You were right Bernie!
Well, after spending a good few weeks redrawing Wayne’s MkI into a number of different guises, I really wanted to have a go at designing a model from scratch – nothing too complex, just something to cut my teeth on before going back to Wayne’s models (there’s already a half completed MkII and MkIII on the cutting board).
Staying with the WWI tank theme, I had, last week, read the really interesting article over at Landships II about the ‘Flying Elephant’ – the proposed shellproof, superheavy tank.
Using the plans drawn up by Roger Todd (seen on the Landships article) as the basis, I resized them to 1:48 to match the models already completed. I had also already decided to try and create the final design of August 1916 – mainly because of the simpler curves.
A total departure from the rhomboid shape of production tanks, one of the peculiarities was the addition of a second set of tracks - shorter than the outer pair and not in contact with the ground. The intention was they were to be used to aid in the heavy vehicle grounding or bottoming out.
There is a really comprehensive article regarding the Flying Elephant, and the designs that came before her, over at Landships II – here Landships II with some superb drawings by Roger Todd of each of the designs.
Apologies for the poor photo’s (Ray, I will take some better ones tomorrow when the light is better!). It always amazes me how a photo highlights errors and omissions too! So it looks like there’s a little more work to do on this one!
__________
Partial drawings have survived and show a vehicle 8.36 m (27 ft −291.1 in) long and about 3 m (9 ft 10 in) tall and three metres wide, not that much larger than the Mark I. However, the weight was estimated at roughly a hundred tons, much heavier than the 28 tons of the Mark I. The huge increase in weight came from the enormously thick armour for the time (three inches at the front, two inches on the sides). The hull roof consisted of a horizontal half-cylinder, apparently also with a uniform armour two inches thick. The front was a vertical half-cylinder, the transition between the two being a half-dome.
Many sources claim that the main armament, a nose-mounted cannon, was a standard 57-millimetre 6-pounder gun. However, John Glanfield, in his history The Devil's Chariots, states that it was a 75-millimetre, or 13-pounder gun. A 6-pounder main gun for such a heavy machine would have meant half the main armament of contemporary vehicles. The preliminary design, for which partial blueprints are in the Albert Stern archive at King's College London, featured two six-pounders in sponsons either side of a bulbous nose equipped with no fewer than five machine guns. Each side had two machine-gun positions on the flanks, with two more at the rear (the original Foster drawings make this quite clear; the reproduction of the drawings in David Fletcher's book British Tanks 1915–19 is cropped and makes the rear guns ambiguous in nature). Originally, the shell-proof tank was referred to simply as the Heavy Tank, then Foster's Battle Tank. Where the nickname 'Flying Elephant' came from no one knows for sure, though it was probably the result of the trunk-like nose gun, domed front, and enormous bulk combined with a traditional British lightheartedness.
The tank was fitted with two pairs of caterpillar tracks. The outer tracks resembled those of the Mark I, but were flatter and 61 centimetres wide, while a pair of additional, narrower tracks were fitted to the underside approximately 6 inches higher than the main tracks. They were not intended to be used for normal driving but were to be engaged to give extra traction over rough ground[3] and would have helped to prevent "bellying", i.e. the tank becoming stuck on higher ground between the two outer tracks. All four tracks could be simultaneously driven by two Daimler 105 horsepower (78 kilowatt) engines, positioned on the centre-line, with the inner tracks connected to the main units via dog clutches. Each engine had its own primary gearbox, both of which drove into one single differential. This differential powered two secondary gearboxes, one for each main track. This differs from the solution chosen for the later Whippet in which each engine drove its own track.
It is certain that construction was started at some point, but did not result in a completed prototype. Albert Gerald Stern, the head of the Tank Supply Department, wrote that the War Office ordered the end of the project late in 1916, because it deemed mobility more important than protection.
Historian David Fletcher speculated that the project ran into trouble because the vehicle was grossly underpowered; top speed was estimated at two miles per hour, and it seems unlikely that it could have worked itself free when stuck in mud. The fact that the Mark I series turned out to be a success removed one of Tritton's main motives for building the heavier tank. However, John Glanfield writes that Tritton, in an effort to lighten the machine and make it more practicable, halved the thickness of the armour, reducing the overall weight to a still hefty 50–60 tons. Its appearance would have remained unchanged. Furthermore, the role of the Flying Elephant was changed from a vague 'attack' role to that of a 'tank-buster' when it was feared that the Germans were developing their own armoured fighting vehicles. Apparently, Stern planned to build twenty of the machines, before the project was cancelled.
Well, after spending a good few weeks redrawing Wayne’s MkI into a number of different guises, I really wanted to have a go at designing a model from scratch – nothing too complex, just something to cut my teeth on before going back to Wayne’s models (there’s already a half completed MkII and MkIII on the cutting board).
Staying with the WWI tank theme, I had, last week, read the really interesting article over at Landships II about the ‘Flying Elephant’ – the proposed shellproof, superheavy tank.
Using the plans drawn up by Roger Todd (seen on the Landships article) as the basis, I resized them to 1:48 to match the models already completed. I had also already decided to try and create the final design of August 1916 – mainly because of the simpler curves.
A total departure from the rhomboid shape of production tanks, one of the peculiarities was the addition of a second set of tracks - shorter than the outer pair and not in contact with the ground. The intention was they were to be used to aid in the heavy vehicle grounding or bottoming out.
There is a really comprehensive article regarding the Flying Elephant, and the designs that came before her, over at Landships II – here Landships II with some superb drawings by Roger Todd of each of the designs.
Apologies for the poor photo’s (Ray, I will take some better ones tomorrow when the light is better!). It always amazes me how a photo highlights errors and omissions too! So it looks like there’s a little more work to do on this one!
__________
Partial drawings have survived and show a vehicle 8.36 m (27 ft −291.1 in) long and about 3 m (9 ft 10 in) tall and three metres wide, not that much larger than the Mark I. However, the weight was estimated at roughly a hundred tons, much heavier than the 28 tons of the Mark I. The huge increase in weight came from the enormously thick armour for the time (three inches at the front, two inches on the sides). The hull roof consisted of a horizontal half-cylinder, apparently also with a uniform armour two inches thick. The front was a vertical half-cylinder, the transition between the two being a half-dome.
Many sources claim that the main armament, a nose-mounted cannon, was a standard 57-millimetre 6-pounder gun. However, John Glanfield, in his history The Devil's Chariots, states that it was a 75-millimetre, or 13-pounder gun. A 6-pounder main gun for such a heavy machine would have meant half the main armament of contemporary vehicles. The preliminary design, for which partial blueprints are in the Albert Stern archive at King's College London, featured two six-pounders in sponsons either side of a bulbous nose equipped with no fewer than five machine guns. Each side had two machine-gun positions on the flanks, with two more at the rear (the original Foster drawings make this quite clear; the reproduction of the drawings in David Fletcher's book British Tanks 1915–19 is cropped and makes the rear guns ambiguous in nature). Originally, the shell-proof tank was referred to simply as the Heavy Tank, then Foster's Battle Tank. Where the nickname 'Flying Elephant' came from no one knows for sure, though it was probably the result of the trunk-like nose gun, domed front, and enormous bulk combined with a traditional British lightheartedness.
The tank was fitted with two pairs of caterpillar tracks. The outer tracks resembled those of the Mark I, but were flatter and 61 centimetres wide, while a pair of additional, narrower tracks were fitted to the underside approximately 6 inches higher than the main tracks. They were not intended to be used for normal driving but were to be engaged to give extra traction over rough ground[3] and would have helped to prevent "bellying", i.e. the tank becoming stuck on higher ground between the two outer tracks. All four tracks could be simultaneously driven by two Daimler 105 horsepower (78 kilowatt) engines, positioned on the centre-line, with the inner tracks connected to the main units via dog clutches. Each engine had its own primary gearbox, both of which drove into one single differential. This differential powered two secondary gearboxes, one for each main track. This differs from the solution chosen for the later Whippet in which each engine drove its own track.
It is certain that construction was started at some point, but did not result in a completed prototype. Albert Gerald Stern, the head of the Tank Supply Department, wrote that the War Office ordered the end of the project late in 1916, because it deemed mobility more important than protection.
Historian David Fletcher speculated that the project ran into trouble because the vehicle was grossly underpowered; top speed was estimated at two miles per hour, and it seems unlikely that it could have worked itself free when stuck in mud. The fact that the Mark I series turned out to be a success removed one of Tritton's main motives for building the heavier tank. However, John Glanfield writes that Tritton, in an effort to lighten the machine and make it more practicable, halved the thickness of the armour, reducing the overall weight to a still hefty 50–60 tons. Its appearance would have remained unchanged. Furthermore, the role of the Flying Elephant was changed from a vague 'attack' role to that of a 'tank-buster' when it was feared that the Germans were developing their own armoured fighting vehicles. Apparently, Stern planned to build twenty of the machines, before the project was cancelled.
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