Lebedenko Tank 1915, 28mm scale

[T. Dürrschmidt]

I always had a faible for unusual tank projects and it is also OK for me if it goes in the direction of SciFi and Whatif….this time it´s a quite odd tank that really existed.

The Russian engineer Lebedenko hat the idea for a huge fighting vehicle with extremely huge wheels to go over trenches and other obstacles. Tsar Nicolai II invited Lebedenko to Petrograd to introduce his planned project. He had a spring drive model tank with him . The tsar enjoyed playing with it and Lebedenko got the money to build the real one.

The tank weighted over 60 tons. During a demonstration in Summer 1915 the tank first flattended a tree but then got stucked in muddy ground. The pressure on the rear wheel was too high. The big wheels would also have been very vulnerable to enemy fire. Lebedenko did some revision on it with a newly constructed wheel and more powerful engines (it had two, one for every wheel) but the Russian Revolution ended the project. The prototype was sold as scrap metal in 1923.

The Model: 28mm scale wood, MDF and cardboard by Miniature Scenery Australia. I did some improvements by adding many plastic rivets, bolts and a new round top turret roof.

In this case figures are very important to show the incredible size of the Tsar-Tank. I found some fitting figs by Tsuba Miniatures (Russo-Japanese-War).

Cheers from Bavaria

Thomas

[Bluefalchion]

What a cool project. As usual, I thought you started us off with a photograph of the actual tank, for comparison. But it was your dio.

I think the tank would have been a very intimidating sight, had it appeared on the battlefield. For a few seconds, anyway, before the giant front wheels were shot off and the whole thing toppled.

[C M Dodson]

What a bonkers vehicle, it reminds me of the Pananjam ( or something like that) a D Day suggestion that failed to make it off the testing ground.

The concept and modelling are first class and the photography is in the usual outstanding category.

Well done Thomas.

Best wishes,

Chris

[Kostis Ornerakis]

Marvelous work!

[Bluefalchion]

What a bonkers vehicle, it reminds me of the Pananjam ( or something like that) a D Day suggestion that failed to make it off the testing ground.

The concept and modelling are first class and the photography is in the usual outstanding category.

Well done Thomas.

Best wishes,

Chris

Now you are going to have me racing to wikipedia to try to find an article about the pananjam (or something like that).

[T. Dürrschmidt]

What a bonkers vehicle, it reminds me of the Pananjam ( or something like that) a D Day suggestion that failed to make it off the testing ground.

Ah you mean that rocket wheel that was meant to destroy the German Minefields on D-Day....also the category of "justifiably forgotten weapons".

I found it...the Panjandrum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cyBcGDzQzI

[Wiking]

Add two of them:
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view ... ORM=IRPRST
Remove the gondolas.

Use some parts of that:
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view ... ORM=IRPRST

And for the top use that head turned by 180°:
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view ... ORM=IRPRST

Was a long, hard, steely way to:
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view ... ORM=IRPRST

By the way,
nice model.

[Kekso]

Good work, cool story... when seeing 1st photo I thought it was taken in real life.

[T. Dürrschmidt]

Great comparison, it fits 100% Wiking!

[C M Dodson]

Hi Thomas,

Yes, that’s it, Panjandrum !

I googled it but could not locate it.

The Misty weather adds a real ambiance to your pictures.

Brilliant.

Best wishes,

Chris

[Peter]

Good work, cool story... when seeing 1st photo I thought it was taken in real life.

It is Dalibor. When you pass Munchen you first see the Allianz arena and then you see the beautifull Bavarian woods and when you have a good look you can see the back garden of Thomas with his 1/1 scale projects.

Great built and background information, Thomas!

[Minuteman]

A wonderful model, well-photographed and the figures are very good. As for the original concept...well, in retrospect it seems complete madness, but I suppose at the time anything that would break a trenches and barbed wire deadlock was worth considering.

With regards the WW2 Panjandrum: There was a really superb BBC TV series called 'The Secret War' which was based on the book of the same title by Dr R V Jones, one of Churchill's 'boffins' and which was screened in Britain in the late 1970s. It featured, amongst many. many other fascinating things (including the invention of radar, the battle that the RAF had with the Luftwaffe in technological terms, the submarine war, development of ASDIC etc), some footage of the Panjandrum being tested on a beach 'somewhere in England'......and an unpredictable and dangerous beast it was too.

If anyone is interested there is some footage of it at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGn38C-ibjc
It is a brief clip about 15.50 minutes into the programme, which also goes on to show prototype flail tanks etc.

Lucky it was not used in earnest on D-Day!!

[T. Dürrschmidt]

Thank you folks!

@Peter....yes, the Allianz Arena with the marvellous FC-Bayern Museum (35 EUR entrance fee for a family to see some old footballs, trophys and sweaty soccer jerseys...but there was a big fan shop at the exit...and my son liked it very much. But you have to drive another 200 kilometers northeast to visit my backyard with the 1:1 tsar tank.

@Chris....Panjandrum, sounds like a mixture of Latin and Indian...

@Minuteman....yes, the concept of the Tsar tank wasn´t that bad. With such big wheels it would have been easy to go over trenches, and by sure five of these roaring monsters appearing out of the fog would have been a terrifying sight for the German troops…..

[Ben90]

Cool thing! The paintjob and weathering looks very realistic

[Mr. Andrea]

unusual tank, sure I am ignorant about tanks (well, not only tanks), but this is really weird, fascinating, with a sort of steampunk touch. Your work made it really cool.

[MABO]

Amazing new project. I love to learn about it. Fantastic craftsmanship.

I think about some critical points...

[Dad's Army]

Hey LB, cool work this is.
Nice to see something else.
The only thing is you got the name wrong: Lebedenko Tank 1915, 28mm scale
had to be Lederhosen Tank 1915, 28mm scale

Greetings my friend

[Konrad]

What a monster!
But I can't imagine that it was really effective.
Still a great model in the usual Dürrschmidt quality.