Its true the Japanese Army in China kind of had run of the mill concerning a lot of stuff including military projects (they had whole captured industrial sites plus plans to capture port Arthur and her industrial sites) they never seemed to have gotten anywhere on these projects for varying reasons the major parts being resources, engineers, quality of the factories, and the pacific war. They did though make a lot of gun factories with a lot of good equipment that post WW2 was captured by USSR and handed to China this equipment would go to the famous Gun City (Bei’an) to supercharge output.
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I am not saying O-I was fake or a paper vehicle but the Japanese Army had lots of plans (just like the navy had plans) But politically the Army had failed and got less recourses so no tank production (Japan made 0 tanks for about a year) One issue with the image is it could be a illusion (one argument against it) I do hope I-O is added so Japan has a heavy tank but Gaijin would have to bite the bullet and add for what a lot of people would say is a paper vehicle.
FYI FineMolds bought the Japanese plans allegedly so Gaijin might need to give them money to see them. FineMolds could also be making it up because some moldeling companies do that.
Size image
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Like i said in my other comment i dont really care if it’s paper or unfinished, the game is so far detached from it’s original goal of being a realistic sim that it doesn’t make sense not to add these cool vehicles, they would make more sense than classified top tier stuff
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I personally am okay with it as I believe the I-0 was real enough as the Japanese Army really wanted a heavy tank which was the lesson they learned from Khalkhin gol. But it would likely be a big thing to add in game if Gaijin where to add it hopefully it gets the add on armor they wanted it to have.
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If it was up to me i would add a version with the base 75mm of armor and a higher tier one with 150mm
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There have been versions of the O-I for many years already. One of the threads confirmed that the O-I had been passed for consideration.
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That image has been confirmed fake, and was made by WG to promote the Japanese Superheavy line.
back in the day people even found the Original image it was edited from.
I remember the debate around it vividly on FB back in the day.
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E-100 had the hull, and moved IIRC, they just gave it the Maus’ turret to keep it ‘realistic’ because they were both built.
I mean, if we had info on both of these tanks (O-I and Ho-Ri) and where they were being worked on, it might lead to them being added. What I mean by this is if they were at either of the factories bombed in Hiroshima or Nagasaki, any information would have been vaporized, from the workers who held the knowledge to the documentation. Which would lead to a valid assumption that they very well could have existed.
Especially so if they were dropped directly on the factories they were being worked on. A 100+ KT blast isn’t forgiving, even when air burst.
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On the Topic of the still existent E100, there has actually been research into it in recent years to try and find it, They found the Scrap yard it was sold too, and even found a Magnetic signature underground that matched the size of the E100 in the remains of the Scrap yards area.
But getting permits and everything to dig for it would be near impossible, because now its in a protected park from what i understand.
Though if they could get the backing of the Tank Museum it MAY be possible.
BUT its likely going to be in horrid shape, and would take ALOT of preservation work. Espectially since it was apparently made of mild steel since it was just a prototype, which rusts far easier than proper armor grade steel.
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I compared it to the real E-100, which iirc didn’t get to the point of mobility trials unlike the O-I. I’m not saying it’s more or less complete, considering both were unfinished hulls without (functional) turrets.
If it was about E-100 in game then that’s just fake. The turret wasn’t intended for the E-100 and didn’t even fit it, it’s made up by Gaijin. Two components being real individually doesn’t change that.
I’d like to see a real E-100 in the same way I want to see a real Ho-Ri.
O-I was tested at Sagami Arsenal, so it wasn’t nuked. But for this reason we do have information on the vehicle and statements from workers on the project. If we had no information at all, we wouldn’t know it was real.
But being nuked isn’t the only way information can be lost. It can be intentionally destroyed, or simply kept away from the public in private collections like Fine Molds blueprints.
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Well you could get an archeology permit in most countries but digging up old War stuff is considered very hard to get approved though old scrap yards tend to get approved here and there because you can learn a lot.
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Japan loved destroying stuff a lot of the info we have is from USA as they made new documents and photos or managed to get it out of someone. I’m doing research on chemical munitions for when infantry mode is done there is next to no Japanese information from the era. All the good information comes from in order U.S.A., UN, China, Russia.
Though in other fields some people grabbed there documents at the end of WW2 and storied them in there home and only now someone’s great grandkids find them.
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Afaik all that remains as evidence of it existing in some form is a single (!) track link
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That one guy with the entire O-I tank in the basement - 1 track link wondering why people think its fake online.
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Afaik the picture has been floating on the internet since 2002, wot was released in 2010. Also this so called “original unedited image” does not exist, if you have it feel free to post it. But it still could be unrelated to the O-I or the documents talking about hypothetical super heavy tanks that the Soviets found in manchria, and could be just an improvised bunker turret like these ones from Koto fortress:
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Was the images from from Hutou Fortress?
I think thats a Type 45 15 cm cannon
Its a really heavy costal gun ill suited to be used in such a roll as weight savings in its development was not much of a issue as she is built to sit in a casemate on a fortress in Japan originally and fire at ships trying to break into Tokyo though the Tokyo Bay Fortresses for example. I think meant to replace weapons like the 28 cm howitzer L/10. Overall these cannons are ill suited for moving unless its a railway cannon.
The type 95 AP 868 m/s
The type 96 HE 860 m/s
Extra images of one of the guns it seems much smaller and different gun.
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This blog talks about the super heavies
Unless Gaijin wants to go to the Wakashishi Shrine and see the other possible documents or go to Finemolds its probably better to keep it the way it is.
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FAKE
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A tank abandoned in a Japanese lake…? Wait, are you talking about the Type 4 medium tank Chi-To that was dumped in Lake Hamana(浜名湖) in Shizuoka Prefecture(静岡県)? It’s neither Hori nor Chiri.
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No this should not come to War Thunder as it creates a dangerous precedent that other completely fantastical vehicles could come to the game like the Ratte etc.
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