Holt 150 Ton Field Monitor

[rockpaperscissor]

Whew, what a marathon! 93 individual pieces of paper per wheel some doubled, some laminated to 0.5mm cardboard, all required edge painting. But it was worth it. She's now standing proud and tall on all four wheels, and I'm pretty happy with the way she looks. I've already designed and printed out all the guns (6-inchers and machine guns). The weapons parts page is to be printed on regular weight printer paper. I've already rolled one of the main guns. The last photo shows a completed 6-inch gun next to the unrolled part. The final installment will be of the completed model and should be coming up soon.

[Don Boose]

It looks really good, Don. You are capturing some military history in paper.

Don

[CharlieC]

The 5 & 6 inch guns (drawing attached) proposed for the 150-ton monster were both standardised with land carriages and the manual is on archive.org. It looks as though the 5 and 6 inch guns had tapered barrels which are a bit of nightmare to model in small scales. The guns also had a flare at the muzzle which was common in naval guns in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Certainly was a brute of a thing. People poke fun at the Germans for weird projects during WW2 (Ratte, Maus, etc) but I think the US beat them by several decades although common sense intervened and they didn't get built. On reflection perhaps the Boston Steam Tank qualifies as a monster project.

Regards,

Charlie

[rockpaperscissor]

Thanks for your continued interest and comments, gents. Admittedly I've had to make some concessions regarding the shape of the 6-inch naval guns due to the limitations of the medium that we all know and love. I read the Landships article on the Boston Steam Tank (never heard of it before your comment, Charlie). The photos in the article provide a good starting point for a model, but until some views or drawings turn up that show the topside structures, a model seems unlikely.

The guns are all in place. Photos of the finished model will be posted shortly.

[Tom Lapinski]

Your project is really looking good!

[rockpaperscissor]

Thank you, Tom. Here are the photos of my completed model of the Holt 150-ton field monitor. I finished it just in time as I've almost run out of gas on this project and am eager to start my next build. I don't know what it'll be yet, but rest assured it will be a much smaller endeavor.

Enjoy the pics. One of them has a couple of little 1/72 dudes to provide a sense of scale. I'd love to get ahold of some pre-WWI American infantry/cavalry figures to stand around. A mounted trooper would be awesome. Perhaps there's some vintage paper soldiers that I could rescale and layer up to 2.5D, I'll have to poke around in the internet.

[CharlieC]

Originally Posted by rockpaperscissor

Thanks for your continued interest and comments, gents. Admittedly I've had to make some concessions regarding the shape of the 6-inch naval guns due to the limitations of the medium that we all know and love. I read the Landships article on the Boston Steam Tank (never heard of it before your comment, Charlie). The photos in the article provide a good starting point for a model, but until some views or drawings turn up that show the topside structures, a model seems unlikely.

The guns are all in place. Photos of the finished model will be posted shortly.

I have a technique to do fairly accurate gun barrels in paper which I should get around to sharing.

Your question about the top of the Steam Tank reminded me there are threads on the Landships forum on this topic and many images.

Steam Tank, Track Laying - Landships WW1 Forum
US Tracked Steam Tank - Landships WW1 Forum
New photos of American Tanks, STeam Tank, Skeleton Tank and Electric Tank - Landships WW1 Forum
US Steam Tank (Tracklaying): New Photo? - Landships WW1 Forum



from a very old thread - so old the images have rotted away:

"The US Engineer Corps 'Steam Tank' of 1918.

This monster was 50 tons, had 1/2 inch armor, a crew of 8, and had two 2 Cylinder steam angines developing a total of 500 hp, which propelled it at 4mph.

34ft 9in x 12ft 6in x 10ft 4 1/2in.

Its main armament was a new flame-thrower designed by an officer in the Engineer Corps. Steam engines were chosen so that steam from the boilers could provide pressure for the flame projector. However, this ended up not working, and a seperate 35hp petrol engine was installed to provide 1,600lbs per sq in of pressure, to shoot flame 90 feet from the flame-projector. It also had a secondary armament of 4 machine guns."

Charlie

[CharlieC]

If you are still into strange armoured contraptions around WW1 - how about a Medium D tank? No model of this exists in any form afaik. There both images (Landships II) and drawings at THE BRITISH W.W.I MEDIUM 'D' TANK by Jack Wheldon - Kings Troop Models

This medium tank had a lot of advanced features such as cable suspension which gave much superior ground following characteristics compared to any tank of the time (or since). It also has a snake track with the track elements free to swing to follow the ground. The citadel (not a turret) turned out to be an ergonomic slum with huge blind areas for the driver and commander. It was decided to make the thing amphibious - there is a film clip of a Medium D being dragged out of the Thames after sinking.

The snake track, cable suspension were interesting enough that other designers used it in prototypes. The M1922 medium tank in the US had both but it also had major engine problems. The French designers had a number of snake track tanks in the "char de bataiile" competition of 1924 which ultimately lead to the Char B1 of WW2 fame.

Regards,

Charlie

[Mike1158]

A very fine piece and I admire your tenacity. Seeing the process is fascinating, thank you.

[Szkielzu]

model looks stunning ^^
how is the progress on the instructions going?