"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - Tank?" Topic

Hey people,

Just wondering if anyone can tell me what tank is used in Indiana Jones and the last Crusade.

Thanks!

It is a British Mark I male from WW I with a turret added for the movie.

I thought maybe a Mark IV, but yeah…. :-p The turret looks suspiciously like it's come off of a Valentine infantry tank, if memory serves.

Dom.

Gentlemen, the chassis is too long for the early marks (Mks I through IV). The film's special effects supervisor is credited with taking a tracked excavator and building it up to look like an actual tank seen at Bovington. This is variously identified on film sites and Lucasfilm promotional material as "German" (!), "International", and "Mark 7".

Obviously, it's not German. It's too long to be a Mk VII. Since Bovington possesses an example of a Mk VIII "International" (aka "Anglo-American" and "Liberty"), and since the overall configuration of the Mk VIII is closer to that of the film creation than any other mark, my suspicion is that the Mk VIII is the basis (loosely followed) for the fabricated vehicle.

Here's a Mk VII (of which only one vehicle was ever produced, by the way):

picture

Here's a Mk VIII:

picture

Here's the film vehicle:

picture

Here's the film vehicle rotting away in a theme park in Florida:

picture

I'm afraid the turret doesn't look much like a Valentine turret to me either, Dom my friend; but rather something fabricated to somewhat resemble something like one.

Allen

For those interested in the Mark IV and V –

we have some beuatifully sculpted and cast models –

link

The Disney version of that tank, in plastic, on a blistered huge card, is almost exactly 28mm scale. Guns move in the sponsons and turret turns. I got two and reworked 'em to get rid of the silly looking little turret, and swap the cannons for machine guns. Used them in a Back of Beyond game earlier this month and it looked pretty good. Those toys show up on ebay every month. Search for "Indiana Jones Tank".

As well as the Mark VIII there might be a bit of the TOG in there too. The TOG was the original British WWI tank design teams take on a WWII design. Basically a WWI tank with a turret plonked on top the sole example is also at Bovington. link

Hi All!

You can always rely on Lon to present us gamers with a product!

God Bless him!

Helen

Allen, I thought that *I* needed to get out more…. :-p

Good breakdown, and I bow down to your Mk VIII analysis. :-)

Dom.

"I'm afraid the turret doesn't look much like a Valentine turret to me either"

With it's box-like appearance, it looks like a scaled-down Cromwell turret.

I was thinking Churchill turret myself.

How about a Saladin armor car turret? And those tracks look like they were from a large excavating machine, not a WWI tank…

Shall we just settle for "British influenced" and call it a day…?

Dom :-p

I have a micromachine version of this tank, which is currently in the possesion of my 5 year old son. Hopefully it will survive til he loses interest in it and I can put it away safely somewhere. That and the 50 or 60 other micromachines a well meaning friend of mine gave him.

David S.

I recently watched the DVD extra bits for the Indiana Jones movies. The man responsible for the tank basically said that he'd looked at 1930s tanks (and had been offered a French FT17 to use) but he didn't think any of them were imposing enough for the movie. So he looked at pictures of WWI tanks, and designed one from scratch with a more modern looking turret. That's all there was to it.

I am honored to be corrected by such erudite gentlemen. It's cool to learn new stuff.