Yet another restoration project from the Bovington Museum

[Dennis Jones]

I have been given the task of putting this MkIV or V back together. Apparently two of them were made for a film. The tank was powered by 240 volts, the motor you see in the photo is 240 volts and it drove the two tracks via a gearbox and chain drive. The tracks were controlled by two dog clutches which were pulled by two 240 volt solenoids. The whole lot was controlled by a multi-way escapement rotary switch again operated by a 240 volt solenoid. There is a belt mechanism driven from the main drive shaft which turns a pulley assembly linked to which by a rod makes the guns in the turrets turn and raise and lower when the tank is in motion. Needless to say for health and safety reasons I will not be connecting up the electrics. The b/w photo shows the man who I assume originally built the tanks. The hull is made of wood but all of those u bolts are threaded with nuts holding them on, a labour of love I would think. There are also bulbs in the ends of all the barrels. I will post a photo of the completed tank when finished. I must be a glutton for punishment.

Dennis.

[Stephen White]

Well done Dennis! I don't recognise the original builder but despite the B&W photo, I'd wager that is an RTR tie. That means we could probably get him identified if you thought it would help. Lethal said, the photo looks pretty dated. Good luck. Stephen

[Steve Stuart]

Hi Dennis and Stephen,
The grill on the side of the tank makes me think this might be a Mark V?......
Steve

[Dennis Jones]

You might well be right Steve but a don't think it's a true replica of either Mark. What also amazes me is each of the track links is cast alloy of some sort.

Dennis.

[Chris Hall]

Now there's an interesting thing ...... nice to think it'll be brought back to life !

It certainly looks like a Mk. V to me - the radiator grill on the mid-rear horn is right, as is the extra turret box on top. I think the only thing wrong with it is the paint job. 'Hilda' was the Mk. IV Hugh Elles rode in at Cambrai, and I notice a Tank Corps flag on the turret box which, I imagine, is the one 'Hilda' carried on that day. The original picture of the two tanks in action looks more correct for a Mk. V, with the identification stripes, although I think the original fascine would have been replaced by the cradle design by then.

So, personally, I'd do it up as a Mk. V.

Hope this helps,

Chris

[Dennis Jones]

Finished putting the MKIV back together not in running mode though.

Dennis.

[Ian Rodney]

Looking good Dennis,

What a great job you have done on the MKIV.
You deserve a free pass to Bovington for life!

Sorry you've got that already?

Anyway excellent work on bringing the Hilda back to original self!

Cheers
Ian

[Fabrice Le Roux]

Dennis,

Looks great. Out of curiosity, when was the model repainted as "Hilda" and why? Have you discovered the history of the model? Was this done for a special exhibition?

Clearly from the original film and stills the drab green was not the original colour scheme as the original colour of the model can be seen round the sponsons in the dismantled photos.

Given that some Armortek owners might consider donating their models to the Tank Museum, how would they feel about the models being repainted or modified in the future?

You have done a lovely job in reassembling this model and my questions are aimed at widening the discussion as we all have an interest as to the eventual fate of our model making efforts.

Kind regards
Fabrice

[Dennis Jones]

Not sure if anybody from the museum did a re-paint but apparently it was given to somebody to sort out and they took out all the brackets from inside that held the motor etc so there was no way I was going to re-fabricate that lot particularly as it was originally driven from 240 volts. They can't find the other one and I think somebody, a relation perhaps, wants to see the tanks so there was a bit of a panic on. Didn't find out any history, although I believe the museum has some details of it. Took it back yesterday, so it will sit on the shelf with all the other 30 or so model tanks in the archives.

Dennis.