WW1 Mark V Tank

[Tony Smith]

At the recent "Classic Fighters Over Marlborough" Airshowheld in Blenheim, New Zealand, I took the opportunity to have a good close look at this replica WW1 tank. To call this a replica perhaps does not do this piece of work justice. It is the work of filmmaker Peter Jackson's Weta Workshops. You might know them from the Lord of the Rings movies and think their skill is just in Computer Generated graphics. They are quite skilled in Hardware effects, too!
The Blenheim Airshow has a very strong WW1 display thanks to the assistance of Peter Jackson, who is rumoured to be building up an army for a future movie. If this is the standard of some of the props, it should be an outstanding movie! This year Blenheim had the WW1 tank, 5 Fokker Triplanes, a Bristol F2B, Sopwith Camel, a German Pfaltz, and another three or four WW1 aircraft that I wouldn't try to Identify. The next Airshow in 2007 is aiming for a large increase in these numbers (!!), with the construction of 2 more tanks and several more aircraft!
The tank is built around a Caterpillar D6 dozer and this ensures that it squeaks, clatters and clanks in the right way and makes the ground shake. The body is made from plywood, mild steel angle iron and tin sheeting, but then coated with epoxy and painted in such a way that you can be 2 inches from the sides and be totally convinced that it's real!

Side detail:

Cupola or Sponson:

Rear view: