by Joe Brown

Year of time divergence: 1981

In 1981, the graphics artist team working on the first computer graphics-driven motion picture was secretly visited by a DARPA team. Drawings were copied, and impressive oaths of secrecy were sworn. The DARPA team was able to quickly adapt the existing engine turbine technology and tread design to an armored hull that was covered with over two feet of Chobham armor.

They then added a prototype hyper-velocity railgun onto a flattened turret and dropped this monster cannon into the tank. Adding to the insanity of the project, the Aberdeen Proving Grounds were cleared out for a week, and they put their new Super Tank through it's paces. They quickly discovered that while the Super Tank did work (after a fashion), it was a gas hog of tremendous proportions. The Chobham armor would indeed stop any form of attack, but the sheer mass of it was causing the engine to self destruct after several hours of driving. In addition, the Super Tank's ability to negotiate anything except flat paved roads was simply not there. Furthermore, the railgun only worked as long as the proper prayers and offerings were made first and the supply of liquid nitrogen didn't evaporate. The Super Tank Program was in serious trouble!

In a career saving decision, the project leaders made the stunning decision to produce and operationally deploy the Super Tank, albeit in a limited way. One platoon of tanks was budgeted for, and constructed. Since several improvements had been made (primarily in crew accommodations), in a burst of creativity it was called the Super Tank Mark II. The Congressional Oversight Committee limited the production run to four of the Super Tank Mark IIs, and the CIA was called upon to assist with the deployment plans.

In a carefully calculated series of movements, the Mark II's were deployed to Western Europe, where the KGB soon spotted them. The KGB was quickly manipulated into getting one of the crews drunk and talking. The carefully coached Mark II crewmen babbled on, spilling all the Super Tank's specifications, and even 'lost' one of the technical manuals for repairing the beasts. Triumphantly, the female KGB agents returned to Moscow and handed over their tape recorded and microfilmed information. Soviet engineers were told to build something that would overcome this stunning American monster tank, no matter what the cost.....

So the story of how the Super Tank, Mark II helped destroy the Soviet Empire by spending them to death would be common knowledge today, except for a certain cease and desist filed by the film company that owned the legal copyright to the design. Not even the government of the USA wants to go head to head in court with the mouse.

The Model

The Tron Tank by Planet V Models is an outstanding piece of work. It is superbly mastered and cast, with very few areas to clean up or fix before painting. I received mine in the mail, cut off the pour sprues, washed the parts in Soft Scrub, and used a hair dryer on them. I used CA glue to attach the two tread units to the hull, and after careful alignment of the three barrel and gun parts, CA'd them together.

I filled the one resin void that I found, and was ready to paint. The parts were primed with automotive primer, and after that had dried, a base coat of Creme White was sprayed over everything. I tore and cut masking tape into a rough pattern, and then rubbed the tape strips over the areas that I wanted to stay white. I then sprayed a dark green over everything, and let it dry overnight. I applied more tape to that, and sprayed everything a lighter green. After that was dry, I stripped off all the tape, and was done.

Incidentally, the process that I described in the story really happened, but with aircraft, not tanks. The USA built the XB-70 Valkyrie to be a high speed, high altitude bomber. The Soviets heard about it, and worked on the MiG -25 Foxbat to shoot down the XB-70. After the loss of Gary Powers' U-2 aircraft, the XB-70 was canceled, but the Soviets kept on working on the MiG. We heard about this 'super-fighter' they were working on, and built what became the F-15 Eagle to shoot down their superfighter with. The Soviets heard about the Eagle, and started on the SU-27 to shoot down the Eagle.....

Image:Top/front view

Image: Top/left

Image:Right/front