The term 'Male' when applied to tanks may be new to you, so I will explain before going any further. During WW1 Male tanks were armed with both cannons and machineguns, one of each on each side mounted in sponsons, female tanks were armed with just machineguns while hermaphrodite tanks had a cannon and machinegun sponson on one side and machineguns only on the other. The Mk 4 male weighed 29 tons, was 26 ft 5 ins long, 13ft 6 ins wide and had a range of 35 miles at a top speed of 4 mph, and had a crew of 8. Two 6lb (57mm) quick fireing cannons were used along side a .303 lewis machinegun and a third lewis was mounted forward fireing in the front hull. The Mk 4 was first used at the Battle of Messines ridge in June 1917.
The model is a new release from Tamiya and comes complete with an electric motor and five infantry figures, 174 seperate links make up the track links which run over roadwheels made up from 156 seperate parts! 37 build sections are covered by a 16 page booklet and a seperate painting guide and transfers for 3 different tanks are also included. I chose to build H45, called Hyacinth by the crew, of H Battalion, Royal Tank Regiment based at Ribecourt in France during November 1917.
The model was brush painted useing Tamiya acrylics and home made mud, photos taken on my Nikon CP7100 compact fitted with a SB400 bounce head flashgun, P mode, 800 asa gave me 1/30th at F6.3. More detailed photos will be taken as and when the model ends up on a diorama (when the base arrives from Kiev!)
This model was bought from Turners in London Rd and cost £50.00, bearing in mind that it took nearly a month to build and paint it represents great value for money.
Five Mk 4 males suivive, the worlds only runner is at the tank museum in Bovington, the nearest one is in Ashford on public display.
