T is for Two - Two Tanks

An all-contribution post now with two AFV's from Adrian and Brian, we'll start with the newer, as it's so whacky it almost got its own post, but I remembered the other one was sat in the big folder from last September, so it became a 'T is for Two...' trope post instead!

Now, I'm not stretching the hyperbole to state WTF? here, am I? What The-very-actual Flipp'in Ada is going on here!??

I think it's a junior-school-gymnasium-type-piece-of-padded-play-equipment-type-thing? Anyway; whatever it is, it's hanging from a building in downtown Philadelphia! Uptown? Pennsylvania? Brian will correct me!

Now, I was taken by the fact that once you get over a large padded, vinyl tank - which looks like it should be in The Beatle's Yellow Submarine - hanging from the side of a building, you realise you are in a street of timeless quaintness. The sort of mews or side street you might find in London, Birmingham (that's Birbig'um, Ingerland; not Burmin'um, Alerbammy) or even Amsterdam? . . . or, maybe, even Birmingham, Alabama?

And while - if it were a mews in London - you'd expect it to be grade-II listed, the fact that the shackles are in the woodwork of the windows rather than the masonry, suggests a similar protection order? Altogether a fascinating and amusing couple of pictures - Thanks to Mr Berke for spotting it, and sending them to the Blog. Apart from the brightly coloured tank, it looks like a film set!

Brian suggested it no longer fit the 'small scale world', but it's small enough!

I shot this on Adrian's Mercator Trading stand at the September Sandown Park show, you often see these about at shows, but usually in a plain paint scheme, this one was leery enough to be worth shooting.

I'm guessing French, although I think Johillco had a couple of few in their inter-war catalogues and lots of other people had a go; in real life it was the first major volume-production Tank, sold whole, as kits, hulls & running-gear only or simply licensed to armies all over the world for many years, and there's a whole toy collection to be had just in model Renault F17's and the many variants/derivatives!

Again I'm only guessing, but are the tracks replacements from Meccano? Usually when you see these (in green, more commonly grey, or a three-colour 'blob' camouflage) they are either trackless or tentatively holding-on to blobs of semi-melted, semi-cracked India-rubber or leather of some kind, but these look a tad too well preserved? Still it's a good way of replacing the missing originals and that form of Meccano track is probably contemporary with the model.