I've been spending again! My '43 GPW

[No Signals]

Out of curiosity, what paint type do you use Steve?

[Jessie The Jeep]

Just humbrol enamel model paints, thinned and sprayed.

Edited June 2, 2018 by Jessie The Jeep

[No Signals]

Thanks.

 

[Jessie The Jeep]

The RAF hood markings and bumper markings were completed today.

Edited October 22, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Bowes Railway & Springwell Village 1940's - June 30th / July 1st

The Bowes event is covered in my Dodge thread, although I had all three vehicles at the event. See the full report and pictures here - http://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2018/bowes.htm

This was only the second time out for the GPW this year and the first event in the new RAF markings.

Edited October 22, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Croft Nostalgia Festival - August 3~5th

We had a great weekend at Croft and another event with fantastic weather. Just one photo for now. I took over 600 photos both for myself and Croft social media use, and since everything was shot in RAW format, it's taking a while to process them into pictures to sort and then upload. So for now, just the two Jeeps, together in their RAF colours at the end of the show. They spent the show as part of a much larger "RAF 100" display, but more of that later!!

Edited October 22, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

As mentioned in the previous post, our 2018 display was to be part of a bigger display to mark the 100th Anniversary of the Royal Air Force. As a result, the Croft display would use the two Jeeps and the Dodge would stay at home. It was only the second show for the GPW and the third time out this year. Jessie has been dominating the 2018 season so far. We arrived around lunch time and set up the tent, but waited until the Lytham Spitfire arrived and was set up before working out the space for the rest of the display.

The Spifire arrived around 3pm and there was then a flurry of activity while it was unloaded and assembled. It was positioned on the grass, near the start of the military display line, along the old main runway. Near by was the Hillman RAF staff car, and later in the morning, a Vanguard RAF staff car turned up, but was only present on Saturday.

Edited October 22, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Next along from the Spitfire was Paul Mayo from the Yorkshire MVT. He brought his GMC and Royal Enfield motorbike, together with some tents and other display items. For Saturday, between the GMC and Spitfire, the display was joined by a blue RAF Jeep.

Edited October 22, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Next was my part of the display with 'Hope', our GPW, then the Signal Square, followed by 'Jessie'.

Edited October 22, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

There was quite a nice sun set on Friday evening and I grabbed a few pictures with the Spitfire and 'Jessie'. 

On Saturday morning, I went for the first of several long walks with my camera to record what was on display. The first circuit was along the military line and round to the classic car field. Later wanders took in the pits and some of the racing. During the lunch break, the 25 pound field gun was escorted out onto the circuit near the tower for a firing demonstration. The Twisters aerobatic team also displayed during both lunch breaks.

Edited October 22, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Twisters aerobatic team.

25 pounder field gun firing demonstration.

There was musical entertainment in the marquee all day with various acts performing along with a best dressed competition for those who turned up in period costume. On Saturday evening, there was a band who played a variety of music and the dance floor was rarely empty. 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

On Sunday, I went for further tours to get pictures of those who weren't there on Saturday and took in some more racing. Sunday was also the day for the parade laps. Unlike the previous years when the military parade was first thing in the morning, this year it was mid afternoon, and was far less rushed.

Edited October 22, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Also on Sunday, I managed to get on the top deck of one of the vintage busses to get a panoramic view of the 'RAF 100' display.

All too soon, the weekend was over. Just before the Spitfire was dismantled, the Daisy Belles came over to get a few photos. We started packing around 4pm and finally got away from Croft about 7pm.

Further pictures can be found here - Croft Nostalgia Report

Edited October 22, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

August 20th
Going to Croft, I lost a tail light bulb. Unlike the Hotchkiss Jeep where the housing takes standard bulbs, the GPW has wartime sealed units where the bulb is part of the housing. The bulbs are fitted and soldered in place from inside the housing before the front and lens are crimped on. I decided to replace the bulbs with LED's but wanted to use the original housing. The first step was to open up the fingers holding the front cover and lens in place. The broken bulb was unsoldered next.

While I was pulling one to bits, I decided I might as well do the pair. Both of them were covered in surface rust inside the housings, so the first job was to get in there with a rotary wire brush and get all the rust off. The new LED was soft soldered into the housing next, and the bare metal was then painted silver inside to give it some degree of protection. The front cover of the lamp housings were also covered in surface rust and took some time to clean up and paint. 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

To further weather proof the inside of the housing, the glass lens was glued into the front cover with waterproof PVA glue. Once dry, the cork gasket was fitted between the two parts of the housing and the metal tabs bent back to hold it in place.

So the brake and tail lights are now LED's, but the little used marker lights are still traditional bulbs.

Edited October 22, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Ryhope Engines Museum - August 26/27th

We took both Jeeps to Ryhope, the replacement event for the DLI show after the DLI Museum was closed. A write up was added to the "Jessie" Page ( http://hmvf.co.uk/topic/6769-my-flying-control-jeep/?page=19 ) but the full set of pictures can be found on my Jeeps website - http://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2018/ryhope.htm

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Beamish "Dig for Victory" - August 31st ~ Sept 2nd

Beamish open air museum in Co Durham, is a well known award winning museum. The "Dig for Victory" event is a four day show set in a unique 350 acre site. The museum contains many original buildings that have been painstakingly dismantled from their original locations, and rebuilt on site to preserve them. A big part of its appeal to me is the ability to drive singularly or in convoy around the site. 

I'd originally only planned to attend for Saturday and Sunday, but finding myself free and on my own on Friday, I took "Jessie" along to see what was happening. There were a good number of vehicles there and after a couple of weeks of very average English weather, there was plenty of sun and a gentle breeze. For the rest of the weekend, we took both Jeeps.

There was a good selection of vehicles there too. Jeeps of course, Dodges, GMC 6x6 trucks, a halftrack, a Bedford, K2, Tilly, Weasel, Scammel wrecker, a Chaffee replica and I've probably missed some!!

Edited October 22, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

The town is a popular location for photographs and there are a few locations where vehicles can be parked clear of the tram lines. However, the town is just one of many great spots for pictures. On Friday, we took some GMC's to the loading bay near the station for a shoot.

Several GI's were seen doing some "Midnight Requisitioning" of boxes of whiskey and smokes, along with some bully beef and tea!!

It would appear they need a better getaway vehicle!

Edited October 22, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Here's a few more pictures from around the site.

Edited October 22, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

Finally, a video of a convoy around the site.....

Further pictures can be found on my Jeep website - http://www.sacarr.co.uk/mymvs/events/2018/beamish.htm

[Jessie The Jeep]

A week after Beamish, I took the Dodge to the local aircraft museum for the Heritage weekend and then the following weekend, took the M201 Jeep to Breighton for their classic car show.

Another week on was the beginning of three busy days. It started on Friday 21st with the annual visit to my daughter's school to talk to the Year 6 class about WW2. This was the fourth year for the visit, and each year, it has grown in size. Sadly, some of the people who originally wanted to come, couldn't because of work or mechanical failures, but we still had four vehicles on show and five lectures/demos in the classroom or on the school field.

We parked up on the school field around 9am then headed inside for the first lectures. To start the day, John Stelling from the local aircraft museum gave us the history of RAF Usworth. It was our former local airfield and once an RAF Sector Station during WW2, although its origins date back to WW1. That was followed by my dad who gave a talk on life as a school boy during WW2. This took us to morning break.

Edited October 22, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

After break, we headed onto the school field where Paul Browning then gave a comprehensive talk on his impressive collection of British Airborne kit and weapons. This took us right through to lunch. 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

After lunch, we headed back to the field and John the Kubelwagon owner, gave a talk of some of his German kit. 

Miss Dodds, the class teacher, had a go driving my GPW around the field next before we headed back to the classroom. Because the various talks had gone on longer than anticipated, I shuffled things around and did a talk and practical about messages, codes, semaphore and Morse code. This took us to the end of the day. When school finished, two other teachers wanted Jeep rides, one of whom also had a go driving. The rain kept away apart from one brief sprinkle and I think we all came away having learned something new. 

It was a fantastic day enjoyed by us all.

Edited October 22, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

The school visit was just the first of three days out with the vehicles. Next was Tanfield Railway.

Tanfield Railway 1940's Weekend - Sept 22nd & 23rd

After a 12 year break, the 1940's Weekend returned to Tanfield Railway!! It was great to have the event reinstated again. It was only our fourth event in 2005 when we got our first Jeep. Here's a picture from that show where I also had my R/C B-17 on display..

Despite the odd shower, it was a great weekend with musical entertainment in Marley Hill carriage shed, Andrews House station and East Tanfield station. The MV's were parked on the field above Marley Hill yard, along with the field kitchen and a few dioramas.

Edited October 22, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep

[Jessie The Jeep]

There were a number of military vehicles there on Saturday, along with many re-enactors and some dioramas, but on Sunday, it was only our two Jeeps and a couple of civilian vintage cars. Another Jeep turned up briefly, then vanished again a little while later. The railway didn't want to invest too much into the first event after such a long break, so were only running one locomotive, but since the event went so well, with the car park full both days, they hope to run two trains next year.

The dioramas and displays were spread around the site, with some in the Marley Hill carriage sheds, on the show field and at the stations. This one was at Andrews House station.

Edited October 22, 2020 by Jessie The Jeep