Replica German A7V Makes the Rounds at Tankfest 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 06:33PM Having published a series of "retro-lozenge" posts dealing with replicas of British World War I tanks, it's only fitting to post a YouTube video of the replica of World War I German A7V tank that paraded around the green today at Tankfest 2009.
The replica A7V was built over the course of 3 1/2 years by a crew led by Bob Grundy. The vehicle's chassis is based on two Fordson County Crawlers that have been mated together. A steel frame built on top of the chassis supports the marine plywood and fiberglass body. The hundreds of rivets that cover the 'armoured' body of the vehicle are made of washers domed in a press and screwed on to the plywood and fiberglass that stands in for steel plate. Another feature of the replica is that all the guns of the vehicle are linked and can be moved from a common location inside the replica. The vehicle is only a cosmetic reproduction, but given the level of work Grundy and his crew put into the external details it's hard to find fault. Peter Jackson's WW1 Mark IV British tank replica was built in New Zealand in a similiar fashion as Grundy's A7V. Jackson's Mark IV it has given good service during the WW1 reenactment battles at the Omaka Classic Fighters Airshow in New Zealand for several years, and one can only hope Grundy's A7V will make many more appearances at events in the UK.
Grundy's replica is named and painted to represent the German A7V 504 "Schnuck" that was caputred by New Zealand soldiers in August 1918. A photos and detailed history of the original "Schnuck" can be found on the excellent Landships website.
The vehicle seen at Tankfest is only the second replica A7V runner in existence. The first replica was built in Germany in the late 80s/early 90s and now on display at the Panzermuseum Munster in Germany. The German replica is an almost exact copy of a A7V based on surviving a collection of vintage A7V components, period drawings and as built drawings of the sole surviving A7V 506 "Mephisto" which is on static display at the Queensland Museum in Australia."Mephisto" was captured by the Australian troops in 1918 and shipped back to Australia as a war trophy in 1919 The effort to build the Munster A7V replica is documented in Wheels & Tracks Issue 35. The Prime Portal website has several good photos of the Munster replica painted to represent the German tank "Wotan."
As a side note, the man with the camouflaged German helmet seen riding driver compartment cab of the "Schnuck" replica at Tankfest is Maxwell Hundleby. In 1990 Hundleby co-authored with Rainer Strassheim what many believe to be "the" book on the A7V. The book is almost impossible to find now and sells for well over $200 US if you can find it. Rumor is that Hundleby provided input into the construction of Bob Grundy's "Schnuck" and that he is working on a new book.
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