The EC-630PP HMC - Haas - Haas Automation, Inc.

Every year, Armortek, run by husband-and-wife
team Mark and Gill Watkins, makes around 250
self-assembly kits of model tanks and other
armoured vehicles. The company was founded
in 2001 as part of a group of manufacturing ventures, and
originally based in Daventry in the Midlands. In 2006, the
couple acquired sole ownership of the Armortek business,
and relocated the growing operation to the rolling hills of
the South West.
In addition to the impressive Tiger, Armortek also makes
Sherman and Panther tank kits, a scale Sd.Kfz 7 half-track
vehicle and a 88 mm Flak 36 gun. Their latest kit is the
German Panzer III medium tank.
Across the range, the kits vary from low-end models for
static display to top-of-the-range products with built-in motors
and remote control systems. “Some of our customers prefer not
to drive their models, but spend hundreds of hours recreating
dioramas of actual events from the Second World War,” says
Mark. “The attention to detail is stunning.” Those clients who
want to “drive” the machines can choose to supplement them
with sound systems, smoke generators and gun barrels that use
12 gauge shotgun cartridges to simulate the effects of real tank
cannon firing.
Armortek’s customers are, typically, military modelmaking
enthusiasts from around the world. In fact, 50
percent of the company’s output is exported, mainly to the
United States. “Some of them have a standing order for
pretty much everything we build,” says Mark.
To grow its business in the USA, the company is
currently on the lookout for a local manufacturing partner:
“Perhaps another Haas user with the capacity to help us
better serve our growing U.S. customer base,” Mark suggests.
Irrespective of the way the models will be used, all of
Armortek’s customers demand not just accuracy in the details
and proportions of the models, but also – especially when
they are used in harsh outdoor conditions – appropriate
robustness. The build quality and price of the models reflect
their fidelity to the military specifications of their real-life
counterparts; a fully equipped model Tiger, for example,
weighs 160 kilograms and costs in the region of £5,000!
To achieve the consistent manufacturing standards one
would expect for what some might consider a very expensive
toy has meant investing in reliable, high-productivity CNC
machine tools from U.S. machine tool supplier Haas
Automation. Mark Watkins, who personally does all the
machining work, currently operates three Haas machines:
a VF-1 and a VF-3 machining centre, and a TL-15 dual-spindle
lathe with a Servo Bar 300 bar feeder. The VF-1 was purchased
in 2005, and the other two machines in 2006, when the
company relocated.
Mark says that he works in batches of a 100 kits at a time,
with each batch taking 3 to 4 months to complete. He makes
about 2 1/ 2 batches over a period of 9 months, or so. The other
3 months of the year are mostly taken up with research for the
development of new models, which involves seeking out
examples of real machines in museums, photographing and
measuring them, and evaluating their potential as additions to
the Armortek range. There are, Mark explains, few if any
relevant paper drawings still in existence for most of the models
the company produces.
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