COBI Mark V (Male) no 9199 Set 2995

COBI's Mark V (Male) no. 9199 is a 1:35 model built from 844 blocks, 23 cm long, developed with The Tank Museum. The tracks work, the guns rotate and the hatches open. A British officer figure is included, plus a plate with the set name and the museum's logo.

Male and female

The words in the name are official British designations, and they describe the armament. A male tank carried cannon — in this case two 6-pounders, one in each side sponson — for destroying strongpoints and other tanks. A female carried only machine guns, for killing the infantry that would otherwise swarm a tank in the open.

They were built to work in pairs, each covering the other's weakness, because neither could do both jobs. Later a compromise appeared with one gun and one machine-gun sponson, which crews inevitably called a hermaphrodite.

The Mark V itself was the first British tank one man could drive. Earlier marks needed four people working together to steer — two on the tracks, two on the gearboxes — shouting over an engine in a compartment shared with the crew, at temperatures that regularly made men pass out.

This particular tank

Number 9199 is at Bovington and still runs. It was built in 1918, with two 6-pounders and five machine guns, a crew of eight, a top speed of 7.4 km/h and a range of about 65 km. Mark Vs fought at Amiens and on the Hindenburg Line.

Specifications

Pieces: 844 · Figures: 1 · Scale: 1:35 · Developed with The Tank Museum
Model dimensions: 23 × 13 × 9 cm (9.1 × 5.1 × 3.5 in)