Hello all!

WW1 is not my area of interest, but our local club in Malmö is having a bit of a WW1 group build, and I decided to join in.

The reason for this activity is that the theme for C4-Open in Malmö this October is, most appropriately, "WW1".

So, what to build?

I heard about (and saw for myself) the Emhar kits, and lets face it: they make SKIF look like high-tech moldings!

But, I wanted to build a Mk.IV, so what choice did I have?

Nevetheless, I soon came to the conclusion that more than half of the model would be replaced by scratchbuilt parts, as well as Fruil tracks, grousers etc.

Below is my progress so far on this Mk.IV female (with reservations regarding full historical correctness, this is more a "just for fun" build for me, without drowning myself in references). Having said that, I am of course trying to be as accurate as possible.

I did read that the Mk.IV's did not use Hotchkiss mg's (in favour of the Lewis guns), but I prefer the "look" of the Hotchkiss guns and will go with them anyway.

Thanks for looking, your comments are always welcome.

Cheers,
Sven

Just to give those of you an idea of what the Emhar parts look like (these will or have been all replaced with scratchbuilt parts):



And some pics of the modified model thus far:
(Yes, its going to be great run putting all those rivets on, I am hoping that Archer rivet decals will do the trick :-) )



The "drivers compartment" and "observation housing" are only dry fitted, I noticed after taking the pics that the latter is slightly crooked.

I have also taken the opportunity to depict some hatches open, the observation port will be filled with a crewman poking his head out. No interior is planned :-)

Hi Sven,
I build both Male and Female tanks decades ago, brings back some memories. What did you use to replace the Hotchkiss barrels? Anyway a good start for an ambitious project.
Cheers
H.-H.

Hello H-H,

Thanks for your kind comments.

The Hotchkiss barrels are just 0.7mm brass tube, with 0.5mm plastic rod directly under them.

Did you happen to post any pics of your builds a decade ago? It would be nice to see them.

Cheers,
Sven

Hi Sven .. You are a brave man ..Looks great so far.

Rick

Thanks Rick!

The worst of it is done now, thank goodness :-)

Hi Sven,
unfortunatly, I had to move away from home some years ago. So I am afraid that the Mark tank models are no longer in a good condition.

H.-H.

What a shame H-H!

You'll just have to build them again :-)

(but wait until someone releases new models of these vehicles first)..

Hi Sven,

Nice work so far. You're a brave man , but with a bit of TLC you'll have a fine build. I've seen some great results with the kit, just haven't got the mind to tackle one yet.

The open hatch and human activity will add a lot, look forward to developments.

Cheers

Al

I second Alan's thoughts. Nice work!

Thanks Alan and Bob!

Much appreciated.

I will do my best to make something out of this beast of a model :-)

Sven,
Really good scratchbuilding. I don't think too many blogs cover this WWI tank. I'm real interested in seeing the progress of this. Adding rivets to that styrene won't be too bad. The toughest part it just trying to get them all in the straightest line possible! I've had good luck with rivets both from Grandt Line and these guys...

http://www.scalehardware.com/

Oddly I enjoy installing rivets because its such a brainless task - kind of a break from all the problem solving that occurs during construction...

Thanks Paul, I am glad you like it so far :-)

I agree with you regarding the rivets, I scratchbuilt a model a few years ago, a vehicle with a lot of rivets, and it was oddly relaxing gluing them on one by one.

That stuff from scale hardware looks fantastic, I have often been tempted to test them.

Thank you Matt, I am really happy that you like it. Yes, that's the exhaust running on top of the roof :-)

Cheers,
Sven

Just a small update today.

When I checked my references, I discovered a rather big mistake I had made with the driver's compartment visors.

The edge I placed around the visors is as a matter of fact a raised edge around the apertures.

This has now been fixed.

In the next update, some more corrections made (to my own parts) and I will include a pic of the Fruil tracks I received in the mail last week (which are really nice).

Cheers,
Sven

BEFORE:



AFTER:

Hi Sven.
Great scratchbuilding as always my friend.I have the Emhar male to do sometime.Im sure that eventually a new 1/35th kit will appear.
All the best from Richard

Great work! Your scratchbuilding will certainly improve the looks of this kit. Do you plan to put in in a diorama?

Hello Richard and Thomas!

Thank you both for your kind comments.

Richard, you might as well wait, mate, I think it is more case of "when" rather than "if" a new model is on the way. I am sure a new release will appear after I am done with this one :-)

Thomas, I don't have a diorama planned, but I will be making some kind of vignette base for it.

Cheers,
Sven

Hejsan Sven
Your scratch building really adds quality to this model. I have a advice for the track tension mechanism, use real small screws and bolts. I got mine from the local watchmaker. He charged me around 3 EURO for the lot, which concidering ordenary AM prices, seems like a pretty good deal.
Looking forward to see more pictures.
Best regards
Jacob

Hi Sven,

Excellent work.

Al

Thanks Jacob and Al, much appreciated!

Jacob, that is a great tip, thanks! I will check with a watchmaker to see what I can find. That would definitely help to lift the detail in that area.

I know there are some companies that actually sell watch gears, nuts and bolts etc (by weight) which can be handy for detailing models.

Al, your WW1 builds are an inspiration, made me want to try one :-)

Sven
Glad I could help out one of the Nordic Masters Found a picture of the parts.
Jacob

That looks superb, Jacob, I love the weathering too. Very nicely done! Perhaps you could post some more pics of your build here in this thread?

Thanks also for the very kind compliment..! :-)

I did post some Pictures way back last year, but here's a couple of them.



Jacob
PS:If I was to do this ver, I'd use some AM tracks.

Thanks Jacob, great to see these!

Very nice work, I appreciate you posting the pics again here.

I think you did a super job with the Emhar tracks. I am not that brave, I bought the Fruil ones :-)