Emhar 1/72nd Whippet

The British intended for the larger and heavier Mark-IV, armed with cannons, to provide the bulk of the offensive shock required to break German trenchlines. Once the breakithrough happened, the lighter and faster Whippets were supposed to exploit the opening and wreak havoc on the German rear. Alas, the engines and mechanical systems of the day weren't up to the challenge and the Whippet never lived up to its role of fast tank, but it's still an interesting shape.

This was even easier to build than Emhar's Mark-IV. The tracks and suspension are one-piece parts, which makes for extremely quick assembly. I didn't count, but I'd be surprised if there were more than twenty parts in the entire model. The only parts that required much in the way of manual dexterity were the mufflers, and the machine guns are not universal so there's a need to keep them halfway organized before installation.

I painted it olive drab (because it was handy) and drybrushed it with Radome Tan, then hand-painted the tracks dark red-brown with a lot of silver over the top of that. And that was pretty much the length of its forty cubits. The red and white recognition markings are decals, and I expected trouble from them, but I worried needlessly. It took a fair amount of setting solution to get the decals to conform to the deep relief of the track tensioners and details on the engine hood, but in the end they did conform nicely indeed.

I would have to say this is perhaps the easiest 1/72nd scale armor kit I've ever attempted, and certainly one of the most satisfactory.