A brief history of tanks: period models.

[tinmantis]

some of those early french tanks were just awesome
maybe it was this one, with some sort of panzer turret!
regards
jon

[hottoddy]

You know Jon, that was a liberty tank that they mounted with a turret for the film. I'm not sure if an actual turreted model of the MK VIII ever existed, but as you can tell it wasn't a terribly difficult jump to make!

I agree, the French designs (successful or not) were bizarre! I love them!

[streptile]

Any new tanks to show in one of my favorite threads?

[gregM]

Ever sense seeing this thread, I have been keeping an eye out for old toy tanks.
So far I have not found any in my journeys.

[hottoddy]

As a matter of fact I do.

En Lieu of a proper response, here's a Pzkpfw I.


Wooden toys are difficult to pin down, but German manufactures of tin toys (Lehman, Gamma, Tippco, etc) seemed to favor the early Panzers in the late 30s and even into the early war years.

I'll post some more when I get a chance. Of all the exciting things on this forum, I'm truly pleased to know that you count this as a favorite

[streptile]

Wow, that's a great one! Love these tanks...

[hottoddy]

By the way Greg, Ebay was a good source for the common makers, but the unusual stuff mostly came from live auctions with a toy or antique focus. I have not bought nearly as many as I used to, but if I find a nice early one (WWI-20s) I will go for it.

I took some photos to night and will try to post something substantial when I get a chance.

[hottoddy]

As I mentioned above, it is hard to pin down the era of wooden items unless they are of the massed produced type. While there are a few factory made examples that I would be happy to find (particularly anything WWI-1920s era), I generally find the one-off fabrications to be much more interesting.

The story that they may have or simply wondering about their origin can be interesting.

I this particular case, there are a few possibilities.


The projectiles were borrowed from another toy, shown here as a possible reason for this curious little shelf at the back.


Obviously a home made effort, the whole tank is apparently made of scrap wood. You can see the variety of grains and the fact that the paint is adhering at varying strengths.



Personally it strikes me as being closer to WWI. While is is obviously a interesting exercise in creativity, it does exhibit some signs hints to it's age. The first thing that jumped out to me is the rather decorative "US Tank" on the side; the somewhat elaborate font was definitely not en vogue by the 30s-40s but fits in nicely with the elaborate advertising of the pre-depression years.


If you remember the first page examples, the second noteworthy attribute is that the "tank" is painted a battleship gray. While I have seen several WWI period models painted in OD, this gray color seems to be a lot less common by the time WWII came around (OD was practically ubiquitous with anything US Army at that point).

In truth, this tank has more in common with an armored car than it does with a tank. It has a pronounced automotive style front end, there is a distinctive lack of tracks that are usually represented so well, and it really looks nothing like the only well publicized turreted tank of the era (Renault FT).


Either way, it is a fun example! Yes, the main gun works. There is a plunger on the back of the gun that can be pulled back. By doing this, the slot on the top of the gun is cleared and a projectile can be loaded.

I hope you like it

[gregM]

Very neat piece.