"Confessions of a Shameless Treadhead - Part I" Topic
16 Posts
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BlackWidowPilot | 11 May 2015 10:15 p.m. PST |
Part I of my photos taken during my last tour of the collection of the late Jaques Littlefield: link
Enjoy! Leland R. Erickson Metal Express metal-express.net |
Tango01 | 11 May 2015 10:44 p.m. PST |
Many thanks for share my friend! (smile) Amicalement Armand
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BlackWidowPilot | 12 May 2015 12:06 a.m. PST |
Tango 23 Ditto, alas, yes, the collection has been split up. The Marmon Harrington Tank looks like this back when it was new:
Here's a restored example:
Marmon-Harrington made a number of rather funky export tanks using commercial components and a little bit of riveted construction know-how:
We even got saddled with some of an export consignment meant for the Dutch East Indies and IIRC used them operationally in the Aleutians:
Leland R. Erickson Metal Express metal-express.net
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BlackWidowPilot | 12 May 2015 12:06 a.m. PST |
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BeneathALeadMountain | 12 May 2015 2:13 a.m. PST |
Great stuff, thank you for sharing. |
LesCM19 | 12 May 2015 3:25 a.m. PST |
Nice to see hatches open where possible. Fine collection well photographed so far looking forward to more. |
VonTed | 12 May 2015 4:59 a.m. PST |
Is this the collection that moved to some odd museum in Mass? |
VonTed | 12 May 2015 5:00 a.m. PST |
Oh I forgot! Mmmmmmm…. tank porn |
ColCampbell | 12 May 2015 6:53 a.m. PST |
Marvelous pictures. I have a co-worker who was a National Guard tanker. He'll enjoy these pictures as did I. Jim |
Mark 1 | 12 May 2015 1:56 p.m. PST |
The Marmon Harrington Tank looks like this back when it was new… Some great pics there! Thanks. As to the MH tank(s) pictured in your blog post … well, the sad news is you missed one! The one you did get a pic of, left out to rust, was the one that was deemed too far gone to restore when it was acquired. But there was a second MH tank in the collection. If you had dug all the way to the back wall in shed 3, the storage building that contained the Protze (which you did get a picture of) …
You would have found the MH which was deemed to be in "saveable" condition when it was acquired. This one was stored indoors, to protect it from the elements, in anticipation of an eventual restoration (which never took place).
I don't have any information on what eventually happened to this unit when the collection was split up. -Mark (aka: Mk 1) |
BlackWidowPilot | 12 May 2015 2:07 p.m. PST |
Mark, alas, it was a bit of an (overly) controlled guided tour. My academic bona fides and those of my friend Dr. Sheldon Greaves (himself the co-founder of Henley-Putnam University) did not sway the docents or their bosses one iota in allowing us more time or access to the collection, so we were snapping photos as fast and as furiously as we could under the circumstances. Rest assured had we been allowed to explore as we wished to do (ie., in a thorough, systematic fashion) I expect we'd have found that little gem (and I would have photographed it to death to see if I could get John McEwan of Reviresco to make one in 1/72 scale!). Instead we were expected to stay with the herd and behave ourselves, so what I am posting is what we were allowed access to (along with some crude practice of tradecraft on my part when the docents were distracted… ). Leland R. Erickson Metal Express metal-express.net
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Mark 1 | 12 May 2015 2:08 p.m. PST |
Is this the collection that moved to some odd museum in Mass? As has been mentioned, the collection was split up. The one single largest portion of the collection, mostly consisting of fully restored and operable units in the display halls, went to the Collings Foundation on the East Coast. collingsfoundation.org The Collings Foundation is an organization that operates fully restored B-17, B-24, B-25 bombers (and a twin-seat P-51) that they take on nationwide tours every spring, as well as many other historical military aircraft (and now many vehicles too!).
Having flown in both their B-17 and their B-24, I can very heartily endorse the programs of this organization for anyone interested in 20th Century military history!
They offer experiences you won't find too many other places. -Mark 1 |
BlackWidowPilot | 12 May 2015 2:09 p.m. PST |
Everyone, I'll have more pics in Part II that will show open hatches and cutaways showing off the interiors of several vehicles, plus a number of oddities like the Conqueror and M103, and other goodies, so stay tuned! Leland R. Erickson Metal Express metal-express.net
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Mark 1 | 12 May 2015 2:45 p.m. PST |
Leland - Sorry to hear that you did not get the chance to go further into the depths of this extraordinary collection. From how you have described your visit it sounds as if you may have been included on a regular group tour. In that case the tour guides / docent were indeed often fairly restrictive, as the task of managing the herd drove their decision-making. Having done some research in the collection with various authors, I do know that it was possible to set up more detailed access, given proper lead-time. I only found out about the Marmon Harrington in the back of the shed because I was there with Ken Estes, who wrote about the MH series in USMC service in his excellent book Marines Under Armor. By the way, to get to the MH you would have had to climb over many other tanks, including an M42 Duster, an M3A1 Stuart (or two?), and I think a Comet as well, as they were literally stored bumper-to-bumper in the shed. Only the most dedicated ever made it to the back of the shed! I was there with Michael Green for research on the "dry" versus "wet" ammo stowage for his book on the M4 Sherman.
I was also present when Hilary Doyle (Curator of the Bovington Collection), Steven Zaloga and Harry Yiede (who earned pride-of-place in my collection for his superb book The Tank Hunters) got access to the collection.
Mark 1, Steven Zaloga, Michael Green, discussing the fully restored Panther tank in background. I never actually had to arrange access, so I don't know what the process might have been. But it is sad to see you didn't get a better shot at the collection before it was scattered to the winds. -Mark (aka: Mk 1) |
BlackWidowPilot | 12 May 2015 3:55 p.m. PST |
Mark, we were indeed limited to a tour unless we were willing to pay $250 USD each to gain unrestricted access IIRC. I was present when the Panther had just finished the major restoration of the hull and chassis, but was awaiting the return of its tracks, assorted interior gew-gaws, and the replacement turret and armament. It was an imposing beast even in that state in monotone sand yellow. It is indeed fascinating to explore the 'office spaces" of these machines. I am currently wrapping up the playtesting version of our WW2 skirmish system where part of the emphasis on tanks is the situational awareness of the crews (SA) and how the ergonomics and optics of the individual tanks factored directly into that critical element of tactical armored combat that IMHO too many don't appreciate gamers and rules writers alike. Leland R. Erickson Metal Express metal-express.net |
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