Il Principe Nero's 1/72
British Mk I Tank (Male)
 

On the Real Thing

The Worlds first operational fully tracked armoured fighting vehicle was the British Mk I. It's strange romboid-form with tracks running around the whole hull, was an attempt to counter two of the main draw-backs of the original design: it's inherent instability and it's poor trench-crossing ability. And the solution was quite ingenious. The British Mk I was much more stable than the first German tank, the A7V, which was prone to toppling over, and had a much better parapet-climbing ability than the first French attempts, the CA 1 and the S:t Chamond. It was however underpowered, making it extremely slow - a man walking on foot had no problem to keep up. It was also very difficult to drive. The driver could only engage the two lower of the four gears, the upper two being controlled by two special gearsmen at the rear of the vehicle, who reacted to his signal - usually the banging on the engine with his right hand, as the engine was so noisy it was impossible to talk or shout, followed by holding one or two fingers in the air. Small changes of direction could be affected by the commander, by carefully engaging the handbrakes, which he, not the driver controlled. In order to make a larger turn, the machine usually first had to be stopped.

The Mk I was also a very uncomfortable machine to crew. Beside being extremely noisy, the lack of ventilation made the insides very hot and stuffy, and fumes from both the engine and the guns often entoxicated the men. The suspension was not sprung, and due to the fact that less than two meters of the tracks were in full contact with the ground, the whole vehicle moved with a slight rocking motion. The vision slits where few and small, and the entry hatches as well, making it very difficult for the whole crew to get out in time - especially if was the variant equipped not with guns but with machine guns: there the doors were far to small and cramped.

The Mk I was first used in combat on 15 September 1916, as a part of a renewed offensive on the Somme area. They participated in a local attack by 10 infantry divisions, intending to open a 6 km wide hole in the German trenches at Flers. Some 50 tanks were slated to participate, but due to untried technology, 18 of these broke down even before the assault began. The rest rolled slowly into action, chocking the German defenders and in most cases penetrating their lines.

Although the new weapon had made quite an impression on both friend and foe alike, the battle in 1916 had shown that the design had a number of very big problems. It was found lacking in most respects, including speed, mobility, steering and protection. Work soon started on an improved design, work that eventually would result in the Mk IV. The Mk I saw some action again, during the Battle of Arras in the spring of 1917, but after that they were phased out of Frontline service, to be used only for training or in experimental duties. 

For more info on this tank, click here! And you could also get this excellent book.

Airfix makes a classic plastic kit of the first tank, but the big problem with that is the scale: it is in 1/76, but today most smallscale AFV modellers work in 1/72. But now we have a 1/72 version of this very important vehicle.

The Il Principe Nero kit comes packed in a cardboard box - well, actually two small boxes fastened together - with all the parts very carefully wrapped in plastic. The kit itself consists of some 30 parts, moulded in light yellow resin. The moulding is first rate, although there are some fine moulding flash to remove. The moulding stubs are not too prominent. The details are sharp and well done.

The construction is pretty straight-forward and logical, and it will probably not take too long to build. It comes with a good plan with historical notes and painting instructions. (These are, by the way, the only thing that I can fault with this excellent kit: they recommend a camo scheme of overall mid-brown, but the Mk I's were probably never painted this way. They were either Battleship Grey or used variants of the colourful so called Salomon Camo. Click here to find out more!)

When it comes to accuracy, it is very high. Both the shape, the proportions and the size is right. In many ways in compares favourably to the in many aspects fine Airfix 1/76 kit - mind you kit under review is 1/72 - for instance the steering wheel assembly is correct in all its detail, and the rivets comes in the right size AND the correct spacing. (This is a very minor fault of the otherwise very nice Airfix kit, but this thing goes to show the attention to detail showed in the Il Principe Nero kit.) Also, this is a true Mk I, with no muffler, and a round, flat escape hatch on the hull top, etc. This kit is better than the Airfix one, meaning that this is the most accurate Mk I to be found on the market today. (And what could be expected, as the master builder is the gifted Italian modeller Gabriele Zenoni, who has made some of the best WW1 resin kits that can be found on the market today.)

This kit can be bought from Tracks & Troops or from at Italian Kits.
 

Verdict

This is an excellent kit, and a must, especially for those that only do 1/72 and therefore cannot use the old 1/76 Airfix  Mk I. The attention given to detail in this kit is most impressive: this is the most accurate Mk I to be found on the market today! Highly recommended!