1/18 Scale Little Willie - First Tank (No.1 Lincoln Machine)

[airdave]

woohoo! its done! woohoo!

I don't believe it...but I think I finished the kit today!

I have been putting in a couple of hours every day
trying to get the Instruction diagrams and pages finished.
Today I finished up the part numbering and wrapped up the
final PDF file!

Wow, this one seemed to take a lot longer than the Autocar model.
(even though the Autocar had a big break in the middle)

It probably didn't take any longer...I think it was the fact that the
IPMS show was involved, and the time I spent preparing the model
for display.

Anyway, I am getting ready to put the kit into the store, and hopefully
it will be ready for public consumption very soon!!

Thanks for all the support and interest along the way.
I must admit, I am enjoying the Armor projects a lot more than
I had anticipated. I can't wait to start the next one!

[B-Manic]

good news Dave I have really been looking forward to building this one.

[CharlieC]

Dave made an announcement on the landships forum last week...

The 1/18 scale Little Willie is available from Dave's website on CD from - PaperModelShop - Scale Paper Models. It hasn't turned up on as a purchased download on ecardmodels.com yet.

Regards,

Charlie

[airdave]

Thanks Charlie!

yes, its been available at papermodelshop.com for a week
and it went into the listings at ecardmodels.com today!!

Announced here

[B-Manic]

just downloaded it from Chris's shop

[whulsey]

Here's a little article on the Bullock Creeping Grip tractor that the original tracks on 'Little Willie' were based on.
Bullock Creeping Grip: World War I Training Vehicle - Tractors ? Farm Collector

Won't link directly, so need to copy and paste into a new window to get to it.

Oops, just tried it here and it did link directly.

[airdave]

More interesting stuff!

[airdave]

.................................................. ........

Little Willie update....two years later!

lol, seems really odd adding to this topic.
I can't believe so much time has elapsed since I designed this model!

Anyway...there have been some recent discussions over at the Landships forum, regarding Little Wilie.
Discussion about a "turret"
and new photos surfaced of the "Steering Tail" unit fitted to the Tank
to help with the original Bullock Tracks.

Along with some early photos of Willie (No.1 Lincoln Machine), before the Tritton Track system was installed.




Seems the original plan for the prototype Tank was the inclusion of a fixed cylindrical Turret
with Gun Ports and some sort of sliding/elevating forward gun.
The Turret was fitted to the first version of the No.1 Lincoln Machine, but appears to have been removed
(and the roof hole pugged) some time before the Tritton Track system was installed.

The Steering "Tail" was an early idea that was used extensively during testing of the Lincoln Machine
and then again used on the Mark 1 Tanks in actual service.
However, the Tail units went through at least three design variations and were deemed to be cumbersome
and uneccessary weight...making them more trouble than they were worth in operation.




I got the idea to create a "mod" kit for my No.1 Lincoln Machine model
consisting of the proposed Gun Turret and the Steering Tail(Carriage) unit.
Depending on what went into the modification, it might be a "add-on" kit to purchase
or just a free accessory.

After some deliberation, I decided the turret was innacurate for my model.
It was only ever installed on the Bullock track version of the Lincoln Machine...in its original track design
and long before it was dubbed Little Willie.
The turret was never functional (eg installed weapons) and was only present for a very short time.

The Steering Carriage (thats what I call it) was a permanent part of the tank, even though it was removed a fair bit
and went on to be part of the Mark 1 Tank (the vehicle derived from Little Willie testing).

So, work has begun on the tail unit..however, I am running into a problem with reference material.
I have some good photos of the original tail unit.
But there are obvious differences.
Comparing with Mark 1 Tank photos, there are even more differences.
And the photos I have to work with are no clear in many areas.
So, I am doing some guessing and some fudging of details.

For now...the wheels (and main axle) are done...on to the carriage framework next.

[jagolden01]

Nice update on info, pics and model work, Dave!
Can't believe it's been two years.

[cardist]

Bravo Dave, looking forward to the upgrade.

Bernie