Shipbucket

Cute mini-Abrams. I like it.

Project NEDS/20.138

The Project NEDS/20.138 is a light tank project designed to complement MBT's in expeditionary missions or inaccessible terrain. It is an attempt to place a high-performance tank gun on a relatively well-protected platform, the weight of which oscillates around 20 tons. Light weight allows for quick relocation, technological advancement gives an advantage on the battlefield. The high complexity of the design results in costly operation and difficult maintenance.



Specifications

Armament:
95mm L51.5 [490cm] Rifled Tank Gun
7.95mm Machine Gun

Ammunition:
25 rounds
APFSDS - 405mm RHA penetration
APDS - 355mm RHA penetration
HE - 25mm RHA penetration

Armor:
Front: 100mm
Sides: 50-35mm
Rear: 35mm
Top and Floor: 15mm
Weight: 23.200 kg combat weight

Dimensions:
Overall Length: 760cm
Hull Length: 590cm
Width: 256cm
Overall Height: 220cm
Hull Height: 155cm
Ground Clearance: 35cm

Engine: 10D2T.684 25L V10 Turbocharged
Power: 620HP
Power/Mass: 37.42HP/T
APU: 1.5L 95HP Wankel Engine
Fuel tanks: 575L
Range: 350-395km

Opticals:
Gunner Telescopic Sight
Main Sight With Passive Noctovision Camera
Commander's Periscope Optical Instrument
Comander's Periscopes

Crew: 3: Commander, Gunner, Driver

Vanity project by the airborne of Vespusea and Italy, Argentinean Airborne find it superfluous but Mountain Troops like it. Designed to fit one underslung cargo helicopter, two to a tactical airlifter, four to a strategic flying boat. Mounts a 60mm rifled gun and a twin launcher for heavy ATGMs, and the front of the turret can resist 100mm first generation APFSDS, while the front of the hull can resist 30mm APDS. Uses aluminium for the hull and composites for the wheels and hatches. The engine is a 550 hp Mack GT601 which gives it 32hp/t at its all up weight of 17 tonnes. Prototype built by OTO toured Italy by plane and was raced at Monza before the Grand Prix, it drifted on a high speed corner, then recovered, to which General Rivarelli exclaimed “Ma si corre come un granchio!”

_________________
w o r k l i s t :
Hatsuyuki-class Escort Ships . . . <3

Panzerkampfwagen Lowe

The Lowe was designed during the late 70s by Tyssen Henschel as a light tank to compliment the Leopards and give support to Panzergrenadier units, tho it was mostly used as a tank destroyer. It was armed with a 105mm gun, mounted on a TH-301 based turret, it shares parts with both Marder and Leo families making it cheap and easy to operate for European forces based on german vehicles.

The tank was exported to: Austria, Brazil, Belgium, Chile, Denmark, Netherlands and China (ROC). It saw combat in the Antofagasta desert against peruvian T-55s and brand new T-72s and during the Fall of Hainan, where it was deployed to counter PRCs amphibious forces.

This unit is a PzKpf Lowe (Later renamed Lowe 1A1) in danish service, as part of the 2nd Jydske Dragonregiment

_________________

Brief History

During the 1980s, the Tagrainian military was struggling to upkeep a fleet of aging MBTs in their border control district of the border between east and west in Engentos. As well as this, any reserve forces would have to be called up from the otherside of the continent and flown, or shipped by train in order to support the Tagrainian military in case of attack.

This posed a huge logistical issue to the armed forces as it was likely in the event of war that all airfields and rail lines would be targeted by Marnin and other eastern forces. It was thus that the military created 2 separate programs aimed at solving this issue. The first program was aimed at replacing Tagrainy’s aging fleet of Oftavian and Savkowani built MBTs, the second, was to create an armored vehicle capable of being airlifted by smaller transports, and drive if needed to the front.

The outlines were created immediately that the vehicle had to be wheels, and to this, Tagrainian manufacturer Volta Industriale was given the contract to do so. Volta had previous experience designing the military's APCs, as well as several utility vehicles such as buses and trucks.

By 1988 the first prototype was ready for trials, and after nearly 3 years of refinement, in late 1990, the vehicle was ready for adoption. Its primary role in the army would be that of supporting mechanized cavalry in IFVs, and would even have its own IFV derived off the chassis of the Corazziere.

The vehicle saw an extensive career in the Tagrainian military and continues to serve with modernization into the 2020s as the backbone of the Tagrainian Cavalry Corps.

_________________
Semper Fi

Polls Now Open
The submission period for the Cold War Light Tank Challenge has ended.
You can rate each entry here.
Options for the next challenge can be ranked here.
Both challenges will remain open until June 1st and end at 23:59 (UTC-12). Countdown Timer

Options for Next Challenge
Research Vessel Challenge
1. Your submission must depict a fictional research vessel.
2. The vessel must be a watercraft which carries out research at sea.

RTS Naval Unit Challenge
1. A game developer has asked you to create an original naval unit for their upcoming real-time strategy (RTS) game. Your submission must depict this unit in Shipbucket form.
2. The game is a love letter to RTS games from the late 1990s and 2000s. Your unit should capture the overall style of RTS games from this period (e.g. Command & Conquer, Total Annihilation, Supreme Commander). However, thanks to modern processing power, you may include more detail than was possible back then.

First Aircraft Carrier Challenge
1. Your submission must depict a fictional aircraft carrier.
2. The aircraft carrier should be the first aircraft carrier built or operated by its respective country.
3. It must be commissioned as an aircraft carrier before 1930.
4. Aircraft carriers converted from existing ships are permitted.

19th Century Torpedo Boat Challenge
1. Your submission must depict a fictional 19th century torpedo boat.
2. The boat may be armed with spar or self-propelled torpedoes.

First Submarine Challenge
1. Your submission must depict a fictional submarine.
2. The submarine should be the first submarine built or operated by its respective country.
3. It must be completed before 1900.

Next Challenge Poll Voting System
When voting for the next challenge, you are no longer forced to choose a single option. You can rank as many or as few options as you like, and assign the same rank to different options. In the simplified example below, the respondent favours the Blue Challenge and can't decide if the Red Challenge or Purple Challenge is their second choice. They don't particularly like the Yellow Challenge or the Green Challenge (empty fields are treated as least preferred). Please use whole numbers. The winning option will be selected using the Ranked Pairs or Tideman method.

Unfortunately I did not find enough free time in the month to finish my own entry, but do know I did intend to enter. My project was a sort of wheeled M8 AGS acting in the role of an American AMX-10RC. Oh well. Next time. However, having at this point won several challenges, I feel like I'm at the point as an artist where I can provide notes on the challenge entries.

dalamace - RED-ARC
Beautiful work as always. Excellent shading, detailing, and colouring. The use of that particular urban camouflage (which I know as "the one from the picture of the skateboarding marine") was a great choice. The smoke grenade launchers strike me as a little tacked on, perhaps as the artist's afterthought, and the flag could perhaps have used a little more attention. On a personal note though I like your method of depicting camouflage netting and find it adds to the drawing on the barrel and front of the hull, I find the roof camo net to be aesthetically displeasing and perhaps a little tacked on as well.

Jxyzer - SM-1 Barako
I scored you positively as I find the tank's silhouette interesting, but found more to be lacking as I examined in detail. I cannot find explanation for several of the lines and shapes blocked out on both the hull and the turret, and the commander's cupola especially feels like it could use with more definition and more thought put into it- perhaps with the aid of more real life references? My criticism of odd shapes extends to the smokes, mantlet, and suspension, all of which I find hard to interpret. The wheels themselves are pleasing, particularly the sharp front sprocket. The camouflage seems very obviously applied in a digital editor- lots of obvious circle brush use and it doesn't appear to follow the angle of the turret properly. I can tell what you are going for and like it, I just think you could maybe do with a bit more practice time. Also, good work on your research of real parts, which I understand some people have been struggling with on contest entries set in the real world.

Hood - FV4301 Champion
Beautiful all around as always. I have few notes, as I find this extremely believable as something that would exist in real life, and as such have a hard time criticizing it as a drawing. The stowage seems a bit 'funky' to my eye but it seems intentional, so I'm crediting that to me not really understanding what's going on and not any sort of mistake on your part. I can picture photographs of this and that's a sign of a great work. Scored you highly, but exact numbers would be telling!

Wolftheriot - CLR-80
Similar to Jxzyer, I can tell what you were going for, and I like elements of it. Your work on shapes and shading is excellent, and unlike some Soldierbucket drawings featuring soldiers your inclusion of the commander (?) does not take me out of the drawing as much as others. However as a whole, I find the shape of this vehicle displeasing on a personal level and questionable on an objective one. It feels oddly proportioned, with an oversized turret and very tight wheel wells, neither of which would lend themselves well to maneuverability. This is totally my personal, subjective opinion, but I think your desire to enter an armoured car trumped the challenge's requirements for a light tank. I love armoured cars as much as the next guy, but the combination of (as perceived by me) rejection of the spirit of the challenge and oddly proportioned vehicle lead to me scoring you lower. Nothing wrong with your technical skill, simply a matter of our personal tastes in aesthetics and opinions on what makes a light tank clashing.

Mauser - Σ1Ξ09 Moloch
From a silhouette and shape blocking perspective, my favourite entry. This is a very interesting vehicle to the eye, and I'm just a sucker for BMDs and BMD looking beasties. Where I lowered my score was in detail, which feels sparse in places. The camouflage is also visually satisfying but does not compensate for what I perceive as a hull that's more barren than it needs to be and some pretty uninspired looking tracks. Like I mentioned for Wolftheriot's entry, the inclusion of actual human soldiers can be hit or miss in drawings of vehicles in this scale, and in yours they're very prominent and take me out of the drawing a little. Such is the struggle of depicting a realistic looking side profile, I suppose. You're still better at them than I am! Looking forward to the next time you enter a contest.

Kiwi - Dongmu-ho
This is the cutest entry. I want a little plastic version to roll around my desk. Shapes are fun, colour is good, design is believable. I question the shading on the fuel drum strapped to the tank's ass, which feels a little dark, and find the lack of detail on the side of the hull between the tracks and the stowage to be lacking. However, I totally understand that realistically, yea, there's probably not gonna be anything there. It's not like you're gonna stuff in stowage down there or something. Nice touch on the asymmetric road wheel placement to accommodate the suspension system.

El_snow - AL-5 Skirmisher
Overall a pleasing silhouette with interesting lines and angles, but though the colours are pleasing and accurate to Australia I find the camouflage scheme a spot excessive. Simply a matter of personal taste though, as from a technical standpoint it's well executed. I don't understand the weird brown hatching on the skirts, nor the black marks on the wheels. If they're meant to be holes, I think you could have exaggerated their size in order to portray them as actual holes instead of using those double black (?) lines. Not much to say about this otherwise. Browning looks a little funny but I can't figure out what's giving me that impression so I'm going to choose not to spend more time trying to find a criticism.

Rowdy36 - Bardick AS1
I'm sorry El_snow, but between our two great Australia entries, this is my favourite. Silhouette and lines are both aesthetically pleasing and believable, and the camouflage scheme though simple is pretty. I don't have much to say on this other than "I like it," though I question the jerry can strapped to the turret by a black rectangle that feels a little tacked on. I also believe the fuel drum on the ass could have been given a detailing pass. Really good work on the skirt cloth!

_Zustt_ - Project NEDS/20.138
Tied with dalamace for most interesting design choices, and points for looking like nothing else in the challenge. Everything about this tank feels believable as one of those quirky Cold War prototypes. Though the lines are all reasonable and nothing about this drawing looks out of place or tacked on, I do feel like it's a little flat and simple. Some stowage on the flat plates or little features to break up flat lines and monocolour blocks could go a long way, but there's something to be said also for not tacking on excessive detail where there doesn't need to be any. Too often we add bolts and hinges and whatever little greebles to make up for "boring" spots on our vehicles. I find myself torn between whether this vehicle needs those greebles or not. Fun entry either way.

Charguizard - Granchio
The Champ returns to defend his title. This is, by far, my personal winner for the challenge. Every line feels purposeful, all the shapes feel wonderfully 3D and realized, and the colour work is striking. Awesome touches on all the little details without becoming a greeble gargoyle like some of us tend to. I especially love the wire cutters (?) and FPE. I'd have to say my favourite touch is how varied the camouflage pattern is on the wheels- your use of angles to suggest rotation from their default position suggests this is a vehicle that has been in motion, a real physical object. Brilliant work all around. Not much to say beyond that, too much flattery is unbecoming.

MattewEx - Panzerkampfwagen Lowe
Similar to Hood's Champion, I can really feel the "real life vehicle" aura coming off of this. It looks like it works, which is probably the best we can hope for when we make up fictional vehicles like this that only exist on paper. The colour, though I believe you've sampled it from the real life Danish paint scheme, is a spot bland. That combined with some relatively simple wheels (though I like the suspension) and a sort of flat hull give me the sense you wanted more time to work on this before entering. Correct me if I'm wrong. All the moving bits- tracks, wheels, etc. feel like they could use another pass and maybe some more reference to real life parts. Good work overall though.

MrJetMan - C1A Corazziere
Corazziere, though I have not Google Translated it to figure out what it means, is a fun name. This is a fun vehicle, similar to the Centauro as it is, and I appreciate a good wheeled tank. I do feel like this leans more towards armoured car or mobile tank destroyer than light tank, but it's close enough to count. Good work on the stowage and greebly details, though I can't help but wonder if those attachment points (assuming that's what the little nipples dotting the hull are) could have been done in black outlines to show they're three dimensional shapes? Might be a matter of my personal taste. I think the shading on the bulges along the hull, specifically the one that has 542 written on it, could be a little harsher to help sell this as a 3D shape. Your choice to continue the camouflage pattern over the smoke grenades betrays use of a digital brush instead of selling the camouflage as being painted on in-universe, but the colours chosen for it are pleasing. The wheels feel a little flat- some more shading to sell their weight might have helped. I don't like the font chosen for the text on the barrel. I know it's a struggle to sell a digital font as being physically painted on in this scale, but I think choosing a different style could have worked better. As mentioned previously the inclusion of crew often takes me out of a drawing and this commander's lumpy arm and action figure hand feel like they could've been cleaned up a little. Overall a great entry, don't take my very critical eye too harshly.

I believe all our entrants this time are Discord users, so if you find my criticism unfair or just want to talk about this challenge, you know where to find me there. Overall another great challenge, shame I didn't find the time to finish my entry.

edit - I just realized while looking at the entries one more time that corazziere means cuirassier.

Challenge Results
The community poll for the Cold War Light Tank Challenge is now closed. Thanks to the 23 people who responded as well as all those who participated in the challenge itself. I am very pleased with the eleven entries other than my own. They all capture the spirit of the challenge in one way or another and represent a broad variety of ideas and contexts. Furthermore, all entries were completed to a high artistic standard. In first place with a total of 404 points is the OTO-Mack Carro A.90 "Granchio" submitted by Charguizard, which also achieved the highest score in the Drawing Quality category. The submission is packed with detail and makes interesting use of soft edges in certain areas, and has a unique camouflage scheme. Congratulations to our winner! Following not far behind with 393 points is Hood, who created the F4301 Champion Mk 1. While the Champion lacks the vibrant and varied colour of the Granchio, it captures a distinctive design aesthetic well and demonstrates what you can achieve with a single main colour. The thermal sleeve on the barrel is also wonderfully executed. Hood also achieved the highest score in the Design Quality category. Good job! Third place is a little complicated this time around as we have a tie. Dalamace and MrJetMan both received 385 points for their entries, the RED-ARC "Contentious" and the C1A Corazziere. I really liked the urban camouflage scheme and netting of Dalamace's entry and thought it was wonderful to see MrJetMan's wheeled design among the winners. Both were well drawn.




Next Challenge
For those interested, the First Aircraft Carrier Challenge is now open.
The other options by order of popularity: Research Vessel Challenge, First Submarine Challenge, 19th Century Torpedo Boat Challenge, RTS Naval Unit Challenge.

Thank you to everyone who participated and thank you once more Kiwi for being an excellent host. It is very gratifying to promote this scale again. I had some notes ready but hadn't posted them before because I feared they'd influence the vote, so here they are.

dalamace’s RED-ARC: Very attractive, shapely, looks the part. Feels modern in a '90s kind of way but it fits the late '80s. The complex turret geometry gives it a lot of character. Wonder how hard it is for the driver to get out through his hatch. The imperfectly applied camo is a great touch. My biggest design concern is that it says the crew sits below the turret ring so the turret can be armoured only against 30mm fire, but the blocky turret suggests extensive armour arrays and the cupolas mean the crew’s stations are well within the turret.

Jxyzer’s SM-1 Barako LST: First time in a challenge if I’m not mistaken. The camouflage has a good colour selection, the application reveals too much of a round brush but works if you don’t look too closely. The drawing’s definition is a bit hit or miss, the big weld line on the turret cheek is jarring and there’s nothing defining how the gunner’s sight is placed. The commander has no way of looking forward while buttoned up with that splash shield there and the vision blocks being so low. The machinegun is too low to allow the commander decent elevation. The design works conceptually but as drawn seems a bit bland. Brave effort that has lots of areas in which to improve.

Hood’s FV4301 Champion: Absolutely loved this the moment I saw it. Really tempted to just steal it for my own purposes. Conceptually I have an issue with it not having a dedicated loader, considering its not really that small of a tank. I understand Charioteer did this IRL, but still I wonder if an autoloader of some kind couldn’t have been adopted, a carousel perhaps. Visually, I can only lament that its not adorned with a BAOR or Berlin Brigade camo and some markings, though british tanks were notorious for being a bit bare and drab.

Wolftheriot’s CLR-80: It looks weird but I can’t find a serious flaw with it! Some things like the wheel hub shading could be more delicate, and the markings could use less saturated colours, but overall its pretty damn good.

Mauser’s Moloch: A safe and logical design, fits the challenge perfectly. The drawing is good and the camouflage interesting though its missing a bit of a spark to it. Maybe adding stowage would help with it. I graded it well.

Kiwi Imperialist’s Dongmu-ho: Chibi Type 59 worthy of a Hasegawa Egg kit. Works fine as a concept, it being spun as an assault gun is believable but I wouldn’t have needed that much to find this realistic when its close to Type 62 anyways. The centerpiece of the drawing is the big bobble turret, whose purposeful highlighting shows its shape well. The tank has enough details and stowage to not look busy, but I wonder if it would’ve looked even better if it was busier. Solid entry with good marks.

El_snow’s AL-5 Skirmisher: Love this little goober, looks like what a light tank should look. The stowage and camo are very good. I wonder if the holes on the wheels should be black or let light through. Would like to see some stats on this just for peace of mind.

Rowdy36’s Bardick AS1: Very handsome thing, this one, mini Chalbrams got the best of both parents. Once more the markings have fully saturated colours and could be a bit greyer. The sand skirts are too gradienty and look jpeg’d. The vision blocks could use a black outline though I understand there’s very little space to allow for this (if only we had moved on to spergscale instead!). One thing that bothers me is that even applying every weight saving method known to humankind I don’t think this boy could go below 35 tonnes at combat load. Likewise those massive turret cheeks don’t look like they’re just to stop 30mm APFSDS, they look like they’ll stop a 3BM-25 dead on its track, nevermind any kind of PG-7 round. I only discounted one point from the design criterion though because it just looks so well put together!

_Zustt_’s NEDS/20.138: An interesting and quirky design that gains points for this, but looks like it lack a bit of gun depression? Should behave like a dune buggy with so much power. The markings are conservative but effective, but camo would’ve livened it up a lot. Still, good effort.

Charguizard’s A.89 Granchio: I forgor to make the roadwheels on the other side visible Wish I could show the sketches and notes too because I put a lot of effort into those, which justify the tank’s final appearance. Originally I was going to draw it rigged for a parachute drop, strapped on a pallet, but I got distracted by other projects and ran out of time. Edit with stat block soon maybe.

MattewEx’s Lowe: A conservative design, but in that lies the safety of knowing it’d work. Would like to see some stats, neither Marder nor Leopard 1 basis are exactly within the margins of the challenge weight limit, but this tank could be, who knows. Still, well drawn, with attractive angles, maybe a bit muted, the sprocket is very basic. The stowage and tools are pretty good. A nice basic camouflage scheme and a cupola machinegun would turn this into a looker.

MrJetMan’s C1A Corazziere: Very eye catching, well drawn, with considerable stowage and details and a nice basic camouflage, only the vision block colour lets it down. Designwise its a known concept and its got all the equipment to make it work, so I checked it as very believable. Solid entry.

_________________
w o r k l i s t :
Hatsuyuki-class Escort Ships . . . <3

My entry was the first Soldierbucket scale drawing of a vehicle that I have drawn, so I won't go into too much detail but here is my feedback on the entries.

dalamce - RED-ARC: I loved the 1990s feel of this design. Some great detailing and the camo net came out well I think. My biggest concern was that the description said that all the crew are in the hull but there are cupola's on the turret for the gunner and commander which is very odd. Also the co-axial gun seems quite far back and would clash with the position for the gunner if they were sat in the turret under the cupola shown.

Jxyzer - SM-1 Barako LST: an interesting design, it looked 1960s era and certainly is a basic design as would befit a first domestic tank design. The hull depth looks a little too deep to me. A little more track sag would have been good - there seems to be an odd straight section ahead of the rear sprocket before the track sags. There are some stray pixels too near the track.

Hood - FV4301 Champion Mark 1: my first SoBu scale vehicle. I think it turned out well and how I wanted it to look. The colour scheme is a little drab, maybe a Berlin Brigade colour scheme might have jazzed it up a bit.

Wolftheriot - CLR-80(Char Léger à Roues): overall an interesting design. It looks very tall but then wheeled light tanks are often higher than tracked vehicles. The oscillating turret looks good. The camo scheme looks good. I didn't really get the rational for showing the suspension at maximum compression which looks odd.

Mauser - Σ1Ξ09 Moloch: picking up strong BMP-3/BMD series vibes. Overall a nice design, not sure the angled hull sections add much to the protection but they look 'cool' I guess. The tracks are very under-detailed sadly so lost points there.

Kiwi Imperialist - Dongmu-ho: very Eastern-bloc style, it has grown on me even though the turret does look quite large. Overall it looks like something North Korea would build. Still unconvinced about the turret shading but I can sense what the intent was.

El-snow - AL-5 Skirmisher: a mini-Abrams. For me there are some odd parts - the 76mm gun looks larger than that to me, certainly a long barrel for a 76mm gun. The front turret plates have an odd angle, especially at the bottom. The strange holes in the roadwheels would cause structural/strength issues I think. Overall an interesting design though and well detailed.

Rowdy36 - Bardick AS1: a hefty-looking but good-looking tank. Can't see much wrong with the basic design. The dust skirts look good (added bonus of easing Rowdy's hassles of drawing wheels too!).

_Zustt_ - Project NEDS/20.138: a high-tech entry (at one point I thought we might see more of these turretless designs). The angle of the track behind the forward sprocket looks a little odd to me, perhaps the wheel should be further back is its very close to the sprocket. The hull looks ok, the stepped rear hull seems a little odd perhaps but it's clear that this design is no-frills to save weight. Overall an interesting concept.

Charguizard - Granchio: a pretty nifty little design, reminded me of a super-Scorpion. The 60mm gun seems to have a long barrel, it would have been cool to have seen the ATGW on the drawing though. The camo scheme is intresting and lively to look at, even the wheels have funky splinter patterns.

MattewEx - Panzerkampfwagen Lowe: an interesting design, looks pretty good as a tank design. Too many black lines used in the drawing for my taste, some of them could have been dark shade lines. The Danish colour scheme is drab but then real schemes often are! For me this design looked too much like a Leopard 1 clone for my tastes and therefore I had some doubt if it would fit within the 25t limit.

MrJetMan - Corazziere: a very slick looking design and well camo'ed and nicely detailed too. An impressive drawing.


The only thing as an overall comment is everyone seems to be using a slightly different template and style. Maybe this need looking at so everyone has access to the latest 'official' SoBu template.

_________________
Hood's Worklist
English Electric Canberra FD
Interwar RN Capital Ships
Super-Darings
Never-Were British Aircraft