the last tank
Summary
CLIENT
Personal Project | Summer 2025
Problem to Solve
1st Tank Battalion has a problem, there is little to no artwork representing the Battalion. With the Battalion being in disbanded in the summer of 2021 we, now more than ever, needing some visual representation for the men and women who served under needed something to hold onto. The legacy, friendships, families, deeds, and sacrifices deserve to be remembered.
Creative SOLUTION
I wanted to represent every serviceman and woman who served in 1st Tank Battalion in its 79 years of history from 1942 to 2021. I decided to recreate the iconic M2A4 Light Tank from the units emblem since there was not much visual media of the machine but everyone who served in the battalion would recognize her. I chose to do a classy side profile of the light tank so there could be a large window of possible application of the artwork in future projects.
Process
After finding a good reference photo, I created a grid overlay system using my MacBook Pro Adobe Illustrator and rulers to help guide my eye in seeing how different parts of the tank related to one another.
Even though the silhouette of the tank is clear here, the majority of the finer details are unclear. When creating a technical drawing, this becomes a huge problem. For the parts that were unclear, I had to reference other photos and Frankenstein the tank visually in my head and piece it together in the final illustration.
Circles and squares are geometric truths and I used the smaller wheel located at 4-1 as my starting point since it was the most complete circle located nearest the point of view of the camera. From there I created a square of equal height and width as the circle. I further broke down the square into quarters as to more accurately measure various components of the tank. The tank was approximately 9.75 squares wide and just shy of squares tall.
Once the foundation of the rough line art was liad down, I tightened up the line work. The result of which can be seen here.
At this stage, I constructed the local color of the machine. Because no color photos exists of this light tank I had to assume that other tanks of later iterations that were in color photography had the same color scheme.
Finally, once the local colors were established, I went back and added shadows and highlights to bring the M2A4 roaring to life.
The identifying number on the tank’s hull, 2064, is a reference to the building number of the Armory that I worked in. The building number can be seen in the unit photo below. The Armory I worked in was a special place to me as it housed many memories with some wonderful friends.
The name “Goldy” on the main un barrel, was my nickname in the Marines and how I chose to sign this art piece.
Time Lapse Video
Inspiration
1st Tank Battalion was my home. I was an Electro-Optics Ordnance Repairman (MOS:2171) and worked in the the Battalion Armory from March 2013 to February 2017. I don’t want to kid myself, there were plenty of bad days, weeks, and even months. There were long nights, heated disagreements, and stresses on running an armory safely and securely. However, there were also good times. There were lasting friendships, groomsmen at weddings, and shared memories on all the hardships endured together where you could only share a laugh at the absurdity of the situation you somehow found yourself in. At the end of it all, however, we called 1st Tanks “Home”.
I left the Marine Corps in 2017 as a Corporal (top row 3rd from left in the photo above) shortly before the Battalion was disbanded in the summer of 2021. We all had mixed feelings about it, but one thing we all shared was a sense of loss. 1st Tanks was something that we had dedicated a significant part of our lives to and always ensured she was in good health and combat ready with a razor-sharp, sword. Her health was built only by sacrifices. To see her retired was something I never expected to see and left somewhat of a strange pain in my chest.
With this simple artwork I wanted to capture the visual heart and ethos of the service men and women and their families that sacrificed so much for her. The 1st Tank Bn official emblem has a picture of the M2A4 but I wanted to recreate it more visually accurate and in her full beauty. From the research I did there is little artwork on the my battalion and I wanted to change that. While the M2A4 Light Tank is the first tank used by the battalion, however, I named this art-piece “The Last Tank”. I did this because I wanted to present the idea of the “end-of-an-era”. This illustration is more than just a technical illustration of the M2A4 Light Tank; that is trivial. This is a portrait of the every serviceman and woman and their families who served with 1st Tank Battalion.
