Skeleton Tank Pictures

[John Wagenseil]

No model yet of the skeleton tank, but the photos and plans in the links below should provide enough information to create a very detailed model of the Skeleton tank.
A model could be scaled so that the frame could be built from tooth picks or barbecue skewers.
It was at Aberdeen Proving Ground until it was removed from public sight.
The only information I was able to find on the internet said that the Skeleton Tank had been moved out from under its canopy to a "secure location" out in the open and exposed to the weather, and that it is now rusted and the external frame of the Skeleton Tank is rotting away.
Oh well. At least there are plans and photos of it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeleton_tank
SVSM Gallery :: Skeleton Tank, Aberdeen Proving Ground, by Andy Bass
The-Blueprints.com - Blueprints > Tanks > Tanks N-P > Pioneer Tractor Company Skeleton Tank 1918
Pioneer Tractor Company "Skeleton Tank"

[whulsey]

The Pioneer Tractor Company caught my eye, here's photos of a couple of their tractors.
Steel Wheels - The Website for Veteran Tractors

article on the company with maybe a controversial statement
Pioneer Tractor Co.

[murphyaa]

That looks like it's right up my alley. I'll have to see what I can do with it.

[John Wagenseil]

I have been looking at the plans and photos, and it looks like a lot of complex modeling is required.
The armored box which holds the driver and gunner and two engines is open at the top so the engines and drivers station are exposed to view. The machine gun turret seems to be supported by three struts extending in from the side of the armored box. There may be a fourth strut but if there is it is hidden by the gun barrel in the plan. The floor of the armored compartment is also partially open, in one of the photos of the armored compartment shows the ground below.
The frame of the tank is pipe fittings with the bogie wheels supported by wooden siding (The early Renault tank had wooden wheels).
The skeleton tank is a lozenge shaped tank with all around tracks, its designer claimed that the British tank makers stole the idea from him, he had shown around plans of the skeleton tank on a trip to England early in the war.

[John Wagenseil]

wwi us prototypes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeDtZgfq0wU

[CharlieC]

Originally Posted by John Wagenseil

The frame of the tank is pipe fittings with the bogie wheels supported by wooden siding (The early Renault tank had wooden wheels).

No it didn't - the roadwheels and return rollers on the Renault FT were quite small and steel. The idler wheel had a steel hub and rim, and, on some of the FTs, the inner part of the idler was wooden (see attached). This seems to have been forced on Renault because of the limited number of plants in France which could do large steel castings during WW1. The Renault FTs which stayed in service between the wars all got cast steel idlers in the 20s.

Regards,

Charlie

[Thumb Dog]

Hi All,

What fun to see an interest in the old Skeleton Tank. I have a folder full of material that I hope to share, but I will have to figure out a way to present it so that it can be easily read. Until then, here is a photo of the tank under the watchful eyes of what appear to be a pair of soldiers from the 1950s.

More to follow, I hope.

Score and fold,

Thumb Dog

[Thumb Dog]

Hi All,

I got up this morning and shot a few photographs of some of my entries in my Skeleton Tank folder. I hope they can be read by all interested parties.
The definitive article on the Skeleton Tank was written by Major Dennis Gaare and appeared in the January-February 2002 issue of Armor Magazine, The Professional Development Bulletin of the Armor Branch PB 17-02-1. I could find no indication of copyright in the magazine, so I feel free to use the article here. Thanks to Major Gaare and the editorial staff at Armor Magazine.

The four page article outlines the history of the Skeleton Tank, also known as the Spider Tank. There is a low-level controversy as to who actually designed the first rhomboidal tank, and this piece gives vent to some the salient points. It is left to the reader to decide for himself the value of the arguments.

Other materials shown here are newspaper articles and photographs I uncovered at the Winona Historical Society in the early 1990s. A number of images appear in a number of books and on the internet and these can be pursued by those with an interest in this unique vehicle.

I hope this material is legible, and is of some use to prospective modelers. This would be a tough model to scratchbuild in any media, especially paper. Who will be the first?

Score and fold,

Thumb Dog