Casting project update: 12 ton medium tank turret

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Work continues, slowly but surely. Here is the basis for the first turret, done in aluminium by my brother Peter. I'm now working on the track assembly again, redoing the hinges; the metal wire hinges started to fall off as I'd used polystyreme cement to glue them on. I should have used something stronger, but epoxy glues are really too messy for multiple small parts in my opinion. This time around, I'm using 0.5mm plastic rod. I'm also adding all the rivets, and when thats done, the track assembly should be ready for my first attempt at making a mold. There is the second turret (and a second hull) planned too, but there is no hurry to get them done. Peter is making the second turret and says I should have it by August 23rd. 

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Medium tanks

On the right is the 12 ton medium tank, which is proving to be a real learning experience as I've made several mistakes along the way, both in design and construction. There is a lot of fiddly work which is more like sculpture than I care for, and I am not really good at it. I've run into multiple glue issues, with parts warping, bits falling off or just failing to stay stuck together because the various kinds of plastics I have, don't all act the same way. I'm more or less happy with what I've got so far, even though I discovered the day after I'd  glued all the treads onto the track, they were backwards 

On the left is the beginnings of my second tank model; a 20 ton, twin-turret, medium tank inspired by the Vickers Medium Mk III, the Churchill, the Char 2c, and the T-28.

They have a tank!

Only a few years too late for me, but here is the Indy tank which I have used as the K4 heavy tank in my Rocketman games (I used converted Disney toys). Its fresh from Copplestone Casting where it sells for £38 under the name Mark IX Beast Super-Heavy Tank.

Casting project update: 12 Ton Medium Tank

Here is a size comparision showing my '12 ton medium' tank model against Coppestone Castings' Vickers Mk II, upon which it is loosely based. The idea is, this tank model will share two turret variations with another model, both of which can be seen in my previous posts. For the pupose of this image, I balanced the running board on the track assembly, so its sitting rather low. It should be about 2mm higher up. Currently I'm working on the rear hull plate and trying to decide how to do the exhaust pipe which is meant to hang on the back. The question is, whether or not to add it to the hull or have it as a seperate element. If its stuck on the hull, it might prevent the finished casting from leaving the mold.

Artist of the Month; Aristide Maillol

Maillol is one of the great figurative sculptors of the 1930's. He was French, but his work inspired a great many people, especially in Europe and in the USSR. His body of work isn't all that well known any more, and I doubt he will be remembered in the long run. His legacy seems to run more to civil planning in the 1930's than anything we see today and he is beginning to fade slightly, not least as Auguste Rodin steals so much thunder in the French classical sculpture world. I'm a sucker for figurative sculpture though and haven't forgotten old Maillol. He gets the honour of being artist of the month on this blog!

One of the more interesting aspects of Maillol's life was his relationship to the model he used in the last decade or so of his life. Her name was Dina Vierny and after Maillol's death she opened the Parisian museum which is the custodian of Maillol's legacy. Vierny was Maillol's muse in his final years and became a platonic companion. It is said she saved him from artistic despair and I like the thought that it was the model who saved the artist and his art. Too often the models are ignored even as we marvel at their likeness.

1930's turret designs

When I can find the time (and when I'm not being distracted by Battlefield 3) I'm still working on my medium tank casting project, and I've reached the post design stage for the turret. That is to say, I've drawn up my designs and am now ready for construction. My brother Peter (who is a precision engineer) has offered to help me by shaping some aluminium for the underlying structure, so I've made technical drawings of the two designs I have in mind. The project has two different hulls and two different turrets, and these can interchanged with each other, giving the possibility of three seperate tank models. The track assembly is the same for all variants.

Tank turrets in the 1930's came in all shapes and sizes. Since there hadn't been any major tank conflicts to influence design, many ideas which seemed good in theory were tried out. The most popular designs were cylindrical for obvious reasons, and hundreds of variants of the tapering cylinder or dome turret design were made. I've looked mainly to the Vickers designs for inspiration, since they produced so many prototypes in the mid war period.

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Above. From left to right; Light Tank Model 1936. Light amphibious tank A4 E12. Vickers Wolseley WT
Below; Vickers 6 ton light tank. A6 Medium Tank (not to be confused with the Medium Mk III). Vickers 'Independent' A1E1.