Yeah, that's me. A Treadhead. A Rivetcounter. A Tank Geek before there were Geeks and they were cool.
So there's nothing more exciting and invigorating for a creature such as yours truly than to be able to actually get up close and personal with the real tanks and combat vehicles from history that have inspired me since childhood to build model tanks, study history, and make wild and wonderful science fiction creations to storm across the battlefields of the imagination. Such a marvelous and rare opportunity came last year when the collection of restored-as-much-as-possible military vehicles and weapon systems of the late Jaques Littlefield. Mr. Littlefield's family made the decision to auction off most of his collection, while transferring the best of the collection to a foundation back East that would house the vehicles and preserve them for posterity.
Of course those of us Bay Area natives who have appreciated Jaques's efforts and his making his collection available to academics and other interested parties who appreciate such historical machines were more than a little appalled and dismayed, so many of us wasted no time in arranging a last visit or two to tour the collection before it was gone. My old friend and mentor Dr. Sheldon Greaves and I managed to visit the collection one last time, and between us we shot as many photos as we could manage during the course of the tour.
Jaques's collection contained many a personal favorite, including more than a few machines that I had built scale models of as a child, and quite a few that I still to this day will not hesitate to use as the basis for a sci-fi conversion project.
So in no particular order, here for your inspiration and perusal is a selection of the photos I shot during that last afternoon of wonder and awe at these machines of decades past. Whether you're a builder of scale models, a wargamer, or a history buff, I hope that these photos will help illuminate the reality of these often imposing war machines and shed some small light on the nature of technologies past.
So we begin with the oldest vehicle in the collection, a U.S. 6 Ton Tank M1918, a copy of the French Renault FT-17. The FT-17 is the granddaddy of all modern battle tanks, being the pioneering tank design to employ a revolving turret containing the vehicle's armament and the engine and fuel tanks to the rear of the machine's layout:
Moving into the 1920s is this rare civilian Citroen-Kegresse halftrack all terrain vehicle. A French exploratory expedition traversed thousands of miles riding in halftracks very similar to this one during the 1920s, tackling rugged, mountainous terrain and braving Chinese bandits and warlord soldiers among the many challenges such an undertaking had to face. A perfect mount I would dare assert for one's favorite pulp fiction heroes delving into the Lost World or investigating reports of a dread cult worshipping a strange and terrifying octopus god attacking caravans along the Silk Road:
The 1930s, where austere budgets imposed by The Great Depression limit the development of tanks to small, light machines little better than the Great War vintage FT-17 and a resurgent Germany begins to rearm for a rematch to avenge the humiliation of the Treaty of Versailles. We start with the British Vickers Mk. IV light tank, followed by the Panzerkampfwagen I and the British answer to the new German panzers, the 2 Pounder antitank gun:
The armament of the three man Mk. IV light tank consisted of a Vickers .303 inch machine gun and a .5 inch Vickers heavy machine gun, the later being it's only anti-armor weapon capability. While a heavy machine gun firing armor piercing bullets was adequate in 1918 against the generally thin armor of most tanks of the period, by the time the Mk. VI Light Tank entered combat against the German panzers in 1940, it was hopelessly inadequate for anything other than reconnaissance work and painfully outclassed in a tank vs, tank encounter by even the light Panzer II's 2 cm. automatic cannon.
All that being said about the Vickers Mk. IV, the Panzerkampfwagen I was in no way any better, and in fact somewhat worse off being armed with two rifle caliber light machine guns and desperately thin armor protection for its two-man crew:
The last photo shows just how tiny the two-man Panzer I was compared to the five-man Panzerkampfwagen IV. The one man turret of the Panzer I was a further hinderance in combat, as the occupant was overworked as they had to command the vehicle, locate targets, load and fire the machine guns, and operate the radio, and if a unit commander direct the actions of the other tanks under their command:
The 1930s also saw the export market for tanks move along as a small but growing concern. A modern army had tanks if at all possible, and many a minor nation was quick to recognize the potential of having even a few tanks if their neighbors did not. A surprising number of short production run tanks and armored vehicles were produced during the 1920s and 30s, and this rare Marmon-Harrington export tank is an excellent example of the adaptation of a commercial tractor chassis suspension and powerplant to try and create a viable tank for the foreign export market:
The holes in the front of the vehicle were for .30 cal. light machine guns. The main armament in the turret consisted of a single 37mm gun covered by a thick armored sleeve. The short track base, thin armor, and poor crew configuration made this vehicle inadequate for any modern operations. Only a relative handful were built and exported.
As tanks grew larger and their armor thicker, the anti-tank rifle firing 12.7mm armor piercing bullets was recognized to being obsolescent, and new, more powerful weapons began to come into service in the later 1930s. This British 2 Pounder "Pop Gun" was fairly typical of the antitank guns of this period, and was by the standards of the day more than capable a weapon against the thin armor of the German panzers it opposed. The 2 Pounder in fact outperformed its contemporaries in its armor piercing capabilities, being able to penetrate thicker armor than the German 3.7 cm Pak 36 and even the heavier French 47mm 37SA Puteaux antitank gun (although the French weapon outclassed all the others thanks to its ability to fire both armor piercing and a useful high explosive shell):
Here is a Pak 36, the standard German antitank gun in service from the later 1930s until 1942 when it was replaced by the more powerful 5 cm Pak 38 as the standard frontline German antitank gun:
The standard tow vehicle for the Pak 36 was the Protze Boxer 4x6 light truck. A 1930s design, the vehicle's mediocre cross-country performance would quickly demonstrate its inadequacy for keeping up with the panzers, and would eventually be phased out in favor of halftracks as the standard ride and light weapons carrier and prime mover of the Wehrmacht:
As the 1930s end and World War II begins, newer, heavier designs of tank take the field in the first clashes of armor of the conflict. The Matilda II infantry tank is a prime example of both the limitations of the interwar tank designs and the differing doctrines of tanks and their uses. This particular Matilda II is finished in the unique camouflage pattern found on British tanks and military vehicles in the Western Desert Campaign in 1941:
END PART I
UP Next: Tanks and AFVs of World War II and the Cold War Era
... and Now We're Deep in April!
A quickie post to share what I have managed to get done between wrapping up a master's thesis and other mischief and mayhem... remember that really, really, really splendid Garmillas Ship Set from Bandai? Well, there is a bonus model included in that set of three outstanding starships (see previous posts, and oh, the Big Dawg is nearly done at last!)...
It's a really fine little 1/144 scale Garmillas battle tank that is so big in and of itself that in 1/144 scale it's big enough to pass for a small 15mm scale robot tank or light self propelled fire support tank. So here is the lil' beastie all painted up for your consideration, an added bonus to a model starship set that is already a serious bargain at the current Yen to U.S. Dollar exchange rate (see HobbyLink Japan if you want one for yourself and first class customer service!):
This fine little critter is tooled so well and thoroughly that she practically built herself just like the much larger starship models in the same box. Bandai's tooling is frankly state of the art, and there new releases show no signs of slackening off on the quality.
The tracks and suspension are hard plastic segments moulded with remarkable precision, so much so that despite the relatively tiny size the kit was a joy to build. The main guns are independently mounted so they can be elevated independently of one another as you can see from the photo. The turret also rotates as well. I added the decals from my spares box, as the kit did not include any markings (and I just can't leave a blank tank turret side unmolested).
The model has been painted entirely by hand as usual, and I used mostly acrylic craft paints from the local Michael's store. I sealed the finish with Testor's Dullcote as is my SOP.
Included with two identical Garmillas destroyers and a dreadnought, the whole set is a serious bargain for the price, and a really handy way of either starting a sci fi wargaming space armada and planetary landing detachment, or adding reinforcements to your galaxy conquering hordes.
Next post: Yamato 2199 Meets Silent Death: The Next Millennium thanks to Bandai!
I begin by apologizing in advance for breaking my rule of keeping this blog of mine focused entirely on my hobby and various historical topics, however a certain serendipity of events compels me to do so this once, as I regard the topic to be of too great an importance for me to remain silent on the matter.
I was recently contacted by the nonprofit organization Color of Change asking me to sign a petition directed at Sony Pictures calling for the firing of studio head Amy Pascal in light of revelations of Pascal's appallingly racist beliefs exposed in her e-mails made public by hackers. While I do not condone hacking in principle as it is a grievous violation of privacy even on a good day, the exposure of Pascal's disgustingly self evident racism was simply too egregious for me to feel much sympathy for her being the victim of such an event. As a consequence and given both the gravity of Pascal's comments and her level of authority within one of the largest corporate media entities on the planet, I felt compelled to add the following comment to my signature on the ColorofChange.org petition to Sony Pictures:
"Amy Pascal has demonstrated through her comments and correspondence that she is an American willfully ignorant of our nation's history, and willfully disrespectful of and ambivalent to the service of many tens of thousands of Black Americans in our Armed Forces in harm's way as I write this comment.
Ms. Pascal's despicable lack of respect and frankly wretched lack of awareness of this irrefutable reality demonstrates a gross lack of fitness on her part to serve in any capacity of responsibility public or private sector alike.
Ms. Pascal has demonstrated that she is either unaware of or simply dismissive of the fact that many hundreds of thousands of Black Americans have served in every war our nation has been engaged in since our War of Independence, and many tens of thousands of them having given their lives in defense of our nation.
Ms. Pascal has through her racist, willfully ignorant correspondence and pathetically tone deaf responses to the all too predictable outrage of Americans of every ethnicity and faith over her revealed comments shown she has either no knowledge of or a gross disregard for the history of service of the Black American veterans of the 332nd Fighter Group, the 761st Tank Battalion, the 369th Infantry, the 371st Infantry, the 372nd Infantry, and the 54th Massachusetts Regiment just to name a handful of the Black American combat units that served so gallantly in our nation's defense.
Amy Pascal has demonstrated that she cares not one whit for the heroism of Corporal Freddie Stowers or Sgt. Henry Johnson during the First World War. She has shown she has no respect or regard for their memories, nor the memories of Staff Sgt. Ruben Rivers or Private George Watson, who gave their lives in the service of their country, sacrificing themselves to save the lives of their comrades.
Amy Pascal has shown she cares not one whit for the heroism and sacrifices of men like 1st Lt. Charles L. Thomas, who suffered grievous wounds while commanding his gun battery under fire, yet continued to lead his men in an exemplary fashion until he was overcome by blood loss. She has shown that she has no respect for the heroism and sacrifice of 1st Lt. John R. Fox, who gave his life in the struggle to liberate Europe from Nazi occupation. Lt. Fox singlehandedly held back a German attack to enable his unit to escape being overrun and wiped out by a superior enemy force, remaining in a second floor observation post directing artillery fire on the attacking Germans. Lt. Fox single-handedly accounted for circa 100 German soldiers, and saved his comrades from death or capture at the cost of his own life.
These are just a few of the Black Americans Amy Pascal has demonstrated she holds in such utter contempt. Now that Amy Pascal has stepped down, the question is begged, does the leadership of Sony Pictures share her contempt for these brave Americans who risked their lives in defense of our nation, many at the cost of their own lives, or not?
The actions of the leadership of Sony Pictures will answer this question. I for one speaking as a military historian and educator am fully aware that this is the centennial of the First World War. I am also as an avid filmgoer fully aware that to date no feature length motion picture depiction of the sacrifices and gallantry of the Black American doughboys who served with extraordinary courage and determination on the Western Front during the First World War has ever been made.
This means that to date while the world may yet remember the story of Corporal Alvin York thanks to Gary Cooper's depiction of him in the film Sgt. York, we have no movie depicting the heroism, leadership by example, and battlefield skill of Henry Johnson or Freddie Stowers. While we have movies representing the valor of the Lost Battalion (The Lost Battalion) or the exploits of the Lafayette Escadrille (Flyboys). we have no film to date dramatizing the life and adventures of Eugene Bullard or the tremendous endurance and courage of the men of the 371st and 372nd "Red Hands."
I personally am challenging you, Sony Pictures, to step up to the plate, and put your words of contrition into action. "
So there you have it. We are at this moment in the centennial of the First World War, a global conflict the consequences of which we are still very much experiencing, a conflict that had a profound impact on the shaping of the world we live in today. Further, for all of their billions of dollars spent upon movie productions that result in endless retellings of formulaic fluff and nonsense entertainment, I for one have yet to see anyone pick up the gauntlet of presenting the tales of courage and fortitude of the Black American doughboys of the Great War, let alone present on the silver screen the life in some reasonable depth and honesty of the first Black American fighter pilot, Eugene Bullard.
While I have few doubts that Sony Pictures will actually heed my comments on the deplorable Ms. Pascal, hope springs eternal, and perhaps someone will finally use the medium of film to recreate the astonishing heroism of and tragic injustices heaped upon the "Red Hands" during their time of service in the Great War. Or perhaps the memory of Eugene Jaques Bullard will be immortalized in film as it deserves, his tale of tragedy, injustice at the hands of Jim Crow racism, triumph as a decorated soldier in the Legion Etranger and later a fighter pilot for France, only to end his days in impoverished obscurity, unknown and unrecognized by his native land, but rnot forgotten by a grateful French Republic.
For those of you interested in an in-depth look at the experiences of the Black American doughboys during the First World War, I very highly recommend The Unknown Soldiers: African-American Troops in World War I by Arthur E. Barbeau and Florette Henri.
You can also pick up a crash course in the subject matter in Osprey Publishing's Buffalo Soldiers 1892-1918 by Ron Field. This is the second installment of Mr. Field's works for Osprey on the subject of the Black American soldiers of the U.S. Army covering the period spanning aftermath of the American Civil War through the Indian Wars of the last half of the 19th century, to the end of the First World War. I highly recommend all three books as a quick yet readable and very informative education on this neglected subject matter.
As the title says, this is a continuation of the last installment, a WIP Part Deux of my mad project of adapting a 1/1000 scale Garmillas dreadnought to use as a Silent Death destroyer class warship, a really big kitbashed orbital station for use in same, plus some other large models for use in this classic space fighter combat game!
So, for you consideration Dear Readers, we begin with that Gaiderol-class battlewagon I'm transforming into a heavy destroyer bristling with torpedo tubes:
Impressive beastie, neh? Next up, some more of the Yamato-verse, specifically the old EDF cruiser model repurposed as a Silent Death Warhound:
Yes, that is the kitbashed orbital platform I just finished, and the smaller escort vessel if the new Yamato Mecha Colle Garmillas Warship mini kit from the new Yamato 2199 series. Interestingly enough, the exchange rate at the moment between the U.S. Dollar and the Yen is such that the older EDF cruiser model kit is not much more expensive than the newer and smaller Mecha Colle kit, and the prices are seriously low, with the EDF cruiser being less than $5.00, while the smaller, newer Garmillas ship is around $3.00 at the moment. The fighter miniature in the foreground is a Silent Death: The Next Millennium "Death Wind" TPAC ("Two Person Attack Conveyance," which is SD:TNM-speak for "two seater space fighter").
As for that kitbashed orbital station...
I used some old Zoid parts, two plastic cosmetic jar lids, assorted toy parts including some old Buck Rogers boardgame energy cannon pieces, a large plastic sequin for a radar dish, various plastic rhinestones, and a few model parts to build this orbiting abomination up. I specifically built it around a large plastic bead I placed on a standard plastic flight base, then added parts around it until I reached the final form. After spray priming it flat black, I painted the whole contraption by hand with water based acrylic craft paints, some decals from the spares box, and a shot of Testor's Dullcote. The fighter miniature in the second photo is a "Sorenson III" class patrol TPAC, shown here finished in the colors of one of the semi-regular militia fighter units of the Unkulunkulu Archipelago Defense Forces. The overall colors are cribbed from the pre-WW2 U.S. Navy's Neutrality Patrol colors used on carrier-based fighter aircraft, with the Rastafarian wing flashes of my Unkulunkulu fighter unit, a hodge-podge of types of ships ranging from small single-seaters to several heavy gunboats.
I freely admit that I shamelessly draw from actual history for inspiration in selecting paint schemes for my sci-fi projects, and my rather hefty collection of Silent Death fighters and such is no exception. If you get stuck on colors for your project, break out some books on historical military vehicles or aircraft. Remember: "Talents create," wrote Oscar Wilde, and "...geniuses steal!"
Next Installment: The Gaiderol finished (and other mischief).
So here's some new photos for everyone's amusement, a mix of work in progress and completed projects in need of some attention from my camera!
So, we begin where we left off, with the 1/1000 scale Gamilas dreadnought model from Yamato 2199 produced by Bandai. The two-hex base is the result of my gluing the vertical post that came with the kit to a Litko Aerosystems acrylic two-hex movement base. The balance is perfect, and the presence of the model once it's done will be impressive to say the least. I have gotten the overall paint scheme to where I like it:
The next step will be to add a few remaining detailing parts, some additional painted details, and decals to finish the ship with a suitable insignia and hull number.
Moving along we next have a series of 15mm sci fi AFVs from Darkest Star Games. The first up is the Terran Scorpion 8x8 AFV. The kit comes with a selection of weapons and turret bustle options, a real boon to kitbashers such as myself for conversions and kitbashing projects alike:
These are part of a work in progress unit of mid-tech wheeled AFVs I've started using my existing accumulation of unfinished projects and resources. I have seven unbuilt Combat Wombat 8x8 AFVs, plus some assorted Matchbox 6x6 softskins and some 6x6 versions of the 4x4 VAB APCs I used in an earlier project (and chronicled on this very blog previously). I wanted to add a heavy anti-armor support asset to this mechanized light cavalry brigade, and Matchbox came to the rescue with their Real Working Rigs series Stryker, which with a little help from the left over bits from the Darkest Star Games Scorpions let me produce a suitably hefty beast to back up my Scorpions:
Next up are the Ventauran medium tank and APC, the meat 'n potatoes opponents of the Terran Federation forces produced by Darkest Star, along with the new Ventauran infantry figures produced by Darkest Star Games to accompany the vehicle ranges (the Terran Federation infantry have also just been released fairly recently, and they look da bomb!):
The posing and animation of the Ventaurans is dynamic to say the least. They come in a pack of eleven different poses, a mix of officer, NCO, two scoped heavy rifles, and the rest with assorted rifles or carbines. The AFVs come with two gun turret options apiece. Naturally, I used one turret and saved the others for kitbashing projects later on (and rest assured, I will post photos of those when the time comes!).
Finally, there's the end result of a bit of unscheduled dumpster diving on my part. One evening soon after Xmas I took the trash out to the bin and lo and behold there sitting atop the rubbish was a discarded, old, worn out smart phone protective cover and the plastic case that the new protective case had clearly come in. I was instantly inspired by the detailing of the protective case AND the container, and in less time than it takes to type these words, I was beelining back into my office, cackling maniacally all the way!
Here is the result of that chance encounter at the dumpster, a 28mm armored anti-grav APC with a definite Rogue Trader/2000 A.D. vibe that frankly all but built itself thanks to the shape and details of the original materials involved:
I'll be taking advantage of the rectangular opening in the top of the smartphone case to retrofit a vehicle commander figure and additional automatic weapon (like I didn't load this bugger down enough already!). Oh, and yes, the dozer bumper on the front of the machine is indeed the space bar from a broken keyboard!
