Probably my favourite Indiana Jones film is Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The combination of archaeology, mythology, nazi soldiers and lots of wonderful pulp action. Though we know the tank wasn’t real, and there was no actual historical version of it; I am sure most of us who have thought about recreating the Indiana Jones films on the table have wanted to use that tank. It appears at first glance to be a Mark VIII with a turret, the reality was that it was built specially for the film and was built up from an excavator.
I wrote back in 2012 about finding a 28mm model of the tank, since then I found it was available from Empress Miniatures, I was able to order it and go through the resin pieces.
This is quite a big model. The first stage was to glue the two track units to the main hull. I stuck them together and then used weights to ensure that the join was secure.
I then added the sponsons, one at a time. I also added the turret hatch to the turret and the main weapon. This was a challenging as there wasn’t much of a way to join the main weapon to the turret, so I got the drill out.
I did something similar with the sponson guns.
The periscope (which I worked out from watching the film) was then added, as was all the stowage.
You can see how big this model is compared to other 28mm models. Here it is next to the Bolt Action Citroen Civilian 4,500kg Truck with Canopy.
This is the tank next to my Tally Ho Rolls Royce Armoured Car.
The next stage will be a white undercoat.
See the full workbench feature on the Mark IX Beast tank.
One thought on “Constructing the Mark IX Beast”