Well, you're not, until Oli posts his design you still have time, so please do post your entry! It would be a shame to have to miss what you did with the King Tiger chassis...
so...11 days after target date and only two people shown entries. Di it alwyas drag out like this or is it just me (never done something like this before so I don't know. and i'm anxious to see what everyon else did )
If it's not to late to join the game, I have a design I would like to present using the French ARL-44 chassis: VIVALAFA Char Lourd-90 Zhukorp (Inc.) has responded to the Rodinian contract fashionably late, both to survey other entries and to find a developmental direction. Competing design teams from Germany, Britain, and Russia have made it difficult for our firm to locate a sufficient heavy-tank chassis and maintain our originality at the same time. A solution was at hand when our French subsidiary, VIVALAFA (Viva la Francais Armee), mentioned that they had a few ARL-44 chassis laying around. The ARL-44 was on the drawing boards when France fell in 1940, but work secretly continued under German occupation. When Paris was liberated in 1944, the ARL-44 was immediately put into production. Initial tests with the ARL-44 chassis were disheartening, to say the least. The chassis was found to be underpowered, and allowed a road speed of only 23mph. Furthermore, the vehicle's range was only 93 miles (150km). It was quickly decided that a new, more powerful engine was required, and such an engine was found in the Rolls-Royce Meteor Mark 3 V-12, which is fitted in the rear. This improved the road speed to 28mph and increased the range to 123 miles (196km). The suspension is similar to the Char B, and consists of 16 double steel bogie wheels supported by vertical-mounted coil springs and semi-elliptical leaf springs. The Char-Lourd is composed of four crew members, a driver, loader, gunner/radioman, and commander. The commander can also fire the gun if the gunner is busy using the radio sets. The ARL-44's original turret design was deemed unsuitable, so a new turret was designed presenting as small a cross section as possible and incorporating the latest developments in sloped armour. This allowed our designers to be more conservative with armour distribution, and thus the front hull and front turret are equipped with only 110mm and 130 mm of armour respectively. The driver's position has been moved forward and also lowered. This allows a decrease in the overall height of the vehicle, and increases the driver's line of sight by eliminating the track "horns" (like those that allowed only limited vision for a Churchill driver). The bustle on the turret rear allows extra ammo storage, but does pose as a shot-trap. To counter this, heavy weights supported by chains line the bottom of the bustle and protect against HEAT weapons and may deter kinetic rounds as well (does that sound familiar? ). As with all Zhukorp (Inc) designs, modifications for carrying fascines, mine-clearing flails, and dozer blades are standard. Main armament consists of the same 90mm M3 gun equipping the American M26 Pershing. This powerful gun had its beginnings in the anti-aircraft field, but like most other such weapons the M3 was deemed more than capable of serving as an anti-tank weapon. For ease and convienence, the Char-Lourd is equipped with a two-piece barrel. This allows the faster-wearing part of the barrel to be quickly and easily changed. Secondary armament consists of one coaxial 7.5mm machine gun and a cupola-mounted 13.2mm Hotchkiss heavy machine gun for anti-aircraft duties. Each vehicle is equipped with a German FuG-5 radio for crew-to-crew and tank-to-tank conversation. Command versions of the Char-Lourd come standard with German FuG-12 and fuG Spr Ger 'a' radios. To house this array of radio equipment, the gun is fixed (but can still be fired) and less ammuntion is carried. A tall commander's cupola has also been added to provide that essential view of the battlefield. Although the ARL-44 chassis never recieved wide-attention, we believe that with the right modifications, such as installing a Meteor Mark 3 engine and the powerful M3 gun, the Char-Lourd will be a formidiable fighting machine and more than capable of opening-up the lines of the Fascist forces. (The gun is supposed to be longer, but I ran out of room on paint ) Desert version, note extra water carried and jacket over 13.2mm machine gun. This version also equipped with improved air-intake and exhaust to combat harsh environment. Standard version in traveling position. Also equipped with winter camoflauge. Command version with woodland camoflague. Note aerials for radio, high commander's cupola, and fixed, but still functional, gun. Char-Lourd 90 Chassis: ARL-44 Weight: 45 tons Crew: 4 (driver, gunner/radioman, loader, commander) Length: 34ft (10.5 meters) Width: 11ft (3.4m) Height: 7.5ft Armour: 130 maximum (turret and mantle), 110mm front hull, 100mm on sides, 60mm rear, 20mm minimum (top) Radio: FuG 5 (standard version) FuG12/fuG Spr Ger 'a' (command version) Performance Engine: Meteor Mark 3 (Petrol) Type: V12 Power: 600bhp RPM: 2,550 Speed on/off road: 28mph/15mph Range: 123 miles (196km) Vertical Obstacle: 3ft (1m) Trench: 9ft Armament Main Gun: American M3 Caliber: 90mm L/50 Rounds Carried: 75 (55 rounds carried in command version) Projectile Weight: 23.4lbs (10.6k) Rate of Fire: 25 rounds per minute Muzzle Velocity: 823m/s Range (maximum): 17,800m Elevation: 20+ to -5 Traverse: 360 degrees (turret fixed in command version) Penetration striking at 30 degrees: M82 (late) APCBC: 129 @ 500m, 122mm @ 1000m; 114mm @ 1500m HVAP M305 APCR: 221mm @ 500m, 199mm @ 100m, 176mm @ 1500 Secondary Armament: 1 x coaxial 7.5mm machine gun; 1 x 13.2mm Hotchkiss heavy anti-aircraft machine gun Rounds carried: 1,500 for 7.5mm, 500 for 13.2mm BTW Ricky and Roel, the JS-3R is awesome, and is by far my favourite of your guys' entires! I think the Soviets might have had a place for you two back in WWII .
Beautiful Zhukov! It's great to see you guys making such great presentations. I'm going to wait for Oli untill I judge. Thy hast outdone thyselves! I'm sorry, but you just have not given me enough information to judge your entry. Also, there are some clear violations to the game rules - using guns that never existed, for example. There is no 70 mm artillery piece (that I am aware of, anyway). What is a "fixed turret"? Which engine have you used?
it's an artillary peice- 10-15 degrees swing at most. Engine....hell if I know. I made an effort and for someone with practically no experince and a hard time meeting people.... :cry: I design the basics. Someone has to get a concept somewhere. I with draw my entry.
Apologies guys. My dad took a sudden turn for the worse, and I'm running mum to the hospital every day. Will have something by the weekend.
I'm sorry to hear that Oli. I hope he gets better soon (and not just for hte sake of your forum activities )
Picture of thje Caernarvon - I forgot to put the specs on my USB stick. Will post them tomorrow. Basically it's a stretched and up-armoured Comet, with a 55 pdr gun (4.45 in, planed for Brit tanks before we developed APDS and went with the 17 pdr).
Great, just in time! I leave for South Africa on Thursday, and will be without Internet for quite some time...
Apologies for no further data or communication - dad was moved to a hospice, got worse, went to sleep, was not expected to last the day and hung on (unconscious) for three more days. He died last Saturday and now we're organising the funeral so I'm not able to think of much of anything at the moment. Sorry for letting you guys down. Will be back on-line in a week or so (with luck).
