Although it was in service around the world for twenty years, the Comet was produced in only two variants, the Cruiser Tank A34 Comet Mk 1, Types A and B. The Type B was a post Second World War Two development and was widely exported.
I haven't yet had an opportunity to look at the Bovington archives and the Technical Publications but here are some notes from open sources.
The Type A and B differed in only two respects, exhausts and smoke grenade dischargers.
The earliest Comets had a single exhaust shroud (middle picture), borrowed from its predecessor, the Cromwell. On the left, is the shroud developed during the war with a split in the middle to allow the gun to be crutched over the back decks. The later fishtail exhausts on the right were introduced on the Type B after the war. It looks as though Mark has chosen to represent the latter.
The multi-barrelled smoke grenade dischargers were only found on Type B, as on this South African Comet:
The rest of the variations below were found on both Types A and B. The first noticeable difference was the introduction of a revised front idler to overcome the tendency of the earlier type to clog with mud. Both types of idler can be seen on wartime photos of 11 Armoured Brigade. (Early version at the bottom).
The two types of roadwheel differed in the number of drainage holes and there were also a few variants of hub.
Two types of return rollers:
I'm sure there are other subtle differences and variants, awaiting discovery. Hope this is of interest to the Comet cohort.
Regards
Stephen
