Landships II

Hi Max

The Mk I females were equipped with Vickers MG's and a Hotchkiss. The Mk I males had the Hotchkiss as well as the 6 pounders.

The Mk II females used the Lewis gun in old Mk I sponsons. The males probably used the Lewis as well.

The Mk III was a training tank and was rarely (if ever) fitted with MG's but would have used the Lewis.

The Mk IV's (male and female) were initially fitted with the Lewis but it wasn't suitable for tank use so they were later refitted with the Hotchkiss.

The Mk V, V*, and V** all used the Hotchkiss.

The beute panzers were sometimes refitted with German MG's but the usual practice was to rechamber the Lewis to accept German ammunition.

As far as the Emhar kits go, the Lewis or the Hotchkiss can be used.

P.S.: The Mk II was intended as a training tank but was used to make up the numbers.

-- Edited by Mark Hansen at 14:20, 2006-07-16

No, only 6-pdrs (there was no 8 pdr gun). They were ex-Navy Hotchkiss QF jobs: http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNBR_6pounder_m1.htm

-- Edited by Roger Todd at 16:21, 2006-07-16

Aye, that they were. Shortened basically because the long barrels of the early Marks kept digging their muzzles into the mud and catching on obstacles. The loss of muzzle-velocity due to the barrels being shortened was felt to be a price worth paying.

-- Edited by Roger Todd at 20:32, 2006-07-16

MAX

I think those are horrible horrible yuk yuk yuk attempts to model the Vickers water cooled mg on a Mk I. Mk I females had the Vickers in the sponsons with a special armoured shield around the vunerable water cooled jacket. They and MK I males used Hotchkiss air cooled mg elsewhere but with a modified shortened clip  (because of space issues) that caused problems Mk II females appear to be something of a mixture with some having Vickers in the sponsons (especially if they have been retrofitted with Mk I armoured sponsons ) and rare examples with the Lewis. Mk III were designed in general to be used with Lewises and Mk IVs were introduced with the Lewis but reverted to the Hotchkiss with a belt feed (getting round the problem of the short clips). I'll try and do more on the Lewis and its problems on Monday

Max wrote:

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Hi Mark, thanks for your reply,but what are the machne guns on the MKII for type ?   I mean the thick looking machine guns. I have several photographs from a MKII with the Lewis guns who where fitted on the MKIV, but the old version seems to have thicker guns. Are these also Lewis guns but watercooled ? Or are these guns the Vickers guns , the same as the MKI female ?(see picture attached)   Regards Max

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The Lewis gun was the only type used on the Mk II¹. The Vickers were fitted to the Mk I female sponsons and the old sponsons were subsequently fitted to the Mk II. The gun shields had a small insert added to compensate for the smaller diameter of the Lewis gun (see attached image).

¹ The exception to the rule, as always, is Bovington's infamous Mk II. It has been, chronologically;

1. a Mk II male (built)


2. a Mk II supply tank with cab hatch and silencer (converted)


3. a Mk I hermaphrodite complete with tail wheels (a bogus conversion to give Bovington a Mk I!)


4. a Mk II single sided female but with a Mk I sponson complete with Vickers. (after Bovington got a real Mk I)

It may also have been other things such as a training tank (such an unusual thing to have used a training tank for!). In short, Bovington's Mk II is a poor vehicle to use for reference except as a supply tank if you ignore the female sponson.