Hi to one and all,

This motto is almost instantly known as that of a innovation in warfare is of course :

“Through mud and blood to the green fields beyond”

Of course it belongs to the British Tank Corp so lets have a small amount of background in WW1:

When the first tanks were produced in 1916, they were manned by members of the Machine Gun Corps (badge here) formed into six companies which were collectively known as the Heavy Branch.

The very first battle involving tanks took place on the Somme. About thirty British Mark 1 tanks attacked German positions between the villages of Flers and Courcelette, on Friday 15 September 1916. The arrival of the tanks on the battlefield signalled the end of trench warfare, which had suffocated both sides in the 1914-18 conflict.

During this action the Press seized on a report from an aircraft crew, which said that "a tank is walking down the main street of Flers with the British Army cheering behind it." This was "D" Company, later the 4th Royal Tank Regiment.

These companies were expanded to form battalions and were renamed the Tank Corps in 1917 (this badge)

The first battle between two opposing tanks took place near the village of Cachy on 24 April 1918. The German A7V tank Nixe (Lt Biltz), engaged three British Mark IV tanks, and damaged two, but was knocked out by the third, commanded by 2/Lt Frank Mitchell.

By December 1918 there were 26 battalions, and as well as serving in France, a detachment from the Corps had served under Allenby at Gaza, Palestine in 1917. The Corps saw almost continuous action, winning four VC's

The crews of course were in the thick of the action in acrid smoke and cordite air suffocating on engine fumes with splinters red hot and lethal from the hits on the outside from shells, filthy dirty , each tank commanded by a very young 2nd Lt ...heroes all.

To honour the initial tanks all ranks wear the shape of the early tank on their badge and also on the right upper arm in cloth.

Beyond the battlefield were the headquarters staffed by officers all providing vital staff work to the commanders above them , staff officers were recognised by their gorget tabs worn on the uniform , they were at times looked down on by the fighting troops as having an "easier" war ...but the pressure of decisions made must have weighed heavily on them no matter what branch they were part of.

The more senior staff officers often had seen action in the Boer War as here:

Various branches wore distinctive armbands often with insignia and letters on them

( 2nd might have been US use )

The figure is based on this picture

The Staff is the subject of this release from Dolman :

Of course there are books about the war and the tanks involvement and don't forget in the UK we have the world famous Tank Museum at the home of the training units at Bovington in Dorset.....well worth a visit amazing displays and a wonderful WW1 section.



Continued in next post

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Now to the model

Details are as follows:

Title: The Major , Royal Tank Corps

Reference: B23 ( from website)

Scale: 1/10th

Material: Gray Resin and White metal

No of pieces: 4 ( 3 resin , 1 white metal)

Sculptor: 3D Techniques In House

Casting: In House

Box Art: 3D Computer generated .


The model was held in a oblong fold over plastic container with parts in bags and surrounded by bubble wrap.,l on the top we have a angled picture of the release

Parts consist of Torso , right arm , 1 head ( with a service cap , these are in resin the remaining piece being white metal (right hand holding binoculars).



Prep

Torso...Remove casting line underneath and fine line on middle of right side
Resin Head with cap..slight sanding of fitment plug
Right Arm...Take off excess resin and fit to torso
Right Hand/Bino's...Fit at angle to wrist area

General Comments:

• Casting is very cleanly done on both mediums used apart from prep above
• Resin surfaces are very smooth
• Fit of parts are very good..no filler needed
• Some areas are a little soft in definition in my opinion ( details in write up)

As we have a lot of pictures I will look at the torso in this part .

This piece is sculpted with the left arm cut at an angle just above the elbow with the right shoulder having a well produced cutout ready to take the arm itself .



Our officer wears his leather webbing over the 1912 pattern jacket with the open collar and tie very much in evidence .

The straps run over his shoulder on each side and would have met his Sam Browne belt at the waist , th edetails on the straps themselves are very good with a whistle being in its leather cover on the right one , there is good buckle details on both , I will probably slightly lift the ends .

The pockets are very good with undercuts and a nice touch is the edges slightly raised up , buttons are well rounded .

The collar of the jacket had good definition where it meets the main material with the collar and the tie pin being shown well .

IMO the gorget patches area little soft and I would have liked to have a little more definition , the same goes for the rank crowns on the epaulettes ...saying that painting will be a simple way to bring them out more.

Folds and seams on the jacket are natural and in the right place with the epaulettes being slightly raised as a result of the strap going under ...nice touch that.

At the neck we have a cut out ready to take the head , on the underside there is a disc of resin which levels the busts when mounting ...another nice bit of thinking there by Dolman.





Continued in next post

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On now to the remaining pieces

Head

Resin Version with Cap

Wearing the service dress cap , very squared off in shape , typical of the high standards demanded at headquarters and the Staff Officers ..there might have been a war on but standards must be maintained.

The crown of the cap is very well shaped and well scaled in thickness , the lower parts also the same , there is a strap running along the peak , nice shaped at the buckles and the ends , in the centre we have the Staff officers badge a crown surmounted by a lion ( see reference pictures) , for me this is soft in details and I would have liked a bit more on it ..but I will add a tiny bit of details using magi sculpt on my version.

Head itself

The head has a distinct look of the actor Benedict Cumberbatch CBE , perhaps its the moustache !!!, saying this the actual sculpt is very good with quality definition on the eyes, ears and mouth area , all making painting so much easier , the resin surfaces are super smoothly done.





Fit of the head into the neck area of the torso is again no issue and sits well

Right Arm

This is sculpted bent at the elbow holding the bino's when the hand is fitted.

The distinctive pointed cuff of an officer ( still in use today on No 2 dress ) , well shaped , above that we have overseas service chevrons ans above that we see the armband this is split into 3 ( see reference in the colours of the tank corps with a tank badge in the middle) , for me both the chevrons and the actual tank on the badge are a little softly cast ..but as before painting will work well .

At the shoulder we have a well engineered bit of resin shaped as a square to fit into the torso cutout ...perfectly .



Right Hand/Bino's in White Metal

This holds the bino's very well , the finger definition is very sharply done well cast , the hand wears gloves with the distinctive 3 lines of stitching , fit to the wrist area is again very good , the arm sitting correctly with the hand slightly angled .

Detail on the actual bino's are also good ( have a look at my pictures )





Final Thoughts

A nice addition to the Dolman range and a good subject which has plenty of conversion potential simply by reworking the armband . For me some details are a little soft but overall the casting is good , presentation is very good and with the additional bonus of the website having all the references you will need to paint this or indeed and other model you purchase from .

Recommended

Thanks to Dolman Miniatures for the review item nice to be able to share

Thanks also to you all for looking in

Nap