The Mk V heavy tank was developed from the MkIV heavy tank. The MkV closely resembled the MkIV outwardly. The most noticeable change was in the raer cupola.

More access hatches were added to the rear , including a rearward-firing MG, and a semaphore. The rails were installed at the factory instead of in the field. By the end of the war, many of the MkV's were "hermaphrodites", with one male sponson and one female sponson. I built the example model in this configuration. The model includes both male sponsons and both female sponsons. The MG's were usually Hotchkiss, but I included Lewis MG's also.

The MkV did not entirely replace the MkIV, though battalions were normally of one type or the other, not mixed.

MkV's were sent to Russia to bolster the Tsarist (White) Army in it's losing struggle with the Bolsheviks (Red Army). Many of these vehicles were captured by the Soviets and used for a time after the end of the Revolution.