With the 80th Anniversary of Alamein coming up it would be very nice to have a model of the Scorpion, ie the flail tank based in the Matilda 2 with a box on the side containing a very scared sapper and a small engine all making the flail go round while the RTR crew sat inside the Matilda reading the Sporting Life.
Not quite sure how the 'flail' could be cast up. :-\
Might be a way around it, if there were separate pieces to make up the 'drum' and the 'chains'.
(I hope I'm thinking of the right thing.) :-[
Cheers - Phil :)
Quote from: Techno II on 01 July 2021, 05:33:42 AM
Not quite sure how the 'flail' could be cast up. :-
Might be a way around it, if there were separate pieces to make up the 'drum' and the 'chains'.
(I hope I'm thinking of the right thing.) :-[
Cheers - Phil :)
look at BRV26 thats a Sherman Flail.
same concept id think :D
Regards
Sean
The Sherman flail model is a very basic representation of the flail mechanism. But it is a simple one piece casting that fits on the front of the tank.
Quote from: fred. on 01 July 2021, 06:56:23 AM
The Sherman flail model is a very basic representation of the flail mechanism. But it is a simple one piece casting that fits on the front of the tank.
I just asked Leon to supply me two of the sherman flai tanks, but replace the Sherman with a Matilda. They were easy to fit to the Matillda, and while not quite right as it does not have the box on the side , it is fine for a wargames model. particularly one that does not see the table very often. (Yes I know the turret should be reversed, but I was gluing lots of turrets and forgot these were the other way round)
If you wee really keen I am sure the box on the side could easily be made from balsa
(https://i.imgur.com/1FePKjf.jpg)
Quote from: Techno II on 01 July 2021, 05:33:42 AM
Not quite sure how the 'flail' could be cast up. :-
Might be a way around it, if there were separate pieces to make up the 'drum' and the 'chains'.
(I hope I'm thinking of the right thing.) :-[
Cheers - Phil :)
For 6mm I've seen it done with the chains wraped rather than flailing. Also thought the Scorpian was an unarmed version with no turret.
(http://www.thinkdefence.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Matilda-Scorpion-Flail-Tank-North-African-Desert-WWII.jpg)
According to Wikipedia (which must be right ;))
After the 1st battle of El-Alamein , a Mark II version of the Scorpion was produced by removing the main gun, as that was thought to be unnecessary. Controls for the flail were moved into the turret so the flail operator could be moved inside the tank, taking the place of the gunner. Engine air filters were improved and unreliable components strengthened.[2] Mark III and Mark IV Scorpions were later developed that were based on the M3 Grant. This larger tank was a more suitable mount for a flail than the Matilda and many became available for modification as, by this time, they were being replaced on the battlefield by the M4 Sherman. A small number of these Grant Scorpions were produced and were used during the remainder of the North African campaign and later during the Allied invasion of Sicily.
With the Grants - did they remove the top turret as well as the main hull-mounted gun.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/oSuGgEyMD-6JR5xQH4LW1QRU-IkCxHBgIjfbYComSht7BR1sC6uZQUo1f7LhHVaQ9mQnGi5MJudqXOP3Kj4SWPJW1ckClrB0jZ6aJLZvZYygJoRXTaczPyIxLh6lVX9XapET26o)
(http://media.iwm.org.uk/iwm/mediaLib/47/media-47184/large.jpg?action-d&cat=photographs)
(https://www.militaryimages.net/media/grant-scorpion-iv.108654/full?d=1521518274)
Looks as if the 37mm was retained.
Cool photos, I didn't know there was a Grant flail version
The ones on the Landing Craft look like a different version to the first photo and the drawings.
It was the first version of the Scorpion with the poor old sapper in the box on the side that was used at 2nd Alamein in Oct 42. I now realise that the Cuneo picture of Clearing the Mines at Alamein, which hangs in the RE Mess in Chatham, has a wrecked Scorpion, recognisable by the open lattice girder, in the background.
Over the years a lot of gunk had built up on the picture as a result of the old buffers standing in front of it puffing large cigars at Corps Guest Nights, telling the young how very brave they had been. By the early 1980s only the three mine clearing figures at the front were recognisable through the grime. About 1985 the picture was properly cleaned and a host of forgotten detail, including the scorpion lattice arm and other vehicle silhouettes emerged.
It cannot be beyond the wit of man to produce a bolt-on box for the sapper and the lattice arms and the rotating front bit, and its an iconic piece of kit.
Quote from: holdfast on 02 July 2021, 05:35:23 PM
It cannot be beyond the wit of man to produce a bolt-on box for the sapper and the lattice arms and the rotating front bit, and its an iconic piece of kit.
But probably not commercially viable. You need to sell a lot of tanks just to cover the cost of producing it. It would only be of interest to those who game El Alamein to Tunisia. and how many are they going to want 1 or 2 models at most?
I think realistically you are into a scratch build, which is why I went the way I did