Landships II

Manu-Military · Corporal

MkV sponson

Mark Hansen · Legend

Manu-Military wrote:

Hi all,
I'm new here and already got some questions. But first of all, sorry for my poor English and I may not all the time have the right terms.
I'm converting the�Verlinden's MkIV in 1/16 scale to a MkV as used by the US troops in 1918.

By looking at some contemporary photos I noticed that some MkV ahd the same sponsons as fitted to the MkIV and some other have a slightly different pattern.
For instance the MkV which I believe is in Bovington has some additional armour plates fitted in between the gun and the main tank body making an�angle.
Moreover, this same additional armour shows and some tanks no extra vision slots and aperture and some other have (cf London tank vs Bovington tank).

So here's my question: were there different construction pattern with time or did I really misidentified the photos I've seen and/or was the London tank re-built with some kind of simplifications?

Thanks for anyone who can bring some light to this point as I feel a bit confused.

Hi, I hope I can help with your questions.
I think you've got the right answer at the end of your post, i.e. the IWM's tank has a rebuilt sponson.
From all the photos I have seen the male sponson remained the same from the Mk IV all the way through to the Mk V** except for one minor change, that being the mounting for the sponson machine gun.
The left and right hand sponsons are not exact mirror images of each other. These differences are due to the sight on the 6 pounder.

Gwyn Evans · Legend

There are actually some small but important external detail differences between male Mark IV and Mark V sponsons. Internally there are some more significant differences.

Gwyn

-- Edited by Gwyn Evans at 22:09, 2008-11-01

Mark Hansen · Legend

Gwyn Evans wrote:

There are actually some small but important external detail differences between male Mark IV and Mark V sponsons. Internally there are some more significant differences.

Gwyn

-- Edited by Gwyn Evans at 22:09, 2008-11-01

The only external differences I can see�are the line of 3 rivets at the front below the gun and another line of 3 below the gun at the side which would indicate some difference internally. Are there any others I've missed?

Gwyn Evans · Legend

Responding by PM.

Gwyn

Manu-Military · Corporal

Here are four shots of the MkV preserved in Bovington that illustrate my confusion.
This tank shows two different types of sponsons. The left was not standard on the MkIV afaik and the right one was seen on the MkV.
But the WWI photos I've seen don't always provide clear explainations.
Can anyone help me in understanding these differences and when and how they were included on the MkV. And also why the Bovington tank shows both types. Thanks.
Manu

Gwyn Evans · Legend

I think what you've highlighted is the difference caused by the sight on the 6 pdr, referred to at the end of Mark Hansen's post. Or is it now me that has missed something?

I do not know what you mean by "the left was not standard on the Mk IV" as the sponsons on the Mark V at Bovington are both Mark V (not Mark IV) sponsons. The clearest id feature (there are others) is the vertical line of three rivets at the lower front of both sponsons. These do not appear on Mark IV sponsons.

Gwyn

Mark Hansen · Legend

Hi Manu,
The differences you point out are the differences that occur between the left and right sponsons. These differences are the same whether the sponson is a Mk IV or Mk V type. I've included pictures from the landships main site which show both left and right sponsons of the Mk IV tank "Lodestar III" in Brussels. As Gwyn and myself pointed out, this is due to the sight on the 6 pdr. Looking at the tank from the front, the left sponson has a gun with the sight next to the body. This meant that there had to be a cutaway to allow sighting for the gun when firing directly ahead. On the right hand sponson this was not a problem.

The unusual sponson on the IWM's Mk V is possibly�a mock-up. It has features that are unlike any other sponson.

Manu-Military · Corporal

Mark,
thanks a lot for your kind and very clear explanations along with the Brussel's MkIV views.
Both your explanation about the guns sights and the photos clearly helped me to understand why there were two kinds of sponsons.
Now I can go ahead with my scratchbuilt conversion.

P.S.: I now realise that the Verlinden's kit is wrong with this specific area even for a MkIV tank as he depicted both sides the same way.

Manu

Ivan · Field Marshal

Mk V Composite in Charkow (Ukraine) - many photos in detail!
http://photofile.name/users/coast70/135179234/