A few good multi axis machining images I located:
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: principal hall panorama
Image by Chris Devers
See a lot more photos of this, and the Wikipedia report.
Specifics, quoting from Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy | _specifics_pending_:
British Infantry Tank of the Second Globe War Mark II (Matilda II). Британский танк “Матильда”
Image by Peer.Gynt
ТАНКОВЫЙ МУЗЕЙ В КУБИНКЕ
KUBINKA TANK MUSEUM. Moscow
The Infantry Tank Mark II known as the Matilda II (often referred to as Matilda senior or simply an ‘I’ tank) was a British infantry tank of the Second Globe War. It was also identified from its General Staff Specification A12.
It served from the start of the war to its finish and became particularly connected with the North Africa Campaign. It was replaced in service by the Infantry Tank Mk III Valentine.
When the earlier Infantry Tank Mark I which was also identified as "Matilda" was removed from service the Infantry Tank Mk II basically became recognized as the Matilda.
Improvement history
The very first suggestion for a bigger Infantry Tank was created in 1936, with specification A12 and contractor decided around the finish of the year.
The Infantry Tank Mk II was designed at the Royal Arsenal, to Basic Staff specification A.12 and constructed by the Vulcan Foundry. The style was primarily based on the A7 (which had began improvement in 1929) rather than on the Infantry Tank Mk I, which was a two-man tank with a single machine gun for armament.
When war was recognised as imminent, production of the Matilda II was ordered and that of the Matilda I curtailed. The first order was placed shortly right after trials had been completed with 140 order from Vulcan Foundry in mid 1938.
Style
The Matilda Senior weighed around 27 tons (27 tonnes or 60,000 lb) far more than twice as considerably as its predecessor, and was armed with a QF two pounder (40 mm) tank gun in a 3-man turret. The turret traversed by hydraulic motor or by hand by means of 360 degrees the gun itself could be elevated through an arc from -15[nb two] to +20 degrees. A single of the most serious weaknesses of the Matilda II was the lack of a higher-explosive round for its principal gun. A higher-explosive shell was made for the 2 pounder but for reasons in no way explained it was by no means placed in production. With its heavy armour the Matilda II was an outstanding infantry help tank, but had to rely on its machine gun when operating with infantry units.
Like many other British infantry tanks, it was heavily armoured from 20 mm at the thinnest it was 78 mm (three.1-inch) at the front, much much more than most contemporaries. The turret armour was 75 millimetres (3. in) all round, the hull side armour was 65 to 70 millimetres (two.six to two.8 in), and the rear armour, covering the engine, was 55 millimetres (2.2 in). The frontal armour was 75 millimetres (3. in), although the nose plates top and bottom were thinner but angled. The turret roof was the identical thickness as the hull roof and engine deck: 20 millimetres (.79 in). The German Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks, of the very same period, had 30 to 50 millimetres (1.two to two. in) thick hull armour. The shape of the nose armour was based on the US Christie design, and came to a narrow point with storage lockers added on either side. The heavy armour of the Matilda’s cast turret became legendary for a time in 1940–41 the Matilda earned the nickname "Queen of the Desert". The sheer thickness of its armour made the tank impervious to the 37 mm and 50 mm calibre anti-tank guns that were then frequently employed by the Germans, as well as the 47 mm employed by the Italians in North Africa only the 75 mm PAK 40 anti-tank gun and 88 mm anti-aircraft gun could penetrate its armour reliably.
Although the Matilda possessed a degree of protection that was then unmatched in the North African theatre, the sheer weight of the armour mounted on the car contributed to a really low average speed of about six mph (9.7 km/h) on desert terrain. At the time, this was not believed to be a difficulty since British infantry tank doctrine prioritized heavy armour and trench-crossing ability more than speed and cross-country mobility (which was regarded to be characteristic of cruiser tanks such as the Crusader). This was further exacerbated by a troublesome suspension and a comparatively weak energy unit, the latter of which was really created employing two bus engines linked to a single shaft. This arrangement was both complex and time-consuming to preserve, as it essential technician crews had to perform on each and every engine separately and subjected automotive components to uneven wear-and-tear. It did nonetheless, supply some mechanical redundancy, considering that failure in one engine would not avoid the Matilda from travelling beneath its own power making use of the other.
The tank was carried by five double wheel bogies on every single side. 4 of the bogies had been paired on a frequent coil spring. The fifth, rearmost, bogie was sprung against a hull bracket. Between the initial bogie and the idler wheel was a "jockey wheel". The initial Matildas had return rollers these had been replaced in later models by track skids, which were far easier to manufacture.
The turret carried the main armament with the machine gun to the right in a rotating internal mantlet. Two smoke grenade launchers were carried on the proper side of the turret. The grenade launcher mechanisms have been cut down Lee-Enfield rifles, every single firing a single smoke grenade.
Production history
The first Matilda was produced in 1937 but only two had been in service when war broke out in September 1939. Following the initial order from Vulcan Foundry, a second order was placed shortly following with Ruston & Hornsby.[21] Some two,987 tanks had been produced by the Vulcan Foundry, John Fowler & Co. of Leeds, Ruston & Hornsby, and later by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway at Horwich Performs Harland and Wolff, and the North British Locomotive Company Glasgow. The last were delivered in August 1943. Peak production was 1,330 in 1942, the most typical model getting the Mark IV.[22]
The Matilda was hard to manufacture. For instance, the pointed nose was a single casting that, upon initial release from the mould, was thicker than required in some locations. To stay away from a needless addition to the tank’s weight, the thick regions had been ground away. This approach needed highly skilled workers and further time. The complex suspension and multi-piece hull side coverings also added time to manufacturing.
French Campaign of 1940
The Matilda was first utilised in combat by the 7th Royal Tank Regiment in France in 1940. Only 23 of the unit’s tanks have been Matilda IIs the rest of the British Infantry Tanks in France have been A11 Matildas. Its two-pounder gun was comparable to other tank guns in the 37 to 45 mm range. Due to the thickness of its armour, it was largely immune to the guns of the German tanks and anti-tank guns in France. The famous 88 mm anti-aircraft guns were pressed into service as the only effective counter. In the counter-attack at Arras, even though British Matilda IIs (and Matilda Is) had been able briefly to disrupt German progress, becoming unsupported their losses were higher. All cars surviving the battles about Dunkirk have been abandoned when the BEF evacuated.
North Africa 1940 to 1942
Up to early 1942, in the war in North Africa, the Matilda proved highly powerful against Italian and German tanks, although vulnerable to the bigger calibre and medium calibre anti-tank guns.
In late 1940, during Operation Compass, Matildas of the British 7th Armoured Division wreaked havoc among the Italian forces in Egypt. The Italians were equipped with L3 tankettes and M11/39 medium tanks, neither of which had any chance against the Matildas. Italian gunners were to learn that the Matildas were impervious to a wide assortment of artillery. Matildas continued to confound the Italians as the British pushed them out of Egypt and entered Libya to take Bardia and Tobruk. Even as late as November 1941, German infantry combat reports show the impotence of ill-equipped infantry against the Matilda.[25]
Eventually, in the rapid manoeuvre warfare typically practised in the open desert of North Africa, the Matilda’s low speed and unreliable steering mechanism became main difficulties. An additional issue was the lack of a high-explosive shell (the suitable shell existed but was not issued). When the German Afrika Korps arrived in North Africa, the 88 mm anti-aircraft gun was once again pressed into service against the Matilda, causing heavy losses for the duration of Operation Battleaxe, when sixty-4 Matildas had been lost. The arrival of the far more powerful 50mm Pak 38 anti-tank gun also supplied a means for the German infantry to engage Matilda tanks at combat ranges. Nevertheless, during Operation Crusader Matilda tanks of 1st and 32nd Army Tank Brigades were instrumental in the breakout from Tobruk and the capture of the Axis fortress of Bardia .[26] The operation was decided by the infantry tanks right after the failure of the cruiser tank equipped 7th Armoured Division to overcome the Axis tank forces in the open desert.
As the German army received new tanks with much more effective guns, as nicely as far more strong anti-tank guns and ammunition, the Matilda proved much less and less efficient. Firing tests conducted by the Afrikakorps showed that the Matilda had become vulnerable to a quantity of German weapons at ordinary combat ranges .[28] Due to the "painfully small" size of its turret ring – 54 inches (1.37 m) – the tank could not be up-gunned sufficiently to continue to be efficient against much more heavily armoured enemy tanks. It was also somewhat expensive to create. Vickers proposed an option the Valentine tank, which had the identical gun and a related level of armour protection but on a more quickly and more affordable chassis derived from that of their "heavy cruiser" tank. With the arrival of the Valentine in autumn 1941, the Matilda was phased out by the British Army via attrition, with lost cars no longer replaced. By the time of the battle of El Alamein (October 1942), few Matildas had been in service, with many obtaining been lost in the course of Operation Crusader and then the Gazala battles in early summer season of 1942. About twenty-5 took portion in the battle as mine-clearing, Matilda Scorpion mine flail tanks.
Minor campaigns
In early 1941, a small quantity of Matildas have been used throughout the East Africa Campaign at the Battle of Keren. However, the mountainous terrain of East Africa did not allow the tanks of B Squadron 4th Royal Tank Regiment to be as effective as the tanks of the 7th Royal Tank Regiment had been in Egypt and Libya.
A few Matildas of the 7th RTR had been present on Crete during the German invasion, and all of them were lost
Pacific Theatre
In the Pacific Japanese forces had been lacking in heavy anti-tank guns and the Matilda remained in service with a number of Australian regiments in the Australian 4th Armoured Brigade, in the South West Pacific Region. They first saw active service in the Huon Peninsula campaign in October 1943. Matilda II tanks remained in action until the last day of the war in the Wewak, Bougainville and Borneo campaigns, which made the Matilda the only British tank to remain in service throughout the war
Foreign use
The Red Army received 1,084 Matildas.[3] The Soviet Matildas saw action as early as the Battle of Moscow and became pretty typical throughout 1942. Unsurprisingly, the tank was located to be also slow and unreliable. Crews usually complained that snow and dirt were accumulating behind the "skirt" panels, clogging the suspension. The slowness and heavy armour produced them comparable to the Red Army’s KV-1 heavy tanks, but the Matilda had nowhere near the firepower of the KV. Most Soviet Matildas were expended throughout 1942 but a handful of served on as late as 1944. The Soviets modified the tanks with the addition of sections of steel welded to the tracks to give better grip
Production history Designer Mechanization Board and Messrs Vulcan[1] Created 1937[1] Manufacturer Vulcan Foundry and other individuals Made 1937–1943 Number constructed two,987 Variants see Variants below
Variety Infantry tank[1] Place of origin United Kingdom[1] Service history In service 1939-1945 Utilized by United Kingdom
Australia
Soviet Union Wars Second World War
1948 Arab–Israeli War Production history Designer Mechanization Board and Messrs Vulcan[1] Designed 1937[1] Manufacturer Vulcan Foundry and others Produced 1937–1943 Quantity built 2,987 Variants see Variants below Specifications Weight 25 tons[2] Length 15 ft 11 in (six. m) Width 8 ft 6 in (2.6 m)[three] Height eight ft three in (two.5 m) Crew 4 [three] (Driver, gunner, loader, commander)
Armour 20 to 78 mm max Main
armament two pounder (40 mm),
93 armour-piercing rounds[5] Secondary
armament 7.92 mm
2,925 rounds[5] Engine 2 diesel, AEC six-cylinder engines[nb 1][5] or two diesel Leyland engines[two]
94 Brake horsepower – 95 Brake horsepower[six] Power/weight 6.55 hp/tonne Transmission Wilson epicyclic pre-selector gearbox, 6 speeds[four] Suspension Coil spring[2] Operational
range 160 miles (257 km) [3] Speed 16 miles per hour (26 km/h) (on road)[three
9 miles per hour (14 km/h) (off road) Steering
system Rackham clutch
puke machine
Image by Expat Nomad
EuroSpace Center. Multi-axis rotation chair that tests your dexterity in a spin.