WW1 British Mk4 "Male" Tank

[zooma]

John Harmers beside a Mk4 Male Tank

DSCN1426.jpeg (2.08 MiB) Viewed 2484 times

Recently, I was able to track down a very good friend of mine who is now 93 years old and living in Romney Marsh.

John and I used to race large 1/5th scale r/c model cars and trucks against each other - something that we both gave up many years ago - and now I find that (like myself) John also builds 1/16 scale r/c model tanks.

John's father was the driver of a WW1 Mk4 Male tank who survived the war, and recently John visited the Tank Museum, and asked if he could get inside their preserved Mk4 tank, and the answer was a strong negative.......until he gave them his fathers Tank Corps number and all of a sudden they couldn't do enough to help him for the duration of his visit to the museum - including letting him sit in the drivers seat to see and feel the surroundings that his father would have experienced during WW1 as a driver inside a Mk4 tank.

Following his visit, John bought a Tiger 1 r/c tank and added lots of "metal bits" to it (John still has his own very well equipped model engineering workshop behind his house) and others have since followed - BUT - what interested me when we spoke together this afternoon was that he has recently paid £704 for a 1/16 scale metal r/c KIT for a WW1 Mk4 tank.

I don't have any more information about this tank except John seemed to remember the name Hooben as being the seller, and he is waiting for it to arrive.

My main interest is tanks from the Cold War period as I made all the "usual" WW2 tank models years ago (some several times over) and I fancied a change, but making a 1/16 scale Mk4 from a metal kit has sparked my interest and I would like to find out a little more about it.

Does anyone here in the RCTankWarefare community know anything about this KIT?

Apparently, it can be bought with or without the r/c parts. My friend John has bought his "fully loaded" with RadioLink radio, sound and smoke.

I checked the "Build Logs" before writing this, and I couldn't find any references to a WW1 British tank - but I guess someone will be building one already - and it would be nice to find out a little more about it.

[zooma]

...in searching for more information about this Mark IV tank, I found it for sale on AMAZON!

The pictures make it look like a very nice model indeed with lots of rivet detail etc - well worth a look:-

[jhamm]

Take a look:
https://www.hooben-shop.com/products/pr ... 2nofIwfzdN

[Kaczor]

I'm currently building it. This is probably the best Hooben model, which doesn't mean it doesn't have flaws. It's full of contradictions - on the one hand, strong metal plates from which the structure is made, and on the other, fragile, printed elements and plastic tracks. In addition, you have to figure out what electronics to connect to make all those MGs and cannons work.

viewtopic.php?t=35142

[zooma]

Thanks Kaczor,

I have sent your link to John Harmer who is not yet a member of rctankwarfare - but hopefully he soon will be !

Bob.

[tankme]

Also, we have a person on the forum developing MK4 for 3D printing. Hooben just doesn't have the best reputation in the hobby for...well anything except broken promises, delays, and half truths.

[zooma]

Also, we have a person on the forum developing MK4 for 3D printing. Hooben just doesn't have the best reputation in the hobby for...well anything except broken promises, delays, and half truths.

I have a few too many projects on the go at the moment Derek so I can wait to see if anything better comes along .....although I do not have a 3D printer, so the one you mention above may not be for me.........

Usually when one manufacturer makes a new model - others will copy the idea and make one as well, so hopefully Heng Long or Tongde will make a British Mk 4 tank in the near future?

As a matter of interest, my old friend John Harmer ordered his Hooben Mk4 British tank from Amazon. He ordered the more expensive version with RaioLink AT9S radio, smoke and sound for £705.

He has been waiting for ages for it to arrive and when it finally came today, he received the basic kit with no radio (Amazon price £462) . The box was not sealed and was far too small to accommodate anything other than the basic kit so he is not too happy about it at the moment.

[tankme]

Also, we have a person on the forum developing MK4 for 3D printing. Hooben just doesn't have the best reputation in the hobby for...well anything except broken promises, delays, and half truths.

I have a few too many projects on the go at the moment Derek so I can wait to see if anything better comes along .....although I do not have a 3D printer, so the one you mention above may not be for me.........

Usually when one manufacturer makes a new model - others will copy the idea and make one as well, so hopefully Heng Long or Tongde will make a British Mk 4 tank in the near future?

As a matter of interest, my old friend John Harmer ordered his Hooben Mk4 British tank from Amazon. He ordered the more expensive version with RaioLink AT9S radio, smoke and sound for £705.

He has been waiting for ages for it to arrive and when it finally came today, he received the basic kit with no radio (Amazon price £462) . The box was not sealed and was far too small to accommodate anything other than the basic kit so he is not too happy about it at the moment.

The comment about the 3D printed one was for the other member. That's Hooben for ya...over promise and under deliver....always.

[zooma]

Hooben have finally delivered a second box to John that has the RadioLink radio and all of the missing electronic parts inside - so he is now happy that everything has been delivered safely.

He has reported back that he is quite impressed with the kit and that it is mostly pre- assembled...and comes with hundreds of small plastic rivets!

John already has all the gear needed to rivet everything together (he has made live steam engines in his workshop) but it is looking like the rivets supplied are only decorative - but he is hoping to find some areas that he really can rivet - with the optional metal rivets that are sold separately.

I was expecting the kit to need a lot of sheet metal soldering, but after reading the assembly instructions 3 times over(!), he was surprised that all of the sub-assemblies are pre-made and so it is looking like a comparatively simple kit assembly.

A set of metal tracks would have been preferred, but as far as he can see, Hooben do not offer this option.

John has suffered a fall a few days ago and is not able to make a start on his kit just yet, but he is very impressed with what he has seen and he is really looking forward to building it and getting it running.

I am hoping to see some pictures of the kit and its build in the near future.

[Xiaoshan_Sailor]

Will be following this one since I'm an avid fan of WW1 tanks & wish there were more on the subject.

I know Hooben all too well having first met Bill Feng in 2004 & visited his various workshops over the years since I live in Hangzhou where they are located. Having owned my share of their tanks as well one of their subs, all I'll say is go in with both eyes open & be prepared to do some work. The 1/10 Hetzer I got after its release has been shelf queen since I bought it & I've binned a few others. Their electronics are notoriously bad so I've learned long ago to only buy a stripped down model, never ARTR.

That said, I've heard good reviews on their Mark IV kit but hadn't yet bitten that apple. From what I'be seen it resembles a Meccano kit with a lot of 3DP parts & nylon track. Was told long ago during my last visit, Feng planned to release an AFV but am not holding my breath.

Regarding 3DP files, I am lucky to have a 1/10 file set but it's not complete so hadn't started any test prints. Am working Martin Rek's 1/10 Famo at the moment so it's on the back burner.

If you aren't already on the forum, highly recommend checking out the Landships Board. https://landships.activeboard.com/forum ... aBID=63528

Happy New Year, folks!