Fieldmarshall Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 What do you think was the worst looking AVF? I say the Churchill AVRE gets my vote... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Commissar Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 That piece of crap from...uh...was it New Zealand? I forgot the name, but it looked like a large box with tracks. Named after one of their politicians if Im not mistaken. The Churchill is a supermodel compared to that horror! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeauCoupDinkyDau Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 The Lee tank is pretty pathetic looking IMHO. Archer is a bit odd in appearence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 The Sherman is without a doubt the most awful piece of metal on the battlefield. Closely followed by the Badger, which I'll bet you've never ever laid eyes on. Chris Walker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gredeker Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 <blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by The Commissar: That piece of crap from...uh...was it New Zealand? I forgot the name, but it looked like a large box with tracks. Named after one of their politicians if Im not mistaken. The Churchill is a supermodel compared to that horror!<hr></blockquote> I agree - the Bob Semple Tank from NZ takes the cake. Imagine a standard Caterpillar-type bulldozer, remove the blade, cover the superstructure in corrugated steel, then add six guys with Brens poking out at all angles (including one pointed straight forward which required the operator to lie on a mattress on top of the engine compartment) and you have the general idea. It was heavy, slow, relatively vulnerable, top-heavy and prone to tip over, and low in firepower. Only four were made before somebody decided that this contraption wasn't worth any further money or resources. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirill S. Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 my vote goes to Challenger Tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louie the Toad Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 Redecker, I was going to pick the Kettenrad (motorcycle/halftrack) but after reading your post, well.... never mind. muted Toad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabpub Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 The Lee/Grant has to be the worst, although the T35 from Russia is also in the running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I think you'll find. Personally, I'd have to say perhaps the ugliest tank buit during the war was the AT1 series of amphibious tanks produced by the British. Second best, would have to go, IMO to the Marmon-Herrington light tank. Third, perhaps to the various Italian and even perhaps Hungarian SP guns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busboy Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 I always thought the M3 Lee looked kinda neat...pointy and dangerous (but not something you'd like to be in when the 88s start flying) We must remember that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, however, some things are just really stanky! My vote goes to the (POS) Japanese medium tank type 89. Pictured below: (note, due to size, and the fact that I don't want to downscale the image and upload it to my archive, I'm just posting a link) Japanese tank, indian origin. Ugliest of war! did you click the link? No? Then do so real quick! (unless you have a 56k, then it won't be so quick...) . . . . . . . . Ok, if ya clicked it you found out my bad joke. Thats ACTUALLY the Elite SS Elefantroopen that...pfft. Kidding. Maybe later I'll dig through my links and find a real picture. Until then, think of pretty tanks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Porta Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 Hey, anyone got some pictures to back up their claims ? Particularly of that NZ beauty... [ 12-23-2001: Message edited by: Joseph Porta ]</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aka_tom_w Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 <blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Joseph Porta: Hey, anyone got some pictures to back up their claims ? Particularly of that NZ beauty... [ 12-23-2001: Message edited by: Joseph Porta ]<hr></blockquote> does anyone have a name or military designation for that whacky NZ tank so we can try to look it up on the web?? -tom w Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
general paulus Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 The Shermans the biggest piece of junk in the world! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busboy Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 here's a pic of a model of my nominee: Who honestly can't like the Sherman? Its so cute! Now you want REAL junk (suprised I didn't think of this first) try the Matilda Mk 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busboy Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 My God! The horror... The horror... Your Kiwi monstorcity wins hands down! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busboy Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 Sorry to keep posting folks, but the discription/history that went with those photos was just too funny: "God bless the men in this machine! In 1940 war hysteria gripped New Zealand and an effort was made to produce a home grown tank. It was decided to armor an International Harvester* farm tractor to make use of equipment on hand. The result was an amazing "tank" called a "Bob Semple" after a politician in New Zealand. Bob was a popular, colorful, Labor politician (just like an American Democrat - only worse). Backing this wonderful idea (probably because Bob was) were the Prime Minister and Minister of Defence (who was Bob). Bob must have been impressed by the U.S. Disston "Tractor Tank" and the idea that a tank would actually be named after himself! Bob probably had visions of Semples storming the beaches and taking Berlin or Tokyo! Rube Goldberg himself could not have designed it better. Apart from being just plain ugly to the bone, the front gunner actually had to lay on a mattress on top of the engine in order to fire his weapon! The Semple had a searing top speed of 24 km/h but had to slow down or even stop in order to shift gears. The "tank" was highly unstable in movement and top heavy. The Public Works Department tried to give this "white elephant" to the army and even offered to convert their entire fleet of 81 into Semples (at a cost of only 4200 pounds sterling apiece)! The army took them, tested them, and even paraded them around the country in an effort to whip up morale. After the laughter subsided, and in an rare display of military intelligence, the army returned them (I am sure that they only needed to have knocked on Afganistan's door to find a buyer as Disston did). Only 4 units** were built before public ridicule stopped the production. The Bob Semple was armed with 4 machine guns, it was 12 feet tall had had a crew of 8 men. 8 men? I can understand 5, but 8? 5 were probably soldiers, 1 was a shop steward, another fended off the birds trying to roost, and the last took out the trash once a day and waved to the people. There is a rumor that after the war Bob took a job with Ford and helped to design the Edsel and fuel tanks for the Pinto. He later went to Yugoslavia and influenced the design of the "Yugo" but this is not confirmed. The reported weight was from 20 to 25 tons. The extreme swing in reported weight may have been design differences between all 4 units** produced or incomplete historical data. The production of this tank was not New Zealand's "finest hour". *Janes reports that the type of tractor was an International Harvester. The book "Pictorial History Of Tanks Of The World 1915-45 by Peter Chamberlain & Chris Ellis state that the tractor was an International Harvester. Another source, "New Zealand Yesterdays" by Hamish Keith, printed in 1984 by Readers Digest Australia reports that a Caterpiller brand Cat DH-8 was used. ** Janes reports that 4 units were produced. Another source, "New Zealand Yesterdays" by Hamish Keith, printed in 1984 by Readers Digest Australia report 3." Oh, and just for kicks, also from Kiwiland: The Schofield! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titan Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 Being a Kiwi i had know idea we made such things. Being a nation that could do anything with a piece of number 8 wire,i guess there may have been more to those tanks that met the eye.I reckon they were designed to lure the enemy into a false sense of security,then the corragated iron side's would have droped away revealing a 120mm smoothbore gun,and sloped cobham armour!!!!Yea that was what they were,Wolf dressed in sheeps clothing!!!!! [ 12-24-2001: Message edited by: Titan ]</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busboy Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 I've got enough Kiwi acquaintances that tell me what the deal with sheep is out there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PiggDogg Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 If the Kiwi monstrosity is not the most ugly vehicle of WWII, it is near the top of a quite short list. Cheers, Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUSSIEJEFF Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 <blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by busboy: My God! The horror... The horror... Your Kiwi monstorcity wins hands down! <hr></blockquote> In fact the front on shot somehow conjures an image of a Doctor Who UberDalek!!!! :eek: hehe.. The horror indeed!! If I saw one of those thingy's groaning and clanking it's way towards moi waving 8 pairs of assorted arms, metinks I would be routed ASAP!!!! AJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMplayer Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 Why hasn't anyone mentioned the truly ugly German King Tiger? Shermans look pretty racy compared to that overgrown boxy lump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirill S. Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 have you looked at challengers's turret? it's like a box, king tiger is beautiful compared to challenger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Determinant Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 <blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by AussieJeff: In fact the front on shot somehow conjures an image of a Doctor Who UberDalek!!!! :eek: hehe.. AJ<hr></blockquote> The provenance of this vehicle is obvious: the A team built it. The base chassis is Mr T's van onto which they've welded some corrugated iron while holed up in a barn. Total build time about 15 minutes I'd say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busboy Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 British tanks are ugly and ineffective if you ask me, but not "the ugliest." How can you not like the Tiger II? Granted it doesn't look like a showroom floor model, but it looks deadly (even if it looks like its about to break down) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonC Posted December 24, 2001 Share Posted December 24, 2001 47mm Semovente L40, the Eye-Tie SP gun. What a bucket of bolts... http://www.battletanks.com/images/Semovente_L-40-1.jpg Ok, agreed the Kiwi monster is far worse. But men had to actually fight in these things, not just laugh at them. [ 12-24-2001: Message edited by: JasonC ]</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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