Balmae

Kirkcudbright No 10. Churchill (chopped)

Kirkcudbright No 9. Comet

Kirkcudbright No 8. Comet

Kirkcudbright No 7. Comet

Kirkcudbright No 6. Comet

Kirkcudbright No 5. Comet

Kirkcudbright No 4. Comet

Kirkcudbright No 3. Comet

Kirkcudbright No 2: Comet

Been busy the last month and managed to photo all the range wrecks currently at Kirkcudbright, from all angles with the exception of a couple of long distance shots due to position of a few in no go areas. I'll upload photo's over the coming weeks as i can only use the basic uploader. Feel free to fill in the info on them, cheers! Here goes : Number 1, Daimler.

Just comparing the two photos of the presumed second mock up and i'm noticing a slight variation in the front quarter on each just behind the front near side strut. There is a definite line vertically down the side just below the turret. I hope you don't mind me grabbing your pic Challenger just to compare them side by side. Above Challengers pic without the vertical line where the turret meets the hull. Above again the pic i found with a definite line vertical where the turret meets the hull. Also the lack of any Eyelets on the Glacis plate. Could it be that we have a third mock up or has there been additions added to the one above and am i merely seeing a shadow? Cheers.

Personally i'd like to see it saved as it's the foundation for all CVR(T)s out there but there is also the small matter of a Tortoise sat on the range wasting away also that i would like to see saved. I suppose the next question is what happened to the other dummy? Can anyone remember seeing it used as a hard target also perhaps at Lulworth or anywhere else for that matter?

Hard to tell in this pic due to the corrosion then i noticed another which clearly shows it has been bolted. Ease of access for getting engine, gearbox ballast etc in and out would probably dictate it being bolted.It has been suggested that there were others or another and common sense would say they would have spares on the side line in case of a failure during the air drop. Just looking at the front end of each you can clearly see differences in the design and the second one appears to have a boxed armoured profile were as the KTA one is boiler plate with no added boxed section. Cheers.

As promised a few extra pick of her current state, notice also the large slabs of i'm assuming marble or granite ballast to either add extra weight or balance it out. I'm told it was also fitted with an engine, gearbox and radio set as the trials progressed. One intact slab i mentioned with others smashed inside and out side. Floor mountings and remains of what looks like a bulkhead or cross member. Great fishing spot also Enjoyed helping fill in a few of the pieces and there are a few more mystery prototypes here to get me teeth into also, Cheers.

Done a bit more digging about today and came across Project Prodigal and Project Contentious here is a Link. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FV4401_Contentious Also here is the pic of the Kirkcudbright dummy being checked after one of at least 5 air drops it was involved in and some more pics from it's current state from today when i get a minute. Also found this pic of the second Dummy :

Hi, i was told this by a local gentleman who's sadly passed on. I was show an old black and white pic of said mock up with parachute attached (presumably just after it had been dropped) from a book he was in the process of producing documenting the sites history. Unfortunately the book was never finished or produced. There may have been further prototypes developed also but i can't confirm this.

The mock up was developed with others as prototypes of a lite weight 20t two man AFV for the first Air Drop trials!

Hi i'm Jason, currently residing in Scotland and have an ex-military background and a current military living, great forum and i look forward to contributing, cheers!