A Wimmera Tiger war tank was the star attraction at the Otago Model Engineering Society’s annual exhibition, albeit a slightly smaller model than the one in action in World War 2.
Melbourne man Gerard Dean, who shipped the one-fifth scale model from his home in Australia, continued to do never-ending maintenance work on it during the exhibition at the society’s clubrooms.
"[The tanks] were very unreliable out in action.
"So I thought I’d make mine unreliable as well."
The tank was fitted with a 150cc V12 petrol engine, — slightly smaller than the 21-litre Maybach motor that would have been used in the full-sized version — an 8-speed gearbox and operated via a home-made 16-channel remote control.
Mr Dean had made everything himself, motor included, from scratch.
The real-life Tiger 141 tank was part of the Arbteilung 504 Heavy Panzer Division in World War 2 that was first in action on the Eastern Front in 1943.
Mr Dean said he started building his tank in 2003 as a way to combine his electrical skills and passion for model building.
It was six years before the tank finally rolled down his driveway in 2009, fully operational for the first time.
Next came a world tour where he took the tank through the United States, to England and to Germany where he showed it at a military museum as well as an army base.
It was his first time in Dunedin and he was extremely impressed — as well as a bit jealous — of the Otago Model Engineering Society’s clubrooms in St Kilda, he said.
"The Melbourne Society, we’re 100 years old and all we’ve got is a hall.
"We haven’t got a track, or a pond, or displays ... we haven’t got anything — these guys even have carpeted floors, it’s pretty humbling."
Event organiser Gary Douglas said the club was turning 90 in a few months’ time and the weekend’s exhibition had been as well attended as ever.
Mr Dean was not the only exhibitor to have travelled a great distance — one person brought a model over from the Chatham Islands and another from Brisbane.
The club had 80 members and was always happy to have new, budding model engineers come along if they were interested in mastering the craft, Mr Douglas said.
