Author Topic: Carden-Loyd Mk IV "P" Scout Tankette  (Read 11779 times)

Offline Frank3k

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Carden-Loyd Mk IV "P" Scout Tankette
« on: August 27, 2012, 06:44:00 AM »
 Two man tankettes were all the rage in the 20s and 30s, and the Carden Loyd Mk IV tankette was the King of the Tankettes. The Mk IV was widely exported and was used as the basis for the Polish TK tankette series as well as the Russian T-27 and others, including Czech and Italian tankettes.
There are no 1/35 scale models of the Mk IV, so I'm using the RPM TK series kit (of which there are many, many variations) as an improved Mk IV, which used many of the modifications of the Polish TK series (hence the Mk IV "P" designation).

As a basis, I using the RPM TKW II boxing.  This is a whif in a box; not only was the TKW design abandoned as a prototype, this boxing comes with a 20mm canon which would not have fit in the turret, with the gunner. The kit also comes with a somewhat basic interior.


It's really difficult to wrap my brains around how very tiny this tankette is. The Derela site is a great resource for Polish armored vehicles. This image just give a rough idea how tiny the real TK-3 was:



Here's the start of my tankette. The kit's interior is tacked in place and the driver is from the Tamiya quad gun tractor. The engine is from a BA-20 kit; the kit's original engine is just a box. The real tanks seem to have had the engine exposed.



As Jeff called it, this tankette has the same problem as a cheap hotel or a tight pair of pants: No Ball Room...

One other minor issue with this kit and the interior - the superstructure with the turret and driver's cover (as shown on the boxtop) will simply not fit over the radiator, engine and gas tank, so unless I made some cutouts in the floor for a Fred Flintstone style "engine", something had to go. I opted to make my own superstructure.

On the original Mk IV, everything was well armored except for the head and shoulders of the occupants, which were unprotected. Some variants (and the Russian T-27) had a metal hood over each side which provided some protection, but this reminded me too much of the Renault UE Chenillette with its claustrophobic, nightmare inducing interior.

Since this will be a scout tankette, I made an open top superstructure tall enough to protect the heads of the crew with viewports:



The bolt pattern is from Archer Fine Transfers





I added handles made from wire and the rear deck fan area had been cut out and replaced with a fine mesh screen. I added a shield between the driver and the engine block exhaust area (the real tanks seem to have had one) and a screen over the top if the engine to protect it and the observer, as well as hide my lack of detailing. The radio is from the old Monogram Weasel and the instrument panel is scratchbuilt:







Offline Jeffry Fontaine

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Re: Carden-Loyd Mk IV "P" Scout Tankette
« Reply #1 on: August 27, 2012, 08:50:31 AM »
You can really get an appreciation of the small size of that thing with the figures next to it.  I think the Shriner's drive go-karts that are larger than that thing and I know my old '77 Honda Civic had more room inside that that wee little thing. 
"Every day we hear about new studies 'revealing' what should have been obvious to sentient beings for generations; 'Research shows wolverines don't like to be teased" -- Jonah Goldberg

Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: Carden-Loyd Mk IV "P" Scout Tankette
« Reply #2 on: August 27, 2012, 03:51:04 PM »
Cute
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

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Offline Dr. YoKai

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Re: Carden-Loyd Mk IV "P" Scout Tankette
« Reply #3 on: August 28, 2012, 01:32:19 AM »
 Man and I thought a '56 Thunderbird was cramped ! I always like the TKS version of this tankette, though I expect its 20mm was equally cramping...I expect this will look dandy when its painted up.

 Any plans for the upper deck and turret, or can I make you an offer? :)

Offline Brian da Basher

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Re: Carden-Loyd Mk IV "P" Scout Tankette
« Reply #4 on: August 28, 2012, 02:23:04 AM »
This is just killer! Not only is it a great subject, but your scratch building is incredible!

Great stuff, Frank!

Brian da Basher

Offline Artoor_K

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Re: Carden-Loyd Mk IV "P" Scout Tankette
« Reply #5 on: August 29, 2012, 06:52:59 PM »
Great detailing!

Tankietka TKS (TKS Tankette)
   this is the film with TKS tankette rebuild on Warsaw University of Technology. It's actually very small.
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Offline TerryCampion

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Re: Carden-Loyd Mk IV "P" Scout Tankette
« Reply #6 on: August 29, 2012, 07:14:22 PM »
WOW.....love it.

Offline Frank3k

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Re: Carden-Loyd Mk IV "P" Scout Tankette
« Reply #7 on: September 11, 2012, 01:08:32 AM »
I finally finished this. The tracks were hell, but that was partly my fault. I tried to use the pressure sensitive adhesive trick with the tiny links and lengths of track and it was a big FAIL. I had to reglue the whole thing and the track looks a little wobbly... some bits of track were threatening to  come undone during the photo shoot.
 The track on the replica tank in the video that artoor_k posted doesn't look much better, so I don't feel quite so bad. Trimming the last bit of excess plastic from the track sprue attachment points was just impossible - at least for me.

Here it is, with a fine coat of dust/dirt:

The tarp is just painted fancy wrapping paper.

"Yo, where da chicks at?"


Top view. Battery (with red and black wires, barely visible) and radio are at the bottom:


The grab handles on the access hatches in the front and back are made from awg 30 wire-wrap wire:



The little door is to access the fuel tank and just to replace an otherwise unattractive viewport I'd cut out.



I have a few more of these tankette kits. For these I'm going to ignore the instructions (which aren't that great) and:

1 - assemble ALL the running gear, including the rubber rimmed wheels (but leave them free to turn). The running gear glues to the hull in just two spots, so it's no big deal.
2 - Paint the running gear. Paint the rubber rims one section at a time and rotate the wheels.
3 - glue the main track sections together, then the individual track link sections (drive wheel and idler curved track).
4 - before the glue has completely set, paint the track.
5 - attach the curved sections to the running gear, glue the track lengths together, set the track and running gear assemblies aside and go enjoy building the hull.
6 - put everything together.




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Re: Carden-Loyd Mk IV "P" Scout Tankette
« Reply #8 on: September 11, 2012, 02:10:23 AM »
Very nicely done. :)
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

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But you can make the Bastard work for it.

Offline Brian da Basher

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Re: Carden-Loyd Mk IV "P" Scout Tankette
« Reply #9 on: September 11, 2012, 05:56:14 AM »
You've got a superlative talent for AFVs, Frank!

The detail on the engine is just incredible and the paintwork adds to the realism.

This baby would be in the running at any contest!

Brian da Basher


Offline Doom!

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Re: Carden-Loyd Mk IV "P" Scout Tankette
« Reply #10 on: September 11, 2012, 06:26:43 AM »
Very cool!
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Jeff G.

Offline Jeffry Fontaine

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Re: Carden-Loyd Mk IV "P" Scout Tankette
« Reply #11 on: September 11, 2012, 06:28:52 AM »
Definitely not intended to be a comfortable ride for anyone of large stature or girth :)

Looks even smaller when built after looking at the kit parts in my own stash. 

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Offline arkon

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Re: Carden-Loyd Mk IV "P" Scout Tankette
« Reply #12 on: September 11, 2012, 07:39:53 AM »
throw out that little engine an drop a v-8  in the passenger seat and i'd bet you get a fun ride out of it!
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Offline Frank3k

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Re: Carden-Loyd Mk IV "P" Scout Tankette
« Reply #13 on: September 11, 2012, 10:56:34 AM »
Thanks for the comments, guys. Other than the tracks, it was a surprisingly easy and enjoyable build. To add to the track annoyance, I managed to put the tracks on "backwards" (track direction doesn't matter too much with this track) twice. Then I looked online and found WWII tankette pictures with the track on backwards. One tank crew couldn't make up their minds, and put one set of tracks on correctly and the other backwards. I wonder what the JMN would make of a model built to match.

The real tank is even smaller than my version. Polish soldiers managed to cram themselves into these tin cans and actually take out a few German tanks. The real puzzler is how they could fit their enormous brass balls into one of these tankettes...

Arkon - the engine in the tank (and the real one as well) is a 4 cylinder Ford A. I'm not sure it could take an 8 cylinder and stay in one piece.


Offline taiidantomcat

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Re: Carden-Loyd Mk IV "P" Scout Tankette
« Reply #14 on: September 13, 2012, 03:27:57 AM »
Is "cute" appropriate to use here? Nice job!
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Offline Dr. YoKai

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Re: Carden-Loyd Mk IV "P" Scout Tankette
« Reply #15 on: September 13, 2012, 04:27:31 AM »
 Looks terrific, Frank-I think it took stones to climb into one of those tiny terrors, let alone into combat
 in it.