Best I can do is two photos I took of the MK1 sponson at Bovi. The photos are of the same ports inside and out.
The upper mechanism is for the machine gun, I can only presume there was some kind of sight on the gun, or there was enough of a gap at the top of the mount for the gunner to see out.
The lower vision block I am not sure about either. There seems to be a metal piece that either rotates or drops into place, when not closed. I again, can only presume there is a glass block to look through.
Sorry I can't give you anything definitive on the subject, I'm sure though others will be able to add something on the subject.
Helen x
-- Edited by MK1 Nut on Wednesday 3rd of July 2013 10:01:16 PM
There no sights that i'm aware of on the British Tank machine guns, the Hotchkiss on the Mk 1's and Mk 2's had a sort of bar that ran along the top of the barrel to push the flap up further when the gun was poked out, giving some clearance for the sights to be used. Lewises and later Hotchkisses are just poked through the slits and the normal sights used, not sure about the Vickers but no doubt the same. As mentioned, a sight on the 6 pdr but not sure how telescopic it was. There is an example of a vision block at Bovington, a multy-layered piece that was no doubt x1 vision. There were also the periscopes that looked like antenna poking out the cab roofs of the Mk I, later they appear to have just used the normal trench periscope used when necessary
Hi, if anyone's still interested, regarding the optics from a 6pdr male, they were specifically made for the tanks by R and J Beck and Co. of London. This company also made the trench periscopes used within tanks.
Consisting of a simple tube, which could be taken apart for cleaning and approximately 32" long. The optics were made of simple glass and provided 2x magnification. The Tank museum has one on their Mark IV, made by R & J Beck. The Mark IV Male (Lodestar III) in the Brussels museum has the housing but no scope.
The telescopes were housed in quick release mounts (for the day) on the side and slightly above the barrel on the left hand side and designed to be swapped out quickly in the event of damage.
A small number of spare telescopes were stored inside the tank in individual leather cases.
The Haynes Great War tank book by David Fletcher MBE covers this aspect in good detail, which include line drawings and photographs of theirs at the Tank museum. I have one in its case sitting next to me as I write this.
Great! These pics answers a question I posed in another thread, regarding periscopes. So, they really were darker than the surrounding tank! I assume that the upper side was that of the round flange?
The mortice slot cut into the brass sleeve insert at the front of the telescope sits in the front sight clamp with the locator at its lowest point. This allowed for correct placement, quick re-sighting and less zeroing. Although this particular scope is painted black, it does not necessarily mean they all were. The example on the Mark IV at the tank museum is brass, as this, but unpainted, and judging by its patination, was never painted.
The serial number of their scope in situ is higher than this example shown and this one is without the WD mark found on later models, so suspect this was fitted out in an earlier Mark tank, and the scope being swapped out some time in 1918, after being damaged, judging by the 1918 marking on the case.
Thanks Relicman! Wonder if these things could be raised or lowered depending on the need. Anyway, as my interest is to model a tank *externally* I wouldn't be able to reproduce any internal mechanism whatsoever!
D.
Hi, if anyone's still interested, regarding the optics from a 6pdr male, they were specifically made for the tanks by R and J Beck and Co. of London. This company also made the trench periscopes used within tanks.
Consisting of a simple tube, which could be taken apart for cleaning and approximately 32" long. The optics were made of simple glass and provided 2x magnification. The Tank museum has one on their Mark IV, made by R & J Beck. The Mark IV Male (Lodestar III) in the Brussels museum has the housing but no scope.
The telescopes were housed in quick release mounts (for the day) on the side and slightly above the barrel on the left hand side and designed to be swapped out quickly in the event of damage.
A small number of spare telescopes were stored inside the tank in individual leather cases.
The Haynes Great War tank book by David Fletcher MBE covers this aspect in good detail, which include line drawings and photographs of theirs at the Tank museum. I have one in its case sitting next to me as I write this.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for the info. Osprey Duel: Mark IV vs. A7V claims that Mark IV had 4x magnification sights called "4x No. 4 Mk III sighting scope".
Is it a mistake or is it possible that they were using different sights?
I'll have to buy that book, it looks very interesting.
There seems to be a metal piece that either rotates or drops into place, when not closed. I again, can only presume there is a glass block to look through.
