Challenge Nautical bonus round - Landships

Back when I was admitted to the Analogue Challenge I made the foolhardy statement that I was going to try and get through without entering the Bonus Rounds. My reasoning was that I wanted to concentrate on getting models painted that were specifically for gaming rather than for display. The problem is my lead mountain contains some lovely models and the bonus rounds are just too tempting to ignore!

So in typical 'Reject' fashion I took the nautical bonus round and twisted it until it broke...hence I present some WWI Mk IV tanks. Churchill famously headed up the Admiralty Landships Committee that was influential in the early development of the secret weapon that became known as the Tank. These Mk IV Tanks represent one of the most successful and widely used versions of the classic rhomboid shaped vehicles. 

The Mark Four had a crew of eight inside its 26ft hull and the male tanks weighed in at about 29 tons. Nothing of similar size would be built for another two decades. The 105 bhp engine produced a maximum speed of 4 mph so these beasts still lumbered very slowly across the battlefield. The Germans by this stage of the war were beginning to develop anti tank strategies such as the K Bullet and were beginning to use artillery in a direct AT role. I have nothing but admiration for the men that fought in these early tanks, they really were a different breed and very very brave. 

These models are by H and R and originally I bought four vehicles, two male and two female. However the machine gun tanks had such serious mould lines that I couldn't remove them without also removing the detail. I reluctantly decided to just proceed with the Male Mark Fours but I'm really happy with how they turned out.