Matador Models 1/76
Medium Tank Mk B

The Medium Mark A, which success­fully demonstrated the value of this class of tank, had a number of short­comings, the principal of which was the difficulty of handling. The Medium Mark B was designed to overcome this fault and at the same time incorporate other features which by 1918 the considerable experience of the Tank Corps in action showed were desirable.

The lozenge-shaped silhouette of the heavy tanks was adopted - perhaps from conservatism in Major W. G. Wilson the designer, because it was not strictly necessary. The main part of the armament was, however, carried in a rectangular superstructure raised above the top line of the track and fitted with five ball mountings for Hotchkiss machine-guns. Advantage was taken of the high hull to include a form of spon­son with one ball mounting on the door each side. A “male” version of the Medium Mark `B' was also planned, with a 2-pdr. gun included in the arma­ment, but none of these were built.

The engine used was a four-cylinder Ricardo - a smaller edition of that designed for the heavy Tank, Mark V. It was placed somewhat further back than in earlier tanks and left rather more room for the crew compartment at the front: This engine, linked with a four­speed epicyclic gear-box made the machine relatively easy to control, but it was underpowered for a tank weigh­ing 18 tons and the top speed of some 9 km/h was not considered good enough for a medium.

A new feature in this tank was a means of producing a smoke screen by introducing sulphonic acid into the engine exhaust.

The initial order for Medium Mark B's was increased to 450 in the Summer of 1918 but the end of the war brought about a cancellation of the order after only forty-five tanks had been com­pleted by the Metropolitan Carriage, Wagon & Finance Co. and the North British Locomotive Co. The Armistice occurred before there was time to train and equip units of the Tank Corps to use the Medium Mark B in action but some were sent to Russia with the British expedition in 1919 and others to Ireland in the same year.

One of these Mk B's fell to the hands of the Bolsheviks, and the tank was in running condition well into the twenties. The two others found their way to the Baltic, where they were used by the Latvian Army.

The Medium Mark B's performance was inferior to that of the Mark C and so was not used to equip the Tanks Corps after 1919 except that some were used for training at the Bovington Depot for a few years.

For more info on this tank, click here!

At last! We have a kit of the Medium Mk B, the not too well-known successor of the Mk A "Whippet"! Anyone really iinto WW1 AFV's have wanted to see a kit of this type for a long time, and now our prayers ahve been answered.

The kit comes packed in the black cardboard box with orange header, that we have come to know from Matador Models, with the parts in two zip-lock bags. 

The kit is done in light yellow resin, and consists of almost 50 parts - that is, if you count the individual track links parts.

The moulding is fine, clean with almost no flash, comparable to reliable producers like Cromwell. The moulding stubs are not too prominent and all easily removed. The quality of the moulding can be seen in some of the delicate parts, like the MG's.

The assembly also seems to be pretty straight-forward. Not too many parts are involved in the hull and turret - as mentioned above: most parts are actually tracks, but in these types of tanks they are easy to lay.

The intricate shape of this tank, with its strange turret, protruding door MG positions etc, have been well captured. It is amazing how small this tank in reality was! My only complaint, and I'm afraid it's a big one, is the rivets. They are too big, and sometimes unevenly spaced. In most WW1 kits you want the rivets to pop out, using dry brushing etc. Here you rather want to hide them. (The problem is evident in this photo of a completed kit, taken from Matadors own page.)

This is a pity, as the kit looks accurate both in shape and size and individual details. The Master Builder has done fine job, just stumbling on that samll but not unimportant detail: the rivets.

The kit also comes with an excellent resin track, sporting both individual links and long lengths - BTW: matadors tracks for the Mk I - IV is recommended for anyone building, say, the Airfix or EMHAR kits.  

As we know Matador kits comes with fine plans, and this one is no exception, and it includes a brief history of this lesser known AFV. 

You can get this kit directly from Matador Models.
 

This is a fine kit, filling a gap in anyones WW1 Military Collection. It captures well the intricate shape of this AFV. Its a pity that the rivets are rather poorly depicted. Still, we fianlly have got a kit of the Mk B, so I'm happy!