after seeing you upscale effort, I’ll likely give it a try.

Score and fold,

Thumb Dog

[CharlieC]

Thank you for the kind words - it was a bit of a rush job but came out ok.

If anyone wants the Mark VIII rescaled to 1:50 drop me a PM with email address and I'll send you a .pdf. The .pdf is the parts only you will need
Wayne's 1:72 model for the instructions.

Is the surviving Mark VIII still at Aberdeen or has it been moved with most of the rest of the collection?

Regards,

Charlie

[Mike1158]

A very nice result, you make a fine tank, Sir.

[Thumb Dog]

Hi All,

The American Mark VIII currently resides at the Fort George G. Meade Museum at Fort Meade, Maryland. For a write up, see:

Mark VIII: Joint Tank Designed to Help End War to End War

It has received a new drab paint job and is finally being stored inside, complete with mannequins of Patton and Eisenhower for scale.

Score and fold,

Thumb Dog

[Thumb Dog]

Hi Again,

Here is a brightened photograph included in the write up above showing the trapezoidal bullet deflector.

Score and fold,

Thumb Dog

[MichaelS]

Not a tank guy but all this info is very interesting.

[Don Boose]

Good images, Thumb Dog. I am glad to see that the Mk. VIII is being cared for. My friends in the Army history and museum community tell me that there has been a concerted effort in recent years to get the Aberdeen collection under control, cared for, and distributed to appropriate facilities within the system. Issues include budget constraints, regulations, and public law, which can sometimes constrain such efforts.

In some cases, regulations and law preclude making some exhibits available for open public display. There is an important loophole, in that they may be accessed by researchers, which is interpreted very broadly by the Army history community as someone writing a book or article, building a model, or just interested in military vehicles and equipment. In such cases, it is necessary to check in advance to get permission to view the exhibits.

This is based on a recent informal conversation, so I do not have specifics on which exhibits and where. But any established Army museum, such as the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center (USAHEC) here in Carlisle and the Fort George G. Meade Museum that Thumb Dog visited, has exhibits that are open to the public, although museums located on Army posts, like the Meade Museum, may not always be accessible to non Department of Defense visitors. USAHEC is located off the Carlisle Barracks garrison to avoid that problem.
https://ahec.armywarcollege.edu/
Fort George G. Meade, Md. | The U.S. Army

Incidentally, USAHEC holds an annual two-day event in May called Army Heritage Days (Army Heritage Days). For the past nine years, members of this forum have displayed paper models at this event. This year, Peter Ansoff, Jack Colin, John Dell, Linda Kemp, Rick Steffers, Don Weeks, and I (and Greg Perry, if the cards fall right) will be there on 19 and 20 May. I will be putting more info out on this event later. There will be lots of tanks!
Here was last year's event: Paper Modelers at Army Heritage Days 2017

Apologies for this long digression, Charlie, but I think it is all relevant, and I am going to strive to have some of Wayne's models completed for the show, including the Mk. VIII.

Don

[Thumb Dog]

Hi All,

And hi, CharlieC and Don Boose. I should have made it clear in my previous post that I did not take the photographs that I have included here. The first, by way of Google Images, came from:

Aberdeen Proving Ground

The second came from:

Mark VIII: Joint Tank Designed to Help End War to End War

For those interested in seeing an American Mark VIII on the move, there is a wonderful six and a half minute b&w film on Youtube, here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ5Kw4fVoBw

Apologies for my oversight.

Score and fold,

Thumb Dog

[CharlieC]

According to Wikipedia the Aberdeen Mark VIII is at Fort Benning and is either under going restoration or restoration is planned. The Fort Meade example seems to be in pretty good condition.

The rear bullet deflector idea was tried again in the M2 medium tank but this time there were two deflectors with two machine guns. Having two rearward firing machine guns wasn't an issue since there were 7 or 9 MGs festooned over the tank.

Looking at the model I think I would try to make a better job of the exhaust pipes.

Regards,

Charlie