Armoured Car

Guest Vehicle !

For once, I'm proud to present a vehicle which I don't own. Nonetheless, I've borrowed this very fine Armoured Car for a few days in order for me to test it after its restoration and tell its owner -- His Grace the Duke of Couteau -- if all is alright with it. So far, so good!

This Couteautish designed and produced Armoured Car was made a few years after the Second World War, in 1949. In fact, the design process started in December of 1948 when His Grace the Duke ordered his military designers to imagine and produce a vehicle fit for both reconnaissance missions at the border and urban fighting against the communist opponents to the regime. If the not ideal off-road performances of the Armoured Car somewhat restricted its capabilities as a scout car (it is a 4 wheel drive, but it has somewhat too narrow wheels for its weight and therefore has a bad tendency to get too easily stuck on boggy terrain), its efficiency in street fighting proved invaluable for the Duke's soldier. The armour is indeed very thick, even by today's standards, and the car was practically invincible when deployed in urban areas and properly supported by the infantry. The Ducal Police in Couteau even obtained 6 of these vehicles, of which this particular car is today the sole survivor (the gray livery of our model is the one adopted by the Ducal Police at the time). Yet, the model has been used successfully, both by the police and the military, up to the early 1980's. One model, used by the police in charge of the protection of Couteau airport, even retired as late as 1991. Quite a long road for such a small little car!

The crew of two access the driver's seat or turret by the rear hatch. Its position comes in handy if the vehicle is struck and damaged by enemy fire coming from the front and the crew must abandon the car. In urban settings though, the fire could come from virtually any direction, including from higher buildings, which rendered the sealed cupola on top of the machine gunner indispensable.

The machine gun itself, mounted on the cupola pivoting 360° by hand, is a 14.5 mm KPV soviet design heavy machine gun. It has an effective range of almost 2000 meters and can penetrate up to 30 mm of armour at 500 meters. The fact that a soviet produced gun was used to fight, among others, communists is quite ironic! At last, note that the police had generally no camouflage or fake or real branches on top of their cars, unlike our model, but some police units patrolling the countryside around Couteau sometimes used this type of cover, as shown on some photographs of the time.

We wish to thank His Grace the Duke of Couteau for allowing us to present this Armoured Car on this blog.

Flame Tank Update 2 : Add a Cannon

There was a very slight design flaw with my Flamethrower tank. OK. To be fair, a terrible one. We had two flamethrowing nozzles at our disposal on the turret, but no main cannon! The absence of a respectable piece of artillery on the turret left the tank extremely vulnerable to almost any serious enemy. Even with our two machineguns, we needed something a little more substantial to be taken seriously in any serious engagement. This is now done with the addition of a proper cannon which takes the place of one of our flame throwers. We still have one flamethrower, which give the tank many options to engage an enemy according to circumstances.

As you can see on the picture above and the one below, we made some minor adjustments too, adding for example lifting eyes / towing hooks on the front, or bigger air intakes for the engine on the rear.

In the hull itself, I added a proper dashboard, a fire extinguisher and a small water tank.

Can you be more battle ready?

WIN A TANK !

WIN A TANK !!!

GAME OVER! 
CONGRATULATIONS TO 
OUR WINNER!

IMPORTANT INFO : • you must live in the Duchy of Couteau to enter this game.

                                    • you must be considered a VIP to receive the prize.

Answer the following question and 

WIN my flamethrower tank!* 

The first person to write the correct answer in the comment section of this post and have it confirmed by me will win! One try per person. Cheaters will be prosecuted.

Question : What tank model is represented on the picture bellow?

Not an easy one! But you can win  A FREAKING TANK for Christ's sake!
Good day and good luck!

* You can win a model similar** to mine and not actually my tank.

** The model offered in this game is a basic model, similar to the one shown on the top right corner photograph above, and not a modified version like the one I own.

If no correct answer is given before 11:59 p.m. Paris time on Monday October 31st, 2016, Mr Dubarbar will keep the prize for himself and do what the hell he wants with it. No driver licence or special permit is necessary to be awarded the prize. You need to check your local legislation if you are allowed to possess a tank or drive it on public roads. The awarded vehicle is meant to be used as a collection item only. The owner should in any case abide by  the law. The organiser of this game, Mr Conhan Dubarbar, declines all responsability in case of any damage caused by the winner of the game with the awarded tank. Once awarded the prize, the winner of the game becomes officially the owner of the prize and therefore the sole legally responsible individual about it. For full Terms and Conditions, please contact Maître Baudile C. Durobot, lawyer in Couteau.

Flame Tank Update

My wife and I patroling on my newly modified Flamethrower tank.

We are very proud to show you the modifications brought to my recently acquired Flamethrower tank. First of all and most importantly, I'm now able to fit inside the tank, which is quite convenient! I'm absolutely fully protected when driving the thing, using two levers. The following picture has been taken when the tank had its top half removed while being modified inside our shop. Above the right lever, note the driver's machine gun trigger mechanism. As you can notice too, the motor is not fully isolated from the driver. The tank is so small you have to make some concessions!

Myself at the levers of the tank, in my workshop.

Among the improvements to my tank visible on the first photo are the new driver's viewport, fitted with the last generation of bulletproof glass, the blackout light, and the driver's machine gun. On the turret, you couldn't have failed to notice the brand new large caliber machine gun equipped with high-tech optics and high capacity magazine. Unfortunately, you need that in Couteau today if you want to be shown at least some respect. Note that the double flame throwing canon has been upgraded too, and we also completed the turret's armement with a double grenade launcher.

A side view of the tank in the fields near Versailles.

Apparently, the very principle of a flamethrowing tank is now quite obsolete on the modern-day battlefield. If I have no doubt about the fear such an ominous weapon could still inspire in the modern soldier (because, after all, we modern humans can burn as well as our forefathers of the last century), it is true that you have to be very close to your target (at the very most 200 meters) to be effective. And at that distance, you are of course very vulnerable to any modern anti tank ammunition that could be thrown at you. This is why I keep this beauty as a curiosity and a museum exhibit, though in working order, and don't intend to go to war with it! Still, I should be able to defend myself nonetheless with my modern machine gun and grenade launchers if attacked on my peaceful sunday stroll...

Doing my duty as a Couteautish citizen and law enforcement officer, standing guard in a field at a flame's throw from the Boreal border.

Imagine that suddenly coming at you at the top of a slope in a field!

If you're close enough that you can see me inside my tank, too late! You're fired!

Thank you for your attention and see you soon!

Mega Bloks ® set 95420 Flameslinger MODified.

WIN !

WIN this SELF PROPELLED GUN !!! NOW !!!
The Game is now close!
CONGRATS TO OUR WINNER!

By answering this simple question :

What was the name of the British Flame-throwing tank, part of 'Hobart's Funnies', used during the allied invasion of Normandy in 1944? 

Send me your answer in the comment section of this article!

The first person to answer correctly will receive this marvel of military equipment, made by E.Z.Blox.

Please, note that you can only enter this game if you live in the Duchy of Couteau.

The game ends when the first correct answer has been acknowledged in the comment section of this article. 

One answer and one participation per person only.

If no correct answer is given before 11:59 p.m. Paris time on Monday October 31st, 2016, Mr Dubarbar will keep the prize for himself and do what the hell he wants with it.

Only VIP's can receive the above mentioned prize. 

No driver licence or special permit is necessary to be awarded the prize.

You need to check with your local legislation if you are allowed to possess, use this vehicle or drive it on public roads.

The awarded piece of artillery is meant to be used as a collection item only. The owner should in any case abide the law. The organiser of this game, Mr Conhan Dubarbar, declines all responsability in case of any damage caused by the winner of the game with the self propelled gun. Once awarded the prize, the winner of the game becomes officially the owner of the prize and therefore the sole legally responsible individual about it. For full Terms and Conditions, please contact Maître Baudile C. Durobot, lawyer in Couteau.

Flame Tank

Hi people! That's me and my beloved daughter on my brand new Flame Tank! For those of you absolutely impervious to military dialect, this is nothing more, nothing less than a tank equipped with a flamethrower instead of a classic canon. The flammable liquid is stocked in a container fixed behind the tank. Needless to say, I don't intend to let all hell break loose in the streets of Couteau or Versailles (and neither does my daughter, hopefully...). I'm just your regular vehicle collector, with a special interest for tracked vehicles. Maybe I'll work on my Flame Tank to modify it a bit, in which case I'll show you the result right here. OK, for those asking, yes, I suppose you could, theoretically, set some police cars and vans on fire, but (and that's a big "but" -- as you'd here from time to time about Madame the Duchesse) this tank is intended to be enjoyed as a collection item, not to be used as a weapon of any kind. Now you are reassured about my intentions, just have a look at the back of the thing, where you'll notice the red fuel and compressed nitrogen propellant container. Also note that to my knowledge, this tank is the only flame throwing tank in running order privately owned in Couteau. Let me know if you plan a barbecue!

Flameslinger by Mega Bloks ®, set 95420